Zach Susee takes on a defender in a game last season. (Jialing Sun | Student Life)

Last season, the Washington University men’s soccer team struggled to start the year. In their fifth game of the 2023 season, the Bears lost 2-1 to Millikin University, a team they had never conceded a goal to before. 

In 2024, the Bears have a new coach, new tactics, and one objective: to make it back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021. They came out of the gate flying, sweeping a weekend doubleheader to start the season 2-0. On Friday, Aug. 30, the Bears got their revenge on Millikin, blanking them 5-0. To close the weekend, WashU shut out Rhodes College 2-0 on Sunday, Sept. 1. 

Within the first six minutes of Friday’s contest against Millikin, the Bears had already found the back of the net twice. Just a minute and nine seconds into the game, sophomore Ethan Wirtschafter swung a through ball into the box, which landed at the right foot of junior Zach Susee, who fired it into the goal. Five minutes later, Wirtschafter scored a diving header off a cross from Susee. 

WashU held their 2-0 lead until the second half, when the Bears scored three goals off a newfound strength — the set piece. Last year, offensive set pieces were one of the team’s biggest weaknesses, rarely converting any of the corner kicks they were awarded. One might think that new head coach Andrew Bordelon worked on corners with his team throughout the spring season. 

“To be honest, we haven’t worked on set pieces at all in practice,” Bordelon said with a chuckle. “It’s another credit to these guys. They see the goal and they want to score.”  

Ethan Wirtschafter dribbles the ball in a match last fall. (Lydia Nicholson | Student Life)

Sophomore defender Quentin Gomez, the reigning University Athletic Association (UAA) Rookie of the Year, scored two headers, with respective assists from Susee and sophomore Nik Avillo. Sophomore Noah Cooney scored a loose ball off a separate corner between Gomez’s two goals, giving WashU the 5-0 advantage. 

Gomez credits the newfound strength on set pieces to the Bears’ height advantage on the pitch.

“We’ve got four guys over six-foot-three, which obviously helps,” he said. “Even if we don’t practice it, that alone gives us an advantage on set pieces.” 

On Sunday against Rhodes, the Bears dominated play again. WashU held the advantage in shots on-goal 9-1, and forced a staggering 17 corners. Twenty-four minutes into the match, Gomez fired home a deflected ball off of a corner. Twenty minutes later, Rhodes failed to fully clear another corner, and the ball was corralled by senior Eugene Heger. Heger crossed it into the box, finding Gomez for his fourth goal in two games. Gomez was named the UAA Men’s Soccer Athlete of the Week for his offensive contributions over the weekend. 

“Getting the chance to score four goals in two games as a center-back is just incredible,” Gomez said. “Last year, we didn’t have this good of a start. I’m just grateful for this opportunity.” 

Not only did the Bears not concede a single goal during the weekend series, but they also completely dominated play defensively. Underclassmen defenders Gomez, Avillo, sophomore Carter Sasser, and first-year Quentin Wallace played all 90 minutes of Sunday’s match, preventing Rhodes from creating any high-danger scoring chances. With the weekend’s two shutouts, junior goalkeeper Adam Mallalieu doubled his clean sheet total through his collegiate career. In 2023, the Bears’ defense often struggled to contain their opponents’ offenses. But so far this year, the WashU defense may be their biggest strength. 

“[The defense] has made my life pretty easy,” Mallalieu said. “They’ve been playing really well.” 

Bordelon’s coaching philosophy is considerably more aggressive and press-heavy than former head coach Joe Clarke’s playstyle, a change that has proved beneficial for the Bears. WashU has gone undefeated in their two preseason games against Missouri University of Science & Technology and Fontbonne University and in these two early regular-season matches. The Bears scored a combined 22 goals in those four games. Bordelon credits his team for embracing a new way to play so early in the season.

“Since March, the team has worked really hard and has bought [in] new ideas,” Bordelon said. “I think we saw a lot of that come together [this weekend].” 

Men’s soccer will travel to the Chicago area this weekend, facing Aurora University on Friday, Sept. 6 and North Park University on Sunday, Sept. 8. If the Bears can build off their momentum from this weekend, the sky’s the limit for men’s soccer. 

“Things are looking good, especially from the defensive side,” Gomez said. “If we keep scoring more than two goals a game, it’s going to be good for us.”