Men's Soccer Flounders in Wake of Tough Losses

Author: Dave Freedman

The Middlebury men's soccer team lost its first two games of the season in back-to-back weekends, dropping a disappointing 2-0 loss to Williams College at home and a frustrating 2-0 score at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.

Despite a midweek 5-0 rout of non-conference opponent Norwich University, the Panthers have struggled to find the back of the net in the past five games.

"The one area we have to improve in is in front of goal," Head Coach David Saward said. "It's not from a lack of practice, but in matches we seem unable to find the magic touch."

Middlebury's offensive struggles are not from a lack of chances either. The team out shot Williams 28-9 and Bates 12-8 and in both losses had at least one goal disallowed by the referee.

Middlebury had been vying for the top spot in the NESCAC heading into the Williams game with its undefeated record and top-15 national ranking. It took only five minutes for the Ephs to capitalize on a counter attack that would put the visitors up 1-0.

The Panthers thought they had knotted the score with a header from J.B. Gerber '05 off a restart, but the referee indicated that Gabe Wood '06 had collided with the keeper prior to the goal. Wood had to leave the game because of the collision, but returned in the second half to turn up the team's intensity.

The Panthers played most of the second half on Williams' side of the field, but 20 minutes in Middlebury's defense was broken down by a header off a cross from a long run down the sideline.

Wood and co-captain Pat Saunders '04 picked up their efforts in the midfield, winning almost every ball they were near, giving the team chance after chance to get back in the game. Two point blank opportunities were squandered, and many more shots went out of bounds or right to the goalie.

Against Norwich the team had more success scoring, and ran away with the game with four goals in 20 minutes in the second half. Saunders started the scoring off a header from Andrew Stewart '05 fifteen minutes in, while Kellan Florio '05 netted two goals in the second half, Derek Cece '06 had one of his own and Andrew Helming '04 powered home the goal of the match with a 25 yard rip that bounced off the cross-bar and in.

Middlebury then traveled to Lewiston to face Bates, a team without a win in the NESCAC and without a victory over the Panthers in years.

"Saturday was a pretty poor performance. We just weren't as strong as we normally are, which is a little frustrating," said co-captain Jason Griffiths '04. "We came out flat in the second half and didn't seem to get up for the game at all."

The Bobcats scored off a quick counter in the second half, and added their second goal with 10 minutes remaining in the match to seal the win.

"Hopefully this is a wake-up call for us, something to get us back on track [for the rest of the season and the playoffs]," two-year start Wood said.

There are three games remaining on the team's regular season schedule, with a game against St. Michael's College this Thursday.