The men’s soccer team opened its season on September 3 with a 2-0 home victory against Endicott College, before falling to Wesleyan 2-1 in its conference opener on Saturday.
Despite the loss, Bowdoin showed improvement from the first to the second game.
“I think we’re starting to get into the flow of things,” captain Eric Goitia ’15 said. “From Endicott to Wesleyan there was a big improvement in our play. We’re understanding how to possess the ball better and be a better team both offensively and defensively. We’re learning how to conserve energy better on both ends.”
In its first two games, Bowdoin has shown encouraging signs on the offensive side of the ball.
“We haven’t spent a ton of time working on offense because defense is first, though the three goals we’ve scored have been attractive combinations of play involving lots of different players,” said Head Coach Scott Wiercinski. “I think if we do that more we’re going to be successful.”
Matt Dias Costa ’17 and Ben Citrin ’16 scored Bowdoin’s goals against Endicott.
“Against Endicott we had some good wing play which led to one of our goals, and the other goal came from a great through ball,” captain Thomas Henshall ’15 said. “That victory against Endicott was good because we had a much stronger performance in the second half.”
“In the three goals we’ve scored so far, Andrew Jones [’16] has been involved in each of them, Danny Melong [’15] has been involved in a few of them, and Ben Citrin had two fantastic contributions to both goals in the first game versus Endicott,” said Wiercinski.
“Possession has been mediocre,” he added. “We haven’t passed the ball as well as we’ve liked, but I was happy to see a big improvement at the end of the Endicott game and the Wesleyan game. Maybe confidence was the issue from the start—so if we gain some confidence we’ll continue to grow as a team.”
Bowdoin graduated several key players last spring, particularly at the forward and center back positions, and new players have been given the opportunity to step forward as a result.
“We’ve had Cedric Charlier [’17] and Connor Keefe [’16] step up and do a great job at forward,” said Goitia. “Those are both big, strong guys up top and they bring a lot of energy. Nabil Odulate [’16] has also stepped in well. He’s got a lot of speed so he brings a different dynamic.”
“I think if we go up the ladder and keep on improving every game, we’ll be very good by the end of the season,” Wiercinski said. “Obviously you want to start the season on top, but that’s difficult with a short preseason to get everyone on the same page.”
“Right now we’re focusing on each game’s improvement. So going from Wesleyan to Amherst, our goal is to improve against Amherst,” Goitia said.
The Polar Bears take on the Lord Jeffs at home tomorrow at noon.