The ball finally bounced in Wesleyan’s favor on Wednesday afternoon, as men’s soccer held on for a 2-1 home victory over the Wheaton College Lyons. With the win, the Cardinals snapped a two-game skid to even their overall record at 3-3-0.
The Redbirds drew first blood in what proved to be the lucky thirteenth minute when a 20-yard direct kick by Steve Paresi ’12 hit off the wall of defenders and bounded into the left side of the net. Ten minutes later, Geoff Zartarian ’11 put the Cards up two goals to nil when he burst through a melee on the outskirts of the Wheaton box, intercepted the ball, and blasted it past the Wheaton goalie.
As the first half expired, the Lyons had still failed to score. Although Wesleyan had some breathing room, the game was far from over.
The second half saw Wheaton crank up the heat on offense, as they outshot Wesleyan by a tally of 12-1. However, many of these were from a great distance out, and the Cardinal back four stuck to their guns and repelled the deluge.
“We were just absorbing pressure,” said defender Ian Waldron ’13.
Wesleyan goalie Adam Purdy ’13 also exhibited a strong performance, tying a career-high seven saves.
Wheaton finally managed to convert in the eighty-first minute when Lyon forward Alex Redding received the ball from 25 yards out and sprinted it down the gullet of an off-guard Cardinal defense before blasting it past Purdy. The effort was too little too late, however, and the Cards fought off several successive Lyon attacks while the clock ran out.
The win over Wheaton, previously ranked seventh in New England and twenty-third nationally, will hopefully work to establish a degree of confidence for Wesleyan moving forward. Stay tuned as the Redbirds take on NESCAC and in-state rival Trinity College this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on Jackson Field.
Comments are closed