AMHERST, Mass. — The Middlebury College men’s soccer team bowed out of the NCAA Division III tournament on Sunday, when host Amherst edged the Panthers, 1-0, in a quarterfinal matchup. 

The 15-2-3 Panthers had reached that sectional final by defeating Cortland the day before, 4-2, in a game also played at Amherst. 

By defeating Middlebury, Amherst improved to 17-2-3 and advanced to the tournament’s final four in Salem, Va., with semifinals on Dec. 1 and the final on Dec. 3. The Mammoths won their third straight NCAA game by 1-0 after opening the tournament with a 2-1 victory. 

On Sunday they earned advantages of 17-9 in shots on goal and 9-4 in corner kicks over the Panthers, and only one Middlebury shot landed on target, and that in the final minute.

Meanwhile, Panther goalie Ryan Grady made six saves, including on a penalty kick. 

Grady made his first big stop in the 18th minute on Mohammed Nuhu. Ada Okorogheye passed into the left side of the box to Nuhu, who fired toward the bottom left corner. But Grady got a finger on the bid to tip it wide.

Mammoth Ben Clark-Eden scored five minutes later. Simon Kalinauskas headed a corner kick off a post. The ball bounced to Clark-Eden, who fired a shot home from the left edge of the six-yard box.

Amherst earned its penalty kick late in the half, but Grady dove to his left to push Clark-Eden’s bid wide. 

The Mammoths controlled most of the second half, but the Panthers came up with a flurry in the final two minutes. Jay Hoke and Kyle Nilsson each whipped in crosses, but the Amherst defense did not allow the Panthers to convert those serves into shots.  

At 88:24, Hoke passed to Jordan Saint-Louis in the left side of the box. Saint-Louis tried to line up a shot, but an Amherst defender closed down the bid and cleared the ball.

With seconds remaining, Grady came forward and put a long ball on frame, but Mammoth goalie Max Landa corralled the bid.

Saint-Louis concluded his career with 24 goals and 21 assists. Those 21 helpers are third in program history. This season, the forward contributed 32 points and 12 assists, numbers that are tied for fifth and second, respectively. 

Grady finished his time at Middlebury as the school record holder in shutouts (40) and saves (278).  

The program, which won an NCAA title in 2007, was making its fifth appearance in an NCAA quarterfinal.

The team set a program record for most goals in a season at 52, erasing the previous mark of 46 from 2015.

PANTHERS, 4-2

On Saturday the Panthers went down, 2-0, in the first 32:13, but roared back to defeated Cortland, 4-2, in the first round of the sectional. Cortland wrapped up a 13-3-3.

Middlebury had a chances early, including one in the 10th minute, when Gavin Randolph hit the side netting on a feed from Saint-Louis. In the 26th minute Red Dragon goalie Jordan Ott (three saves) also snared a Nilsson header set up by Will Sawin.

Cortland began to find its footing, and with less than 20 minutes to go until halftime the ball fell to Jack Coleman after a cross, but Grady smothered his close-range bid toward the right side.  

Cortland took the lead seconds later. Cade Denlinger found a loose ball just outside the box and blasted a 22-yard right-footed volley into the top right corner. 

The Red Dragons found a fluky second goal at 32:13. Denlinger send in a free kick from the right side that bounced through traffic and into the far side. 

Middlebury got a goal back with less than 10 minutes to go before halftime. Cortland blocked a Harper Nicholl shot from the top of the box, but Nilsson, from just inside the penalty stripe, left-footed the rebound into left side of the net.

Then in the 40th minute on a corner kick, Grady, who made eight saves, denied both Denlinger and Coleman.  

The Panthers leveled the score with less than a minute to go in the half, with Nilsson again doing the damage. Saint-Louis fired a 30-yard free kick on goal. Ott made the save, but in a scramble for the rebound Nilsson one-timed the ball home from close range.

Early in the second half Nicholl hit the left post with a left-footed shot, and soon afterward Red Dragon Matt Schultz hit the crossbar with a long bid from the right side.

Middlebury took the lead with just over 20 minutes left on a Randolph goal. After a corner kick, the ball popped out to center mid Eujin Chae on the right side Chae served back to Randolph just inside the penalty stripe, and he nodded the ball into the left side of the net to make it 3-2. 

Cortland threatened throughout the final 10 minutes, but the Panther defense fended off multiple shots and crosses before the Panthers countered in the final seconds. Colin Dugan broke up a Cortland advance with textbook sliding tackle, knocking the ball to Saint-Louis in the process. Saint-Louis carried down the left side until feeding Sawin out front for an empty-net finish.