Men’s soccer team remains winless against NESCAC kompetisi competition

By Tyler Foy, Assistant Sports Editor
18 September 2021

The men’s soccer team went head-to-head in Rotch with Trinity College on September 12 dropping one goal to zero. Trinity plays outside the New England Small College Athletic Conference which is a third division competition the team has never won.

It was clear to head coach Daniel Toulson that this match would be a test for the team. Trinity also played a game against Clark University just one day before the game against the Lions. Toulson said he saw this performance before kick-off on Saturday.

As the game progresses, teams must adapt to a different style of play than they expected the game to be.

“At the start of the first half we didn’t do a very good job of stopping passes and they played a little more intensely than we thought they would,” Toulson said.

Trinity took the lead early on to secure possession for most of the first half. The Lions didn’t make their first shot until the 17th minute of the game when new winger Gregory Kopanezos hit the ball over goal.

Trinity will continue to set the tempo for most of the first half. This resulted in the Tigers taking the lead after a corner kick in the 36th minute. The ball was placed in the middle and found by Michael Traynor’s Trinitys boot.

The urgency of the team changed after going a goal down and the Lions started to catch more possession creating chances to equalise. Before the break, there were a few shots set up for Emerson but none of them managed to score.

Toulson said changes needed to be made to their attack, but that possession of the game then made the transition into the second half easier.

“About 20 or 30 minutes we controlled their game and then in the second half we found the answer and we were pretty good defensively,” he said.

Second-rate midfielder Ben Deeming said coach Toulsons’ halftime speech was meant to inspire the players.

“He said to us we all have our art majors, we’re all here for a reason, we’ve been playing this game since we were young, and we have to show them what we can do,” Deeming said in a post-match interview. .

Entering the second half, the team was faced with the task of equalizing the score. The players came out with more intensity and created a lot of chances. Kopanezos was moved from the flanks to midfield where he sent a lot of balls up.

“We’ve been working on getting more wings at the back,” said Kopanezos in a pot game interview. I think going into the game I tried to get a few more balls over to create chances.

Their level of play does not stop with the ball on top but also the ball victory on the field.

In the 69th minute, the Lions sent several shots on goal. One of them came from the feet of co-captain and defender Aidan Ferguson who hit the post and was just saved. Many fans in the stands believed that the ball crossed the line and should have been awarded a goal.

“I think it was an unfair result and I think we should have got a draw,” said Deeming.

Even though the team raised their level of play, they didn’t score and lost against Trinity. The result may not be what the team expected, but there are positives to take from the match.

“We have to play with intensity for 90 minutes,” said Toulson. But I think the guys are doing a good job. It’s a team from a good league, and it’s more a matter of mentality and knowing that we can stick with these teams.

As for Kopanezos, he said he was pleased with the Lions’ performance and was looking forward to the future this season.

“I’m happy with the fight of the guys we worked hard together in the second set,” he said. This is not the result we wanted but we know we are building towards it.

The Lions then faced Dean College at their home stadium and won in dominant fashion closing the Bulldogs 3-0. They play the first game in the conference this Saturday against Springfield.