Men's soccer beats Bantams and Bowdoin back-to-back

Author: Andrew Schlegel

Despite wet conditions, men's soccer won both of its crucial games last weekend, capturing a 3-0 victory over Trinity and 2-1 win against Bowdoin. In doing so, the Panthers advanced to the NESCAC semifinals where they will battle Amherst on Saturday in Williamstown, Mass.

In their last game of NESCAC regular season play, the team took on the Trinity Bantams. With terrible downpours throughout the match, the play on Dragone Field was sloppy. The poor conditions, however, did not prevent the Panthers from ending the Bantams' season.

"We knew going into the weekend that our season was in jeopardy, we had one more warm up game before the playoffs," said Casey Ftorek '08. Although the Panthers had already earned a spot in the NESCAC post-season, they were still looking for the offensive firepower, consistency and momentum needed to defeat the stronger teams in the conference.

In the 28th minute, Trinity goalkeeper Eric Wunsch came off his line to make a save off a shot from Max Mackinnon '09. Due to the poor field conditions, the ball skidded away from Wunsch, leaving an open net for Ftorek who retrieved the ball and scored the Panthers' first goal.

The Panthers added to their lead in the 77th minute when Mackinnon broke through a scrap of Bantams in the box and converted a free kick by Winston Rains '07. Mackinnon collected the loose ball and ripped a shot off the bottom of the crossbar and down just over the line. The shot's velocity and accuracy left Wunsch with no chance of making the save.

In the 86th minute, Alex Elias '08 drove a corner-kick into the box from the right side. Corey Moffat '09 elevated above all the Bantam defenders and drove the ball into the lower corner for the defender's second goal of the season. The 3-0 shutout helped boost the Panthers' confidence and gave them the momentum needed going into their first round game in the NESCAC Tournament against Bowdoin.

In the two teams' first meeting on Oct. 1, Bowdoin won 2-0. The Panthers' enthusiasm for redeeming themselves showed in this second meeting.

"We were all psyched at the opportunity to get another shot at Bowdoin up at their place," said Elias.

In the first half, the match appeared to be a defensive duel. There were few scoring opportunities. Both teams appeared to be evenly matched and really wanted to move on to play Amherst in the semifinal next week.

Nevertheless, in the 58th minute, John Sales '07 ripped a shot from the top of the box that ricocheted off of a Bowdoin defender right to Ftorek's foot. The regular season goal leader for the Panthers would not be denied, blasting the ball to the lower-left corner past Bowdoin goalkeeper Nathan Lovitz.

Just over a minute later, the Polar Bears responded with a goal of their own. Justin Ito-Adler volleyed a pass into the penalty area that deflected off of a Panther defender to Bowdoin captain John Hollis, who collected the loose ball and toed it inside the right post. In doing so, he tied the game at 1-1 in the 59th minute.

Continuing the scoring flurry, the Panthers netted a goal six minutes later. A succession of passes by the Panthers resulted in a dangerous header that Bowdoin goalkeeper Lovitz pushed over the goalpost to prevent the Panthers from scoring the go-ahead goal. However, by doing so he gave the Panthers a corner-kick. Elias was chosen for the kick, and delivered a superb ball into the box that Co-Captain Dave Lee '07 headed past Lovitz.

Bowdoin refused to give up, however, and, as a result, had several chances in the closing moments to tie up the game. But Panther goalkeeper Zach Toth '07, who made seven stops in the winning effort, would not allow another Polar Bear goal.

"It was great to have Lee get the winner," said Elias. "Successful teams have captains who step up in big games and he absolutely did that, as did Toth, who made great saves at the other end." In big games, the leaders of the team are needed to come up big and the captains certainly did, which leaves the team feeling optimistic about next weekend's semifinal match versus Amherst in which the Panthers hope to avenge their regular season loss.