BY GENEVRA PITTMAN

In print | Published October 4, 2007

Do-or-die time has arrived for the Garnet men’s soccer team. The squad, which went into the season with a goal of making it to the conference playoffs and ultimately to the NCAA tournament, is hovering in a precarious position in the conference, but is confident about what the future will bring.

While its most recent results, a 2-0 win over Washington College on Sept. 26 and a 1-0 loss to Gettysburg College on Sept. 29, might not have produced the most desired end on paper, the squad was happy with its level of play and tenacity.

Against the Shoremen, the Garnet scored two goals with in the first 30 minutes on a long shot from Michael Bonesteel ‘08 and a penalty kick from Yoi Tibbetts ’09. The Swarthmore defense made things easy for goalie Ryan Sutcliffe ’08, who didn’t have to make a single save in the first half. The Garnet kept the pressure on Washington in the second half, outshooting the Shoremen 11-3, but was not able to convert another goal.

“I’m not sure that everybody was completely satisfied,” Sutcliffe said of the result against Washington. “We would have liked to be a little bit more authoritative, but we got the win.”

Against the Bullets, 468 fans showed up at Clothier Field to watch a hard-fought match that ultimately went against the Garnet. Both teams exchanged scoring chances, with defender Brendan Grady ’08 making an especially big save on a ball that was heading across the goal line, but the Bullets hit the one shot that found the back of the net two minutes into the second half. Still, Swarthmore continued fighting tooth-and-nail until the final whistle.

“We’ve clearly developed since Hopkins,” Sutcliffe said, referring to Swarthmore’s 4-0 loss to the Blue Jays, in which the Garnet “deflated” after giving up a goal. “We didn’t back down at all. [In] the last 15 minutes of the game, Gettysburg was scared as hell.”

The game was “very competitive, very physical,” Coach Eric Wagner said. “Unfortunately, we made a mistake that ultimately cost us. Gettysburg took advantage of it — props to them.”

The physicality of the game proved costly for Swarthmore, as two of its three captains, Jeff Kushner ‘09 and Patrick Christmas ’08 were forced out of the game with injuries and will also have to sit out in this weekend’s match. Kushner suffered a sprained ankle and Christmas was knocked out and suffered a concussion. While another team might be ruined by the loss of two of its stars, Wagner said the team’s depth means this will not be the case.

“We can go to other players without having a major drop in talent level,” he said. “Obviously it’s different to lose a player the caliber of Patrick and Kushner … I’m not at all worried about being able to fill the positions, the question is whether the leadership void is filled. I’m sure that Grady will step up.”

With the Swarthmore men holding on to a 1-2-1 record in the Centennial Conference, each game from now until the end of the season will be important, starting on Saturday at Ursinus College. “A win will get us right back on track in terms of getting right back into the conference standings,” Kushner said. And apparently, the team is mentally ready for the pressure that comes with this time of the season.

After the Gettysburg loss, “We took two days off from practice and [Tuesday] we kind of regrouped,” he said. “We’re not trying to dwell on anything that happened in the past. Our ultimate goal is still to make the playoffs and win the conference.”

Sutcliffe agreed. “It’s just a matter of putting in the work and having faith in our abilities,” he said.

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