The Case Western Reserve University men’s soccer team played two games this past week: a home game against Marietta College on Wednesday, Sept. 18, and an away game against Denison University on Saturday, Sept. 21. CWRU beat Marietta 2-0 while tying Denison 1-1.

The Marietta game saw CWRU go for a strong start, breaking through the Pioneers’ defense before attempting a shot just before the two-minute mark courtesy of second-year defender Cameron Thayer—though that shot was saved by Marietta, keeping the score at 0-0. Following an unsuccessful shot by the Pioneers during the 21st minute, the Spartans achieved their first goal of the game during the 27th minute with a shot from second-year midfielder Adam Pluszczyk assisted by fourth-year forward Kysen Kroeger. The successful shot marked Pluszczyk’s first goal of the season and third of his career.

Less than three minutes later, Kroeger added onto the Spartans’ lead with a second goal, this one assisted by fourth-year midfielder Lukas Dalakis. The goal earned Dalakis his third assist of the year and the eighth of his career. However, it did mark the Spartans’ last goal of the entire match: The rest of the half proved to be relatively uneventful scorewise, with CWRU players making 3 shots within the last 10 minutes of the game that all proved unsuccessful.

Going into the second half, the Spartans were unable to make any goals, suffering from several shots that went out of the field. However, they were able to hold possession for the majority of the half, giving the Pioneers only 2 shots during the period. This left Marietta with no goals as CWRU achieved its third shutout of the season.

Third-year forward and goalkeeper Stephen Vilardo, who achieved his first career shutout during the game against Marietta, noted how the Spartans’ biggest challenge during the match was breaking through the Pioneers’ press.

“Out of all the teams we’ve played so far this season, [Marietta] had the highest press. They were stepping up really high on the field, and sometimes that’s difficult to break through. I think we did a really good job; everyone really stayed calm in the back, and we were able to break through them with not too much difficulty,” Vilardo commented.

Following this victory, the Spartans traveled to Granville, Ohio, to play against Denison on Saturday, eager to build on the momentum of the previous game. This didn’t entirely come to fruition during the first half, as neither the Spartans nor the Big Red were able to find the back of the net. CWRU attempted four goals during the first half compared to Denison’s one goal attempt, all of which were unsuccessful. At first, things weren’t faring much better in the second half, with the Spartans having difficulty breaking through the defense of the Big Red. CWRU was, however, able to block four goal attempts by Denison, though a fifth goal attempt by Denison in the 74th minute proved successful; this goal gave the Big Red the first point of the match. However, within the very last minute of the match, first-year forward Amir Awais sent a one-time shot into the top right corner of the net, making it past Denison’s goalkeeper to give CWRU their first point of the game and ultimately conclude the game in a 1-1 tie. Members of the squad had their praises to sing to Awais for his goal, which also marked the very first of his career.

“Amir’s goal was fantastic. Everyone on the field was exhausted, and after he scored, we all just collapsed. It didn’t take away from the significance of the moment though,” second-year defender Cormac Apostolides said.

“When Amir scored that goal, all of us rushed into the corner to celebrate as a team,” Villardo commented. “Those are some of the best moments you can have in a college career, celebrating goals with your teammates. That was a big moment for us as a team.”

Vilardo and Apostolides both had other reflections to give about the games against Marietta and Denison, showing off what makes the squad such a strong bond of players.

“When you go down a goal, it’s really easy to put your head down and let things get away from you. But I’d say that, when we were faced with the goal against [us], our fight was really good. We didn’t put our head down, and that showed itself in the final score. Just that perseverance, that was our base challenge. We had to do it and we got it done,” Vilardo reflected.

“I think we did well to get four points out of the past two games,” Apostolides commented. “We had a great result against Marietta. Denison is a strong team and a draw isn’t necessarily a horrible result away from home.”

The squad’s next match will be a home game on Saturday, Sept. 28, against the University of Mount Union.