By Brian Klose
Staff Writer
Photo by Amanda Boyer
After a disappointing 2-0 home loss to Salisbury this past Wednesday, the men’s soccer team completed a shutout rout of the Valley Forge Christian College Patriots (1-3-0) on Saturday, breaking a Centennial Conference record with all nine goals scored in the first half.
The Shoremen (2-1-0), led by freshman forward Brian Wilkinson with three goals, dominated on offense in the first half.
The Shoremen held off an aggressive desperate Patriot attack in the second half to give Washington College its first shutout win and first home win of the season.
Freshman midfielder Christian Cooke explained the Shoremen’s key to their offensive success was “great ball movement.” Otherwise, there were not any serious changes to game time preparation. They simply execuited on all fronts.
About five minutes in the game, junior forward Joseph Fili scored the first home goal of the season, followed by a second consecutive goal 20 seconds later. This was the second fastest back-to-back scoring performance in Centennial Conference history. Both goals were unassisted.
Two other Shoremen, Wilkinson and sophomore forward Cody Gray, also had back-to-back goals in the half.
The second half began with a surprising Patriot enthusiasm on offense, but the WC defense held strong and held Valley Forge to only four shots, three on goal, the entire game.
A different WC goalkeeper saved each shot on goal, with sophomore David Meyers getting the most minutes.
With the comfortable nine-goal lead, the Shoremen offense stuck to a conservative strategy throughout the entire second half, sticking to possessing and not attacking. No shots were taken by WC in the second half.
With the dominating performance this Saturday, it’s very clear that the Shoremen have some serious talent this year on both ends of the field.
With the nine goals by five different players showing depth, the Shoremen are making noise in the conference as a team.
The game was also a showcase of the young talent on the roster, with Wilkinson leading in goals and sharing the shots on goal total with Gray. Freshman forward Chris Lewandowski led in assists with two, both to Wilkinson.
No one individual carried the team, but rather the team carried itself. Like a well-oiled machine, it was clicking on all cylinders. Passes hit targets, and targets scored goals. With a team full of impact players, the Centennial Conference will need to do their homework before taking the field against the Shoremen.
If the dominating performance against Valley Forge Christian is indicative of WC’s offensive and defensive capabilities throughout the year, Head Coach Roy Dunshee’s squad has a lot to be excited about after 11 seasons with the Shoremen.
This team has shown an extreme competative nature despite losing key seniors last May.