Brandon Smith ’08 and Matt Nevin ’09 each tallied a goal as Wesleyan won its fourth straight game, knocking off Colby 2-0. Smith’s goal in the 65th minute came off a pass from Peter Glidden ’07 to break the scoreless tie.
Colby (4-4, 1-4 NESCAC) rallied after the goal to apply pressure on the Cardinals until the 80th minute when the Cards struck again. Smith received a pass from Nevin and put the ball away for his team-leading fourth goal of the year. He also has a point in each of the last four games, during which he has four goals and two assists. Nevin is second on the team with three goals.
Keeper Matt Gnall ’08 and the defense teamed up for their second consecutive shutout, the fourth of the year. Gnall only had to make two saves in the game, though that was no easy task on such a rain-dampened afternoon.
Chris Keeler ’07 sat out again with a back injury, forcing Jared Ashe ’07 to play the full game as a central defender. Outside fullbacks Justin Mello ’08 and Alan Ashenfelter ’09 were instrumental in thwarting the flank attacks of Colby, as were Ashe and David Baharestani ’07 in the middle.
Colby returned its top four goals-scorers from last year, including Dan Kierman and midfielder Captain Bobby Abendroth. Despite the strong players, Wesleyan kept its opponents quiet.
The rain made for some sloppy play, as expected, though the game was moved from North Field to the team’s Long Lane practice field. Wesleyan out-shot their opponents 13-2 in improving their record to 6-2 overall, 3-2 in the NESCAC. All but two of their games have been decided by two goals or less.
Though Colby had a fifteen-minute span in the second half where they pressured the Wesleyan defense, the Cardinals’ midfielders dominated the bulk of play. The contingent of co-captains Kevin Lohela ’06 and Noah Isaacs ’06, Glidden and Josh Stephens ’07 was instrumental in providing through-balls to the forwards as well as controlling the ball out of the air. Also seeing time in the midfield were Morgan Owen ’07, Julian Canzoneri ’07, Zach Schechter-Steinberg ’08, Oscar Parente ’09, Mike Walker ’08, and Ross Pemmerl ’08.
Next up, the Cardinals take on Vassar at home on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
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