Jubilant, Nathan Szapak hugs Carl Vestberg after scoring the game-winning shot. Szapak isn’t normally found near the far goal — he has played 125 minutes as a defender — but the freshman scored his first WashU goal against Hope on Tuesday. (Photo by Clara Richards | Student Life)
Washington University men’s soccer looked like it was headed into a 0-0 tie before freshman defender Nathan Szapak charged up the field in the second half. Assisted by sophomore Nate Vota, Szapak was found on a fantastic breakaway through the ball that split Hope College’s defense, finding himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. With the nerve of a veteran striker, the freshman slotted the ball into the bottom right corner beyond the reach of the Flying Dutchman goalkeeper to record his first WashU career goal.
“I mean, just a lot of emotion,” said Szapak, describing the goal that won WashU the game. “I mean, we’ve been working for months now, and this is my first real opportunity to start and play a whole game. So it was good to get out there and just contribute in any way I could.”
While travel trips continued to be a point of difficulty for Washington University men’s soccer, the team remained undefeated at home after overcoming Hope College 1-0 Tuesday afternoon. The win buoyed the team’s season record to 3-3 for the year as it heads into the UAA conference showdown games this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia.
“You’re always happy when you win,” said head coach Joe Clarke. “We looked tired, but I think Hope did a good job possessing the ball for a long period. Last year we lost to them, but I thought we played a better game and I think they actually might have played a little better than us today.”
Aside from recording their third win of the season, fifth-year goalkeeper Matt Martin and the Bears’ defense recorded their third shutout of the year, while also managing to outscore their opponents at home 7-0.
As the scoreline suggested, the game was closely contested by both sides, and thus the first half did not display much action aside from a few exchanged shots.
“Today I still think we played sloppy at times,” said junior defender Reece Nicholson. “I think we’re all pretty tired, practices have been ramped up.”
The one glimpse of action in the first half came in the 15th minute of the game, when senior Hudson Hazlewood found himself wide open just outside the 16 yard box. He tried to curve his shot in the upper 90, but his shot was calmly collected by the Flying Dutchman goalkeeper to keep the scoreline at 0-0.
Hope responded in the 30th, but the giant presence of Martin kept the Flying Dutchman attacker at bay.
The second half shared many of the elements of the first. A few shots were exchanged between the two sides. With only 20 minutes left in the game, freshman Nathan Szapak put WashU ahead of the game with a goal, bringing the score line to 1-0.
With 20 minutes remaining, Hope College wasn’t out of the game yet, as they came back to knock on WashU’s door one more time. Specifically, in the 87th minute, with bodies all over the WashU penalty area, Hope College had a near-perfect shot to tie the game, but a flying Superman save from Martin cemented WashU’s perfect home record and the shootout win.
Matt Martin makes a flying save in the late second half against Hope. (Photo by Clara Richards | Student Life)
With non-conference games done, the Bears return to defend their UAA title from last year as they face Emory this Saturday. While many on the team wish to keep their UAA silverware this season, Clarke acknowledged that the team isn’t at a place to do that yet.
“We are far from ready for the UAA, but it’s here,” said Clarke. “So we’ll do the best we possibly can with it. Maybe other teams are in the same position as us.”
Other members on the team feel the same way. Drawing on his experience competing in the conference last year, Nicholson acknowledges the difficulty of UAA, but he also had faith in some old and new faces on the roster.
“UAA is a different animal,” said Nicholson. “[But] I think experienced guys will be ready to know what to expect. [And] like you saw today, freshmen are stepping up. I think if we tell them, let them know [what to expect]they’ll be ready for it.”