By Bayard Templeton
Contributing Writer

After an impressive overtime win at Amherst College, men’s soccer had a 6-4 record and seemed poised for a strong finish to the regular season and a shot at the postseason.

Two close losses later, the team is forced to win both of its remaining games to salvage playoff aspirations.

The latest defeat came down to the last minutes; after 88 minutes of hard fought soccer Bowdoin College (7-4-1) finally got the best of Wesleyan (6-6).

With only two minutes remaining in regulation, Bowdoin mounted a counter-attack off of a Wesleyan turnover.

A Polar Bear forward fired a shot on goal from 25 yards away. The ball sailed into the back of net, giving Bowdoin a 1-0 victory.

"We had our chances and didn’t finish," said forward Eric Steffen ’00, a tri-captain. "They were a good team."

Though Bowdoin controlled the ball for the majority of the game, Wesleyan did have nine shots on goal, one of which was stopped on the goal line. Another deflected off of the cross bar.

"Not too many teams are going to go up to Bowdoin and give them the game that we did," said forward Colin Aitken ’03. "We can say all of the ‘could have’s’ and ‘should have’s’ we want, but we just didn’t finish.... They did."

On the defensive side, the Cardinals were constantly being tested by the aggressive Bowdoin attack, but had success staying with them.

"We played pretty well," said defender Tom Smith ’00, a tri-captain. "We were under pressure for a lot of the game [which gave them] a lot of opportunities."

Coach Geoff Wheeler said he was very impressed with the team’s overall effort. He noted the play of goalie Mark Penrod ’01, who had nine saves and only surrendered the goal at the end.

"Bowdoin is the most athletic and talented team that we play all year," Wheeler said. "We had a game plan and stuck to it. Things just didn’t turn out our way."

Wesleyan has two games remaining in the regular season.

The Cardinals host Eastern Connecticut State University Wednesday, followed by Williams College (11-0-1) Saturday at homecoming. Wins in both of those games could earn an East Coast Athletic Conference playoff berth.