The men’s soccer team began conference play with a bang last Saturday when it defeated its North Coast Athletic Conference foe the Wittenberg University Tigers 2–1 on Fred Shults Field. Unfortunately, the Yeomen were unable to build on the win and fell in double overtime to the Baldwin Wallace University Yellow Jackets on Wednesday.

In the win over the Tigers, Wertman volleyed in a corner kick from junior forward John Ingham in the 17th minute of the first half to give the Yeomen an early 1–0 lead.

The lead was short-lived, however, as the Tigers countered with a goal of their own just before the halftime whistle, tying the game 1–1.

The Yeomen came out of the break strong, and in the 60th minute sophomore midfielder Dan Lev finished a cross from Wertman in the lower right corner of the Tigers’ goal, giving the Yeomen a 2–1 lead that would stand for the remainder of the game.

Despite losing their lead right before the half, the Yeomen kept up steady offensive pressure throughout the course of the match, with other close shots coming from Ingham, senior midfielder Sam Winward and sophomore forward Sam Weiss.

“We competed the whole way,” said Lev. “It was overall one of our better games.”

Head Coach Blake New said the Yeomen’s success against Wittenberg had a lot to do with the team’s focus on finesse.

“The number one thing we value is possession,” New said. “[Wittenberg] played pretty directly and relied on their physical size and strength to be dangerous. It was really pretty simple soccer-wise — just one, two passes and we were dangerous.”

Beyond the Yeomen’s tactical dominance over Wittenberg, both Lev and Wertman considered the team’s attitude during Saturday’s victory a departure from the standard in prior games.

“There was a difference in mentality going into that game,” said Wertman. “We were much more confident, with everyone willing to put in the work, and I think that was lacking in our past games.”

Lev agreed with this sentiment.

“We made fewer mental errors. We played the full 90 minutes instead of having mental lapses and made a full performance that gave us a chance to win,” he said.

New was also pleased with the Yeomen’s style of play, remarking that the team “showed a lot of poise.”

The Yeomen’s performance against Wittenberg marks a promising start to their competition in the NCAC this year.

“Our goal as a team is to win the conference,” said New. “I think we have a good shot at doing that, but every game’s going to be tough. We have to be ready each time out.”

Wertman sees the conference win as just the beginning of the Yeomen’s success this season.

“We struggled early on, but we’ve found our feet finally,” he said. “I think going forward in the conference it’s huge to win this one and steady ourselves.”

The Yeomen followed their win over the Tigers with a non-conference match against Baldwin Wallace University ending in a devastating 3–2 home loss that was decided during double overtime in the 101st minute of the match. Sophomore midfielder Nick Wertman tallied two scores for the Yeomen, but ultimately the team was unable to hold the Yellow Jackets off for the full 120 minutes.

After their five-game home stretch, the Yeomen will travel to Crawfordsville, IN, to jump back into conference play against the Wabash College Little Giants this Sunday, Oct. 5.