The Hamilton College men's soccer team suffered its first NESCAC loss of the season Tuesday afternoon, losing 1-0 to the visiting Middlebury College Panthers at Love Field.

The showdown between the Continentals and Panthers (ranked 16th nationally in the latest coaches poll), featured two of the conference's top teams; Hamilton (now 4-3-0, 3-1 NESCAC) was the only team unbeaten and untied in league play while Middlebury (5-0-1, 3-0-1 NESCAC) took over first place with the win.

The hosts outshot the Panthers 11-5 in the second half (and 14-9 overall), with nearly all of the game's final 35 minutes being played in the Middlebury end. Hamilton's scoring chances in that span included a free kick in the 62nd minute that a leaping Mike Lubelczyk '17 headed from one end of the goal line to the other, with the ball going just outside the left post.

Middlebury goalkeeper Greg Sydor made the biggest of his three saves 14 minutes later when Alec Talsania '17 took another free kick, arcing a high shot from right to left that Sydor jumped up and slapped over the cross bar.

Hamilton's last chance at the tying goal came with 88 seconds remaining in regulation when Aidan Wood '20 sent a hard, low shot at the near post but Sydor smothered the shot to seal the win.

The visitors scored the game's only goal less than 20 minutes in. Adam Glaser fired a shot inside the right post that Hamilton's Harris Pollack '17 dove to his left to stop; the rebound wound up in the center of the box and Greg Conrad was able to move to his left with the ball and send a shot into the other side of the net out of the reach of a scrambling Pollack for his second goal of the season.

Pollack, who ranks fifth in goals against average and seventh in save percentage in the latest NCAA statistics, finished with four saves. He kept Hamilton within a goal with a stellar save late, thwarting a two-on-one breakaway by two Panthers in the 84th minute.

The game wrapped up a five-game homestand for the Continentals. They're back in action Saturday with a 1:30 p.m. NESCAC game at Wesleyan.