Ninety minutes of scoreless regulation play pushed the men’s soccer game into overtime Saturday afternoon at North Field and pushed the visiting Connecticut College Camels into a state of frenzy. Wesleyan, on the other hand, kept its composure and after 1:52 of sudden-death overtime, the Cardinals emerged victorious thanks to a goal from Jarred Ashe ’07 netted from a Josh Stephens ’07 cross.
While the game was perhaps a little too close for comfort, the victory pushed the Cards to a 2-2 record in the NESCAC (3-3 overall), an important stepping stone down the path of what is hopefully a playoff-bound season.
“We obviously wanted to beat Conn. more handily than just 1-0,” said Hooter Glidden ’07 in regards to the winless record of the Camels in league play. “But it’s still awesome that we won, because every NESCAC win is important. And it was especially awesome to get a win with all those fans watching our game.”
The fans were particularly visible upon the final seconds of the game as they rushed the field in celebration of Ashe’s second goal of the season. Stephens’s assist was made possible by a through-ball to the left side of the field. After taking a touch that beat a Camel defender, Stephens sent the ball across the box to the herd of Cardinal offenders that were crashing the goal. The ball passed by a couple of players who came up just short, then met Ashe’s foot in the nick of time, as he blasted it into the back of the net, causing the crowd to go wild.
“We have very few Saturday home games this season, so we couldn’t lose this one. We basically had to win,” said Stephens. “[Connecticut College] was beating us intensity-wise at first. They wanted it really badly, and didn’t really have anything to lose. Then we settled down about halfway through and really started pushing pressure on them in the second half. There was no reason for us to let them stay with us that long.”
“We’re a lot better team than they are, but a win’s a win. Coach Wheeler was just happy that we played hard till the end,” Stephens added.
Despite the urgency of the game, the Cardinals got off to a rather slow start, with equal shots taken by both teams in the first 20 minutes. Emerging from the rocky beginning, Wesleyan ended up out-shooting its foes 14-7.
This pattern of scoreless beginnings followed by close victories has been a trend for the men’s soccer team this season. Thus far, the Cards have not scored in the first half of play, despite dominating in ball possession.
“As a team, we pass the ball around really well … we’ve possessed the ball more than our opponents in every single game. We just have trouble finding the back of the net sometimes, and that was the case against Connecticut College,” Glidden said.
In addition to the key assist-goal combination of Stephens and Ashe, there were other notable performances on Saturday that allowed the Cards to walk away with a shutout. The four starting defenders had solid performances, with several offensive pushes created by Chris Keeler ’07 and Javier Greenberg ’05. The midfielders also held the field well and some key goal-scoring opportunities were created up front.
“The goal was huge,” Glidden said. “Jarred really just got in there and stuck it in there.”
The men host non-league opponents Wheaton College on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. on North Field.
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