News

Cece and Rusten Honored

12/13/04 - Two members of the Middlebury College men’s soccer team were honored today. Senior John Rusten (Federal Way, Wash.) was a second-team All-American selection as well as a first-team All-New Englander. Junior Derek Cece (Williamstown, Mass.) earned fourth-team All-New England honors. The two helped lead Middlebury to a solid 12-3-2 record in the 50th anniversary season of the program. Middlebury was ranked as high as second in New England this season, while also ranking in the top 15 nationally.

Men's Soccer Players Honored By The NESCAC, LaRocca is Rookie of the Year

11/12/04 - Four members of the Middlebury College men’s soccer team were honored today by the NESCAC. Senior John Rusten (Federal Way, Wash.) and junior Derek Cece (Williamstown, Mass.) were named to the first team, while senior Kellan Florio (Gilford, N.H.) and sophomore John Sales (Chatham, Ill.) were second-team selections. First-year player David Larocca (Sparta, N.J.) was named the NESCAC Rookie of the Year.

Panther Men's Soccer Falls 1-0 In Conference Championship

11/7/04 - Williams won its fourth straight NESCAC Championship with a 1-0 win over Middlebury. The Ephs receive an automatic bid to the 2004 NCAA Championship, while Middlebury will hope for an at-large bid when selections are announced Sunday night.

Men's Soccer Defeats Bowdoin, On To NESCAC Final

11/6/04 - The Middlebury College men's soccer team scored twice in just over 12 minutes to take a 2-0 victory over Bowdoin College in a NESCAC Tournament Semifinal match on Saturday at Williams College. The Panthers (12-2-2) avenge an early season loss to the Polar Bears (10-6-0) and an overtime defeat at the hands of Bowdoin in last year's NESCAC Semifinals. Middlebury will play Williams in the NESCAC Championship game at noon on Sunday. The Panthers and Ephs will meet for the third time for the title, and the first time since ’01.

Men's Soccer Headed To Williams For NESCAC Tourney

11/2/04 - The Middlebury College men’s soccer team will make its fifth consecutive appearance in the NESCAC semifinals this weekend at Williams. The Panthers will take on Bowdoin in one semifinal, while Williams meets Wesleyan in the other contest. The winners will meet at noon on Sunday for the NESCAC title and an automatic bid to the 2004 NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament.

LaRocca Earns Player of the Week Honors

11/1/04 - Middlebury College men’s soccer player David LaRocca (Sparta, N.J.) has been named the NESCAC Player of the Week.

LaRocca had remarkable week for Middlebury as the Panthers advanced to the NESCAC semifinals for the fifth consecutive year. Saturday, the rookie scored the game's first three goals for a hat-trick as Middlebury ended its regular season with a 4-0 win over Trinity. In the NESCAC Tournament win over Tufts, LaRocca led the charge as Middlebury came from 3-0 down in the final 15 minutes to defeat Tufts, 4-3 in overtime. LaRocca scored the first two goals in a 1:51 span, before assisting on the game-tying and game-winning goals.

Men's Soccer With Stunning Tourney Win Over Tufts

10/31/04 - Middlebury scored three goals in the final 14:36 and then won it 55 seconds into overtime as the Panthers earned an improbable come-from-behind victory over Tufts in a NESCAC Tournament game.  Middlebury will take on Bowdoin at Williams next Saturday, while the host school meets Wesleyan in the other semifinal match-up. The title game is slated for noon on Sunday.

Men's Soccer Ends Regular Season, Will Host Tufts Sunday

10/30/04 - Middlebury wrapped up its regular season with a 4-0 win over Trinity. The Panthers have earned the second seed in the NESCAC Tournament and will host #7 Tufts in a first-round game on Sunday, October 31st at noon. The Bantams end their season at 3-9-2.

Men's Soccer Falls In OT At Keene

10/27/04 - John Hake scored the winning goal at the 6:10 mark of the first overtime to lift the Keene State College men’s soccer team to a 1-0 win over Middlebury College. 

Rusten Named NESCAC Player of the Week

10/25/04 - Middlebury College men’s soccer player John Rusten (Federal Way, Wash.) has been named the NESCAC Player of the Week.

Rusten scored three goals last week, two of them game-winners, to lead Middlebury to a pair of wins. The senior scored a solo goal in a 2-0 win over St. Michael's, before scoring twice in the Panther's 3-2 win over Bates. He now leads the team with eight goals and 18 points on the season.

Men's Soccer Defeats Bates

10/23/04 - Middlebury scored three first half goals on its way to a 3-2 victory over Bates. The Panthers are ranked third in the latest New England poll and 22nd nationally.

Men's Soccer Defeats St. Michael's

10/21/04 - Middlebury improved to 31-6-1 all-time against St. Michael’s as the Panthers beat the Purple Knights, 2-0. Middlebury is ranked third in the latest New England poll and 22nd nationally.

Men's Soccer Earns Tie At Williams

10/16/04 - The Panther men's soccer team earned big tie on the road as they battled to a 1-1 final with Williams. Middlebury outshot Williams 23-16 on the afternoon, but could not find the back of the net  in the second half.

Men's Soccer Blanks Norwich

10/14/04 - Middlebury improved to 40-2-4 all-time against Norwich as the Panthers beat the Cadets, 4-0. Middlebury is ranked fourth in the latest New England poll and will travel to #2 Williams this Saturday.

Men's Soccer Tops Amherst In OT

10/9/04 - David LaRocca converted a pass from John Rusten and scored with a bicycle kick at 4:46 in overtime to give the Panthers a 3-2 victory over third ranked Amherst. The intense battle was fought in front of a huge alumni crowd, gathered to celebrate 50 years of Middlebury College soccer. The Panthers entered the game ranked sixth in New England, while Amherst sat in the third spot.

Men's Soccer To Celebrate 50th

10/7/04 - The Middlebury College men's soccer program will celebrate its 50th anniversary this weekend. Festivities begin on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. with an alumni game. For more details and information, click here.

Men's Soccer Suffers First Loss Of The Season

10/3/04 - Middlebury suffered its first loss of the season as they fell at Bowdoin/ The Polar Bears got a first-half goal from Andrew Russo and held off a late charge by the Panthers to take a 1-0 victory on Sunday afternoon. The Polar Bears (6-2-0) bounce back from a loss to Amherst on Saturday, while the Panthers (5-1-1) come away with a loss and a tie in Maine this weekend.

Men's Soccer Earns Tie At Colby

10/2/04 - Monty Hankin (Canandaigua, N.Y.) tied the game for Colby College with about 30 minutes left in regulation and the game stayed that way in a 2-2 overtime game with Middlebury College in New England Small College Athletic Conference men's soccer Saturday. Middlebury (5-0-1, 3-0-1 NESCAC) had not allowed a goal in three league victories and had given up just one goal in five games.

Men's Soccer Earns Another Win

9/25/04 - The Panthers remain undefeated this fall with a 2-0 shutout of NESCAC foe Wesleyan.

Team scoring leader John Rusten gave Middlebury a 1-0 lead when he converted a penalty kick at 41:55. The game remained tight until 75:59 in the second half when Gabe Wood netted a pass from Nicholas Colacchio to give the Panthers the 2-0 lead that they would not relinquish.

Men's Soccer Improves To 4-0

9/23/04 - Middlebury broke a 1-1 tie with three unanswered goals to pick up a 4-1 road win at Colby-Sawyer. Kellan Florio gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 26:10 before the Chargers tied the game just over a minute later. Just 1:19 into the second half, John Rusten gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead. The lead increased to 3-1 as John Sales headed in a corner from Rusten at 49:49. J.B. Gerber ended the scoring at 64:30. Zack Toth was forced to make no saves in goal.

Coach Saward's Notes...

Men's Soccer Earns Third Straight Shutout

9/18/04 - Middlebury shutout its third straight opponent as they moved to 3-0 overall with a 2-0 win over NESCAC foe Tufts.

John Rusten gave Middlebury a 1-0 lead 38:23 into the game as he converted a penalty kick after a foul in the penalty area. J.B. Gerber gave the Panthers some breathing room at 55:09 as he headed in a great feed from the outside by Nicholas Colacchio. Tufts had a few chances to get back in it late in the second half, but Craig Hirsh made some big saves for the Panthers to preserve the win.

Coach Saward's Notes

Men's Soccer Blanks Castleton

9/15/04 - Middlebury out shot Castleton 22-5 on its way to a 4-0 road win in Vermont. Gabe Wood and John Rusten struck in the first half to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead at the break. Winston Rains and Derek Cece added second half tallies to give Middlebury its second straight shutout victory.

Men's Soccer Opens Season With Win At Conn.

9/11/04 - The Middlebury College Panthers (1-0, 1-0) notched a 1-0 victory over host Connecticut College (1-1, 0-1) in NESCAC men’s soccer action Saturday afternoon.  Vandy Shanholdt (Hillsborough, CA) netted the only tally of the contest in the 50th minute of play, scoring off a pass from Simon Perkins (Manchester, VT). Craig Hirsch (Verona, NJ) made three saves en route to the victory for the Panthers.