In a wonderful twist of fate, the Men’s Varsity Soccer team has received a bid to the NCAA DIII Championship. Although the team lost to Amherst College 1-0 this past weekend in the NESCAC Semifinals in Wiliamstown, their performance this year has been enough to rocket them into the national competition. Amherst (15-0-2) took the NESCAC Championship this year, beating Williams (13-1-3) in the final game 2-0. Both teams will be going to the NCAA DIII Championships as well as Tufts—making for a strong NESCAC representation.
The first game will be against Haverford College (12-0-7), winner of the Centennial Conference, on Nov. 10th at Arcadia University in Glenside, PA.
The opportunity came as a real surprise to the team. Whether the team would snag the bid was completely up in the air, but in the end the judges deemed them worthy of a spot. Coach Geoff Wheeler told Wesleyan’s sports broadcasting service, WesPregame, that the team won the chance because of schedule strength. Although the Cardinals’ record is 9-4-3 (less impressive than, say, Williams’ record of 13-1-3), their ties and losses were against highly ranked teams, something the powers-that-be took into consideration when determining the NCAA’s Pool C.
The team seems euphoric. Captain Cabell Maddux ’13 told WesPregame, “It’s good to be alive! We need to make the most of this second chance!”
If you’re curious about the team, check out this interview with goalie Adam Purdy ’13 (who has racked up 31 shutouts in his career!) and Rory O’Neill ’13.