By Jim Fenton

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- The Bridgewater State University men's soccer team fell to 1-1 with a loss to nationally ranked Middlebury College Tuesday afternoon.

The Panthers, rated No. 3 in the preseason United Soccer Coaches Division III poll, scored three goals in each half en route to a 6-0 victory over the Bears at South Street Field.

It was the season opener for Middlebury while BSU defeated Johnson & Wales, 3-2, on the road last Friday night.

The Panthers reached the semifinal round of the NCAA Division III tournament in 2024, losing to Amherst College, 2-1, in Las Vegas.

Middlebury went 17-2-4 a year ago and defeated BSU, 2-0, with a pair of second-half goals.

This time, after a scoreless 19-plus minutes, the Panthers scored three times in 9:55 and held a 3-0 halftime lead.

Senior Eduardo Casanova (Barcelona, Spain) opened the scoring at 19:58 with a shot that went into the lower right side of the net. Sophomore Keagan Harder (Arlington, Mass.) had the assist.

At 25:12, junior Will Sawin (Stonington, Conn.) scored in the lower left side of the net, assisted by freshman Dylan Payne (London, England).

The three-goal bulge came when Casanova scored again, this time into the lower center part of the goal, with Sawin assisting at 29:53.

There was no scoring in the opening 17-plus minutes of the second half until Sawin netted his second goal from Casanova at 62:30 for a 4-0 lead.

Harder made it 5-0 at 66:13 with Casanova assisting and junior Hugo Horwitz (Glen Rock, N.J.) completed the scoring at 79:20 with an assist from sophomore Anderson Gardner (Cleveland, Ohio).

Senior Joey Waterman (North Andover, Mass.) made one save in 63 minutes as the Middlebury starting goalkeeper while sophomore Leon Brody (Candiac, Quebec) had one save in the final 27 minutes.

BSU managed only two second-half shots on goal, one by junior Nicholas Ribeiro (Bellingham, Mass.) at 56:38 and the other by sophomore Thomas Neves (Medway, Mass.) at 73:18.

Junior Kyle Sullivan (Enfield, Conn.) started in goal for the Bears, making three saves and allowing five goals. Sophomore Daniel Dias (Brockton, Mass.) played the final 23 minutes and had no saves in his BSU debut.

Middlebury held a 16-8 advantage in shots and a 9-2 edge in shots on goal.

The Bears play next on Saturday at noon when they have the home opener in addition to the first game of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule against Anna Maria College.

The AMCATS (1-1) will be making their MASCAC debut after moving from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

Middlebury is on the road Saturday at 1:30 p.m. when it faces Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.