Lewiston, Maine- A pair of first half goals by junior Meg Bonney (Norwich, Vt.) led the Middlebury College Panthers to a 2-1 victory over the Trinity College Bantams this morning in the first round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) women’s soccer tournament at Bates College.

Middlebury, which improves its season record to 11-4, entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, while the Bantams, seeded No. 7, finish the season at 7-8. In the other first round games, Amherst defeated Tufts, 3-1, and Bowdoin downed Bates, 3-0. Middlebury will play Amherst, seeded No. 3, and No. 4 Bowdoin will play top-seeded Williams on Sat., Oct. 27 in the semi-finals. All semi-final and final games will take place at Williams.

The Panthers got on the board in the 15th minute when junior Britt Kittleson (Minneapolis, Minn.) put a shot off of the crossbar that deflected directly to Bonney who buried it. The Bantams had a chance for the equalizer 12 minutes later, but a penalty kick by freshman forward Nicole Mauger (East Bridgewater, Mass.) sailed wide. Bonney doubled the lead in the 37th minute when she put a ball over the head of Trinity freshman goalkeeper Brenna Shields (Cutchogue, N.Y.) from ten yards out.

Trinity picked up its play in the second half, cutting the lead on a goal by Mauger in the 72nd minute. Sophomore midfielder Kate Salotolo (Bethel, Conn.) recorded the assist. The Bantams had a few other chances to score in the final 15 minutes, but were unable to do convert. Shields totaled 11 saves in net for Trinity, while Ali Connolly (Marblehead, Mass.) made four stops for the Panthers.