This past weekend, the Grinnell Men’s Soccer team competed in the North Central Tournament in Naperville, Ill.
Grinnell came out strong on Saturday, facing off against Principia College, winning the game in overtime.
“We were down 1-0 after the first half and we just knew that we had to fight back and come together as a team,” Pun Winichakul ’13 said.
Marshall Botto ’15 scored a goal in the second half to tie the game.
“[Botto] was put up at forward, which he hasn’t really been playing a lot of, so it was a big payout,” said Trenton Bush ’12.
The Grinnell defense held off Principia, forcing them into overtime. Bozo Susac ’12 scored the game-winner.
“It was a come from behind win,” Bush said. “The week before we lost to Coe College in overtime, where we were down one and came back, then forced overtime, and then lost. Principia was the same thing we were down one, came back and then this time we got kind of a questionable call in our favor and we managed to capitalize on that.”
The win was a result of a strong group effort from the Pioneers.
“I felt Pun [Winichakul] played really well in the back as well as Evan [Wright ’12] and I was satisfied with my play,” Joseph Brown ’15 said. “Marshall [Botto] played really well up top—he scored the first goal and was good at demanding the ball—played hard. Reed [Caron ’13] as well, in the middle, played really well.”
The following day the Pioneers played North Central College for the Tournament Title. The Grinnell defense couldn’t hold off North Central, however. The Pioneers lost the game 5-0, four of those goals coming in the second half of the game.
“They scored a second goal pretty early in the game. Then, we switched formations to a kind of more high risk, high reward strategy because we were just trying to come back and win. That didn’t work out,” Bush said. “I think once we got down enough, it’s kind of a young team and people started to put their heads down.”
Joseph Brown ’15 agreed.
“I think the difference between Saturday and Sunday was that when we had our backs against the wall on Saturday we were able to look to each other and look to ourselves and really rely on each other, whereas a lot of people were getting frustrated in [the Sunday] game.” Brown said.
Grinnell played Simpson College on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at Simpson. The Pioneers tied with the Simpson Storm 1-1 after double overtime.
“We controlled the game which was a big step for us in terms of possession, because in our past games we’ve had trouble stringing together five-plus passes,” Brown said. “It happens occasionally, but this game we were able to really control the ball and I think that’s what gave us our goal. It was the first time we scored first.”
Susac scored the sole Pioneer goal, his third of the season.
The Pioneers have not yet entered conference play—so many players were playing different positions than accustomed to against Simpson.
“Because we’re not playing any conference games yet we experimented with players at different positions,” said Omeed Kashef ’14. “One of our freshmen, Lars [Olson ’15], was put into a sweeper position and Evan Wright moved up to a midfielder position for the first time in three years, along with a variety of other switches, such as me up in a forward position rather than my usual center mid position.”
Simpson scored the game tying goal late in the second half to send the game into overtime. Neither team scored again in double overtime.
“Last night [Tuesday], we took a step in the right direction but we still have more work to do,” wrote Assistant Coach Parker Koester in an email to the S&B. “Last night, we learned that it takes a lot of effort to win a college soccer game and we cannot let up on the gas for even a second.”
Despite the close losses, the squad is not frustrated.
“The team is growing with every practice and game.” Coach Koester wrote.
The Pioneers will play Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24.
