No. 6 men’s soccer (10-4-3, 5-3-2 NESCAC) came close to advancing to the NESCAC finals but fell short in a 2-1 loss to No. 5 Connecticut College (9-2-6, 3-2-5 NESCAC) in the semifinals on Saturday. Despite a strong push in the second half, the Ephs were unable to overcome a 2-0 deficit after the Camels scored in the 43rd and 69th minutes.
The Ephs struggled to find their rhythm in the first half of the game, allowing the Camels to capitalize on counterattacks. “We made a couple [of] mistakes trying to figure out how to orient ourselves based on how they were playing and their shape,” co-captain and center back Felipe Gutierrez ’25 told the Record. “We had trouble [with] that in the first half. In the second half, we played really well.”
Midfielder Alex Bethencourt ’28 shared a similar sentiment, pointing to the hectic battle in the first half. “We were a bit too frantic,” he said. “We [weren’t] able to connect that first pass out of transition. It created this fast moving, tiring game. Conn. used that to … find wide spaces very early, which they eventually used to score their first goal.”
The team regrouped during halftime, preparing for a strong comeback. Bethencourt played a key role in the revival, assisting Lorcan Mitchell ’28 in scoring in the 85th minute and encouraging the Ephs to attack the Camels in the game’s concluding moments.
“For the last five minutes, we were really putting the pressure on,” defender Atticus Ross ’27 said. “We had a couple half-chances, a lot of the ball bouncing around the box.”
Unfortunately, the Ephs’ goal came too late to secure the team an equalizer. In the last five minutes, the Camels worked diligently to hold onto their lead.
Despite the defeat, Gutierrez and his teammates are optimistic about the season as a whole. “The season has sort of gone to plan,” he said. “Last season, we didn’t really lose a lot of guys graduating and then brought in a really strong incoming class who’ve been super helpful on both sides of the ball.”
Even after tough defeats, the team kept its spirits high. “Every loss that we’ve had this season has helped us so much more than every win,” Bethencourt said. “A loss teaches you so much because it puts you in those situations where not everything is going right, and that causes you to then find solutions for other games.”
Leading up to the NESCAC semifinals, the team has had a strong season, winning 10 games, losing in four, and tying three. And the season is not yet over for the Ephs. They qualified for the NCAA Tournament and will next play Manhattanville University at home Nov. 16.
