It took only one goal in the tenth minute of play for the mens’ soccer team to break the Camels back. For good measure, the Cards added four more, to knock off NESCAC rival Connecticut College 5-1 on Saturday.
“We really got over the hump offensively against the Camels,” said Pete Glidden ’07 of the team’s win.
Looking to build on an impressive midweek performance against Coast Guard that saw them create many chances, the Wesleyan men’s soccer team headed to Connecticut College (2-4 overall, 0-4 NESCAC). In what was at times a choppy contest, the Cardinals (4-2 overall, 2-2 NESCAC) stayed composed and emerged with the win and their highest scoring total since their last visit to Connecticut College during the 2003 campaign.
It did not take long for the Cardinals to silence the crowd of 1,000-plus as Brandon Smith ’08 connected on his second goal of the season 10:53 into the game off a well-played ball from Matt Nevin ’08.
The Cardinals continued to dominate play throughout the first half as they did well to switch the ball out the backside and exploit large gaps in the bewildered Camels’ midfield. This fluid ball movement led to the Cardinals second goal of the game.
Co-captain Kevin Lohela ’06 received a pass from Justin Mello ’08 on the left flank, ran past his defender to the goal line and sent a beautiful cross to Morgan Owen ’07 who coolly finished for his team-leading fourth goal of the season. The first half ended with the Cardinals leading 2-0 on the scoreboard and 13-4 in shots.
Cardinal goalkeeper Matt Gnall ’08 and his defense calmly handled sporadic offensive pressure from the Camels, particularly from Camels’ striker Darrell Comrie ’06.
“Not only did we hand out a 5-1 spanking, but we ruined their homecoming and stole their women/homecoming banners,” said an exuberant Gnall afterwards.
Jared Ashe ’07 was impressive in his second start in the back as Chris Keeler ’07 continues to recover from a back injury suffered against Middlebury. While Ashe won many of the balls played towards him in the air, Mello continued to play stingy defense on the outside left. Although Gnall was only called on to make two saves, he came out well for balls played into his box and made a solid save off a tricky bounce midway through the second half. The Camels’ only goal was scored by Everett Phillips ’06 off a loose ball in the box with 10:19 left in the contest.
Wesleyan came out hungry to put the game away early in the second half and Smith scored his second goal of the game just over five minutes in. Taking a great ball from Josh Stephens ’07, Smith did the rest with a deft touch around the Camels’ goalkeeper and confident finish from six yards out.
The frustrated Camels helped the Cardinals’ cause by receiving two red cards during the second half. Camels midfielder Rob Paniccia ’08 received the first one after giving Cardinals Co-captain Noah Isaacs ’06 a swift slap to the face. The second came after Nevin was taken out by a hard and dangerous cleats-first tackle.
The Cardinals responded in the best way possible by pumping home two more goals before the final whistle. Chris Brown ’07 scored possibly the prettiest goal of the game, heading home a perfect ball from Ross Pemmerl ’08. Zach Steinberg ’08 finished off the scoring, beating an out-of-position Camels goalkeeper with a cheeky near post shot.
Overall, the team was satisfied with their offensive output. “After talking all season about sealing the deal early in the game, it was satisfying to finally stick it in again and again and put the game out of reach,” said Lohela. “Zach Steinberg had a fantastic shot that caught the goalie off guard from the rear. Overall, it was great seeing multiple players get involved in the action, especially some of the first timers.”
The Cardinals will next travel to Norton, MA to face a very solid out of conference opponent in Wheaton College before returning home Saturday for a contest against NESCAC foe Colby.
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