By Johnny Alexandre '22

NEW LONDON, Conn. - Junior Augie Djerdjaj (Mahopac, N.Y.) scored the lone goal of the game when he converted on a penalty kick in the 86th minute to give the home crowd a fall weekend victory against No. 6 Middlebury on Saturday afternoon at Freeman Field.
 
The first half remained scoreless thanks to a pair of saves on two dangerous jump balls just in front of his goal line by junior goalkeeper Sam Maidenberg (South Orange, Conn.). Connecticut College controlled the ball for the majority of the first half, despite having one less shot than their opponent, Middlebury, 4-3. All Connecticut College first-half shots were struck by senior forward MT Tshuma (Mawegwe, Zimbabwe). 
 
Connecticut College (5-2, NESCAC 4-1) continued to dominate possession in the second half and showed a willingness to be more aggressive and take more shots on net in the final 25 minutes of the game. The Camels struck a slew of five hard shots in a ten-minute time span, highlighted by Tshuma's strong mid-air bicycle kick attempt in the 79th minute, just to be saved by the Middlebury sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Grady. 
 
With the Camels attacking hard in the final few minutes of the game, Middlebury senior midfielder Raffi Barsamian was charged with unfairly taking down a Connecticut College player just inside the right side of the 18-yard box. With the large home crowd watching in anticipation, Djerdjaj confidently charged the ball into the top left corner of the net for the last-minute goal and the Camel win. 
 
Connecticut College led in shots, 11-9, corners, 5-1, and most importantly goals. Maidenberg shut out the Panthers with six saves in a full 90 minutes of play, and Grady of Middlebury (6-1, NESCAC 3-1) made four saves in the losing effort.
 
The Camel men's soccer team (5-2, NESCAC 4-1) will next take on Williams College tomorrow afternoon at home at 2:30 p.m.