Men’s soccer soar past Bantams

The men’s soccer team’s 2-0 win at Trinity was a game of firsts. The team recorded its first road win, its first shutout, and its first dominant performance of the season.

“It was really cool that we won as a team,” said Peter Glidden ’07. “Everyone got a chance to play.”

Players coming off the bench scored both goals. Morgan Owen ’07 scored in the 35th minute on an incredible individual effort. After beating two players in the corner, he fired the ball across the goalmouth, where it ricocheted off a defender’s knee and into the net. It was his third goal of the year and his second straight game with a goal.

“It’s definitely nice to get our second win of the year and first on the road,” said Owen.

There were also a couple of individual firsts. Net-minder Matt Gnall ’08 made three saves while earning his first career shutout, and Matt Nevin ’09 scored the first goal of his college career. Nevin took a feed from Josh Stephens ’07, broke through the defense and blasted the ball past Trinity keeper Zac Trudeau in the 76th minute to ice the game. The play of Nevin and fellow classmate Alan Ashenfelter ’09 has raised some eyebrows around the NESCAC.

“It’s always great to have freshmen come in and help the team.” Owen said. “Nevin had a great goal yesterday, and Ashenfelter has started all three games on defense.”

Gnall was quick to praise the play of the team’s defenders.

“I want to dedicate our first shutout of the year to the back four,” said Gnall. “[Chris] Keeler [’07] and [David Bahare]stani [’07] did a great job of patrolling the middle, and [Justin] Mello [’08] and Ashenfelter made sure their strikers didn’t get in behind us along the flanks. All I had to do was sit in behind them and clean up anything that was played into the box.”

Morgan echoed Gnall’s statements.

“The back four really held us down yesterday,” he said.

Whether in the back, midfield or forward, the Cardinals were all over the Bantams. For most of the game, Trinity had to resort to launching balls the length of the field, hoping their forwards could chase it down. Wesleyan had a much more controlled style of play, constantly working give-and-gos in the middle and breaking the defensive line.

Co-captains Kevin Lohela ’06 and Noah Isaacs ’06 continued to exhibit their veteran leadership. When Lohela came off the field in the first half for a rest, he got an ovation from the already-standing contingent of Wesleyan supporters.

Jared Ashe ’07 had yet another strong game at the forward position, registering three shots. Wesleyan out- shot their opponents 15-9 overall.

Though Trinity had a somewhat rowdy fan section, the heckling only served to fuel the fire under the Cardinal players.

“I was impressed with Mike Walker’s [’08] ability to take what they said and use it as impetus to play harder,” Glidden said.

Apparently the rest of the team took the cue from Walker. They played the entire game as if possessed, getting stronger throughout. In the second half, Wesleyan out-shot the Bantams 11-6, emphasizing the Cardinals’ domination.

Next up, the Cardinals face Middlebury in Vermont on Saturday at 12 p.m.