For the second year in a row, a Connecticut College soccer team defeated Williams College in NESCAC playoff action, and in penalty kicks nonetheless. This year it was the men’s turn, defeating Williams College on Saturday, Oct. 31 at Harkness Field, in front of a large and rowdy crowd of students, as well as parents and faculty. The year before it was the women who beat Williams in penalty kicks in the NESCAC championship at their own field. The victory against Williams is the men’s team’s second straight NESCAC quarterfinal win. The year before they upset the NCAA DIII first-seed Tufts University before falling to Amherst College.
The game against Williams is one that will go down in the Connecticut College history books. The Camels went up by two goals early in the game, but Williams charged back and scored three straight goals. It was only in the remaining seconds of regulation that your Connecticut College Camels were able to tie the game up. The team then held on in overtime to force penalty kicks. There were several heroes that game, and every player on the team and every fan helped contribute to the team’s success.
The first goal of the game was scored by first-year sensation Chris Lockwood, who has shined during his first year in the NESCAC. “[Matt] Bitchell ’16 shot it and the goalie saved it, but it fell right into my path. I jumped in the air and shot it. The shot hit the crossbar and time stopped, but then it went in and everything was all good,” said Lockwood. As a member of the crowd, it is safe to say that everything was more than just “all good” at the time. Bitchell streaked 75 yards up the field chasing after a ball played towards the box faster than I have ever seen a man run, and although the goalie made the initial save on his shot, Lockwood was able to bury the rebound off the crossbar. He was certainly right in saying that time stopped as the ball hit the crossbar, but the crowd sighed in relief as the ball crossed the goal line and the students went wild for Lockwood, Bitchell and the rest of the Camels.
The Camels’ second goal came off the efforts of some familiar names. This time it was Lockwood who had the assist and Bitchell who scored the goal. Unfortunately for the Camels, the momentum did not carry into the second half. Williams scored the next three goals of the game, and took the late lead, with only 15 minutes remaining in the game. It wasn’t until there were only 30 seconds or so left in the game that Conn found its opportunity. A foul just outside Williams’ box led to a game-changing free kick.
The anticipation and panic in the crowd was electric. The clock was never stopped and time continued to tick while the referee set up the kick. It seemed as if the Camels weren’t going to even get the kick off, but the referee finally stopped the clock with ten seconds left. Colin Patch ’16, the team’s best free kick and penalty kick player, stepped up. It could have been a scene from a movie: Patch stepped up and bent the ball around the wall of Williams’ players. As it headed towards the goal, time seemed to stop, and the Williams goaltender was able to get a hand on the ball just enough to deflect it into the post, where it bounced in front of the net and into a mad scramble. Legs kicked, bodies were everywhere and from the student cheering section all you could see was the ball cross the line. The crowd went absolutely wild. The Connecticut College bench went absolutely wild. Fran Shields went absolutely wild. The entire campus went wild. Then we all realized that there was still overtime to play, and the entire campus got really nervous.
Eventually we found out that sophomore Graham Koval scored the goal. “Pat [Devlin] and I were unmarked on the back post ready to crash the goal for a rebound,” he said. “Patch struck the free kick very well and when the keeper saved the ball off the post it was about getting the second ball in the box … I was in the right place at the right time with six seconds left to send us to overtime. It was a great team effort to give us a chance at tying the game and it showed our resilience and character coming from behind from giving up a two-goal advantage. It is definitely the most important goal I have ever scored, surpassing the playoff goal against Tufts last year. It was an amazing feeling to share the moment with the squad and all of the amazing fans that were at the first ever home NESCAC playoff game of our program’s history.“
In overtime, both teams played tentatively, making sure that their team wasn’t the one that made the game-losing mistake. When overtime ended and penalty kicks began, the fans were so excited that they had to be removed from behind the goals and restrained to the side of the field.
First it was junior Charlie Overton’s turn to kick. Feeling confident before his kick he even pumped the crowd up with some gestures, and buried the ball into the back of the net. “Thank God that went in,” he recalled, “I would have looked real dumb if I didn’t score that one, huh?”
After that goal the first Williams player got up to kick, and all eyes fell on junior goalkeeper Austin DaCunha, who stepped up big time and made a diving save on the first kick. The crowd went ballistic. After that save, senior Daniel Adair got up and finished his kick, along with the Williams player who followed him.
In the third round, things got quite scary when Patch’s shot was saved and Williams scored their attempt. Now the score was tied two to two. Thankfully, sophomore Nate Summers took his kick confidently and buried in the center of the net, making the score three to two. It was now DaCunha’s turn to shine. He stood tall in net and made a huge save. The crowd absolutely lost it. People were throwing their drinks in the air (none of the alcoholic variety of course) and cheering his name.
Now it all came down to Devlin. If he scored his goal the game would be over. And that is exactly what he did. He buried his shot into the side netting and the fans charged the field. There was a massive pile up in the center of the field and unfortunately in the mayhem I lost my shades and my hat (if anyone finds them, please let me know).
After the game, DaCunha said, “It’s always unfortunate to see a game end in penalty kicks. Credit to Williams though, they fought back after going down early. They are a great program and we always enjoy playing against them. In regard to the saves though, shootouts are all about trusting your gut. When a guy approaches the ball there are a few things that I look for to guess what side he’s shooting to. But at the end of the day, you just pick a side and have to commit to it. Fortunately, our guys did their part and put away their chances. It was an incredible game that we’ll never forget.”
When asked about his game winning penalty kick, Devlin said, “I can’t even describe it. It was so exciting, an unreal feeling. I have to give credit to Austin DaCunha. I could not have done it without him and the other guys on the team. It was just fantastic support.”
Though this game is one for the history books, the Men’s Soccer team fell to Bowdoin 2-0 the following Saturday, Nov. 7. The Camels led the game in shots, with seven to Bowdoin’s four, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Though it was a dissapointing end, the 2015 season set a new high for the future of the team. •
