Men's Soccer Tames Tufts in Quarters

Author: Dave Freedman

One rip from co-captain Jason Griffiths '04 was all Middlebury's men's soccer team would need to top Tufts University 1-0 in the first round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Tournament on Sunday.

The Jumbos goalkeeper deflected senior Andrew Stewart's curving corner kick out of the goalmouth only to see Griffiths place a low shot into the left side of the goal to propel the Panthers into a semifinal match with nationally ranked Bowdoin College at Williams College's Cole Field on Nov. 8.

"It was a great win, a real great win," said Griffiths, who was named NESCAC player of the week for his goal and defensive performance in helping the Panthers secure their 11th shut out of the season. "We are really happy to just be playing next weekend."

The team earned its fourth straight victory in a hard fought game in difficult conditions after days of rain, but in order to keep its championship hopes and NCAA tournament berth goals alive the team will have to step its level of play up even more.

Middlebury had opened the season with an impressive record, only to fall into a midseason slump of two losses and two ties while being held to one goal in five games. Prior to this swoon, the Panthers had been in contention for first place in the NESCAC, and could have possibly found their way into the NCAA postseason without needing to win the NESCAC Championship. The squad had high expectations for this season, but this group of guys doesn't seem to mind the pressure of fulfilling its goals of postseason success the hard way over the coming weeks.

"It's exciting, we're feeling good and defending well," said starter Andrew Stewart '04. "And lately we've played some of the best soccer we've played all year."

Stewart and the rest of the senior class has been a major reason for the recent success. With co-captains Griffiths and Pat Saunders '04 anchoring the defensive duties and providing plenty of leadership, Stewart and Jake Armstrong '04 heading the midfield up, and Matt Scheufele '04, Andy Peters '04, and Andrew Helming '04 coming off the bench to give quality time as substitutes, much of the Panthers' success can be attributed to this veteran group of athletes.

On Saturday all seven of these seniors were part of the starting 11 against Connecticut College, as it was the last home game of the regular season for Middlebury. The seniors, as well as the rest of the team, played extremely well for the first 20 minutes, moving the ball into Connecticut's 18-yard box several times for quality scoring opportunities but coming up short each time. First-year John Sales provided the winning goal in the second half heading in his own rebound for his sixth score of the year.

Middlebury will play 11th ranked Bowdoin at 1:30 this Saturday in Williamstown, Mass, in a battle between two teams riding waves of momentum into the match. Middlebury tied Bowdoin 1-1 on Sept. 28, but the Panthers will have their hands full with their Maine rivals, who have not had a bad outing since that game. The Polar Bears head into the match-up ranked number two in NESCAC, on the heels of a dominant nine game winning streak that saw them surrender only a single goal while scoring 26.