End of the road for soccer team
Sophomore midfielder Joesph McGuire battles against his opponent on Oct. 9 versus Illinois-Springfield . The ‘Hounds ended their season with a win against Maryville University on Oct. 25 at Key Stadium.
By Kim Puckett | News Editor
Ending their season with a win, but not making the GLVC tournament leaves bittersweet season-end for the men’s soccer players and coaches.
The final game, Senior Day on Oct. 25 at Key Stadium versus Maryville University, was a bright spot in an otherwise lackluster season for the ‘Hounds with a 3-1 victory. Assisted by junior Joe McGuire, Bobby Adkins score the first goal of the game, setting the game up for UIndy.
Senior Diego Lemus and freshman Roger Lee scored the other two UIndy goals with assists from senior Cory Barber and freshmen Max Marsh.
But a loss to Missouri S&T on Oct. 23 dashed any hopes of the soccer team making the GLVC tournament going into Senior Day.
Finishing with an overall record of 8-7-2 and a 6-7-1 record in the conference, the ‘Hounds are already looking ahead to next season—and with great promise.
With a young team, only returning three seniors and two juniors, the men’s soccer team lacked seniority, but having a team made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores has its advantages, according to Assistant Coach John Higgins.
“Looking to build on this season is going to be great because guys are getting a lot of experience and game time,” he said. “It’s a disadvantage in the fact that these guys are young and it’s all new to them, but at the same time, it leaves us in good standing for next season and the coming seasons.”
Barber, one of the team’s few seniors who will graduate in December, said sophomores like midfielders Tom and Joe McGuire and goalie Justin Roberts performed solidly despite their youth.
“These young guys have really been the story,” he said. “It’s up to them from here on out. How we finish now is how we recruit and who we bring in.”
Higgins said he and Head Coach John Griffin can be more selective in their recruiting strategies for next year because of this year’s young talent.
“We can really take our time and look into the freshman who are coming in—what their personalities are like, how they are going to bond with the team,” he said. “Where in years previous, we have taken a good player if we had the chance at a good player, regardless of how they were going to fit in with the team personality-wise.”
Higgins also said training has been more high-energy with this young team.
“Young guys are keen to learn,” he said. “They are always in the office for extra film sessions, they want to stick around after practice to work on their game. From that point of view it’s been great.”
Junior midfielder Scott Gyllenborg said while there are advantages in having a roster of mostly underclassmen, there are also some pitfalls. Adapting to a competitive conference like the GLVC can be difficult straight out of high school.
“We have nine freshman, a lot of which start. The main problem we’ve had is just playing a full 90-minute game,” he said. “We will dominate for 10 or 15 minutes then we’ll concede a 10 to 15 minute spell also, and in this conference you can’t have that when you have teams that are going to score goals.”
The ‘Hounds also had to improvise when two starters were injured—senior forward Mar Wane and sophomore mid-fielder Micah Uemura.
“We had a couple injuries and we had to move things around,” Lemus, senior forward, said. “And some of the freshman have stepped up big time for us.”
The UIndy men’s soccer team is looking ahead to a new season with most of the same players. Higgins said recruiting has already begun as well.
“We are already looking to build for next year. We have two recruits already—two guys who we are looking to come in and play a big role for us,” he said. “Add that on to all the freshman that got playing time for that season and sophomores who only have two years of that—we are in good standing for next year.”
