Men's soccer opens with two shutout wins

Author: Andrew Schlegel

The men's soccer team began its season with a convincing 4-0 win over the Connecticut College Camels on Saturday in New London, Conn. The win capped a day in which Middlebury trumped the Camels in all three sports, as field hockey and women's soccer were also victorious.

Junior transfer Casey Ftorek, who came by way of Union College, started off the scoring parade with a goal in the sixth minute, assisted by Baer Fisher '09. Ftorek added his second tally in the 17th minute. The Panthers ended the first half with a 2-0 lead in which the defense shut down the Camels and limited them to few scoring opportunities.

The second half was nearly identical to the first as the Panthers continued to control the game. The one scare came from a Camel shot that hit the post. John Sales '07 scored in the 46th minute, off an assist from Nathaan Demers '08.5, getting the second half off to a quick start. With a beautiful assist from Winston Rains '07, Ftorek completed his first hat trick as a Panther in the 75th minute. The offensive onslaught from the Panthers was too much for the Camels to handle with nine shots and six corners. Connecticut College goalkeeper Ted Lane made five saves, but almost half of the shots he saw found the back of his net.

The team's defense was impressive allowing only four shots on goal. Co-captain and goalkeeper Zach Toth '07, made two saves, but for the most part was not tested.

"We showed instances where we had great skill in possessing the ball," said Toth. "And our finishing was on target which is nice to see this early in the season. Yet we still have much room to improve and this weekend will be a good test both Saturday and Sunday."

Toth was given a little more action Tuesday, but he and Brian Bush '09 combined for a 5-0 shut-out at Castleton State. Fisher scored twice and Ftorek added another goal, plus an assist. Five Middlebury substitutes came off the bench and recorded shots on goal. Said Toth, "The hardest thing to do for a game like this is to play our game of soccer. I think we achieved that and were able to see some of the young talent get some time."

Toth began the season with a 94.4 save percentage and by stopping all six shots he's faced this year, he is well on his way to finishing his career as Middlebury's best goalie. Saturday's and Tuesday's games marked his ninth and tenth career shutouts. Last year, Toth went a whopping 596:30 without giving up a goal and looks to break his own mark with the help of his strong defense.

Starting off the season two strong road wins leaves high hopes for the season.

The men will battle the Jumbos from Tufts this Saturday at 1:00.