Men's Soccer Gets a Kick Out of Winning

Author: Dave Freedman

Middlebury's men's soccer team fought tirelessly on Saturday in Middletown, Conn., to earn its fourth straight win of the season in a 1-0 decision over the Wesleyan University Cardinals before trouncing Colby-Sawyer four days later, 4-0. With their fifth straight shutout, the Panthers entered the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) New England Regional poll at the number four spot, in front of archrival Williams College and right behind Amherst College.

Middlebury has shutout all of its opponents this season, and heading into Saturday's match the Panthers knew they would have to step up the intensity even further to gain another road win.

"Wesleyan has two of the better strikers in the league, so we needed to bring a very high level of concentration and determination to the match," Head Coach David Saward said. "Nick Colacchio '05 was absolutely magnificent, Daniel diTomasso '06 performed with admirable poise and composure while Jason Griffiths '04 provided great leadership and the necessary positional play to keep their scoring chances at a bare minimum." Traditional start Gabe Wood was hampered by an early yellow card and significant cramping in the 90 degree day, but returned late in the game to help preserve the shutout.

The defensive rotation along with midfielders Derek Cece '06, John Sales '07, Andrew Stewart '04 and co-captain Pat Saunders '03, "played unbelievable in such a scrappy game," commented co-captain Griffiths. "For a while it was anyone's game, and as a team we just stepped up the intensity and did what we had to do to get out of there place with a win."

The game was incredibly tight throughout, but Middlebury got its only goal of the game when Matt Haddad '05 got a throw in opportunity 15 yards from the goal line 10 minutes into the second half. Haddad, with one of the more powerful throws on the team, put the ball to Saunders head at the corner of the six. Saunders flicked the ball on to Andy Peters '04 who headed the ball home in full stride to notch the game's only goal.

Middlebury avoided a barrage of Wesleyan opportunities in the waning minutes of the game, seeing one ball come as close as clanging off the far post on an open header. Craig Hirsch '05 preserved his third shutout of the season with five saves, while John Rusten '05 returned for his first game of the year to help settle down the Middlebury offense early on.

On Tuesday, the Panthers hosted non-conference rival Colby-Sawyer. Middlebury's poise and alacrity were too much for their overmatched opponents, as confident goal scoring by Sam Raymond '05, Stewart, Haddad and Wood saw the team to a perfect 5-0 record.

Middlebury has picked up two road wins in NESCAC to put themselves in a tie for first in the conference with Amherst. The Panthers have a string of key conference match-ups over the next month that will do much to determine their championship designs, culminating with a game against Williams on Oct. 11.