Although the men’s soccer team opened their season to a dissapointing 0-2 loss to Wesleyan last Saturday, the Polar Bears turned things around on Monday, shutting out the University of Southern Maine in a 8-0 victory.
In Saturday’s game Bowdoin was unable to rally after Wesleyan scored two first-half goals.
“We were disappointed, but we know Wesleyan is one of the best teams in the league, and they were starting a lot of seniors,” Head Coach Fran O’Leary said.
According to O’Leary, the team took the loss well despite it being their first game.
“The team reacted well—they’re a good team with good leadership,” he said.
Monday’s game was an important step toward helping the team find its groove again after a lackluster start. In the match against USM, Bowdoin scored eight goals, the highest single-game total since 2006. This strong showing might just energize the team as the season moves forward.
“We just hope to get better with every game. We learned valuable lessons from our first defeat, but we don’t want to get too excited over just one loss.” O’Leary said. “We plan to build on [Monday’s] performance,”
The team will play its next game at home against the University of Maine–Farmington on Saturday, September 15 at noon.