The men’s soccer team fell 2-1 in an overtime game against Oberlin College on Tuesday. Oct. 20.

“We rebounded from a rough game on Saturday, it was an important game for us and we played at a high level,” said Angelo Panzetta, head coach. “Midweek games are always difficult with travelling and school work. We used this game as a preplayoff game, so we were disappointed with the results but pleased with the effort.”

Izaak Miller, ’18, said they played as a team and were strong offensively.

“We had a couple good chances to score, but we were out numbered by shots by the other team because they created a few more chances. It was pretty even until the end. They just managed to find the back of our net before we could find theirs,” Miller said.

Aaron Donohue, ’17, scored the goal for the Gators in the second half, in response to Oberlin’s goal in the first half. The team went into double overtime, ending with Oberlin scoring its second goal of the night.

Goalkeeper Jake Pugliese, ’16, made a career high 15 saves throughout the game, topping his previous nine saves from October 2014.

The team can use their play from the game against Oberlin in preparation for remaining conference play.

“We know that we can play with good technical teams. We have to be a little better at capitalizing on the chances we create. We need to not let the other team score first and fall behind. It’s better if we can maintain the lead the whole game,” Miller said.

The Oberlin game brought the team to a 3-2 record in the conference, placing them in fourth.

“This season started rougher than last year, but once we started winning important games for the conference we improved and went to fourth in the conference,” Miller said.

Carl Pohlman, ’19,  said that as a freshman, the transition to collegiate soccer has been the most difficult part of the season.

“We’ve learned from our non-conference games and have done well in the conference,” Pohlman said.

Though the team has been working on improving, new challenges have come about.

“Dealing with injuries throughout the season has been a challenge. We have a different line up at games, which has made us better having more guys playing and getting experience, but frustrating not having continuity,” Panzetta said.

Miller said the team is looking to improve playing the full 90 minutes and play as a team with less mistakes.

“I am looking forward to the last couple games against competitive teams, do well and play in the NCAA to get into the NCAC tournament,” Miller said.

Pohlman agreed, adding that he is looking forward to continuing good form and getting better results going into the tournament.

“The league is strong top to bottom this year, and the team has been facing one regionally or  nationally ranked team after another. We are looking to get results in the last few games and end in the top four in the conference,” Panzetta said.

The team’s last game will be Oct. 31, followed by conference play the week after.