Middlebury College's Tyler Payne and Alem Hadzic scored and the nationally ranked No. 15/20 Panthers posted a 2-0 win against the No. 23 Hamilton College Continentals in a 2022 NESCAC Men's Soccer Championship quarterfinal at Middlebury's South Street Field on Saturday afternoon. 
 
How It Happened

• Middlebury struck early at 10:42 on a goal by Payne that was assisted by Jordan Saint-Louis.
• The Panthers made it a two-goal cushion with 4:20 remaining on a counter-attack goal by Hadzic that was assisted by Gavin Randolph. Middlebury gained possession on a Hamilton throw-in and Randolph took off down the field. He fed Hadzic who settled it into the lower left-hand corner. 
• Middlebury outshot Hamilton 16-14. 
• The Panthers posted a 6-4 advantage on corner kicks. 

Notes

• Hamilton is ranked 23rd in the D3soccer.com Top 25 poll and received votes in the United Soccer Coaches Division III Top 25 poll.
• Middlebury (10-3-3 overall) is ranked 15th in the D3soccer.com Top 25 poll and 20th in the United Soccer Coaches Division III Top 25 poll.
• The Continentals were one of two teams that won at Middlebury this year -- a 2-1 victory back on Sept. 17.
• Ben Ziegler '24 tallied four saves in his 57-plus minutes of action before Kai Haesslein '24 came in for relief midway through the second half. 
• Payne and Hadzic notched their fourth goals of the season. 
• Ryan Grady made three saves for Middlebury. 

Season Recap

• Hamilton has an overall record of 8-4-4. The Continentals finished in fifth place in the conference standings with 16 points and a 4-2-4 record, and were the fifth seed for the championship.