MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – A second half strike from
Dane Harmaty '24 proved enough in the end for the Wesleyan men's soccer team, who earned a second straight NESCAC home win, defeating Bowdoin 1-0 on Saturday afternoon from Jackson Field. Wesleyan vaults over .500 and are now 3-2-1 (2-2-1 NESCAC) on the season while Bowdoin (4-2, 1-2 NESCAC) suffered their second loss in the last three matches.
Liam Devanny '23 (five saves) tallied his eighth career clean sheet
HIGHLIGHTS:
- It was a back-and-forth battle early, with the two sides combined for three shots apiece in the opening 15 minutes.
- Wesleyan sustained heavy pressure on the Bowdoin defense, attempting four shots in less than a minute including a Matthew Rubinstein '23 strike that connected with the post in the 24th minute
- Play settled down as the half came to an end and no shots from either side landed on-target in the final 22+ minutes of the first half
- Bowdoin sustained some possession and generated two shots on-goal, both saved by Liam Devanny '23 in a two-minute span early in the second half
- The back-and-forth match finally saw a breakthrough in the 65th minute as a Wesleyan corner kick was lofted in towards the back post. Chris Porte '25 managed to get a foot on the cross which bounced to Rubinstein. The junior then nudged the ball to Harmaty who made no mistake, firing low and to the keeper's right to find the back of the net
- Even as Bowdoin pushed for an equalizer, Wesleyan's defense stood tall and proved up to the task as the Polar Bears didn't register a shot on-goal in the 25+ minutes following the Harmaty game-winner
Chris Porte '25 played the full 90 minutes and recorded his first career assist in today's win
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Wesleyan is unbeaten (2-0-1) in their last three matches against the Polar Bears and haven't allowed a Bowdoin goal in 287:47 consecutive minutes against their league foe dating back to 2017
- The Cardinals' back line of Evan O'Brien '24, Nick Wallick '22, Miles Lambke '25 and Chris Porte '25 each played the entire 90 minutes and held a Bowdoin team, who defeated Amherst earlier this season, without a goal
- Devanny was credited with five saves as the junior tallied his third overall and second consecutive clean sheet of the season
- Harmaty now has three of the Cardinals' seven goals in 2021
- For Rubinstein and Porte, they each tallied their first assist of the season on Harmaty's game-winner
UP NEXT:
Wesleyan has an ultra-quick turnaround as the Cardinals are back in action at Clark University on Sunday for a 1 PM kick-off.
