Panther attack sputters in NESCAC semifinal Middlebury's season comes to a close in a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Amherst

Author: Tom McCann

Greece shocked the world when it won the European Championships in 2004, Porto came from nowhere to win the Champions League in the same year and more recently Liverpool did the same. All four African representatives at the World Cup in Germany - Angola, Cote d'Iviore, Ghana and Togo - qualified together for the first time, and in this era of surprise packages, Wesleyan claimed their first NESCAC soccer Championship at Williams last weekend. Middlebury was ousted at the semi-final stage by Amherst, which was ultimately beaten in the final on a weekend of upsets

Before the Panthers kicked off against the Lord Jeffs, Williams had already succumbed to Wesleyan in the other semi-final by a score of 1-0. The hosts, and top seeds, conceded an early goal and a resilient Cardinal defense ensured a first NESCAC soccer championship game appearance for Wesleyan after previously shocking Bowdoin to earn a spot in the semis.

Headin-g into its crunch with Amherst, junior John Sales revealed that the Panthers preferred to focus on doing what they need to do, rather than focus on their opposition. "We wanted to play together for the full 90 minutes, win 50-50 balls and put the ball on net. We did that, but we just weren't able to finish," he said.

After a 2-1 reverse to Amherst earlier this year, Sales confirmed it was always likely to be a close game. "We've played them enough to know what they're like and they know what we're like. On any given day the game could go either way," he commented, although unfortuately, on this occassion, it was Amherst's day.

Ultimately, the Panthers came away empty-handed after a goal from a corner, 13 minutes into the game, settled the contest. Junior Winston Rains commented, "They got an early goal and we just weren't able to finish." He continued, "We played very well at the back and in the middle, but we just weren't able to finish in the final third." Much as in Wesleyan's smash-and-grab against Williams earlier in the day, Amherst displayed the same defensive mentality against the Panthers. "I got the feeling that once they had the one goal they sat back and protected it. They defended with everyone and momentum is a big thing - they played to protect their lead," said Sales.

While the Panthers had possession of the ball for large parts of the game, converting their chances proved to be their downfall. In fact, Rains pointed out that this has been the Achilles' heel of the team in the latter stages of their campaign. "Not being able to score goals has been sort of a trend in the second half of the season. After we started the season 7-0, with the exception of the St. Mike's game, we averaged a goal a game - even including the four we scored against Bates." However, Rains was quick to counter any argument that the Panthers were lacking confidence heading into the weekend, saying, "We had a great week of practice and I thought we were shooting and finishing well in practice. It just wasn't translating well in games."

By the time the Wesleyan pulled off another upset, beating Amherst 3-2 in the final, claiming their first NESCAC title since the 1984 Cross Country team, the Panthers were back at Middlebury, reflecting on the end of another season. Despite the disappointment of failing to make the NCAA Tournament, Rains was quick to pull the positive out of the Panthers' season. "We had some great team unity and there was a real willingness to fight through things. We had some tough times, but the guys stayed strong in their relationships," he said. Looking forward, Rains is optimistic, saying, "We've had some players really step up, and going forward we'll have a great team."

However, while the end of a season marks a time for the younger players to look to the next, it marks the end of an era for others. This class of Coach David Saward's will lose seniors, Dan diTomasso, Jake Whitted, Simon Perkins, Chris Rodgers and Captains Derek Cece and Gabe Wood. Of these six members of the squad, Rains said, "they have shown great leadership and are great guys to have around. The team says thank you and farewell - we're going to miss them a lot."