MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Middlebury men's soccer team scored in the third minute of action and hung on for a 1-0 victory against Connecticut College in the NESCAC opener for both sides.

Tom Bean scored on a header just 2:13 into play giving the Panthers (2-0, 1-0) the narrow win over the visiting Camels(1-1, 0-1). Middlebury returns to action on Tuesday afternoon with a road contest at Green Mountain, while Connecticut College play on the same day at the Coast Guard.

A little more than two minutes into the opening half, Tim Ogle lofted a long throw in from the right side of the goal that sailed into the box. The arching ball found Bean's head, as he redirected the eventual game-winning score into the upper-right corner of the goal just passed the outstretched arm of Camel goalkeeper Austin DaCuhna.

Almost seven minutes later, Middlebury's Philip Skayne nearly doubled the Panther lead as he sent a header from 10 yards out that DaCuhna was able to get his right hand on and tip over the crossbar.

Connecticut College's best chance of the opening half came at the 12-minute mark. Following a Panther foul and ensuing free kick from 25 yards out, Colin Patch laced a curling shot that Panther goalkeeper Greg Sydor got his right hand on. The rebound came to the feet of Connecticut College's Pat Devlin eight yards away, but Sydor denied the chance catching the attempt in his chest. Neither team had many scoring opportunities for the remainder of the half.

In the second half, a majority of play happened between the penalty boxes. Patch unloaded witha 30 yard blast with 15 minutes left that sailed over the cross bar. Mark Leon put together a nice move that was saved by Sydor. Then, with a little more than eight minutes remaining in regulation, Devlin nearly tied the match when his shot from the right side at 15 yards was guided up and over the crossbar by Sydor. The Camels continued the pressure to tie the game, but were unable to score the equalizer. 

Connecticut College held a narrow edge in both shots (8-6) and corner kicks (5-4). Sydor ended the match with six saves for his second shutout in as many games this season, giving his 10 for his career, while DaCuhna was credited with one save.