Bowdoin men’s soccer will face defending national champion Amherst (14-1-1, 8-1-1 NESCAC) in the NESCAC Semifinals on Saturday after defeating No. 2 Tufts (9-5-2, 6-2-2 NESCAC) last Saturday during the Polar Bears’ quest for their third consecutive NESCAC title.
Amherst took the top NESCAC seed this year, making this the fifth season it has entered the tournament seeded first or second. The team has dominated the league over the past few years with its size and physicality.
“They like to put a lot of big guys on the field,” said goalkeeper Noah Safian ’17. “They do not play pretty soccer by any means. They just blast the ball up the field—but I guess it works for them. They won the national championship last year and ranked No. 1 in the country for most of this year. They had a lot of success this year; it is not pretty, but it is effective.”
The matchup is daunting as Amherst has only lost one game all season. That one loss, however, was a 3-0 defeat by Tufts, who the Polar Bears beat twice in the same week. The team is optimistic going into the match, but doesn’t underestimate Amherst’s dominance on the pitch.
“We really have to be almost perfect,” said Safian. “Having that concentration and discipline to see when your teammate messes up, that you will be there to fix it every single time. We have to have that discipline, dedication and concentration.”
The team has a lot of success to build off of going into this weekend, particularly from Safian, who has had a stand-out performance in the team’s past few games. Despite only having a few hours of playing time in the first 10 matches of the season, he’s stepped up as starting goalkeeper since Stevie Van Siclen ’18 went out with an injury in the team’s match against Trinity in the beginning of October. The team hasn’t lost a match with Safian starting in goal; he has racked up 30 saves over the last six games.
In the quarterfinal match against Tufts, Safian played a critical role for the Bowdoin defense, preserving the Bears’ lead with a diving save in the final minutes.
“Safian had some major saves,” said Ely Spencer ’20. “I think there were only four saves, but they were key saves that really helped us stay in the game and keep our lead.”
Although Bowdoin was on the defensive for most of the second half, in which Tufts claimed an 18-11 edge in shots and a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks, the Polar Bears handled this pressure with poise and strategy and were able to edge the Jumbos in shot accuracy and with a tough defensive line.
“There were a lot of good last-minute defensive [plays] from the whole back line,” Safian said, “A lot of guys stepped up and made really good plays.”
“They were looking pretty dangerous at a point and had a couple of chances they probably should have scored on,” said Spencer. “We just held on like we’ve done in a lot of games. In the regular season that has kind of been our whole attitude; we have just been able to find a way to win games.”
The team hopes to continue to find a way to win tomorrow when they travel to Amherst to face off in the NESCAC Semifinals at 1:30 p.m.