The Wesleyan men's soccer team has made a habit over the past few seasons of bouncing back from seemingly insurmountable situations.
In 2005, the Cardinals went winless in their final five regular season games and entered the NESCAC Tournament as a No. 7 seed. But upset victories over Bowdoin, Williams and Amherst propelled Wesleyan to a miraculous conference championship, the first by any seventh seed in any sport in the history of the NESCAC Tournament.
This year, the Cardinals are again using a historic stretch to put themselves in a position for another postseason run.
Rebounding from an 0-4 start that included three losses to NESCAC opponents, Wesleyan is riding a program-record nine-game winning streak, with the latest victory coming Saturday against nationally-ranked No. 2 Amherst.
The Jeffs went into the game looking to clinch their first-ever NESCAC regular season title and improve their record to 12-0 on the season. The Cardinals had other plans, spoiling Amherst's homecoming festivities with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory that improved their conference mark to 5-3 with one game remaining.
"It was an extremely satisfying win for the team after the difficult stretch we endured to start the season," senior tri-captain Matt Gnall wrote in an e-mail to the Daily. "The rivalry between Wesleyan and Amherst is certainly historic, and [it's something] that both sides respect and relish participating in."
The victory was easily the most impressive win of Wesleyan's nine-game run. Until the Amherst game, the Cardinals built their streak largely through their friendly schedule, which pitted them against the NESCAC's bottom four teams. But with a win over the Jeffs, Wesleyan added a great deal of credibility to its streak.
"The win over Amherst certainly adds to the legitimacy of the streak, proving that we are not simply excelling against lesser competition," Gnall said. "We are certainly getting more attention now as a team that is capable of winning a NESCAC championship and making a run in the NCAAs."
The victory also confirmed that Wesleyan has overcome its early-season struggles, as the team lost four straight games - three by one goal - to start the season 0-4 for the first time since 1958. The Cardinals' struggles may have stemmed from their difficulties overcoming several losses they endured after last season. The team graduated eight players, including two First-Team All-NESCAC selections in midfielder Peter Glidden and defenseman Jared Ashe. The team also lost one of its top scorers to ineligibility.
"We lost a lot of talent, not to mention personality, from last year," Gnall said. "During the first few games we were searching for our identity as a team, learning how to play together, and discovering what we could expect from each player."
Without five of its top six scorers from 2006, Wesleyan was shut out in two of its first four games. But during its winning streak, the team has developed a diverse offensive attack, getting goals from nine different players in its past nine games. Players who weren't major contributors on offense last season are having career years in 2007, particularly junior Alan Ashenfelter, the team's leading scorer with four goals this season after having none in 2006.
On the defensive end, the Cardinals have relied on the sound play of their two goaltenders, Gnall and senior Jamie Hiteshew. Coach Geoff Wheeler has split time equally between the two, with each having played exactly 585 minutes in goal this year. The two-man tandem worked especially well during a stretch between Sept. 29 and Oct. 13, when the team did not allow a goal for five consecutive games. During that run, Hiteshew posted three shutouts while Gnall added two.
Even with all its recent success, Wesleyan has not locked up home-field advantage for the first round of the NESCAC Tournament. That could change in the regular-season finale Saturday, when the team travels to Bowdoin needing either a win or a tie to lock up one of the top four seeds. Regardless, the Cardinals will head into the NESCAC tournament a self-assured squad that is primed for a run at its second-ever conference title.
"Confidence sometimes can be more important than how you're playing," Wheeler said. "Right now, we're playing well and we have a lot of confidence. It's a nice combination at this time of year."
