At the start of the men’s soccer team’s Sunday game against Marist, the Red Foxes looked strong, forcing goalkeeper Bobby Thalman ’12 to make three saves in the first ten minutes. But just twenty minutes later, the Bulldogs (3–2–1) had already put the game well out of reach of Marist (4–2–1) by five goals in 12 minutes on the way to a 7–0 rout.
Brad Rose ’12 scored the first goal 15 minutes in, a swerving free kick that went over the wall and just under the crossbar. Five minutes later Rose scored again. Headers from Peter Jacobson ’14 and — one minute later — Milan Tica ’13 made it 4–0 and Jenner Fox ’12 added another goal before the 30-minute mark. The offensive explosion surprised everyone, including head coach Brian Tompkins.
“It’s just one of those days where everything turned to gold,” Tompkins said. “No one told me there’d be days like this.”
Indeed, it has been a long time since Yale had such a day. The team only managed to score 10 goals all of last season. The record for most goals in one game is 10, reached against UConn in 1935 and 1936, and against Hartford in 1960. And the last time the Elis scored seven goals was in a win over Sacred Heart in 2004.
For a team that played exceptional, two players still managed to stand out. Jenner Fox ’12 and Brad Rose ’12 both had two goals and two assists. For a super-senior like Rose, who’s been hunting for the back of the net the last five games, today’s game was less ecstatic and more relief.
“It feels like a weight’s been lifted off my shoulders,” Rose said, following his giddy teammates off the field.
The Bulldogs’ home record is now 3–0 this season, and at the end of Sunday afternoon’s game the team gave the sparse audience still in attendance a round of applause.
“It’s a great place to play … there’s a good energy here,” Tompkins said. “We always thank the fans.”
Last Friday night, Yale went on the road to try to avenge last season’s loss to Fairleigh Dickinson (3–2–1). Tompkins said he was proud of how his team responded to adversity, as Aden Farina-Henry ’12 scored the equalizer less than ten minutes after the Knights put one on the board at the start of the second half. Ultimately, that would be all the scoring for the night. Even after putting six more shots on FDU’s goal after two overtimes, Yale still finished with a 1–1 tie.
FDU head coach Seth Roland said in a video interview it was a fair result for both teams.
“It was a really hard fought game,” Roland said. “Yale is fit and strong … We competed well, we competed hard, [but] a draw would be a fair result in this game.”
Tompkins agreed with that analysis. While the team has clearly evolved in terms of its goal scoring, he said the players still need to work on ball possession and defense, those aspects of the game which will give them better control over tempo. Although four goals in six minutes is one tempo he’s not going to argue with, he said.
Yale takes the field against Fairfield this Friday night at 7 p.m., under the lights at Reese stadium for its final nonconference home game of the year.