The Red Devils have been ranked in Division Three’s top ten for the last month. Ethan Jarden ’26 leads the Centennial Conference in goals. He has been a key contributor to what Dickinson has been able to do this year. The attacker’s hat trick against Gettysburg, followed up by a goal and assist performance in a 2-1 victory over Haverford, earned him Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors. Jarden and his talented Junior class came into the program when it was going through a rough patch. Their class joined the team following a year when the Red Devils went winless in conference play.
Jarden said, “It’s never one class. It’s never one player. It’s never anything like that. It’s a big culture thing. If you walked into the locker room today versus three years ago, you’d see an entirely different team. You’d see a team that’s having fun playing the game they love. You’d see practices with all out effort from everybody, and it’s just about controlling that effort.”
The results speak for themselves. Dickinson has gone from being the worst in the conference to being top dogs in a small span of time.
The program’s meteoric rise is not something the attacker takes for granted. He said, “Yeah, I mean, coming into the program as a Freshman, I couldn’t have imagined that we would have turned it around this quickly. That’s not to say we’ve done anything crazy yet, but the culture has changed, and we hope to continue that, to actually, you know, win something. But it was definitely not what I thought it would be my Junior year, winning these many games so far.” There is a lot to credit in the change in play and the change in culture. Jarden gave Coach Jorge Chapoy most of the plaudits for the drastic change.
Everything has clicked this year. The new Freshman class has played a big part in that. Jarden, Saul Iwowo ’26 and Luke Finkielstein ’26 all played huge roles from the start of their tenure here.
Jarden said, “Now that we have even more guys that we trust out there who we know can perform, we know they can do their job, we’re able to excel as a team and have that chemistry and bond.”
Jarden embraced the pressure and role that he and his classmates took on from the start, but he appreciates the fact that a weight has been lifted now that the team has other players that can be trusted, especially on the offensive side. Jarden and Iwowo were often left on an island in previous years. What was a two headed attack has been bolstered with the additions of first years, Nicholas Dwamena ’28, Daniel Spataro ’28 and Timi Omoniwa ’28. Those three players have all played big roles in this year’s attack, which has given other players, especially Jarden, more freedom.
Jarden acknowledged how his game has evolved: “I’m not over dribbling as much, which was something I really looked into. When I get the ball, I feel like I trust my teammates a lot more than I previously did to be able to advance the ball, and I just feel like there’s a lot more pressure off of me, that I’ve taken off myself and put it within my team, that I know we will get the chances and I’ll be there for the opportunities.”
Jarden is playing his game more and more, meaning he is able to move more off the ball and end up in the right spot at the right time. The Junior has scored nine goals this year. A lot of the goals have looked like he just lucked into an easy chance but Jarden has worked a lot on his off ball movement, which has allowed him to have a very prolific year.
Jarden and the team are having a great year so far, but they know they have yet to win anything. There will be a target on their back throughout the rest of conference play. Teams know a win against a top ten ranked team would mean a lot for their season. The Red Devils have gotten into a groove, winning three straight conference games. They are on track for a deep playoff run.