The Shoremen suffer 4-1 loss against Diplomats during senior day game at Roy Kirby Jr. Stadium
By Jensyn Hartzell
Elm Staff Writer
The Washington College men’s soccer team fought a tough match on their senior day this past Saturday evening.
It was the men’s senior night, honoring seniors Sean Garin, Evan Savoth, Liam Mansfield, and Kyle Gaeffke.
Garin was named the team MVP and Savoth was named the All-Centennial Conference Honorable Mention in 2018. In 2017, Gaeffke was named the team MVP. Mansfield is tied for third in goals for the team.
All seniors have made the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll throughout their years at WC.
All the men had playing time in the game. The stadium was filled while the Shoremen played Franklin and Marshall, ranked sixth in the country.
Very early in the game, the Diplomats took the lead off of two penalty kicks from opponent A.J. Kopacs when the Shoremen fouled him inside the box.
But, the Shoremen did not give up as the Diplomats went on to score their third goal to make it 0-3.
WC played smart defense against the Diplomats, only allowing one goal to be had not off a penalty shot.
The defensive line included Garin, Savoth, and junior Frank Koons.
“We knew it was going to be hard, but we played together well and didn’t give up. And sometimes that is what really matters,” said Koons.
Another goal was made by the Diplomat’s Alex Lalovic and assisted by Tyler Wagner.
The Shoremen, however, did make it onto the scoreboard as junior Del Jenkins assisted junior James Strine in the first half for a shot. Strine is ranked seventh in the conference for goals and first for assists. The Diplomats would score once more off of a penalty kick by Steven Yakita, leaving the score 1-4 in the first half and into the final.
The Shoremen outshot the Diplomats in the second half, but none were able to hit the net. Overall, the Shoremen had 13 shots compared to the Diplomat’s 10 shots and goalkeeper, junior Gavin Campbell, managed three saves while Franklin and Marshall’s goalkeeper Christopher Amoruso had five saves throughout the game.
The Diplomats did have five corner kicks compared to WC’s one corner kick. Franklin and Marshall racked up 17 fouls throughout the game and WC had 15 fouls.
The game took just over two hours to play and left the Shoremen at a record of 7-7-1 overall and a conference record of 1-5-1.
Although a loss on their senior night, the Shoremen battled the Diplomats until the last seconds of the game, defending their home turf.
The team will play again against Swarthmore College, who they have beat for the past three years, on Saturday, Oct. 30. Their next game will be the second to last of their season.