c/o Jaclyn Dichter

c/o Jaclyn Dichter

The Wesleyan men’s soccer program was introduced in 1924, and now in its centennial year, it is as strong as ever.

The Cards started the season with two non-conference games, beginning with an away matchup against Western New England University on Tuesday, Sept. 3. The Cards grinded out a 1–0 win as defender Zach Feldman ’27 converted on a corner in the 66th minute of play, and the defense kept the Bears scoreless to seal the win. Then on Saturday, Sept. 7, Wes took on Babson College and, although they outshot the Beavers 17–5, the match ended in a 0–0 draw. Though they’d delivered two solid performances and boasted an undefeated record, the team still felt it was not quite up to the level that they knew they could play.  

“It’s early on in the season, so we’re still trying to figure out each other,” defender Will Geballe ’26 said. “We’re playing a different formation this year than we have in the past. It took a little while to gel in certain areas. I think the Babson game was a little frustrating. Same with the Western New England game. We won, but we didn’t create as many chances as we would have liked. But I think Trinity is kind of when everything came together.”

For their NESCAC opener, the Cards took on Trinity on Wednesday, Sept. 11 and executed a historic performance, dominating the Bantams for all 90 minutes. Forward Joshwin Jennings ’27 got the Red and Black rolling as he drew first blood in the 17th minute and then struck again only 11 minutes later to give the Cards a quick 2–0 lead. The goals were the first of the season for Jennings and the first two-goal performance of his career.

Jennings went into the season hoping to make an impact on the offensive end.

“My biggest goal, being an attacking player, is to score and be as much of an offensive threat as I possibly can,” Jennings said. “If I can do my part and everyone else is, we shouldn’t have to worry about results or anything.”

With his performance against the Bantams, Jennings held up his end of the bargain, and the rest of the team was firing on all cylinders. Before the first half came to a close, the Bantams committed a foul inside the box and midfielder Zack Burd ’25 stepped up to the line and sent a missile into the Bantams goal to put Wes up 3–0. The barrage continued later in the second half as Burd threw the ball in for defender Dylan Clack ’27 who perfectly executed a header over the Bantams goalkeeper, giving Burd an assist and the Cards a 4–0 lead. Forward Calder Truesdale ’28 closed out the night with his first career goal, sealing a massive 5–0 win. 

Goalkeeper Mathis Blanc ’26 emphasized how the Cards executed their playstyle in the match.

“We had a few preseason games where we were showing signs of improvement, but I think that when Trinity started to play in a certain way, it allowed us to automatically impose our game and our system,” Blanc said. “A lot of things clicked right at that point, great finishes across the board, [our] back, solid as ever. So it was great just seeing everything that we had worked on, all coordinated into a beautiful game.”

Blanc was perfect in the game, saving all five shots that came his way, and with the shutout he secured his third straight clean-sheet, a career-high and testament to the entire defense.

“I think defensively, we’re very solid,” Geballe said. “And that doesn’t just mean the defenders, we pride ourselves on defending from back to front, so even our forwards have a lot of responsibility defensively, and we work very well as a unit.”

The five-goal margin of victory is the largest over the Bantams since 1972, and their largest shutout margin over them since 1947. 

Riding high off of the dominant victory, the Cards traveled to Clinton, N.Y. to take on Hamilton on Saturday, Sept. 14. After three goals in the first half against Trinity, the Hamilton first half felt very different. In the 25th minute, the Continentals snuck a goal past Blanc, the first time an opponent had scored all season, and the Cards went to half down one. 

“Hamilton is a very good team,” Jennings said. “I can’t take that away from them. They chipped the goalie, pretty far out. And we were so confident. I think the big thing about NESCAC schools is [that] you’re faced with adversity, and you have to come back from that. So we were down 1–0, and we were like, there’s no way we can lose this game.”

Wesleyan took the field in the second half looking to turn the momentum, and seven minutes in they got their chance. Captain and forward Chris Porte ’25 scored the equalizer off of a corner kick, but they weren’t done. In the 64th minute, Burd added his second goal in as many games off an assist from Clack. This goal ended up being the game-winner, as the Cards beat the Continentals 2–1. For his performances in the two games, Burd was awarded the NESCAC Player of the Week award, the first Cardinal honored since 2022.

Then on Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Cardinals took on Springfield at home, defeating the Pride 1–0, with the sole goal by midfielder Yousuf Saeed ’27 coming in the 14th minute of play.

On Sept. 21, Wes took on Bates on Jackson Field and grinded through a defensive battle. Although the Cards outshot the Bobcats 14–4, neither team was able to find the net, and the game ended in a 0–0 draw. Despite Blanc recording his fourth shutout, he and the team wanted more from the match.

“We approached that game making sure that offensively we are attacking, but as always, our defense is our rock, always our base,” Blanc said. “And so no matter what we do offensively, they’re not going to beat us defensively. And so [in] that 0–0 tie, I would say we were overall the better team over the two halves, and we were unfortunate not to get a result.”

After the Bates match, the Cards took on a slew of ranked opponents, starting with no. 2 Middlebury the following day. Neither offense could gather momentum in the first half and Blanc made four saves to keep the score even at zero, and for the second half it was more of the same. The Cards and Panthers were locked with neither capitalizing until finally, with eight minutes to go, the Panthers found the net, sealing the game and handing the Cards their first NESCAC loss.

On Saturday, Sept. 28, no. 5 Tufts came to Middletown and quickly set the tone against the Cards. They scored in the 12th, 13th, and 17th minutes, and although the Cardinal defense regrouped and was able to limit the damage, the game ended in a 1–4 loss with the sole Wesleyan goal coming from captain and midfielder Colin Campbell ’25 in the 81st minute. 

The Cards took a break from NESCAC play on Tuesday, Oct. 1 to take on West Connecticut State University and try to avenge their 1–3 loss from 2023. The offense awoke quickly, with a goal from midfielder Aiden Londergan ’27 only 61 seconds into the match. The defense buckled down and didn’t allow anything for the rest of the first half, and in the 69th minute, defender Josh LaCorte ’26 provided an insurance goal. Calder Truesdale added another 11 minutes later, and the Cards took the match 3–1.

The Red and Black returned to the conference on Saturday, Oct. 5 to take on Little Three rival no. 15 Amherst. Just eight minutes into the game, the Mammoths netted a goal to make the score 0–1. For the remainder of the matchup, the Cardinals held Amherst scoreless, but were unable to get points on the board, ending in a frustrating loss for the Red and Black.

“The goal conceding early was tough,” Geballe said. “But I was really proud of the way we responded afterwards. I thought we were the better team the rest of the game. Created some really good chances in the second half. It sucks to lose to Amherst, so that one hurt. But we’ve spent a lot of time looking at the game, seeing what went wrong, and we have a huge game this weekend, so we’re already focused on preparing for Williams and responding in a positive way.”

This Saturday, Oct. 12, the Cards look to bounce back against Williams and compete for the Little Three. With the Ephs beating the Mammoths 1–0 earlier this season, the path to the Little Three is wide open, and the Cards are ready to play for the title.

Erin Byerly can be reached at ebyerly@wesleyan.edu.

Ethan Lee can be reached at ejlee@wesleyan.edu.

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