Men's soccer faces challenge with Wilmington

Amanda Wiles
Staff Writer

   After being defeated by John Carroll University on the 11th, the Muskie men's soccer team walked onto the field on Oct. 15 with the attitude that it wasn't going to lose another game 5-0. However, Wilmington came out strong, which resulted in much of the game being played on the Muskie's side of the field.

   Before the game started Coach Seamus Reilly had nothing but positive things to say about the year thus far and the performance of his players on and off the field. He knew that it was going to be a technically challenging game to play, not just because of one or two individual players, but because of the Wilmington team as a whole. Wilmington before the game was already 3-0 in the conference.

   Wilmington scored two goals in both the first and the second half of the game. Coach Reilly had said that the key players for the Muskies would be Keith Widing, Zach Zealer, and Jared Cope.

   "We are a bit inconsistent at the moment, but we're getting better. We definitely have the potential to win," Reilly said.

   After the men's game against Wilmington, their record stands as 6-8-0 overall and 1-3-0 in the conference. The ball spent a little too much time in the air, which never makes for a safe soccer game. Fortunately, with guys like Rob McBurney, Brad Guindon, Daniel Quiroz Mar, and of course Widing and Zealer, the ball was able to gain some foot control on the Muskie's side. Fighting off the green shirts was a ceaseless challenge for guys like Guindon, Quiroz Mar, Zealer, and Widing. With patience and perseverance the guys were able to win themselves some penalty kicks and start a string of plays down the field.

   Zealer being the lone scorer for the Muskies was assisted by Rob McBurney in the 23rd minute of the first half. Zach was also given a yellow card in the 20th minute of the second half.

   Jared Cope, being one of the anticipated key players of the game, had five saves throughout all 90 minutes of the game.

   "Our guys played tough tonight and there were plenty of great individual efforts, whether offensively or defensively," said Cope. "Once everyone starts playing on the same level we'll become a true team and hopefully accomplish great things."

   In the end the team played with confidence, despite the 4-1 loss. If they play with the same confidence and work even harder in their next game at Otterbein College on the 18th a victory is only a touch of the ball away.

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