How do you mentally prepare to play a team with a former Division III national championship and a history of lopsided wins against your program?

Just ask the Spartans men’s soccer team, because on Monday under the lights they upset Middlebury College 1-0 on senior night at Spartan Stadium.

Senior, Alex Sedergren scored the only goal of the match at 6:55 into the game heading in a perfectly placed corner kick from Alex McCormick.

The goal was Sedergren’s first of his career, and could not have come at a more opportune time.

Sederegren was humbled to have the experience on senior night.

“We’ve never beat Middlebury. We made history tonight, and I’m just glad to be a part of it,” he said.

His teammates were elated by the win, and for Sedergren.

“No other guy deserved to score as much as Alex. It was a perfect moment,” he said.

But the Spartans didn’t celebrate for too long after the goal.

Middlebury was constantly on the attack searching for the tying goal.

But that goal just wouldn’t come.

Keeper, Amir Pasic was perfect in net throughout the game recording four saves on the day.

Pasic said he and his defense simply had the right formula heading into the game.

“We knew they would be serving many balls into the box. I just stayed alert and had a great defense playing in front of me,” he said.

The Spartans success is greatly attributed to their ability to keep the ball out of the box, and minimizing Middlebury opportunities.

Despite the lead, the Spartans also continued to fight, and generated opportunities of their own in transition, but were unable to increase their lead.

And when the scoreboard struck zero, the stands and the sideline erupted in cheers.

Castleton’s excitement stems in part because of Middebury’s dominance in soccer.

Since that inaugural season in 1954, Middlebury has had only three losing seasons and posted 13 NCAA appearances, along with a Division III National Championship in 2007.

It was quite the feat for the Spartans to take down a school that beat them 9-1 in 2013.

Coach John O’ Connor was excited to see his team taste some major success.

“It takes commitment, and tonight we had that commitment, to prove that 9-1 was not indicative to our level of play last year,” he said.

With the win, Castleton puts the first blemish on Middlebury’s perfect out of conference record.

Castletonsports' Instagram has the goal footage, copy and paste the link below in your browser to watch!

http://instagram.com/p/ucCPXmLaYU