Garnet Men Fly Past Eastern
ST. DAVID'S, Pa. -- The 23rd-ranked Swarthmore men's soccer team topped Eastern, 2-1, on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at Olson Field.
Swarthmore’s offensive line had limited, yet tactical shots in the first half. The Garnet struggled with finishing but connected well in the midfield, transitioning the ball up the field.
Senior Evan Nesterak (Parker, Colo. / Ponderosa) got the ball rolling with an solid shot that was picked up by Eastern goalie Michael Dorsch (Wilmington, Del. / Wilmington Christian), just a minute before the Garnet picked up their first goal. Sophomore forward Morgan Langley (Honolulu, Hawaii / Iolani School) brought the ball up the field and sent in a cross to teammate Ladule Lako Lo Sarah ’09 (Davis, Calif. / Claremont). At 25:28, Lako Lo Sarah’s shot snuck past the Eastern goalie with ease, marking his third goal of the season to make the score 1-0 in favor of the Garnet.
An Eastern shot attempt almost found its way into the net, but Garnet netminder Zach Weimar ’10 (Rutledge, Pa. / Friends Central) collected the save at 28:11.
The first half closed with the Garnet leading the Eagles, 1-0, on the scoreboard. The shot count totaled 4-3 in favor of Swarthmore (3-0-1).
Just five minutes into the second half, Nesterak was taken down in the box and the Garnet were awarded a penalty kick. Junior midfielder Dylan Langley (Honolulu, Hawaii / Iolani School) collected himself for a moment before he set up his ball, then rifled a shot to the left side of the net to push the score to 2-0 at 50:33. [Pictured left is Nesterak embracing teammate Dylan Langley (right) following the penalty kick.]
With 20 minutes left in the game, Swarthmore midfielder Christopher Szeto '09 (Chapel Hill, N.C. / East Chapel Hill) had a solid shot attempt; he had originally looked for teammate Nesterak but unluckily his shot attempt hit the top left corner of the goal post.
At 89:07, Eastern junior Terry Fry (Lancaster, Pa. / Penn Manor) used a feed from classmate Nate Goble (Shrewsbury, Pa. / Susquehannock) to put the Eagles (2-3) on the board, trimming the deficit by one goal.
Both goalies played the entire game; Weimar faced only two shots on goal from Eastern while Dorsch picked up four saves against Swarthmore.
Swarthmore continues their four-game road trip on Saturday, facing #5 Stevens Tech. The game is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. in Hoboken, N.J.