Men's soccer cools off to a solid 9-3 record

Author: Tom McCann

The Middlebury men's soccer team fell from a perfect 7-0 start to 9-3 over the past couple of weeks, highlighted by a defeat to perennial rivals, Williams. The Panthers' 2-3 record over the Fall Break period means that they will not earn a bye through the first round, but should be seeded high enough to host their NESCAC first round match. The honor of hosting the Final Four will likely to go the Ephs, giving the Panthers a chance to avenge their defeat in the regular season.

The Panthers' perfect 7-0 start was ruined before Williams came to town, however, by local rivals Norwich. A game that Middlebury has won 4-0 and 5-0 in the past two years proved to be anything but as easy, with the Cadets scoring the first goal of the game in the 39th minute. When Middlebury goalkeeper, Zack Toth '07 was beaten, it marked the first goal Middlebury had conceded in almost 600 minutes of action - a remarkable run. Sophomore sensation Dave LaRocca answered for the Panthers, however, in the second half, leaving the game evenly poised at 1-1 heading into overtime. With less than four minutes remaining, the Cadets notched their second goal of the game, a decisive one, handing Coach Saward's men their first defeat, despite out-shooting their hosts 20-9.

In truth, the defeat could not have come at a worse time, with Williams coming to town almost immediately afterwards. Coming into the game, Middlebury were the best-ranked team in New England, and sixth in the nation, having not lost a conference game to date. Likewise, the Ephs had been perfect in their conference, and were ranked second in New England and 13th nationally. It was set up as a heavyweight title fight, and so it proved to be. Unfortunately for the Panthers, when a redirected pass was turned past Toth by Dana Leary of Williams, the game swung decidedly in favor of the visitors. Try as they might, the Panthers could not break down a resolute Williams rearguard, falling 0-1 on the day. The Panthers can count themselves unlucky, however, to have been denied a penalty in the final minute, when the ball struck the hand of a Williams player in the penalty -box. To the dismay of the players and fans, the referee turned a blind eye and waved away the Panther protests, condemning Middlebury to their second defeat in four days.

If anyone feared Middlebury would suffer a hangover from two crushing defeats when they faced St. Michael's, they need not have worried. Gabe Wood '06 surged atop the Panther scoring charts with three goals in the first five minutes, turning what might have been a contest, into something that more resembled a training exercise. By half time, David Lee '07, Baer Fisher '09 and LaRocca had extended the Panther's lead to six. James Giampietro notched the first goal of his college career with ten minutes remaining, rounding out a 7-0 rout.

However, the St. Michael's game did not inspire another win-streak as Amherst handed Middlebury it's third loss of the season on their own field. A grueling stretch of the season had Middlebury play five games in 11 days, and in this, the fourth, Middlebury could not maintain an early lead. After less than seven minutes, Fisher gave the Panthers the lead, nodding home a corner from senior Jake Whitted, but Amherst had cancelled the goal out before half time, equalizing seven minutes before the break. In the second half, Amherst took advantage of a tiring Middlebury squad, scoring a second goal to take all the points. The Panthers fought valiantly, but could not pull themselves back into the game, slipping to their third defeat in four games.

From whisperings of a perfect season, Middlebury found itself at 8-3, and in doubt of whether or it would host the first round of NESCAC games. A win against Bates was imperative if the Panthers were to earn the right to play at home next weekend, and when they needed to, Saward's men came through. In a "lead-by-example" display, Captain Derek Cece '06 scored twice within three minutes during the first half, after Allen Bourdon '09 opened the scoring for the Panthers with the first goal of his Middlebury career. Junior Billy Brennan added a fourth for the Panthers in the second half, who gave up two consolation goals to their hosts towards the end of the game. The result was never in doubt however, and Middlebury improved to 9-3 on the season.

With one regular season game remaining, a contest at Trinity on Saturday, attention will soon be fixed on the business of the post-season. Middlebury will expect to host their first-round match, before likely heading to Williams, should they win. Coach Saward's men will have had seven days to recover from a brutal stretch of the season by the time the Trinity game gets underway, and so should come out fresh and ready to bring home a NESCAC Championship.