The Whitman men’s soccer team has had a season of ups and downs. The team currently stands fifth out of eight in the Northwest Conference with a 4-3-2 record giving them 14 points (three points per win, one for a tie).
The men have shown that they can play very well together; they just need to keep their play more consistent.
“Not every game has gone how we wanted it to, but we have shown some good stuff,” said senior captain Cooper Crosby.
One of the biggest ups for the team was the victory over Whitworth on Saturday, Oct. 9 which served as a great boost for the team. After losing seven of the last eight match-ups against Whitworth by only one goal, the Missionaries traveled to Spokane and came home with a 1-0 victory.
The win was particularly important coming after a tough weekend in Oregon which resulted in a tie with Willamette and a 2-1 loss to Linfield.
“It’s a big win. We needed three points from the Whitworth game to get back on track,” Crosby said. “People are still fired up from that.”
A revitalized team ventured to Tacoma to take on two of the conference’s best teams, University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University, on October 16 and 17 respectively. The Missionaries drew with the Loggers 1-1 and beat the Lutes 1-0.
Both of these matches were extremely tight. The Missionaries led the Loggers 1-0 with five minutes left, before the Loggers tied it up. Neither team was able to score in extra time.
The Pacific Lutheran match was scoreless through 89 minutes until junior Sam Freedman put the ball in the back of the net with 12 seconds left.
This series of successes for the team demonstrates that they are capable of performing at a high level with the best teams in the conference. The team is hoping to continue playing well enough to earn a spot into the post season. Overall, the standings in the Northwest Conference are very close; only five points separate second from sixth.
“The goal is to win out and reach the post season,” Crosby said. “It’s still in our hands.”
One key for the team to move forward is playing their best soccer at a more consistent level. Head coach Mike Washington believes that this is particularly true for the back half of the field.
“We need some consistency in defending,” Washington said.
Crosby agrees with this sentiment regarding the team’s defensive skills.
“We are working on defensive organization,” Crosby said.
With regards to his team’s post season hopes, Washington feels that it is possible to move on.
“We control our own destiny,” Washington said. “Whether we can be consistent enough is the big question.”
Whitman now ends its regular season with five straight home matches starting with Pacific University and George Fox on Saturday, Oct. 23 and Sunday, Oct. 24.
