On Saturday, Nov. 11, the men’s soccer team traveled to Arcadia University to play its first game of the NCAA tournament, which it had slipped into as an at-large bid. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it would prove to be their last match of the year, as the Centennial Conference champion Haverford Fords (13-7) bested the away team after a thrilling penalty-kick shootout with a score of 2-2 (4-2 penalites).
Scoring opened in the 36th minute after Haverford put one in the back of the net. While the Cardinals could have rolled over and given up on their season prematurely, they showed grit and heart in fighting back to bring the score even again. In the 39th minute, Rory O’Neill ’13 utilized his considerable height and headed a placed kick by Branda Sousa ’16 into the net to bring the game to a draw going into the half.
The second half was even until the 77th minute, when Haverford beat goalie Adam Purdy ’13 for the second time in the game (this was only the second time any team scored twice in a game against Wes all year). With time running out, defeat appeared inevitable. But incredibly, Wes put a shot on goal in the 87th minute, and Hans Erickson ’16 was credited with his first goal of the year to force an overtime.
The extra time passed uneventfully, and the game went into a shootout. The first shot by Wesleyan was saved, and from that point on they were in a hole. Haverford scored their first three, and though Wesleyan fought back, they were unable to keep the game going after Haverford placed their fourth shot in the net.
One bright spot on an otherwise forgettable week concerned the recently released end of the year NESCAC honors. The Cards fared well in many categories. Most impressively, tri-captain Purdy was named NESCAC Player of the Year. The captain had a tremendous season and has ranked among the best goalkeepers in the ’Cac since he arrived on campus as a freshman. Joining Purdy as a recipient of NESCAC first-team honors is fellow captain and midfielder O’Neill. The second-team honors included two more Cardinals, defenseman Ben Bratt ’15 and midfielder Chris Kuehn ’13. The contributions of the decorated senior class are immeasurable, and the talent that will leave after this season will certainly be missed. Nevertheless, the future remains bright for one of the most respected NESCAC programs, and hopefully the Cardinals will be able to mount another charge at the title next year.