Men’s Soccer Season Wraps Up In NESCAC Quarters

WILLIAM SNAPE IV ’18
SPORTS EDITOR
On Wednesday, Oct. 26, the Trinity College Men’s Soccer team traveled up to Massachusetts to take on conference rival Amherst for their last match before entering the New England Small College Athletics Conference (NESCAC) tournament. Heading into the match, Trinity had been on an impressive run through the month of October, either winning or tying every opponent they faced.
However, Amherst has played very well so far this season, beating most of their opponents by wide margins, including eight shut outs. They lost just one game when they faced Tufts University away early in October. Trinity’s 7-7-2 record is not as impressive on paper, but many of these losses came in heartbreaking overtime or even double overtime losses, and the men have proven to be fighters who will battle for the full match.
Wednesday’s match got off to a rocky start after Amherst’s Fikayo Ajayi gave teammate Weller Hlinomaz an easy pass to put Amherst up 1-0. The remainder of the first half was a scrappy back and forth match with no goals scored for either team.
The start of the second half erupted into a scoring frenzy for Amherst, and the game quickly got out of reach for the Bantams make a comeback. Dane Lind put two goals past Trinity, and Christopher Martin added another within the first 13 minutes of the half. The scoring ended here, and the match ended 4-0, Amherst.
Sunday, Oct. 29, marked the start of the NESCAC tournament. Trinity was the No. 8 seed and Amherst the No. 1, which meant the two teams would face each other again at Amherst’s campus. Unfortunately, the end result was similar to the first time the teams faced each other just five days earlier. The game was deadlocked at 0-0 until the 39th minute when Christopher Martin found the back of the net. Cameron Bean scored just two minutes later and at halftime the score was 2-0. Amherst scored two more times in the second period. Trinity captain Tobias Gimand ’17 put an end to the scoreless streak with a penalty kick in the 81st. The 4-1 loss marked the end of the season for the team, with a record of 7-7-2.
While the season was not filled with accolades, there were still a lot of positive takeaways for the squad, especially some of the seniors who have invested four years into the program. Cody Savonen ’17 described his experience by saying “Playing soccer at Trinity the past four years has been the most influential experience yet in my early life. This group of players and coaches have created a culture that teaches us things like maturity, humility, and discipline to name a few. This program represents family, and it’s something I wish every college student had the opportunity to be apart of.”
While the team graduates nine seniors, there is a strong core of returning juniors and underclassman players, which is a promising sign for a strong 2017 campaign next fall.