Men’s soccer returned to NESCAC competition in stellar form on Saturday afternoon in Medford, Mass. with a 1-0 shutout of the Tufts Jumbos.

The lone goal came in the 72nd minute from a set piece at the Tufts’ end. Dan Issroff ’15 shorted a corner from the right side to Ian Waldron ’13, who hit a low cross that managed to evade a herd of Jumbo defenders before falling to Rory O’Neill ’13. Six yards out with his back partially toward the net, O’Neill pivoted and deposited a shot in the lower right corner for his second goal of the season.

Up to that point, much of the match had unfolded around the midfield, with scant scoring opportunities for both squads. Tufts outshot Wesleyan 11-7 on the afternoon and 6-2 in the first half, although most of these were relatively non-threatening attempts from further than 20 yards out. In total, only three Jumbo shots were on goal, all of which were stopped by Adam Purdy ’13.

One bright spot for Tufts was the performance of midfielder Gus Santos ’15. Displaying tremendous speed and foot skills, the rookie Santos proved a consistently dangerous outlet. He led the Jumbos with three shots, two of which were on goal. However, the Cardinal right side contributed a solid effort of their own, succeeding in forcing Santos inside and preventing a direct path down the line.

The victory improves Wesleyan’s overall record to 2-0-1, with both wins coming from their two NESCAC contests.

What does this mean to the team thus far?

“We’re delighted to be undefeated, but we fully understand that this is just the beginning,” said forward Noah Schlesinger ’13.“We’re looking forward to maintaining our focus with some big NESCAC games this week.”

Stay tuned as Wesleyan challenges the Connecticut College Camels on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. in New London, Conn.