By Charlie Lynch
The Colorado College men’s soccer team began their season with a bang, securing two early wins over Albion College and Luther College.
The team’s winning streak started on Friday afternoon, Aug. 29, when they played Albion College on Washburn Field, hoping to secure a home turf win to jump start the season. The Tigers came out roaring, with an 18–7 advantage in total shots and a 6–2 edge in shots on target. The men netted four goals, in contrast to Albion’s single goal, despite the early game’s early conclusion due to a lightning threat 20 minutes from the end.
The Tigers’ four goals were the most scored in a CC men’s soccer season opener since 2011, when CC defeated its crosstown rival University of Colorado Colorado Springs 4–3 in overtime.
The Singh brothers, both new additions at CC’s soccer team, shone against Albion. Kiran Singh ’22, a midfielder transfer from Haverford College, and his younger brother, and defender Sajjan Singh ’23, showed great leadership and promise. They combined to score three out of the four CC goals.
Notably, the Tigers only let up seven shots defensively. Goaltender Keller Mochel ’20 prevented all shots on goal except for one, leading to CC’s definitive 4–1 win over tough competitor Albion College.
“We had a lot of questions to ask during our brief preseason, but I think we are starting to get some answers,” said head men’s soccer coach Scott Palguta. “We were strong defensively from back to front.”
This win gave the Tigers some much needed momentum to compete against nationally ranked Luther College.
The Tigers faced off against Luther College on Aug. 31 in hopes of dominating the No. 8 team in the country. Palguta challenged his team with back-to-back games in order to break through national rankings.
The team needed a win, and they brought one home. The Tigers crushed Luther 3–0, with standout games from many players on the field. The victory was CC’s first over a top 10 opponent since its 3–1 win over No. 1 Trinity College in 2015.
Mochel kept the game scoreless with a game-changing save in the 19th minute, when he came off his line to lunge and deny a shot to the bottom left corner of the goal.
The save motivated the Tigers and kept the men on course, with midfielder John Schuler ’21 scoring the team’s first goal only two minutes later. He had a solo run that resulted in a left-footed curled shot into the upper left corner of the goal.
The team struck for the second time in the dying minutes of the first half: midfielder Hayden Cogswell ’20 received a pass from substitute midfielder Miles Montgomery ’21 and evaded the Luther goalkeeper with a header shot. The Tigers finished off their scoring for the game with a third goal from midfielder and forward Griffin Meyer ’23 on a sliding effort. This goal marked Meyer’s first success as a collegiate athlete.
The men’s soccer team was ecstatic about shutting out Luther College. “It was a great team result,” said Montgomery. Every player that stepped on the field did their job. We hope that it’s a sign of a very successful season to come.”
Colorado College will travel to central Ohio next weekend to face No. 10 Kenyon College on Friday, Sept. 6 and Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday, Sept. 7. They hope to secure wins over two more nationally ranked teams. “We’re excited for next weekend,” said Palguta. “We’re playing two more top 10 caliber teams.”
