Battling their way into the Liberty League finals with a 1-0 win over Hobart, the Thoroughbred’s Men’s Soccer team has enjoyed a tremendous season thus far. They boast an overall record of 11-5-1, with five of those wins coming from what senior captain Mario Hyman ’16 described as an “extremely unpredictable” Liberty League Conference. No team in the conference has been able to separate themselves from the rest of the pack the way the Thoroughbreds have, due to the equality in the level of competition.
Freshman defender Ben Poole ’19 has proven to be an incredible asset to the team despite his youth. Hyman commented that his teammate Poole has shown the “awareness and grit” necessary to be one of the team’s top defenders. Poole also scored Skidmore’s only goal in the game this past Tuesday, punching the team’s ticket to the Liberty League finals for the second time in three years.
Hyman also implied that an overall sense of cohesion among coaches and team members has been one of the most significant sources of the team’s success. He stated that the “overall togetherness” of the team, in comparison to previous years, “has improved tremendously,” and that coaches have done an outstanding job of “establishing more personal connections with the players.” Hyman, along with fellow captains Jesse Evensky ’16 and Tim Sullivan ’16, has placed tremendous emphasis upon “making this team a family”—a mindset that has proven to be very successful so far.
Skidmore will travel to St. Lawrence this Saturday, November 7, to take on the Saints in what is shaping up to be a great Liberty League finals matchup. As the Thoroughbreds look to bring home their first ever conference championship in men’s soccer, Hyman is determined to amend the result of the 2013 season in which the team lost in the finals. He spoke of the team feeling confident about Saturday’s match, saying that they are going to play their “best 90 minutes [of soccer] when it counts most.”