Despite dominating most of the game, Wesleyan men’s soccer team lost a double overtime nail-biter to Bates College 1-0 on Sunday in the first round of the NESCAC tournament. The loss eliminated the team, which entered the tournament with high expectations, from NESCAC Championship contention.
Wesleyan’s season now rests in the hands of the NCAA selection committee, who will hand out at-large bids for the NCAA tournament on November 5th. Despite being 17th in the national Division III soccer rankings, if the team fails to receive a bid its season ended Sunday against Bates.
“Sometimes soccer is a cruel game; we had plenty of chances but they just wouldn’t go down,” said Julian Canzoneri ’07. “But we’ll keep our heads up and hope for an at-large bid come Sunday.”
The Cards received the three seed in the NESCAC tournament after beating Bowdoin 1-0 on Saturday. Because the Amherst-Williams was cancelled due to rain, Amherst kept the two seed by default. A loss to Williams would have put the Lord Jeffs below Wesleyan in the standings.
Bowdoin came into Saturday’s the game with a 10-2-1 record. Rain and wind pushed the game back four hours, and forced it to be played at Smith Field, the new turf venue on Long Lane.
The two teams played a tough game, battling each other as well as the conditions. With just a minute left in the first half, Wesleyan won a corner kick. Canzoneri took the kick, which was then cleared back to Canzoneri by the Bowdoin defense. Canzoneri second bid into the box found Ross Pemmerl ’08, who headed the ball down to Jared Ashe ’07. Ashe controlled it with his left foot before sending a floater past the outstretched arms of the keeper and into the upper right corner of the net. Wesleyan’s defense held tough in the second half and the team deserved the victory.
In Sunday’s NESCAC tournament opener, the Cardinals did everything right for 103 minutes, except score. They gave themselves multiple opportunities but were thwarted time and time again by the exceptional play of Bates goalkeeper Rob Munro.
Hands-down the player of the game, Munro made 10 saves and put on a goalkeeping clinic in the shutout. Perhaps his most impressive stop came in the second half when Peter Glidden ’07 received a cross at the far post. Glidden tried to sneak the ball in the lower left corner of the net but Munro’s readjusted his body in midair to keep the ball out.
After one scoreless overtime period, Bates came out strong in the second. In the 103rd minute, Brent Morin received a pass from Ithai Schori on the right side of the box, and shot a well-placed ball across the face of the goal and into the net, far from the reach of keeper Matt Gnall ’08. Morin tore off his shirt in celebration and the Bates team went wild, while Wesleyan’s players sank to the ground in shock and disbelief.
Bates will take on Williams in Saturday’s NESCAC semifinal, and the winner will face the winner of the Middlebury-Amherst game for the NESCAC championship.
“The goal was really sudden and that would be a tough way for us to go out as seniors,” said tri-captain Jarred Ashe ’07. “If that’s how it ends, so be it, but were proud about what we did this season.”
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