The Washington University men’s soccer team ended its first home game in a scoreless and contentious tie after 110 minutes of play with Illinois Wesleyan University. The game was highlighted by a surge of offense in the second half and punctuated with two revoked Wash. U. goals.

In the 78th minute of play, senior tri-captain John Hengel notched the first goal of the game for either team, but officials immediately nullified the goal. An infraction called by a sideline official two and a half minutes earlier went unnoticed by the center official  and was only enforced after the goal. The action left the team frustrated and fans outraged.

“In my 48 years of soccer, I’ve never had a play called back like that, but we had enough chances that we didn’t score on that we could have,” head coach Joe Clarke said. “It still falls in our laps.”

In the first half, Wash. U. had eight shots to Wesleyan’s five, but many players noted a lack of energy. At halftime, Clarke told the squad to make some adjustments.

“At halftime [Clarke] let us know that we were not up to par and really needed to come out and go hard in the second half,” senior tri-captain Nat Zenner said. “The team really took it upon themselves to try and go forward and get the result and really attack and put pressure on their backs.”

The team switched formations at the beginning of the second half, moving junior Harry Beddo up to forward. This created a triangle of midfielders—freshman Brian Wright, junior Cody Costakis and Hengel—giving the Bears a defensive boost.

“We put Harry up because when Harry plays in the back or in the midfield, we have no forwards that are just big and can hold the ball up for us, and he was able to do that,” Costakis said. “We could just kick the ball up to him, he would keep it and we could run in behind him. That was a big change, so the formation and positional changes helped a lot.”

After the switch, Wash. U. held a clear advantage in offensive stats. The team recorded five more shots than IWU and had an 8-0 advantage in corner kicks.
“They didn’t have any chances in the second half; it was all us,” junior midfielder David Klein said. “When we look back at the game, that’s probably what we’ll take away.”

Klein noted positive performances from the players who made their Wash. U. debuts Tuesday.

Costakis, a transfer student from Bucknell, had three shots, two on goal. Wright started at midfield and had two shots, while fellow freshman Zach Query saw time at forward.

“It was good, because I got a chance to get into the game right away, but kind of a bummer because I missed,” Wright said on a shot he took. “[I learned] it’s OK to make a mistake, because you have teammates that are behind you and around you to support you.”

Regulation and the first overtime period ended without a goal for either team.  Junior John Duncan connected for a goal in the third minute of the second overtime, but the officials again voided the score, this time for an offside violation.

“I thought we really deserved the result today, deserved at least one of those goals that was taken away from us,” Zenner said. “But overall, I’m proud of the team. We battled hard and got our first shutout of the year.”

Senior John Hengel goes for the goal in a double-overtime, 0-0 tie with Illinois Wesleyan University on Tuesday. Two Bear goals were voided by officials, but the team still notched its first shutout. (Josh Goldman | Student Life)