Coming off an impressive 4-3 win over the Georgia Southern University Eagles, the Elon University men’s soccer team lost another high scoring affair to the College of Charleston Cougars 3-2 Tuesday night at Rudd Field.
The Cougars scored the first of their three goals in the ninth minute, adding another ten minutes later an Elon own goal. A start midfielder Matt Wescoe believes cost the Phoenix the game.
“We didn’t really have the start that we needed to have and that kind of put us on the back foot,” Wescoe said. “Eventually, we were able to pay our game and put the pressure [back] on Charleston.”
The pressure was first applied by star forward Chris Thomas, the leading scorer in Division I soccer, who scored on two penalty kicks, in the 24th and 26th minutes, to tie the score at two.
In Powell’s mind, Thomas’ goals shifted the momentum of the game back in the Phoenix’s favor, a sign of his team’s character and determination.
“[The two goals] were very important, it definitely changed [the momentum of the game],” Powell said. “Two-nill down, it shows good character from the guys again to fight back. That’s been the story of the year, these guys keep fighting but what we need to learn to do is to put a complete ninety minutes together.”
The score remained two all for just eight minutes, changing when Charleston scored their third and final goal of the game in the thirty-fourth minute. The goal ended up being the difference in the game.
To Powell, the goal served as yet another swing in momentum, this time putting the Phoenix in a difficult position entering the second half.
“[The goal] was another momentum swinger,” he said. “Momentum is massive in soccer. So I think we had just gotten on top of the game, and then we conceded that goal, so we had to chase it again [to get another goal]. So we spent the whole second half chasing the game and we could never get back on the good side.”
Despite the disappointing loss to the Cougers, Wescoe understands the importance of finishing the season’s four remaining games strong, especially if the Phoenix hope to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament.
“[Finishing strong] is very important,” Wescoe said. “Momentum in college soccer is very big, so if we can get momentum going with these last four games going into the tournament, I think that’ll help us in the long run.”
Powell said a possible NCAA tournament berth is on the minds of his players, but is quick to emphasize the importance of each game at this point in the season.
“I think you can’t focus on any further than the next game, you really can’t,” he said. “And that’s what we spoke to the guys about [after the Charleston game]. Your focus has to be throughout the game, to every minute of the game, to every second of the game. Everything matters, a goal here, a goal there, it all matters.”
Despite his coach’s emphasis on one game at a time, Wescoe admitted it isn’t always easy to stay in the present with a trip to the NCAA tournament hanging over the player’s heads.
“It’s difficult at times, but you have to know that you can’t worry about the future,” Wescoe said. “You’ve got to worry about the game that’s directly in front of you and if you concentrate too much on games further down the road then it’s just going to be detrimental.”
The Phoenix will look to get back on track with a win at Appalachian State University on Saturday evening, an opponent-Powell says his staff will be well prepared for come game time.
“We’ve seen them play a couple of times already,” Powell said. “We’ll sit down and study App State, come up with a game plan and hopefully we can execute it well enough for ninety minutes.”
In Wescoe’s eyes, a positive result in Saturday’s game will be exactly what the Phoenix need after a tough loss at home.
“It’s a tough game, they’re very strong defensively,” Wescoe said. “We’re going to get our game plan and focus on executing it and as long as we do that I think we’ll walk away with the win. It’s something that we really need at this point in the season so I’m confident that everybody will step up.”