The Washington University Men’s soccer team finished its season with a 1-0 loss to the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Bears were on their heels from the beginning, as they were outshot 15-1 in the first half.

Midway through the fall season, Washington University has seen its varsity teams prosper. The Bears are collectively off to one of the best starts in the school’s history, with six of seven fall teams ranked in the top 10 nationally. Student Life’s sports section took a closer look at the numbers behind Wash. U.’s strong showing in the fall of 2011.

While the Washington University athletic coaching staffs may spend time away from their athletes during the summer, they welcome an entirely new set of trainees in June—some of whom are as young as 6 years old.

Welcome home. In their first home game in nearly three weeks, four players found the back of the net as the No. 15 Washington University men’s soccer team recorded a decisive 4-1 victory over Principia College on Thursday, Oct. 21.

Continuing its in-conference play, the University Athletic Association-leading Washington University women’s soccer team defeated Case Western Reserve University 1-0 on Friday, Oct. 15 and tied No. 25 University of Rochester 0-0 on Sunday, Oct. 17.

Scratch “overtime win” off the Washington University men’s soccer team’s to-do list. The Bears’ undefeated streak, their best start since 1979, is still alive after the twelfth-ranked squad upset No. 11 Carnegie Mellon on Sunday.

Shortly before Jeff LaBoskey arrived at Washington University for his freshman year in Sept. 2001, he was informed that his sister had been diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer known as Ewing’s Sarcoma. Less than a year later, she sadly passed away. When it occurred to LaBoskey that there was, and still is, very little research being done in the field of cancer that caused this tragedy, he decided that he wanted to make a difference and started the Sunbeam Center.

Division III powerhouse Loras College was the most recent victim of the undefeated Washington University men’s soccer team. With the victory, the Red and Green improved to 5-0-2 and a perfect 2-0 on Francis field.

In order to better prepare for the current season, three Washington University men’s soccer players joined the St. Louis Lions this summer. “The three of us just sort of did something different this summer,” said senior co-captain David Klein, one of three to play on the team.