It has long been said, in the context of team sports, that defense is the best offense. If one team keeps the other from scoring, it has no chance of losing. But for its past several games, the Washington University men’s soccer team has taken this motto almost too literally. With one goal scored and no goals conceded in their last three games combined, the Bears can’t seem to find offense anywhere.

While a glaring lack of goals may be hurting the team this season, this is certainly not a new problem. Since the current Bears seniors were freshmen, the team has struggled to find the net, relying on impenetrable defense to keep them close to their opponents.

On Tuesday, Sept. 13, head coach Joe Clarke’s squad made the trip to Principia College hoping to notch another win before University Athletic Association (UAA) competition begins. The Bears came out strong in the first half, firing 10 shots on the Principia goalkeeper. Unfortunately, the team could not get on the scoreboard before halftime, despite turning in a dominant performance.

The second half started the same way, with the two teams deadlocked at 0-0. Then, in the 61st minute, sophomore Marshall Plow was able to maneuver around his defender along the end line before slotting in a perfect cross. With Plow having drawn the goalkeeper out of position, sophomore Onyi Okoroafor was able to connect with the pass and send it into the goal. The tally was Okoroafor’s second of the season, good for most on the team. Okoroafor also leads the Bears in assists with two.

While the Bears tried to build on their 1-0 lead, they had no luck as the lopsided game ended up looking fairly close on paper. Junior goalkeeper Matt Fenn picked up his second consecutive shutout in the victory, his third overall on the season. Clarke’s team was certainly satisfied with another notch in the win column, but the lackluster play of the Bears’ forwards raised concerns going into their match-up against Centre College.

Back at Francis Field against Centre on Sunday, the Bears hoped to turn in a more inspired performance against arguably their strongest opponent yet. The match was physical from the first whistle as the two teams tried to gain the advantage in what was mostly a midfield struggle.

For much of the first half, Centre appeared to create more scoring chances. At one point, a Centre forward muscled a Bears defender off the ball before firing a hard, low shot that almost gave his team the advantage. The shot hit the inside of the post squarely and came back out of the goal mouth, just inches from being a goal.

However, the Bears hung in the game and made it to halftime with the game still scoreless. In the second half, Okoroafor provided the Bears with their best scoring chance in regulation as he volleyed the ball off the top of the crossbar. However, the real standout for the Bears was Fenn. Having made several key saves in the first half, Fenn made two particularly spectacular stops in the second half to preserve a scoreless regulation period. Perhaps the most jaw-dropping moment came with just minutes left when a Centre player fired a hard shot to the upper right corner. Fenn, anticipating the placement, power dove to his left to redirect the shot out of the goal.

After a scoreless 90 minutes, the two teams squared off in sudden death overtime. The two 10-minute periods provided the Bears with several strong chances, most coming from corner kicks. A central defender, senior John Horky came up and had a few dangerous headers go toward the Centre goal, but a congested penalty box kept him from netting one.

The game ended 0-0 after two overtimes, moving the Bears’ overall season record to 3-0-3, and giving Fenn his fourth shutout in six games. Fenn received the UAA Defensive Player of the Week award for his three consecutive shutouts.

The Bears will take on Illinois Wesleyan University this week before heading to Oshkosh, Wisc. to play two games against tough competition. The Bears will likely use the Illinois Wesleyan game to work out some of their offensive problems before the more difficult portion of the season begins.

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