Margaret BauerOff to a great start, the Washington University men’s soccer team spent three hours on Wednesday in the pouring rain expecting a scrimmage that never came. This season, they also suffer the great loss of last year’s outstanding senior class. The team hopes that this will not significantly impact their success this season. The players still have a strong sense of unity and a strong sense of athleticism.
Junior midfielder/defender John Horky said, “We lost a couple of key seniors so there are some spots to fill. But we have a big senior class this year so we should be okay.”
“Everyone’s a little concerned about the loss,” added sophomore goalkeeper Matt Fenn, “But the seniors this year have really stepped up and are doing a great job filling their leadership roles. The juniors are also playing really well. So I don’t think it’s going to be such a big problem. We also have some really talented freshmen.”
Even though their core group of leaders from last year is gone, the team chemistry remains strong. “We care a lot about each other.” Fenn said. “I mean we still want to win, but we really like each other as people. We have a lot of team unity and we hang out a lot off the field. The freshmen are especially close. They’re together all the time and that helps a lot.”
Horky added, “We have a really big freshmen class, which is great, and a lot of talent. I think there are at least two or three of them that will make a big impact on the team.”
Fenn said the other two goalies, both seniors, are “ridiculously good,” and he expects to see a lot of scoring by junior forward Rob Weeks and senior midfielder Allen Gleckner. As Horky noted, though, “We need to get more aggressive in the attack and score some more goals because we lost a lot of good offense.” He added that head coach Joe Clarke “has been working very hard on getting us to score more and improve our attack.”
Clarke has also been scheduling a lot of team and individual meetings. “The meetings with the coach have been really good and really helpful,” commented Horky.
Of course, Wednesday night’s pre-season game cancellation was a big disappointment for the coaching staff and team alike. Horky said, “We wanted a game, and the team we were supposed to play would have been good competition. I think the team is just very anxious to get some pre-season games in so we’re ready when conference games begin.”
Based on their confidence in each individual player and the team as a whole, this team will be ready, not only for conference games, but for the tournament. They have a lot of history and impressive statistics behind them.
Men’s soccer has done a lot for University athletics in general. They have played in more NCAA tournaments than any other varsity program here has. They also have six UAA titles and haven’t had a losing season in 21 years. Their 10-5-4 record last season should be easy to beat this year.
“We should win conference and make the tournament,” said Horky. “From there, we’ll just go as far as possible.”
Fenn added, “If we play together and to our maximum potential, I think we can beat any D-III team. Winning the NCAA tournament isn’t easy, but we definitely have a chance, and we should definitely win our conference. We have one of the toughest conferences in the division, but we can do it.”
The team’s first home game is on Sept. 1st at 7 p.m. against Principia College, and they could use your support.