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Before the game Sunday against Binghamton University at noon, the University of Maine men’s soccer team has been going through some changes in the past couple weeks.
Ever since the loss of sophomore Luke Rivard and junior Greg Bajek, things for coach Travers Evans and company have been one obstacle after the next.
In the last game, a 2-0 loss against University of Stony Brook, Evans used three freshman who had not started all season in Maine natives Cooper Friend and Kyle Vosmus and former Vermont All-American keeper Chad Mongeon.
“I really wish I had played better because it would have done a lot more for my confidence,” Mongeon said. “I was more worried about being tentative and aggressive, because it was a faster pace then I was used to.”
Rumors have persisted that there possibly will be formation change for the Black Bears. Their current formation is a 4-4-2. The possble changes could be between a 4-3-3 or a 3-4-3. Either way, the Black Bears increase their number of forwards as well as scoring opportunities. In a three forward system, senior Rob Dowe and Kyle McMorrow would most likely be at left and right forward, while Vosmus could be at center forward or drop back to a center forward/midfielder.
As for now, Evans did not say which one he would choose but he did give an inkling that a change could happen.
“We’re looking to play a little bit differently,” Evans said. “We’ve had a problem when it has come to scoring chances. Cooper and Kyle both played really well last game and starting to gain consistency in their game, which is hard for first year players on this level and Chad got his first start and he was training well the week before.”
Sunday’s opponent, the Binghamton University Bearcats (4-9-1), fell to the Colgate Red Raiders (6-5-3) 1-0 in a nonconference game Saturday.
As they played on a wet and muddy field neither team could gain an advantage for much of the first half. That changed just before halftime when Colgate’s Peter Bourquin took a pass from teammate Bryant Meckley and beat Binghamton’s keeper at the 42:14 mark.
Each team had several good shots in the second half, but strong play from the respective goalkeepers preserved the 1-0 score. Binghamton’s Ian Wendel and Matt Nolan combined for five saves, while Colgate’s Will Martin stopped eight shots. Both teams had 12 shots for the game. Graham Munro and Michael Austin each had three shots for Binghamton.
The loss extended Binghamton’s losing streak to five games.
