The breakthrough came off a corner from senior Cody Costakis. Senior center back Kenji Kobayashi headed it across the box, and junior midfielder Zachary Query headed down the uncleared ball towards Jebson, who redirected it into the back of the net.

The Bears had a number of breakaway chances to increase their lead after the goal but the Warhawk goal keeper, Matt Mikesell, stopped them all to keep score at 2-1.

“We would take a touch in the box, and it would be inches away from where it needs to be, or we’d find a guy on a pass and it’d be inches away from him,” Query said.

With the win, the Bears have earned the right to play No. 5 Ohio Wesleyan University in the second round on Sunday, one of the four teams with a bye. Last year, Wash. U. had a bye but lost their opening match to Loras College.

“Last year we had a bye, and it kind of threw us off, so here we got to play the first round and get the feel of things,” Query said.

Wash. U. scored the game’s opening goal in the 48th minute. Senior Patrick McLean picked off a pass deep in the Whitewater end and calmly the passed the ball to wide open sophomore Jeremy Kirkwood, whose toe poke rolled pass the keeper into the left side of the net.

Whitewater answered in the 61st with a goal by junior forward Logan Fye off a quick throw-in. Fye’s one-time shot beat Jonathan Jebson to the top left corner.

See Monday’s issue of Student Life for a full recap of the weekend’s action.

Nathaniel Margolies | Student Life

Junior Emily Gosché, Senior Emma Brown, Sophomore Lauren Steimle, Sophomore Jen Reed, and Senior Alyssa Marulli line up on Francis Field before a game against Carnegie Mellon on October 2.

With the regular season successes of the Washington University volleyball, cross country and men’s and women’s soccer teams, a postseason berth was essentially a foregone conclusion for all four teams.

But the volleyball team and both soccer teams received additional good news on Monday, when the postseason brackets were released and all three found out that they would be hosting opening-round matches in the postseason.

Here’s a quick look at each of those three teams—along with the cross country teams, which will travel to Rock Island, Ill., for the NCAA Midwest Regional—and their looming postseason opponents.

Ending the regular season with a 14-3-1 record and a share of the University Athletic Association title, the Bears will open up postseason play against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Thursday evening at Francis Field. Whitewater, which finished the season as the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference champion with an 11-7-1 record, will be facing the Bears for the first time in history. Wash. U. is making its second consecutive tournament appearance and 20th overall, and it is seeking its first postseason win since 2007 when it reached the NCAA quarterfinals. The Bears are looking to improve their postseason track record after a heartbreaking loss in last season’s second round, in which they lost in penalty kicks to Loras College.

If the Bears win, they will travel to Delaware, Ohio, to face No. 6 Ohio Wesleyan University on Sunday. While Wash. U. has not played OWU since 1990, the Bears are 5-2 all-time against the Bishops.

The women’s team was rewarded for its 15-4 regular season campaign with a shot at home-field advantage in each of the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Bears have won at least one postseason game each year since 2006, and will be looking to continue that streak by beating Thomas More College in the opening round on Saturday. Thomas More comes in as the Presidents’ Athletic Conference champions, sporting a 12-4-1 record. The Saints will also be facing Wash. U. for the first time ever.

Eric Chalifour | Student Life

Junior Marilee Fisher plays against Webster University on Wedneday, October 26. The Bears scored a 3-0 victory Wednesday and defeated all rivals this weekend to win the Halloween Classic.

The Bears would host the winner between Ohio Wesleyan University (12-4-4) and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (12-6-3) if they advance to the second round. Wash. U. is 2-0 all time against OWU and 1-0 against Whitewater.

With a 32-1 record and the 2011 UAA championship to its name, the volleyball team will begin its 25th straight postseason appearance in the Washington University Field House. The Bears are very familiar with their opening-round opponent: cross-town rival Webster, which has never beaten Wash. U. in 19 tries (including a 3-0 Bears win on Oct. 26).

The Bears’ opponent in the second round would be either UAA rival No. 15 Chicago (the first team to beat Wash. U. in a set in 2011, during a 3-1 Bears win on Oct. 15) or No. 21 Wisconsin-Whitewater (whom the Bears defeated 3-0 on Sept. 10). Among the potential Regional Championship match opponents is No. 9 Carthage College, whom the Bears have faced and swept four times since the 2009 season, including a 3-0 win on Sept. 9 of this season.

With the cross country teams having another strong year, as both the men’s and women’s squads are in the top five of the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA) Poll, both have high aspirations heading into the regional meet on Saturday morning. The men’s team enters the race as the Midwest region’s No. 2 team, behind only defending regional champion and USTFCCCA No. 1 overall North Central College. The team will look to improve on its fourth-place regional finish in 2010, and will be facing some of the country’s best in North Central, No. 5 Wheaton, and No. 8 Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

The women’s team, which trails only Williams College in the overall national rankings, enters the weekend as the Midwest’s No. 1 team. The team will be looking to take the Midwest regional title from No. 7 overall Wisconsin-Eau Claire, which won the regional title in 2010.

While Washington University fans might be accustomed to seeing the men’s soccer team in red and white game-day garb, a new team project has players dressed in cowboy hats, swim trunks and fanny packs.

Players have filmed comic videos of themselves singing and dancing on four road trips this season and intend to continue this experiment in music video production. Videos of the team breaking it down have found a following resulting in thousands of YouTube hits.

Last year, during the University’s snow day, players decided to record a video of themselves lip-syncing to the Yung Humma song “Lemme Smang It” for team entertainment. Although players originally intended to only show the videos to themselves, this season the videos are posted on YouTube and filming has become a WUSTL FC tradition. When they’re not taking corner kicks or blocking shots, team members are serenading each other on airplanes, recreating a rollercoaster on metal bleachers or interrupting a study session in nothing but swim suits. No song is too silly and no bystander is safe.

“We decided to take up our time on the road trips we would start creating videos,” junior forward Zachary Query said. “After the first one we just had such a good time, we decided to continue with the tradition—and we’re actually undefeated on the road trips when we make videos.”

Each YouTube upload features players lip-syncing a different song while dancing and joking around in different cities; one features Waka Flocka Flame’s “No Hands” in Memphis, another, the Far East Movement’s “Rocketeer” in Atlanta, yet another, Taylor Swift’s “Mean” in New York City and most recently, The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ USA” in Dubuque, Iowa.

“Basically [players] just dance a lot and I have the video camera on most of the time–especially when our coaches are talking, or dancing,” senior forward Dylan Roman, who films and edits the majority of footage, said. “At the end of the trips or during the trips…I sort of just put it to the song and see what we need, and then at the end of the trips we fill in the last bit of lyrics and hopefully it turns out well.”

Players joked that “they don’t choose the song, the song chooses them”; on the road they will play the track frequently to catch moments of singing along or miming to a specific lyric–but not all action is improvised.

“We pick the theme for outfits a couple days in advance, we pick the song a couple days before, and people start to get really excited about what we can do with it,” senior midfielder Zach Hendrickson said. “The one in New York for ‘Mean’ definitely had the most planning involved, and choreography. We filmed particular scenes in important places and things like that.”

The videos feature players in a variety of zany costumes and situations. In the “Mean” video the team is seen decked out in plaid shirts and jeans as cowboys while singing and square dancing with the famous “Naked Cowboy” in Times Square. This production has proved to be the team’s most popular thus far with more than 1,800 views on YouTube.

In New York City, players received a variety of reactions from passersby–some applauded their choreographed dance sequence, others stopped to see what might be distracting nine boys pointing off into the distance, and the team even had a run-in with law enforcement.

“We got censored at 30 Rockerfeller Center,” senior midfielder Kevin Privalle said. “We were trying to do something and they just saw a ton of people; a guard told us we had to leave.”

For the song “Rocketeer” some players are featured in satiric tourist garb, donning belted khaki shorts and Hawaiian shirts while wearing oversized headphones and fanny packs as accessories. Airport security can only gaze as team members waltz through check-in enthusiastically giving a thumbs-up to Roman’s camera.

According to senior captain Michael Chamberlin, the team’s decision to wear costumes originated from head coach Joe Clarke’s flexibility with what players wear while traveling.

“Joe doesn’t make us all wear the same thing on road trips like some teams do so we decided to start off by kind of making a joke of that and all dressing the same but with our own idea of how we wanted to dress,” Chamberlin said. “It’s evolved into having costume days and theme days every time we travel. The bar is set every trip by [senior midfielder] Cody Costakis who just goes above and beyond with his costumes.”

Although the players do the majority of the performing in videos, notable guest appearances are made by assistant coach Rick Rone, Clarke and a bugle-playing Boy Scout the team encountered at a rest stop en route to Boston.

“I don’t think [the coaches] enjoy being in the videos as much but they definitely enjoy watching the finished product,” Query said.

The Bears travel to the University of Chicago this weekend and intend to produce another video during the trip. The team has a chance to clinch the University Athletic Association title with a victory, and would otherwise receive word of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament on Monday, Nov. 14.

Senior Cody Costakis scored in the 38th minute off a free kick from the left side of the box to tie the game. Costakis bent the ball towards a crowd of players at the far post, and it snuck through the traffic, past the goalkeeper and in.

Senior Pat McLean scored twice in a four minute span early in the second half to ice the game. McLean took a through ball from senior Dylan Roman in the 47th minute and juked past a defender before putting the ball in the back of the net.

McLean’s second goal came in the 51st minute from his left foot as he drifted across the box, firing to the far post in the right corner, and sophomore Jeremy Kirkwood provided the insurance goal in the 88th minute to ice the game.

Wash. U. is back in action next Sunday in Atlanta, Ga. against Emory University.

Dominican got on the board first in the 20th minute, but the Bears tied the score in the 40th minute when senior Cody Costakis put it in the back of the net.

However, Edwin Lagunas scored for the Stars in the 74th minute to give Dominican the lead for good, and Logan Marvin scored in the 84th minute to seal the Bears’ first loss of the season.

Wash. U. will try to bounce back Wednesday night at Francis Field against Fontbonne University. Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m.

Wash. U. improved its record to 7-0 on the season, the longest winning streak to begin a season since 1974. The Bears dominated the game, outshooting Westminster 26-3 and earning 14 corner kicks to the Blue Jays’ one.

Sophomore Michael Flowers got the scoring started in the 18th minute. Junior Zach Query crossed the ball from the right flank towards senior Patrick McLean, who headed it across the six-yard box to a wide open Flowers, who easily tapped it in to make it 1-0.

Sophomore Jeremy Kirkwood made it 2-0 in the 26th minute off of a corner kick. Flowers played it to the top of the 18-yard box to freshman Jon Geremia, who crossed it into the box and allowed Kirkwood to head it into the back of the net.

In the 84th minute, freshman Pay Estakhri released Query on a breakaway, and he placed the ball into the bottom-right corner of the net to seal the win.

Wash. U. travels to River Forest, Ill. for their toughest test of the season to date, a Sunday afternoon match with No. 15 Dominican University. Kick-off is at 3:30 p.m.

The No. 4 ranking is the highest in team history in the NSCAA poll. The previous high ranking was No. 5 in September of the 1996 season.

Wash. U., ranked sixth last week, is coming off a weekend in which they outscored opponents Birmingham Southern College and Greenville College 8-1. Senior Dylan Roman earned University Athletic Association athlete of the week honors after scoring three goals and extending his goal-scoring streak to five consecutive games.

St. Lawrence University jumped from No. 4 to No. 1 in the poll, and Messiah College and Christopher Newport University earned second and third ranks, respectively.

The Bears host Westminster College at 7 p.m. at Francis Field on Wednesday before traveling to River Forest, Ill. to face No. 15 Dominican College.

Matt Lee | Student Life

Senior Patrick McLean gets by two Loras College defenders in a match on Sept. 19, 2010. While McLean and senior co-captain Michael Chamberlin will be key to the Bears’ attack, the team’s back line has been completely reshaped this season.

The team graduated two all-UAA defenders, and five of its top six defenders overall. Head coach Joe Clarke spent extra time working with the defense in preseason practices, trying to figure who his starting four would be.

Clarke moved juniors Kenji Kobayashi and Brian Wright to the center back positions, despite them having played forward and midfield last year, respectively. Neither of the starting outside backs played defense for the Bears last year as well.

“It’s definitely a challenge living up to Harry [Beddo] and [Alex] Neumann,who graduated last year,” Kobayashi said. “[The back four has] been watching film and been watching our scrimmages to just try to learn the game from that perspective.”

Clarke was pleased with their progress so far. “They’re learning on the job, but they’re doing very well with it,” he said.

Senior co-captain and midfielder Michael Chamberlin noted the revamped back line’s potential and athleticism.

“They move the ball around fast back there, which is great for us,” Chamberlain said. “They’re able to switch fields really quickly.”

The Bears did not allow a goal in their two preseason scrimmages against Missouri University of Science and Technology, grinding out 1-0 and 0-0 results. Missouri S&T is ranked 13th among men’s soccer programs in the NCAA ‘s Division II.

“Of course I saw a lot of things we need to work, [but] I was generally pleased,” Clarke said of the scrimmage. “We need to build on our attack, we have good attacking players. We need to get in and create more quality chances to score.”

Kobayashi agreed that the team did well to keep the ball during the scrimmages, but could have created more quality chances.

“We were able to control the ball and maintain possession for the majority of the game,” Kobayashi said. “I think if we can figure out a way to start controlling the ball in the final third and scoring some goals, we’re going to be pretty solid.”

Chamberlin was happy about the quality of the play the Red and Green were able to produce during the scrimmages.

“Being able to play together as a group that hadn’t really been able to play together before [was encouraging],” he said. “Being able to string some passes together, to get possession together, and to start to pressure together as a unit on defense was [also] encouraging.”

The Bears have three ranked opponents scheduled this year, including No. 15 Loras College, which knocked Wash. U. out of the NCAA tournament last season in penalty kicks. In addition, they were ranked fourth out of eight in a University Athletic Association preseason coach’s poll and 19th overall in an NSCAA preseason poll.

“It’s always good to have [a] strong schedule and boost your resume to get into the tournament,” Chamberlin said. “I think we have ton of players who are ready to step up, and everyone’s excited to see how far we can go.”

Wash. U. begins play Thursday at Webster University at 7 p.m.

Matt Lee

Junior Kevin Privalle is comforted by senior Harry Beddo following the men's soccer team's exit from the NCAA tournament in the second round after Loras College advanced on penalty kicks, 2-0. The Bears reached the playoffs for the first time since 2007 and ended their season 14-1-5.

After 110 minutes of play, the No. 8 Washington University men’s soccer team’s historic season was brought to an end after a penalty kick shootout. Regulation and overtime play concluded in a 1-1 draw, but Loras College posted a 2-0 win in penalty kicks.

The Bears played without two important fixtures of their starting lineup­, as senior defenders Harry Beddo and Randall Schoen were sidelined due to injuries. Wash. U. started five freshmen and adjusted its formation to accommodate for the defenders’ absence.

“We had to make one of our forwards pinch back and help out in the midfield defensively,” head coach Joe Clarke said.

Loras College, often considered one of the most talented teams in Division III soccer, threatened the net several times at the beginning of the game. Freshman goalie Jonathan Jebson faced seven shots in the first 10 minutes of play.

“We were fortunate to get through that; they had a lot of opportunities,” Clarke said. “We were lucky to get through those first 10 to 12 minutes, but then our guys calmed down, and I think the rest of the game was a really good game.”

Despite the Duhawks’ early attacks, the Bears were the first on the board with a goal one minute into the second half by sophomore Kenji Kobayashi.

“We were able to recover and start to really take it to them,” Kobayashi said. “We started to get a lot of offensive chances…I was able to score off a scrum in the box, which really lifted the spirits for us.”

The Red and Green nearly achieved a victory, but the Duhawks evened the score with just 38 seconds left in regulation. On a Loras cross into the box, senior Thomas Jennings headed the ball into the goal.

“[Loras] really started pushing a lot of men up,” Clarke said. “We were really at a size disadvantage, and they were throwing everything they could at the goal in the last 10 to 15 minutes.”

In the Bears’ ninth overtime contest of the season, neither team could score the golden goal. A penalty shootout ensued to decide the game, and although Jebson managed to block a shot, freshman Nik Patel, senior Cody Costakis, Kobayashi and junior Pat McLean all missed their attempts.

“We’ve practiced [penalty kicks] for the last week,” Kobayashi said. “It just comes down to that moment in front of the goal, if you can put it in there. It’s the most stressful situation there can be in soccer. You can’t blame anyone for missing a PK.”

Despite the early exit from the NCAA tournament, the Bears recorded one of the most successful seasons in Wash. U. history. The team finished with 14 wins and just one loss, outscoring its opponents 37-9 over 20 games.

“I’m proud of them, they had a tremendous season,” Clarke said. “They played a style of soccer at Wash. U. that no team that I’ve had has ever played—with great combination play and really high quality. They lost two of their best players, and they still went out there and performed exceptionally well.”

For the Bears, the 2010 season was an impressive turnaround from just one year ago. In 2009, the team finished with a 9-7-3 record and failed to reach the postseason. This year, the Bears achieved their highest win total since 2007 and remained undefeated for 14 games—a feat not achieved at Wash. U. since 1979.

“Last year was a rough season. [We] couldn’t seem to catch a break at all. This season, we started as soon as last season ended, wanting to turn around everything,” Kobayashi said. “Our work ethic was up throughout entire offseason, which obviously paid off…I just look forward to next year, because [some] guys had to step up with a lot of the injuries to the seniors. Our hopes are looking good.”