Last week’s victories over lesser Salve Regina and Colby won’t ease the pain of Sunday’s home loss.
Jonas Powell, Photo Editor
The Cardinals’ busiest week of the season saw mixed results: victory away in Rhode Island and at home against Colby, followed by bitter defeat at home by Middlebury.
Last Tuesday, the Cardinals travelled to Newport, R.I. to face Salve Regina University, whom they had thumped 4-0 in 2014. When Brandon Sousa ’16 found Adam Cowie-Haskell ’18 for his fourth goal of the season just over 16 minutes in, it looked like the Cardinals would run away with the game. However, just seven minutes later, Wes conceded a penalty after some pressure from the Seahawks. Goalkeeper Jonas Katkavich ’17 couldn’t keep out the spot kick, and the game evened at one apiece. Luckily, the Birds responded quickly with an unassisted finish from Max Jones ’16, and found themselves up just 2-1 at halftime.
The turning point came in the 57th minute, when Jones’ low and hard cross found Komar Martinez-Paiz ’19, who cut up a defender and finished cleanly into the bottom right corner for his first of the season. Wesleyan kept applying the pressure for the next two and a half minutes, and the rebound from a Cowie-Haskell shot fell to the feet of Hans Erickson ’16, who finished resolutely. Erickson’s first strike of the year sealed victory for the Cardinals in the 60th minute.
With a win secured, the Cardinals could afford to sit back for the remainder of the match, though they gave up another penalty in the dying minutes of the game, making the final score 4-2.
Jonas Powell, Photo Editor
For the first game of a weekend doubleheader, the Cardinals returned to Middletown to face Colby College on a brisk Saturday morning. A very young and transitioning Colby side, bereft of any substantial leadership or experience meant that the Cards couldn’t know what to expect upon entering the contest. Indeed, the Mules had zero seniors, five juniors, six sophomores, and a whopping nineteen first-years rostered.
The Cards had Colby on the ropes from the get-go, as quick, precise ball movement cut open their backline. It seemed only a matter of time until the opener would come. Colby’s backline was known to be suspect entering the contest, and certainly looked it on Cowie-Haskell’s opener and second of the week, which he scored just under six minutes into the game. A ball sprayed wide found a streaking Jones, who got in behind the Colby left back and played a dangerous low cross, which deflected toward the penalty spot to Cowie-Haskell. The forward left no doubt, hammering a powerful, right-footed finish to the bottom right corner.
Later in the half, Erickson found the back of the net for the second time of the week to put the Cardinals up 2-0. Cowie-Haskell fed the midfielder, who made a surging run forward from center of the park. He powered past a Colby defender and let a left-footed shot fly from the top of the penalty box, which cut across the Colby goalkeeper and into the right side-netting.
The Cardinals, who outshot the Mules 11-2 in the first half, sealed victory with a goal courtesy of Chris Kafina ’16 just under three minutes into the second half. Teddy Lyons ’19 made a surging run forward from right back and drove a ball toward the front post, which Kafina deftly turned home for his seventh goal of the season.
However, on Sunday the Cardinals could not keep the good feelings from Tuesday and Saturday rolling. The week ended with disappointment, as the match on Jackson Field went in favor of a potent Middlebury side, 2-1.
The teams were flying right from the kick off. The match had all the telltale signs of a NESCAC thriller of the highest quality: high pressure, hard tackles, and dogged determination. Martinez-Paiz nearly found the opener in just under three minutes, but Middlebury goalkeeper Greg Sydor made the save, diving hard to his right to save the effort from point-blank range.
The Redbirds came out hot in the second half, keeping the better of possession and also registering five shots on target in the first ten minutes of the half. In front of a home crowd, the squad found their breakthrough in the 53rd minute via a lovely, flicked header from Cowie-Haskell off a set piece whipped in by Sousa.
However, in the ten minutes after the goal, the wheels seemed to come off for the Cardinals. Middlebury first-year Daniel O’Grady won the ball in the central area of Wesleyan’s half, drove the ball toward the penalty area, and finished across his body with his left foot, beating a fully-laid out Katkavich.
Middlebury was in inspired form after the equalizer, and found a winner with ten minutes left. Middlebury’s Phil Skayne ’17 beat a defender on Wesleyan’s right side and whipped a ball into classmate Greg Conrad, who flicked in the winner from just wide of the near post. A second goal for the Cardinals proved to be a bridge too far, as Middlebury came away with a 2-1 victory on the road at Jackson Field.
The Cardinals can’t afford to waste time in the doldrums after this defeat, with the first Little Three matchup of the year coming on Jackson Field this Saturday against Williams. If Middlebury was a big part of the Cardinals’ undoing last year, Williams has historically been an even bigger problem for the Cardinals. The squad has not taken down the Ephs since 2011. Williams are struggling so far by their standards, sitting two places below Wesleyan at 2-3-1 and seventh place in the NESCAC. But the game will be a massive occasion nonetheless.
“Playing against Williams this weekend will be an exciting and surreal experience,” Katkavich said. “The Little Three rivalry runs deep in the history of soccer in New England. Games against Amherst and Williams are always competitive and intense. Everything must be earned in these games; nothing will be given to you.”