For a time the team did play along with top-level programs but when men's ice hockey divided into separate tiers in the mid-1960s Middlebury left the upper echelon.
Middlebury played as an Independent program, as all schools did officially, prior to 1950 but the Panthers were a founding member of the NCAA's first ice hockey conference, the Tri-State League.
Latreille held the points record for 24 years before being surpassed by Bill Watson, who played in more than twice as many games in his record-breaking campaign.
While he didn't stick in the National Hockey League, Latreille remains Middlebury's only alumnus to play in the NHL.
It took Beaney a short time to rebuild the program and five years after he took over the Panthers won both the conference regular season and tournament titles.
In 1994 the NESCAC changed its rules to permit its member teams to play in one postseason tournament, either conference or national,[4] and a year later Middlebury made its first appearance in the Division III championship.
Middlebury jumped in with both feet and won each of their games, including the championship over #1-ranked Fredonia State to capture the school's first national title in any sport.
Beaney kept the panthers at the top of Division III and won five consecutive national championships (1995–1999), setting an NCAA record for any level of play.