By Glenn Allen
Elm Staff Writer
The Washington College men’s soccer team has seen an incredible start to their season as they first competed in and took home the Athey Cup championship, defeating a nationally ranked team.
Firstly, the Shoremen competed against both Virginia Wesleyan University and Keystone University in a tournament which was held at the Kibler Stadium and opened up the fall 2019 season for the Shoremen.
Against Virginia Wesleyan, the Shoremen emerged victorious with a 2-1 win, both goals scored by junior James Strine. Virginia Wesleyan was able to attain only one goal scored by Jaron Berry, however, it was ultimately not enough to overcome the Shoremen.
In the match against Keystone University, the Shoremen bled into double overtime in order to see success against their opponent. With goals scored in the first half by each team, the game remained unchanged throughout the match.
The Shoremen owe their victory to junior Greg Adams, who was able to head the ball over the crossbar to score the second goal of the match and secure the victory for the Shoremen.
By the end of the match the Shoremen totaled 18 shots and nine corner kicks to bring home the win and improve their record to 2-0.
The Shoremen would later fall to Cabrini on Friday, Sept. 6 in a tight 2-1 before making an appearance the very next day.
The Shoremen then faced off against Eastern, ranked number 15, where they put together a dominating performance with two early goals in the first half, followed by another goal in the second to beat a ranked opponent for the first time in 8 years. The Shoremen improved to 3-1-0 overall.
This non-conference game took place this past Saturday, Sept. 7 as the WC Shoremen competed against #15 Easton University Eagles on Olson field. The intense match up ended in a 3-0 shut-out win for the Shoremen, scoring the first two goals in a little over a minute, with junior James Strine being involved in all three goals.
One of the leaders of the Shoremen is senior Evan Savoth, he said, “Coming off a tough loss on Friday, to win on Saturday by three goals and earn a shutout against a ranked team says a lot about our team’s resiliency and how we’ll handle challenges for the remainder of the season. Savoth, who plays on the defensive end, also said that, “We know we will face adversity, it’s how we bounce back from that and move forward.”
With the Shoremen’s great start to the season, they hope to keep this momentum going as they look to their next opponent, the Goucher Gophers on Wednesday, September 11 at 4 p.m. on Kibler Field. The Shoremen are looking to have the same result as last year, when they beat the Gophers 5-2 in a non-conference match up.