Brian Morefield
This past summer, a group of 36 men waited anxiously for word of who would be their coach for the upcoming season. At the end of June, the Illinois Wesleyan University men’s soccer program finally found their new coach when the administration hired Kyle Schauls, who was previously an assistant coach at University of Rochester.
These same 36 men came to training camp anxious to prove their merit and compete for starting spots. “We knew it was going to be competitive come August due to the fact that none of us had solidified starting spots. We all had a clean slate,” said senior captain Colin Rathe.
Following a successful pre-season and a good win in an exhibition game over Depauw, the men’s soccer team headed to Boston to start their season against two worthy opponents in Wheaton College and Babson College.
In the first of the two games, the Titans came out slow, allowing two goals in the first twenty minutes of the match. Following a rough start, the Titan men got their groove, and finally scored a goal with 15 minutes left in the match. However, as the Titans pressed forward, they let their guard down in the back, allowing two cheap goals and finished the game with a 4-1 loss.
The Titan men headed into their game against Babson with a lot to prove and a hope for the first win of the 2014 season. However, after another shaky start to the game, they allowed a goal just 10 minutes into the first half. The rest of the half was dominated by the IWU men as they maintained a bulk of the possession.
About two minutes into the second half, Colin Rathe scored on a corner kick from Conner Allen to tie the game. “We felt good after that goal and really felt like it was time for us to dominate the game. Unfortunately, a bad bounce in the back led to another goal for them.”
This unfortunate bounce happened 30 seconds after Rathe’s goal when a Babson forward scored on a break away to give them the lead. This second goal would prove to be the game winner, leaving the Titan men with a bad start to the season.
Although the season did not start the way the Titans intended it to, all hope is far from being lost. “We have a long season ahead of us. We are going to come out hungry this weekend in the Clash of the Titans tournament and get the job done.”