Box Score NEW LONDON, Conn.--Sophomore Ousmane Dieng (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and freshman Ben Manoogian (Peabody, Mass.) scored goals to lead the Connecticut College men's soccer team to its third win of the week, a 2-1 triumph against NESCAC rival Hamilton College in front of 312 fans on Freeman Field Saturday.
The Camels improved their record to 5-2 while evening their mark at 2-2 in conference play. The visiting Continentals, who had their three game-winning streak snapped, fell to 3-3 with a 1-2 record in the NESCAC.
The Camels broke through in the 35th minute of action when Manoogian was able to hit Dieng in stride as he was sprinting toward the goal. Dieng was able to beat Hamilton's Harris Pollack (Chappaqua, N.Y.) who had moved off his line with a low shot to put the Camels on top 1-0.
The Camels tacked on a critically important insurance goal in the 85th minute. Mark Leon (Wrentham, Mass.) cycled the ball into the box from the right side, connecting with senior Matthew Bitchell (Byfield, Mass.) who dished it off to Manoogian for the score.
But the Continentals did not go quietly. In the 87th minute, the visitors cashed in on a set piece to pull within a goal. Junior back Spenser Heller (Short Hills, N.J.) unloaded with a corner kick from the right side. Senior Erick Marks (Pelham, N.Y.) controlled it to rookie forward Myles Pindus (Los Angeles, Calif.) who chipped it in.
But the Continentals would not get any closer and senior Daniel Adair (Foxboro, Mass.) made a nice clear to help close out the win for the hosts.
Bitchell was pleased with team's effort in pulling out the home win and is excited to see the team off to a 5-2 start.
"We've got a solid corps of returning players but almost half of this team is young freshman," Bitchell said. "We have a lot of good attacking power up front. It's looking good! We missed a couple of chances early on but we were able to break them down and get the second goal to put the game away."
Bitchell has been impressed with his classmate and fellow captain Colin Patch (Providence, R.I.) who scored two goals this week and played out numerous dangerous balls in the middle of the Camel defense.
"Patch has been a very important player since his freshman year," Bitchell said. "He just does his job really well."
Patch was pleased to get the victory in front of an animated home crowd.
"Today, we had to be patient," Patch said. "We were passing the ball a lot. We had a few chances early on which we didn't put away but we kept playing our game passing it around and we were eventually able to put one in.
Patch is happy to lend a helping hand to the younger players as a leader for the squad.
"I feel like my role as captain and leader is very important in helping out the kids every day," Patch said. "It's definitely exciting to see the we have 10 freshmen. We had four starting today so it's just an exciting time for us."
Junior keeper Austin DaCunha (pictured, Brookfield, Conn.) made two saves to earn the victory for the Camels. Pollack finished with six stops in the loss for the Continentals.
