The men’s soccer team (1-0-1 overall) opened its season this week with a 1-1 draw against UMass Lowell (1-0-1 overall) on Saturday and a dramatic win over Siena College (0-1-1 overall) at home on Wednesday. The team saw a spectacular penalty save from senior goalkeeper Griffin Huff and a first collegiate goal from sophomore defender Cole Duschang.
The Leopards were on their way to an opening-day victory against UMass Lowell after sophomore midfielder Beaux Lisewski picked out senior forward Andrey McIntyre to score in the 78th minute. However, when UMass Lowell found an 84th-minute equalizer, the team was forced to settle for a draw. The game saw the two teams take a combined 17 shots on target, but nothing could separate the two sides after 90 minutes.
Severe thunderstorms Wednesday night nearly prevented Lafayette from kicking off against Siena in what was supposed to be their home opener. After a more than two-hour delay, the teams kicked off at Gummeson Grounds.
According to Huff, this was not the team’s first experience playing after a holdup.
“We played against Binghamton last year and the same thing happened,” Huff said. “It gets us super amped.”
“I’m sure any other team would cower at that, but we take it in stride,” he continued.
It was the Saints, however, who dictated the early play in the game. Ten minutes in, they had the ball in the back of Huff’s net, only for the linesman to signal for offside against the scorer. Though the Leopards gained some control as the half wore on, they still had to contend with a number of Siena chances, with many coming from set pieces — plays designed for after stoppage of the ball, such as after a throw-in.
“Probably 80 percent of what we talk about with our coaches is set pieces,” Huff said. “That’s the thing we focus on most and it showed today.”
Duschang says that the Leopards’ defensive resilience stems from an understanding defensive players have of one another.
“We’re a really tight group … everyone’s defending, we’re all communicating the best we can and making sure we have our marks,” Duschang said. “We’re holding it to a high standard.”
It appeared the team’s resistance had been broken in the 62nd minute, however, when a headed ball came off of senior midfielder Carter Houlihan’s hand and gave Siena a penalty kick. The Siena player put the shot against Huff’s momentum, but he was able to reach his leg out to produce a remarkable save to keep the game even.
“The pressure’s on the kicker,” Huff said. “I don’t know what I was thinking, just telling myself to stay focused and don’t feel too pressured.”
That save would spur the Leopards forward and eight minutes later, Lafayette would take the lead. Houlihan lifted a free kick to the back post for junior defenseman Nicholas Liebich, who headed across goal for Duschang to tap in. It was Duschang’s first collegiate goal, a moment he says he could barely remember.
“It’s all a blur,” Duschang said. “I’ll have to go back and watch it, but there’s no better feeling than celebrating with my teammates and my brothers over there.”
Duschang also credited his teammates with their execution of the set-play routine.
“It’s a great call by Carter, and [Liebich] did a great job heading it back in,” Duschang said. “He told me to look for that, so I had to be ready.”
With 20 minutes still to play, the Leopards needed to clamp down to secure their first victory. According to Duschang, the team had a different mindset this time than against UMass Lowell.
“We just had that mentality of ‘We’re not going to lose this game,’” Duschang said.
The Leopards would hold off the Saints to see out the 1-0 win, securing their first win of the season. Huff named the team’s tactics and communication as being the deciding factor.
“The outside backs are talking to the midfielders and the center backs are talking to our two [central defensive midfielders], which is really good,” Huff said. “I think that’s the only reason we won.”
Coming off of a conference final appearance, the team will play three more out-of-conference games before it kicks off conference play away at Colgate on Sept. 14. Lafayette will travel to Connecticut tomorrow to take on Fairfield.
