Photo courtesy of Carlos Morales.
The Connecticut College Mens’ Soccer Team finished their historic 2021 season in style, defeating Amherst College in the NCAA championship game on Saturday, Dec. 4 to capture Conn’s first national title in the school’s history.
With senior Captain Lorenzo Bocchetti’s walk off penalty kick goal to capture the title, the entire campus (and certain establishments within New London) erupted into pandemonium. The last several weeks in which the Mens’ Soccer Team reached the final of the NESCAC tournament after winning the regular season, and their run to the NCAA tournament crown has been a wonderful event for the College and something the entire student body has rallied around.
I was fortunate enough to speak briefly with junior Captain Steve Yeonas who commented on the Camels championship run stating that:
“This championship is something we were working towards all season long. Although it was a goal of ours, we knew it was going to require a lot of hard work and we would have to beat a lot of great teams. I’m so proud to be a part of this team as this is the most resilient group I’ve been a part of. I’m so glad our seniors get to walk away with a National Championship. We also want to thank the entire Conn community for their support throughout this entire season”
The game was locked in a stalemate for the first 60 minutes of play as neither team was able to take control with only one total shot on goal between both teams. Finally, in the 59th minute of the contest, Rye Jaran ‘24 curled a corner kick right in front of the goal, which NESCAC Player of the Year Augie Djerdjaj ‘23 headed into the back of the net to put the Camels up 1-0.
While the Mammoths created several chances throughout the rest of the half, it looked as though one goal would be enough for the Camels to secure the championship. However, with 87 seconds left in the game, a free kick from Amherst’s Ignacio Cubeddu ‘23 taken from just inside half field was controversially deflected into the goal to tie the game up at 1-1.
Two overtime periods would see both the Camels and Mammoths go scoreless and push the game to a penalty shootout. Peter Silvester ‘25, the penalty kick specialist who kept the team from getting knocked out earlier in the tournament when the game against Salem State was decided in penalty kicks, produced another stellar performance, diving to save the first two shots taken from Amherst in the shootout.
While the Mammoths were unable to cope with the pressure of the moment during the final penalty shootout, Conn players: Yeonas ‘23, Djerdjaj, MT Tshuma ‘22, and Bocchetti appeared unphased, extinguishing any hope for Amherst of winning by decisively scoring all four shots needed to win.
In addition to senior captain Bocchetti being named the final weekend’s defensive MVP, junior captain Yeonas, MT Tshuma ‘22, and freshman standout Jack Kelesoglu were also given all-tournament accolades.
While Bocchetti, Tshuma, and Scales, three key members of the squad will graduate this spring with the class of 2022, all other members of the team including Djerdjaj (NESCAC Player of the Year), Yeonas (NESCAC first team), Kelesoglu ‘25 (NESCAC second team), and starting keeper Sam Maidenberg ‘23 will be looking to defend their national title in the fall of 2022.
