The Cardinals fought through a tough stretch with a victory last Wednesday over a surprisingly competitive team from Western New England College and a loss against Middlebury on the road Saturday. The squad’s record stands at 6-2, but the loss to Middlebury drops the team to 0-2 in the NESCAC
Wes entered the mid-week match-up heavily favored over Western New England, a team that has never beaten the Cardinals. The team needed a goal by Chris Meade ’05 in the second overtime to record a 7-6 victory. Although happy to emerge victorious, team members remain a bit frustrated with their performance.
“I think this game has to be a wake-up call for the team. We just haven’t made the right adjustments since returning from Florida,” said quad-captain Jeff Jorve ’04. “At our hotel there we received wake-up calls every morning from the front desk, but that just hasn’t happened since we returned to campus. This is our first wake-up call in two weeks. We just need to adjust…”
David “Checkers” Fine ’04, sidelined by a game-related hand injury, only broke his look of grim intensity after Meade’s game-winner. Fine celebrated by raising the injured hand to the sky and shouting, “Checkmate!”
Despite Meade’s big goal, quad-captain Ian Applegate ’04 collected his sixth game ball in six victories.
Saturday the team traveled to Vermont to face the traditionally strong Middlebury Panthers, who are undefeated on the season. Despite a quality effort from the Cardinals, the Panthers rode their five-goal first quarter performance to an 11-8 victory.
“We came out in the first quarter a little too tight and they were able to get a couple of quick goals on us,” said Paul Malangone ’05. “After that we struck that perfect balance of keeping it tight and staying loose, which has been the key to our success this year, both on and off the field.”
Phil Amidon ’05 played a big role in the team’s strong play to get back in the game. Amidon continually worked hard on ground balls, and displayed his class and sportsmanship during some of the game’s chippier moments.
“I thought we looked really good against Middlebury, which is the one positive we can take out of the loss,” Jorve said. “The score might have been against us, but it was painfully clear that our team was much more attractive, which, much to my chagrin, counts for a lot in this image-driven society of ours.”
Along with Amidon, Applegate played another strong game against the Panthers.
“I thought I played an especially good game,” Applegate said. “We don’t usually give out a game ball in losses, but I was able to steal one from Middlebury during the confusion following the final buzzer, which brings my total up to seven for this year.”
The team looks to build on the strong play of players like Amidon and Applegate when Connecticut College visits Middletown on Wednesday.
“Goin’ for [game ball] number eight this Wednesday against Conn College,” Applegate said, “be there or be square.”
Leave a Reply