The defending NESCAC champions for two years running, the men’s soccer team has had a mixed season so far, with a current NESCAC record of 2-3-1 and an overall record of 6-3-2. The team is ranked eighth in the NESCAC with four more league games this season.
The team came out of the weekend with a 1-0 double overtime loss against Trinity (3-4-0 NESCAC, 6-4-1 overall) and a 2-0 win against Colby (1-4-2 NESCAC, 4-6-2 overall). Captain Cedric Charlier ’17 was happy with how the team played and has confidence that the team will continue to succeed.
“We played well last weekend,” said Charlier. “Obviously, we didn’t get both the wins, but hopefully we can get on a run now. We beat Colby, we played well and scored some goals.”
Although the team has gone into overtime or double overtime in five out of their last seven games, they have only been able to secure one win out of the five close matches, which came against Thomas College (8-4-1) on October 3. Head Coach Scott Wiercinski attributes these losses to the strength of NESCAC teams and isn’t surprised the team goes into overtime so frequently.
“The string of overtime games started with Bates, and we made some important mistakes that allowed it to go into overtime. We couldn’t salvage the win, but I think that we’ve learned through those loses,” said Wiercinski. “In some ways, it’s good the win is more recent, so the trend is going in a positive direction.”
Several seniors who had significant roles on the team last spring graduated, which could have set the team back this season, but new players have already performed well under game-day pressure.
“Over the course of the season, we’ve made some mistakes, but we’ve really grown up and a lot of younger players have stepped up to do important things on game day,” said Wiercinski. “We’ve got several [first years] who are performing really well and we’ve got guys playing in different positions that we wouldn’t necessarily have expected them to play, but they’re performing well.”
The team will face off against Hamilton (4-2-1 NESCAC, 6-4-1 overall) and Williams (3-2 NESCAC, 6-2-2 overall) in two away games this weekend. At the moment, the team is focused on defeating Hamilton and plans to use the full complement of their roster in what will be a very physical game.
“Hamilton’s a very good team. They’re ahead of us in the standings and they’re difficult to play against,” said Wiercinski. “They’re performing a little bit better than they have historically, so I think they have confidence and a lot of reasons to be confident.”
Strategically, the team is focusing on preventing goals, particularly ones that haven’t been hard-earned. Like every game, the players are also focusing on their steadfast mentality.
“We approach every game in a similar way,” said Charlier. “We have our core tenets that we go into every game with: high energy, hard work, quality and being even-keeled.”
Overall, Wiercinski is proud of the team’s dedication and is excited for what’s to come.
“I’m really happy with the effort, the mentality and the investment with our guys. We always like to fix some of the results and mistakes, but that’s true whether you’re 12-2 or 5-5,” said Wiercinski. “If our guys continue to do what they’ve been doing, which we have full confidence they will, I’ll be happy when we’re done. They do their job.”