This is a great development for both the men's and women's soccer programs.  There are numerous reasons why the split went as it did with hiring a new men's coach and keeping me on as the women's coach.  Suffice it to say, lots and lots of conversation was had between myself, Coach Bridges, and other administrators to get this done.  I feel we possibly have the best staff of soccer coaches in the conference and I have no doubt that both the men's and women's teams will see instantly how having one person in charge of one team will pay dividends during the fall.

I am excited for the future of Titan soccer.  The women's program has already accomplished a fair amount in just four years, but we have barely scratched the surface of what is possible out there.  I fully expect the team to make significant strides forward this season.  The men's team has also improved significantly since 2001, but we've consistently had problems getting over the proverbial hump.  I believe the ship of the men's team is heading in the right direction, and I think everyone who has watched the men play over the last four seasons will agree.  Hopefully the mechanical tweaking that will occur with Coach Lakin as the skipper will enable the men's boat to not only stay on course, but accelerate the process and bypass others in the CCIW.

August 20th can't come soon enough for both me and Coach Lakin.  We are both geared up for the fall, looking forward to working with our teams and helping each other along the way.  I have great confidence that the working environment in the Titan soccer offices will be healthy and productive and will lead to successes on the playing field in 2005.

Once Coach Lakin is fully installed here in the office, expect updates from him as well.

Titans add one more new face for 2005
We have added one more member to the 2005 pre-season Titan Soccer roster.  Andy Oleson, a defender/midfielder from right here in Bloomington, will be joining the team in the fall.  He graduated high school in 2004 and attended SIU-Edwardsville for one term this year, playing on their club soccer team.  He will join the IWU community as a freshman, bringing our total for the class of 2009 to nine players.

It is an exiting time for the Titans with so many new faces joining the group.  The returning players have all worked very diligently all winter and spring to get stronger and fitter.  They are proving to be a tremendous example of the commitment necessary to become a successful college athlete.  I know the freshmen will come into school with a great amount of energy and enthusiasm and the leadership of our older guys will set a great tone for them.  The fall should be very exciting seeing everyone come together as a group!

Spring 2005 update
With the school year nearly over (save for May Term), our training has officially come to an end.  Our recruiting for 2005 is also 99% complete, and we are pleased to welcome 8 new Titans into the fold.  (We are still awaiting word on a late applicant who may join the IWU community as well.)

The class as it stands will be the following:

Spencer Nedved (Midfield) from St. Paul, Minnesota and St. Paul Academy.
Jeff Carqueville (Back/Midfield) from St. Charles, Illinois and St. Charles East HS.
Anthony Cipolla (Forward) from Wauconda, Illinois and Carmel HS.
John Blodgett (Forward) from Portland, Oregon and Cleveland HS.
Matas Cyvas (Back) from Downers Grove, Illinois and Benet Academy.
Reggie Lara (Goalkeeper) from Northbrook, Illinois and Notre Dame HS.
Bryan Rea (Back) from Orland Park, Illinois and Providence Catholic HS.
Sherman Wallace (Back) from Lisle, Illinois and Naperville North HS.

We are excited to welcome these young men into our team and are confident that they are going to be able to help us improve from last year.  The team has worked very hard over the course of the spring term to get strong and stay fit.  In addition to two of our players have been studying abroad this spring, we have added three players who didn't play last year to the roster for 2005.  The newcomers will be junior Brad Shearn (Buffalo Grove HS), sophomore Andrew Schmitz (Hersey HS), and Ikenna Odinaka from Ikoyi, Lagos.

Our 2005 schedule is now posted online and we are looking forward to getting going again in August!

Titans close out 2004 season with 1-0 loss at Carthage
November 2--Our season came to an unfortunate end with a tough 1-0 loss at Carthage last Saturday.  The Redmen scored their game-winning goal with about 5 minutes to play in the game, ending our season at 5-10-3 and 1-5-1 in the conference.

For a variety of reasons, this has been a disappointing end to the campaign.  Looking back to reflect on the season as a whole, I think the direction of our season was determined in our first two games against Marian and Aurora.  In our first match against Marian, we completely out played our opponents, outshot them 16-1, hit the post and crossbar, yet only came away with a 0-0 tie.  In our next game at Aurora just two days later, we scored with 7 minutes remaining in the game, only to concede a goal with less than 5 to play and again come away with a draw.  Instead of being 2-0, we were 0-0-2 and had scored only one goal in 220 minutes of soccer.  Had one or both of these games gone differently, I think the mood of the team would have been much different for the remainder of the season.

The issue that plagued us all year long was our inability to create and finish goal-scoring opportunities.  For the second straight season, our leading goal scorer was Chris Miller, a center midfielder.  He had 5 of our 22 goals this year, in 18 games.  Try as we did, our ineffectiveness around the goal and the inability of our front-running players to complete their jobs caused many, many, tactical issues for the team.  Without a proven threat to creat goals, opposing teams really didn't have anything to worry about from us, and that allowed them to concentrate their efforts elsewhere, namely, putting us under pressure.  Until we find someone who can consistently be a danger on the field, this will continue to be an issue for us.

The other area we'll need to see to for 2005 is our goalkeeping.  We graduate both of our keepers and, very likely, will need to start a freshman in goal next season.  We must find a way to keep the ball out of our goal, as we conceded several goals against the run of play that proved costly during the course of the season.  I thought our backs, by and large did a good job all season long.  Scott Hernandez and Alan Mila had all-conference seasons, with both captains showing their leadership and toughness by playing through injuries and not missing a beat.

I also thought we did a decent job of playing in the middle third of the field.  Our overall performance getting the ball from box to box was decent, as was our defense of that area.  There is certainly room for improvement, but I thought overall our play in the middle was good enough to be successful during the course of the year.

We say goodbye to the class of 2005: Alan Mila, Scott Hernandez, Nick Hogren, David Beckett, Reed Grimwood, Matt Robertson, and Jeremy Witt.  They have seen the men's soccer program evolve into a competitive soccer programs, playing some of the best teams in the midwest since 2001.  The team thanks them for all they have given to the team over the past four seasons, and can only hope that we can build upon this foundation and make the IWU soccer alumni proud in years to come.

We will embark on our off-season training right away in hopes of not allowing history to repeat itself in 2005.  We hope to add a big and talented freshman class in 2005, and improve the performances of those players who will be returning next fall.

Titans fall out of CCIW playoff contention with loss to Millikin
October 29--The roller coaster ride that has been our season took another turn last weekend when we dropped a 3-0 decision to Millikin.  Despite the CCIW race being very wide open (save for the top two spots), we were eliminated from contention from the fourth and final playoff spot with the loss.  Also, we travelled up to the U of Chicago on Tuesday and dropped a tough 2-1 decision to the #10 team in the nation when we scored for the Maroons an own goal with about 15 minutes left in the contest.  Our record now sits at 5-9-3 overall.

The Millikin game was ours for the taking in many respects, even down 1-0 at halftime.  They scored against the run of play in the first half when our keeper Matt Robertson couldn't hang onto a shot from inside the box.  However, we earned a PK early in the second half when Kevin Hegi was fouled in the box.  Chris Miller, usually very reliable as our PK taker, didn't hit his normally good shot and the Millikin keeper made the save.  A rebound chance by Mark Opal was shot over the bar, and there went the momentum for us.  We kept battling but as we pressed forward we got exposed at the back and conceded a couple more goals later in the game for the final margin of defeat.

It was very disappointing and somewhat exasperating for us all.  Despite our best efforts, we haven't been able to solve two main problems of the season: conceding soft goals and not creating enough offensive chances for ourselves.  For example, in our game against UC, we had only 4 shots on goal for the game, and luckily one went in.  Scott Hernandez, one of our center backs, scored his first collegiate goal on a great shot from 22 yards to tie the game at 1 in the second half.  But then, one of our players missed a call to step up on a defensive free kick and UC had a easy look at goal.  Robertson made the initial save, but in an attempt to clear the ball, Andrew Kloepper unintentionally put the ball into our net.

While we have been disappointed with our results, we can make a lot go right with a final win at Carthage tomorrow afternoon.  A win would keep Carthage out of the CCIW playoffs, but more importantly would give us a chance to end our season on a positive note.

Titans make turn for home stretch; host Millikin on Saturday afternoon
October 21--The men's soccer team mkaes its final push for a berth in the CCIW post-season tournament beginning with a very important game against Millikin University on Saturday afternoon at 2:30pm.  The 5-7-3 Titans are coming off a 1-0 non-conference victory over Webster University on Tuesday night.  Chris Miller scored the team's lone goal off an assist from Mark Opal in the first half.

In the CCIW, the Titans are currently 1-3-1 with two games remaining in the league.  Millikin is winless at 0-3-1, but both teams are mathematically still in the hunt for the fourth and final tournament berth.  If the Titans win on Saturday and then again at Carthage on October 29, they will secure fourth place in the league with a mark of 3-3-1 (10 points).  This would mean a rematch with Wheaton, who dismantled the Titans last Friday night 6-0.  I think we would all like another opportunity to have a go at the Thunder, who are a good team for sure but I am not sure they are six goals better than us.

Scoring goals continues to plague our team in 2004.  We realistically should have done a better job finishing the other night against Webster, but could only manage one goal.  What they were doing tactically wasn't all that complicated (simply a sweeper and man-markers), yet our forwards were unable to get untracked.  We did get a better defensive performance, despite playing without center back Alan Mila who was out nursing a badly sprained ankle.  Matt Robertson was back in goal despite playing with a torn PCL in his right knee.  We will need to do a better job getting forward and creating goal scoring chances on Saturday against a tough Millikin team if we want to prevail.
 

Titans earn 2-0 road victory at Rose Hulman
October 13--On a cool and soggy evening in Terre Haute, Indiana, the Titans used two second half goals from Chris Miller and Josh Lacey to earn their fourth victory of the season, 2-0 over Rose Hulman.

The sqaud was playing without captain Alan Mila (ankle), and seniors Matt Robertson (knee) and Reed Grimwood (toe) for the second straight game.  Reserve keeper Jeremy Witt played well in his second straight start and earned the shutout.  Senior Nick Hogren also played admirably in the back filling in for Alan.  We weren't without 'interesting' moments during the game, but overall I thought we did very well on the road against an above average team.

Chris Miller got us on the board early in the second half when he followed up his own shot and neatly bent the ball around the keeper for a 1-0 lead.  That is how the game stayed until late when Josh Lacey picked up a loose ball and beat the RH keeper on a low shot for the 2-0 margin of victory.

The team must now get ready for a huge challenge at Wheaton on Friday night.  Wheaton is 9-3 on the season, and 4-0 in the conference.  They lost yesterday at Chicago, 1-0, so I am sure the idea of not playing well at home won't be thought of too kindly by the Thunder.  We need to find a way to get a result in order to keep us in the hunt for a spot in the conference playoffs.  Perhaps last night can be a bit of a confidence builder for the team heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.

Titans pound Benedictine, tie with North Central last week
October 11--We finally found a way to get the ball in the net last week, scoring 7 times against Benedictine, but we could only get one past the North Central goalkeeper on Saturday night despite fighting hard and outplaying the Cardinals for much of the game.  But, as has been the case for most of the year, we were unable to find the final pass or shot to lead to the winning goal.

This week has been good in terms of effort and getting numbers forward in dangerous areas.  What has been frustrating for the entire team is that we find ourselves in the neighborhood of doing something really productive, and yet fall short when it comes time to make a quality cross or hit a quality shot on goal.  This happened a couple of times the other night against North Central, when we had really good looks at the goal and instead of hitting it around the keeper, we hit it at him.

The game on Saturday was typical of many of the games we have played this year.  We play hard, work well as a group, give up an unlucky goal (this one was deflected from distance), and leave at the end of the game frustrated by the result.  At 3-6-3 and 1-2-1 in the CCIW, it is difficult to convince people that we think we are better than our record indicates.  Yet, we still have only 3 wins to show for our efforts this season.  We are running out of opportunities to set things straight.  With 3 CCIW games remaining (Wheaton, Carthage, Millikin), we are going to need at least 2 wins to get us challenging for one of the top four spots in the league.  The CCIW is still wide open for spots 3-8.  Wheaton and North Park are all but assured of seeds #1 and #2 (barring something strange happening), but everyone else is still in the hunt.  3-3-1 will certainly put us in contention for one of the last two spots, but we need to start finding ways to finish off plays.

We hit the road again this week for a non-conference game at Rose Hulman tomorrow night and then head up to Wheaton on Friday night for a very big contest against the Thunder.  We'll work hard to prepare for each game and hopefully come away with two good results.

Titans fight back from two goal deficit, but fall to Elmhurst 3-2 in OT

October 4--If anyone had told me a month ago that our 10 game record would have only 2 wins included, I would have thought they were crazy.  With an experienced group of players back and a great deal of confidence and optimism among the group, we surely should be seeing better results.  However, that is sadly not the case at this moment.

We fell behind 2-0 after 20 minutes on Saturday against Elmhurst College, but managed to fight our way back to 2-2 to force overtime.  However, we were countered on just four minutes into the extra session and were on the wrong end of a 3-2 game.  Our record in the conference is now 1-2 and the next four CCIW games are hugely important for us to get into the CCIW playoffs.

After falling behind, we made some significant tactical adjustments at halftime.  We decided to play very direct and switched to a 3-4-3 alignment with three forwards stationed close together in the middle of the field.  We didn't try to play through the middle of the field and instead concerned ourselves only with getting the ball forward and putting Elmhurst under pressure.  The tactic seemed to work as we created a ton of chances for ourselves in the second 45 minutes, and easily could have found the third goal after Chris Miller and scored two to level the match.

At the very least the comeback in the second half showed that we have heart and have the capacity to battle hard.  Hopefully, the disappointment of the result will pass quickly and we'll get back on track on Thursday against Benedictine.  Then, we have a key CCIW showdown with North Central on Saturday in a game that is truly a must-win for us.  If we can get some confidence built on Thursday then I think we can come out on Saturday night and get ourselves together and get an important CCIW result.

North Park makes first half goal stand up in 1-0 whitewash of IWU
Septmeber 27--Despite one of our best overall efforts of the year, the Titans fell to 1-1 in the CCIW after a disappointing 1-0 loss Saturday night to North Park.  Overall, our record fell to 2-5-2 at the half-way point of the season.

After the opening ten minutes or so when the Vikings came out very aggressively, I think we had the run of the play through not only the remainder of the first half, but for the rest of the game.  The Vikings' goal came against the run of play when a seemingly innocent shot on goal found its way into the far netting.

While a bit disappointed at halftime to concede the goal, the boys were far from despondent and ready to attack again.  We aren't a great side when we need to chase the game as we did in the second half, but we put together some very good sequences of soccer in the final 45 minutes.  The best chance we had to score came when a header from Mark Opal beat the keeper but was cleared off the line by a Viking defender.

After nine games, we have scored a total of 8 goals and conceded 13.  Neither statistics are impressive in my opinion, and I think the boys on the team would concur.  We need to improve both if we are going to turn our season around.  With nine games to play, there is plenty of time to make something positive happen.  We have a break this week from midweek competition and return to action again on Saturday against Elmhurst, who is 7-2-1 despite being in only their first year of varsity soccer.  I know they will present a tough challenge for us so we have to get ourselves together in order to get a victory on Saturday at Homecoming.

Titans drop non-conference tilt to regionally ranked Dominican
September 23--The Titans fell to Dominican University, currently ranked #8 in the Central Region, 3-1 last night at Neis Field in Bloomington.  With the defeat, the Titans fell to 2-4-2 overall, with their next game set for Saturday at home against North Park.  The Titans will be looking for their second straight CCIW victory against the Vikings.

Last night was certainly not our best performance on many fronts.  We conceded goals in the first 10 minutes of each half and were frustrated by DU's tactic of sitting deep in their defensive half of the field and taking away our spaces to run.  We made some uncharacteristically bad choices with the ball which led to their first two goals and generally never got into a fluid rhythm last night.

The lone bright spot on the night was senior captain Alan Mila's first career goal just before halftime that tied the score at 1-1.  Sophomore Steve Perona redirected a Chris Miller corner kick back across the face of the goal, and Mila side-volleyed the ball off a defender and into the net.

We need to find a way to keep our confidence up as Saturday is another important league game for us.  Our goal for the season was to be a contender in the CCIW title chase, and we made a positive first step last week against Augustana.  However, we need to come out on our home field on Saturday night and make step 2 a reality against a strong North Park team.
 

Titans defeat Augustana in CCIW Opener
September 19--The IWU Titans opened their 2004 CCIW season with a hard fought 2-0 victory over rival Augustana Saturday evening at Neis Field in Bloomington, IL.  With the win, the team improves its overall record to 2-3-2 and 1-0 in the CCIW.

After a very sluggish first half where neither team really played particularly well, we made some halftime adjustments that helped us get our rhythm back.  I was disappointed at the way we began the game, considering how well we played on Thursday night against Wash U.  It was like the entire team had forgotten how to play!  We were playing everything over the top and very direct, which isn't anything we ever train.  Once we began to put the ball on the ground and play soccer, we managed to create some chances for ourselves.

We finally broke through in the 70th minute when Kevin Hegi broke free in the corner and played the ball back across to Chris Miller who finished at the near post for his first goal of the season.  Just three minutes later, senior Reed Grimwood took another pass from Hegi and slotted it past the Augie keeper for a 2-0 lead.  We held off a furious Viking comeback attempt in the final 15 minutes to get our first win over Augustana since I have been at IWU.

It was another game where shots on target were at a premium, as Augie held a 5-3 shots on target advantage over us, but we put 2 in and that's what counts!  We return to action on Wednesday night against nationally ranked Dominican University (IL) at 7:00pm at Neis Field.

Titans fall 2-0 to Wash U.
September 17--In a very well played and hard fought college soccer game, the Titans fell to the Bears of Washington University last night in Bloomington.  The team now must rebound to face Augustana in our CCIW opener on Saturday night at IWU.  We feel confident that we can get back at it, as we used last night to rest some key players who had been nursing injuries.  Despite playing with some new starters, we did a really nice job competing and limiting Wash U's chances.  Unfortunately, their first really good look at the goal resulted in the first score of the game 15 minutes into the second half.  Their second goal came late in the game, with about 10 minutes to go.

In many respects, we played well enough to win with our play with our back four and midfield.  We need to be better in each penalty box and we'll get better results.  I know the guys are going to be fired up for Saturday night, and a big league win will go a long way to soothing our pain from the frustration of the first 6 games of the season.

Titans leave Wisconsin with split of two games
September 14--Over the past weekend, the Titans concluded a string of 5 games in 10 days with two games against teams from the Lake Michigan Conference in Wisconsin.  On Saturday, the team earned its first win of the season with a 3-1 victory over the Milwuakee School of Engineering.  Then on Sunday, the team dropped a 3-0 decision to regionally ranked Concordia (WI).

On Saturday, the team fell behind 0-1 in the first half.  Sluggish after the long bus ride that day, the Titans were not sharp and played perhaps their worst half of soccer of the season. However, the game changed dramatically in the second half as the team perhaps played its BEST half of soccer of the year, scoring three times to earn a tough road win.

Leading the way was senior David Beckett, who notched two goals in a span of about 10 minutes.  Freshman Colin Aubin scored his second goal with under 10 minutes remaining to ice the victory for the Titans.  The team very badly needed to get this win, and deserved the outcome on the day.

Sunday's game against Concordia began very well.  We controlled the pace and the territory during the majority of the first half.  We missed a sitter from inside the six, and hit the crossbar on another occasion.  We easily could have been ahead at half and really had a good team (Concordia are still unbeaten) on the ropes at their field.

However, Concordia got a goal against the run of play late in the first half when we didn't do a good job marking on a corner kick.  At the end of the half, we had conceded two chances on goal while creating numerous for ourselves, but found ourselves in an 0-1 deficit.

At the start of the second half, we had another great chance with a shot from inside 12 yards just go beyond the far post.  While still having the majority of the ball during the second half, we conceded two counter attacks and Concordia finished both nicely.  They have a very good striker who is very composed when he has a chance to score and he didn't miss on his two second half chances.

While I don't feel we were badly outplayed, nor do I feel that 3-0 was a fair result, it is what it is.  We are 1-2-2 after a tough opening 5 game stretch.  We very badly need to find ways to get the ball in the back of the net.  For those alums and fans who remember the days not too long ago when Titan teams weren't even dangerous in the final third, those days are gone as we are creating really good chances for ourselves in every game.  We just aren't putting the final touch away.  Hopefully we will find a way to sort that out this week.

We have two games this week, hosting Washington U on Thursday night and our first CCIW game against Augustana on Saturday night.  We are very focused on the CCIW season this year, and while Thursday will be a good test for us, Saturday is really what we want!

Titans fit to be tied to open the season
September 7, 2004--In many ways, the start of the 2004 campaign has been the best in the last three years.  Yet despite playing better than we have in either of the previous seasons since I arrived in Bloomington, all the team has to show for their efforts are two ties.

On Saturday, despite outshooting Marian College 16-1 and thoroughly dominating them for most of the game, the Titans were forced to settle for a 0-0 tie.  We had many opportunities to score, creating as many chances as we ever have at this point in the season.  We hit the goalkeeper, the crossbar, and simply missed the target on a few chances that could have won the game for us.  Additionally, our back four and goalkeeper did a really good job of not allowing any dangerous chances to come back our way.  It was certainly a frustrating start to the season, but we knew we had played well and things were going to get better.

On Monday, we travelled to play a vastly improved Aurora University team and once again settled for a draw, this time at 1-1.  Yesterday's was a game I thought we should have had, especially since sophomore Mark Opal put us ahead with only 7 minutes remaining in the game.  It was a well earned goal as I thought we had kept Aurora on the rack form most of the second half.  We had hit the crossbar and missed a couple of easy chances to take the lead earlier in the game, so I thought once we had scored we would be able to put the game to bed.

That unfortunately was not to be as just a couple of minutes later we allowed a shot from 30-35 yards out to get through our defenders and goalkeeper and find its way into the net.  That seemed to give Aurora a lift as they really pressed hard from that point on.  There were no more goals to be had in the game, however, and the Titans came back to town with another draw on their record.

We are playing well and I hope that the tide will turn for us soon.  We are back at it again Wednesday against NAIA opponent St. Xavier and then hit the road for two games in Milwaukee over the weekend against the Milwaukee School of Engineering and Concordia.
 

Welcome to the 2004 Season!
August 31, 2004--As the Titan men's soccer team prepares for their final preseason tuneup tonight against Parkland Junior College, I want to welcome you all to the 2004 soccer season.  The team has been working hard for the past week and a half and are eager to open the season for real on Saturday, September 4th against Marian College from Wisconsin.

The team has had good training up to this point, and has played one exhibition game to date.  Last Saturday we travelled down to Jacksonville, Illinois to take on Illinois College.  After falling behind 0-2, we rallied to defeat the hosts 3-2 on goals by Mark Opal, freshman Paul Caracciolo, and an IC own goal.  For a first check point in the season, we felt it was a good exercise to show us what we needed to work on heading into tonight's match up with the JC from Champaign.  We will use tonight's game to give us a better sense of where we are at and what we'll need to work on before Saturday.

The start of the 2004 season will feature 5 games in the first two weeks, so while it will be a busy time for the team I think we will be ready for the task.  Four of those first five games will be away from the friendly confines of Neis Field, but then we come back for an extended homestand until early October.  If we can get through some early season road tests, I think the confidence of the Titan team will be very high coming back home for key CCIW games against the likes of North Park, and Augustana.

Stay tuned to the website for future updates and a team picture soon!
 

News and Notes...June 2004

With summertime officially upon us, the natural course of action for college coaches is recruiting, recruiting, and more recruiting.  Mix in a bit of camp work and preparation for the fall and before we know it, mid August will upon us and pre-season will be at hand.

With a big group of upperclassmen returning, we are looking forward to the best season yet in my time at IWU.  We are only adding a small group of freshman to the fold, making a squad of 25 players coming into the season.  The liklihood of adding any more once the fall rolls around will be slim as we think this is a pretty good group of guys who are driven to accomplish some things we feel we can realistically chase after.

Although we'll only add three recruits, I feel they will add something to the squad.  Specifically, Colin Aubin (Carl Sandberg HS/Chicago Magic) and Paul Caracciolo (Cherry Hill, NJ/Vorhees Extreme) are two players who are going to give us some added depth going forward.  Both have quickness and speed and can play on the flanks or centrally.  I think both will make a big impression on the team when they arrive in Bloomington in August.  The third member of the class is Andy Bobowski, a defender from Benet Academy.

Our schedule is up to date on our website so I encourage you to check it out and hopefully be able to make as many games as possible this fall.  The entire team is very eager to get going and I know they are very much looking forward to our first game against Marian College on the first Saturday in September.

Once the fall gets rolling I will keep updating this page, hopefully with many comments about the successes of the team.  Until then have a great summer!
 
 
 

Titans end season with 2-0 defeat at the hands of Wheaton in CCIW Semifinals

The Titan men's soccer team ended its season with a 2-0 loss to Wheaton College on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the CCIW Tournament.  With the loss, the team concludes the 2003 season with a much improved record of 9-10 overall.  With their victory, Wheaton earned the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.  Selection day is November 9.

Our team has improved significantly since the start of our 2003 season.  After starting off 3-7, we won 6 of our last eight  games to finish the regular season with a record of 9-9.  Reaching the .500 plateau was a significant accomplishment for our program after the last two seasons when we failed to reach our potential.  Coming into this year, I thought we should be able to win 9-11 games and we did just that.  In fact, with a bit of luck we would have reached double digit wins for the first time in quite awhile.  Nevertheless, the amount of improvement shown by this group was marked, as evidenced by our performance against Wheaton the other night.

Prior to Wednesday night, we had lost our previous two meetings with Wheaton by a combined score of 13-0, and it wasn't even that close!  We had been so thoroughly outplayed, it was demoralizing for all involved.  Wednesday was a different story, however, and we showed what a better team we have become.

Although we ended up being outshot 15-5, we didn't feel like it was a clear domination.  There were large stretches of the game when we possessed the ball and got forward well.  Also, we contained their attack much better than we had in the past, as evidenced by the fact that our goalkeeper Matt Robertson only made three saves during the game.  Additionally, we had a couple of really good chances ourselves to score.  Specifically, late in the first half when we were only down 1-0, freshman Chris Miller hit a great shot from about 16 yards out that forced a great save out of their keeper.  It easily could have been 1-1 going into the half with a bit of luck.

The score remained 1-0 until the 75th minute when the Thunder put the game away with their second goal.  But, our team didn't quit and we battled the entire game and at the end of the day, we felt pretty good about our performance.  Our mission heading into the game was simple: play as well as we could and not leave anything behind.  I think we did just that as we all could look at ourselves and say we did our best.

We say good-bye to three seniors who have done an amazing job as people and as players for us.  Mike Rampey, David Munz, and Paul Abraham all played in their final college games on Wednesday night.  I can honestly say that all three have improved greatly since I met them, and more importantly they have been great guys for the team.  Their maturity, work rate, and love for the game will be missed, but their contributions will remain behind with the 24 underclassmen who remain on the roster.

We are looking forward to a productive winter off season training season when that commences in January.  Until then, we will take some time off to let the bodies heal a bit and to recharge our collective batteries.  It was a good season overall and we are looking forward to more exciting times for Titan men's soccer.