Men’s soccer drops the ball against Herkimer
By: Colton Eastman
Staff writer
Hudson Valley Community College’s men’s soccer team lost 4-0 against the Herkimer Generals on Wednesday, Sept. 25. A hot start from the Generals was ultimately the difference in this game.
Herkimer arrived at Hudson Valley’s Outdoor Athletic Complex on Wednesday with the intent of keeping their undefeated record intact, and raced out to a fast start offensively.
The Generals’ first score came 17 minutes into the game, but it was a flurry of goals scored at the end of the first half that doomed the Vikings. Herkimer scored three goals in the last 10 minutes of the half, giving them a comfortable 4-0 lead going into the break.
When HVCC stepped onto the field for the second half of action, it was evident that they had a renewed focus. The Vikings defense tightened up, and did not allow the Generals to score for the remainder of the game.
“Everybody buckled down in the second half and made it work,” said Viking’s Head Coach Devon Tomson. “They did all of the work they needed to do to close down those gaps which was great.”
HVCC’s improved defense was highlighted by the play of sophomore goalkeeper and exercise science major, Nate Langois. Langois made eight saves against a Herkimer squad that averages over six goals per game.
“Phenomenal,” Coach Tomson said of Langois. “He’s just one of the best kids you can possibly coach, listens to everything, a true student of the game and it shows,” he continued. “You can see the saves he made today, he was terrific.”
“We kind of had a mentality to reset,” Langois said of the team’s focus entering the second half. “We were just thinking, it’s 0-0 the games restarting, let’s give it our all and ignore the score.”
With the loss, the Vikings fall to 5-3-1 for the season. While the final score may seem lopsided at first glance, Coach Tomson was very encouraged by his team’s performance in the second half against such a strong Herkimer program.
“The first half obviously could’ve gone better for us but we’re looking at the second half and saying ‘it can’t get any better,’” he said. “We’ll take that score in the second half.”
Langois was also encouraged by the Vikings’ second half showing.
“I think we worked really hard today against a really tough team,” Langois said. “It was a good experience for us to play against such high level competition and I think it puts us in a good place for our next game.”
The Viking’s will play a conference game against North Country Community College on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m.