Men’s Soccer Battles Tufts, Eastern Connecticut State

IAN McDONALD ’20
STAFF WRITER
The Men’s Soccer Team came out of the week with a 1-1 record, bringing their overall season record to 7-5-2, with an in conference record of 3-5-1.
The week prior, the Bantams went 0-1-2 in a trio of games, which were their final home matches of the season. Trinity played two incredibly tight contests against Western Connecticut State and Middlebury, which both ultimately ended in draws after two overtimes. After allowing a goal in the first five minutes of the match against Western, the Bantams quickly responded in the 19th minute, when Sam Hoffman ’19 took a pass from Michael Burns ’20 and put it past the keeper. The rest of the match was a defensive stalemate, ultimately ending in a 1-1 draw. Trinity goalkeeper Domenic Quade ’17 recorded six saves in the match and six more in their defensive standoff with Middlebury.
Their week didn’t get any easier as they took on the Tufts University Jumbos, the No. 9 team in New England, on Oct. 16. The match was at a stalemate for the first 25 minutes until Tufts senior Gaston Bercherano was finally able to squeak one by Quade in the 26th minute. Quade, who finished the match with nine saves, came up big in the latter parts of the first half when he was able to deny Tufts forwards from two quick scoring chances.
Tobias Gimand ’17 led the Bantams with five shot attempts, two of which were on goal, while Andrew Bruno ’17 added two shots on goal of his own. The Jumbos keeper was stout, however, saving all five of the Bantams shots on goal. Trinity had a couple of opportunities to score late in the half but was unable to convert on either opportunity. The game was at a standoff until the 73rd minute, when Bercherano once again put one in the back of the Trinity goal to put the game out of reach, giving the Jumbos a 2-0 victory.
The tough loss occurred on Senior Day for an astounding nine seniors from the Class of 2017. The senior class – consisting of Quade, Gimand, Bruno, Fernando Cuervo-Torello, Griffin Bossard, Oliver Murphy, Cody Savonen, Dan O’Neil, and Sam Millbury – makes up nearly one-third of the roster and they will surely be missed next season.
Last Wednesday, the Bantams came back to face a non-league opponent in Eastern Connecticut State University, who came in with a 5-8-1 record. Early into the game, a lofty pass from Cuervo-Torello found Sam Hoffman ’19, who headed the ball past the Warriors goalkeeper to give Trinity the early lead in the match.
Although the shots on goal heavily favored the Warriors, 7-2, Trinity goalkeeper Mateo Zabala ’18 earned his first win and subsequent shutout with seven saves. One of Zabala’s most important saves came just seven minutes into the game when he faced a one-on-one with an Eastern forward but was able to deflect the ball off the near post. The game ended with a score of 1-0, giving the Bantams the win. T
rinity will have its last regular season game tomorrow at home against NESCAC rival Amherst at 3 p.m.