It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
In a meaningless game against Vassar, the last placed team in the Liberty League, the Cardinals were unable to muster any offensive momentum. With only fourteen out of twenty-five players at the field for the start of the game because of classes, Wesleyan was unable to get anything going at either end of the field.
Just three minutes and forty-six seconds into the game, Adam Marsh scored the first of his three goals off a set play, putting the Cardinals on their heels.
Perhaps already looking ahead to the weekend, in which they will be playing the seventh-ranked team in the nation, Wesleyan put forth a mostly lackluster performance in which they put only three shots on net the entire game.
The second half was more of the same, as Marsh added his fifth tally of the season off yet another long ball from Nate Malinkowski just eight minutes into the period. In the seventy-sixth minute, Marsh completed his hat trick, giving him the team lead in goals and ending Wesleyan’s hopes of a comeback.
Starting in goal for the Cards was Jamie Hiteshew ’08, who made his third start of the season. Though all of the starters played, many of the non-regulars got extra playing time in anticipation of the upcoming game at Williams.
Head Coach Geoffrey Wheeler realized the value in taking such a loss to an underestimated opponent this late in the season.
“Let’s hope we got all our mistakes out of the way today,” said Wheeler. “I felt we lacked in effort, execution, and focus today. Fortunately we have an opportunity to make up for it on Saturday against Williams.”
Hopefully this is a wake-up call for the Cardinals, who have had a great deal of success this season. As energetic and hungry as Vassar came out on Wednesday, Williams will be twice as bloodthirsty on Sunday.
Wesleyan hopes to end its well-publicized string of futility against Williams on Sunday in Williamstown and advance to the NESCAC Championship on Sunday.
Leave a Reply