Head coach Mike Siener said despite the loss after the first round of the NCAA tournament, the men’s soccer team has had a great season overall.
Webster men’s soccer team concluded their season after a loss in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament. The team lost to University of Chicago, who entered the NCAA tournament with a 12-5-1 record. The Gorloks will finish their record-breaking season 18-2-2.
Despite the loss, senior forward Aamahn Murvin said he still considers the season as a whole a good one. He hopes the team can continue on this success for generations to come as seniors graduate and freshmen come in.
“As a whole, I think everybody learned a lot and I think the team really improved as a program,” Murvin said. “I hope they can continue to make the NCAA tournament.”
The team’s record of 18 wins is the most in program history. This season also presented the Gorloks with their sixth conference title in program history as well as Head coach Mike Siener’s 100th career win.
At the conclusion of their match against Chicago, Siener said the team had a great season and made a lot of good memories this year.
“We obviously want to win in the postseason,” Siener said. “But nothing will take away from what this group has been able to accomplish on the field and in the classroom.”
According to Siener, the team played as hard as they could against Chicago. Murvin said Chicago was a solid team.
The Gorloks had three shots in this do-or-die match compared to Chicago’s 14 shots. Justin Kohler, a senior midfielder, said the biggest problem against Chicago was the way they moved the ball.
“They were just a tough team,” Kohler said in a post game interview. “ They were a top-class program that plays in one of the best conferences in the country and could really move the ball around.”
Murvin said they will have an entirely different team next year with the loss of seven seniors. He said he is unsure if he will come back to take advantage of the extra year of eligibility COVID-19 presented for him. He also doesn’t know if any of the other seniors plan to return.
According to Murvin, one switch he thinks could help is possibly substituting a little more. He said the team will need to learn how to adapt on the fly in mid-game situations in order to make it further in future seasons.
“I think if they do these things they will be good,” Murvin said. “I think they could break the record next year, maybe go 20-0.”
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Kaelin Triggs (he/him) has been a part of The Journal since 2019. He is a journalism major pursuing a career in sports writing. He also runs for Webster's track and cross country team, and he enjoys playing piano and hanging out with friends and family.
