Box Score NEW LONDON, Conn.--Colin Patch (Providence, R.I.) buried a penalty kick in the 62nd minute to lead the Connecticut College men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory against intra-state rival Wesleyan University on Freeman Field here today.
The Camels improved their record to 10-4-1 and finish the regular season with a 5-4-1 in the NESCAC. The 10 victories is the most for a Camel soccer team since former Head Coach Bill Lessig's team won 12 games en route to their ECAC title in 1996.
The Camels will now wait from Wednesday's games to see if they play home or away in Saturday's quarterfinal round. They have clinched the program's best regular season finish in program history and will be either the fourth or fifth seeded team in the NESCAC Championship Tournament.
Wesleyan ends up the regular season at 7-7-1 with a 3-6-1 mark in conference action.
The visitors had some opportunities in the second half. Max Jones (Chicago, Ill.) had a nice bid in the opening moments of the second stanza. But the play of the Camel back four has been consistent all year long.
Finally, the Camels had their chance to take control when freshman forward Chris Lockwood (Glastonbury, Conn.) was fouled in the box to set up the penalty kick. Lockwood's gritty style of play has been impressive and he ranks second on the team in scoring so far this year.
"Chris (Lockwood) is a great player," Patch said. "He worked his butt off today. He won the penalty for us."
Patch took care of the rest, burying a low blast into the center of the goal to put the Camels on top for good with his third score of the season.
Lockwood had fun playing in this rivalry game for the first time.
"It felt great to see Colin's shot go in," Lockwood said. "I knew our 10th win was in sight. Their backs and defenders were really tough."
Wesleyan never really went away though. In the 85th minute, the Cardinals nearly tied the game. Junior Charlie Gruner (Stevenson, Md.) unloaded from 15 yards out but Connecticut College junior keeper Austin DaCunha (Brookfield, Conn.) brought the crowd of 212 fans to their feet with a game-saving stab.
The Camels were able to hold on to the 1-0 win.
DaCunha finished with four saves en route to his seventh shutout of the season. He is appreciative of all the work the defense has put in to protect him.
"I could not have done anything without the defense today," DaCunha said. "Patch has been helping out a ton, policing the back four for us. We've got a great group this year. We're going to just keep working hard. We're spending more time working together. It's a great team. We definitely drew from the experience in the loss against Bowdoin. Now it's on to Saturday and the NESCAC playoffs."
Junior Jack Katkavich (Farmington, Conn.) had two saves in the setback for the Cardinals.
