Joe Angeles, WU Photo ServicesPotential. The seniors on Washington University men’s soccer team have grown accustomed to hearing this word before the start of every season. With pre-season practice still underway and the season’s first kick-off still to come, these Bears players come into each new campaign with lofty expectations.
Last season’s squad, which finished with a 12-5-2 record (3-2-2 UAA) was by no means a disappointment. However, many of the team’s players felt unfulfilled with yet another unsuccessful attempt to qualify for postseason play. With an exceptionally strong senior class that has since graduated, the Bears of last season came up slightly short in their bid for an NCAA spot.
So will this year’s team, having lost several key standouts, be able to fulfill the goal of its current seniors and play their way to a University Athletic Association (UAA) title and NCAA berth? If they’re going to have a chance against their notoriously difficult conference, the Bears must not look further than their ability to score goals.
Once again, the ultimate postseason fate of head coach Joe Clarke’s squad could be determined by the play of its attacking players. For the past three seasons, the Bears have struggled to consistently find the net. Having averaged a mere 1.39 goals per game last year, the team will need to find a player to complement senior forward Rob Weeks, who led the Bears with eight goals last fall. After Weeks, the team experienced a considerable drop off in scoring, with senior Dave Borton tallying three goals as the Bears’ second-leading scorer.
If the Bears are to have success on the offensive end this coming season, sophomore forward Onyi Okoroafor will need to have a strong impact. Okoroafor led the team with four assists last season, and showed flashes of brilliance setting up goals. If he can start scoring more of his own, Okoroafor should be dominant up top for the Bears.
In the midfield, the Bears will rely on the play of sophomore captain Elie Zenner, as well as seniors Andrew Franklin and Seth Schreiber. All three players played considerable minutes last season and will be relied upon to get the ball up to the forwards. Franklin, in particular, possesses incredible speed and should pose match-up problems on the wing.
Perhaps the biggest question mark for the Bears this fall season is their back line. Having lost all-conference standouts Matt Twardowski and Jeff LaBoskey, who both started regularly for four years, the Bears certainly have some holes to fill. Senior John Horky, who also played frequently in the midfield last season, and sophomore Ethan Silver will carry a great deal of defensive responsibility as the defense’s only two returning starters.
The Bears also will miss the goalkeeping ability of Colin Robinson, who was first team all-UAA last season. However, junior Matt Fenn appears ready to make an impact after backing up Robinson for the past two years and will be the starter for the Bears this season.
Although the Bears lost an exceptionally strong group of graduated seniors, they still carry lofty expectations going into this season. The preseason pick to finish fourth in the UAA by the Preseason Conference Coaches’ Poll, Joe Clarke’s squad hopes to make it through a perilous conference schedule and finish ahead of Carnegie Mellon University, who has been the UAA’s top team for the last few years.
So will the Bears be able to rise to the occasion and land that ever-elusive NCAA bid for its seniors? That remains to be seen. But with this season’s group of players, there’s no doubt that they have plenty of potential.
The Bears kick off the start of their seasonÿon Saturday,ÿSept. ÿ3 against Millsaps College in Memphis, Tenn.