SPRINGFIELD – On Wednesday evening, what appeared to be the makings of another frustrating game following last Saturday’s defeat to Williams ended happily for Wesleyan men’s soccer. With just over five minutes left in the second half, which saw the Cardinals fail to score in spite of vastly outshooting Springfield College, forward Walter Rodriguez ’13 tucked an assist from midfielder Steve Paresi ’12 inside the left post to give Wesleyan a 2-1 edge. The victory marked the first for the Redbirds this season, bringing their overall record to 1-1.

Wesleyan’s night started off with promise, as forward Evan Hazelett ’13 headed a left-side corner from Paresi inside the near post a mere 2:18 into regulation.

“It was a great cross ball from Paresi, and Haze just top-bodied it into the scorebag,” said midfielder Ian Waldron ’13.

However, Wesleyan failed to harness the energy from the early fireworks. Springfield managed to regain their composure, while the Cards managed to repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot.

“All of their attacks came off of free kicks,” Waldron said. “We would foul them or be offsides in their half, and they would get a free kick and serve that into our 18-yard box almost every time.”

This approach delivered positive results for Springfield 35:13 into regulation, when Springfield player Michael Fowler ’14 flicked a long ball off of a penalty to Scott Donofrio ’12, who blasted the ball past Wesleyan goaltender Adam Purdy ’13 to tie the score 1-1.

Wesleyan turned up the heat in the second half, outshooting Springfield by a tally of 13-3. However, they were still plagued by offside calls, something that hampered their momentum and prevented them from converting. At the end of the contest, Wesleyan had been called for 11 in comparison to Springfield’s four.
However, the Cardinals caught a break in the 84th minute. On a Wesleyan push downfield, Springfield’s defensive line raised themselves away from their goal in hopes of staging a defensive trap—a tactical play in which the defense attempts to draw the offense offside. Given the pattern of game play thus far, Springfield’s attempt failed most ironically as Paresi crossed the ball toward forward Noah Schlesinger ’13, who passed the ball over to set Rodriguez up for the game-winner.

Highlights of the game for the Cardinals include another impressive performance by Paresi, who assisted both Redbird goals. Pat Moriarty ’14 put in a stellar debut performance at center back in place of Cabell Maddux ’13, who was serving his Red Card from the Williams game. Moriarty is the first freshman member of the team to see playing time this year.

Stay tuned as Wesleyan travels up to Waterville, Maine this Saturday to take on the undefeated Colby College White Mules.