The mens soccer team bounced back from a loss to Yale with two victories against Columbia and Holy Cross this past week.

The team is now 5-1-2 and is continuing on what is shaping out to be a good season for the Bobcats.

“I’m happy with the way we’ve been playing. We are playing up to our expectations,” said head coach Erik DaCosta.

The victories against Columbia and Holy Cross were also close games that were very important this early in the season. The Bobcats defeated Columbia in double overtime when Dwanye Mars scored the winning goal in the 101 minute. Down 1-0 to Holy Cross with 20 minutes left, senior forward Graciano Brito helped pull the team ahead with two late goals for a 2-1 victory. His goal in the 81 minute was the game-winner, and was his 7 of the season in only 8 games.

“Those victories were huge for us,” said DaCosta, “Especially coming off a loss to Yale, it is really important to win the next game and we did that in double overtime. Then we get down early to Holy Cross but we were able to win the game with two goals from Brito.”

“It shows a lot about the team’s character. Last year we were 9-0-2 when we suffered our first loss, then we loss the next game as well. This year we were able to rebound quickly.”
A large part of the reason why the team is doing so well have been the team’s leading scorer, Brito, and goalkeeper Freddy Hall, who has 30 saves on the season.

“Both of them are really good players and have been making tremendous progress since preseason. Lots of times, teams focus on Brito and try to take him out of the game and that is when other players on the team have the chance to step up.”
The team faced Loyola College on the road this past weekend, which is ranked No. 1 in the North Atlantic Region. However, the Bobcats are undefeated on the road this year.

“When you’re on the road, you have more time to mentally prepare for the game,” said DeCosta, “A lot of times at home the athletes go straight from class to the locker room. When you’re traveling, you have that extra time to be mentally prepared.”

The team is entering the bigger portion of their season and remains focused on their goals.

“Our goal is to win an NEC championship and get the NCAA’s, and right now were off to a good start.”