Soccer Steals Success

The women ended their regular season with a win over King’s College with a 5-2 strong victory going into the playoffs. They faced off with Eastern and showed early promise by taking the lead in the 61st minute by junior forward and midfielder Kim Suchoski. Sam Helmstetter, freshman midfielder and forward, assisted the play. The Lady Cougars prevented the Eagles from getting a solid shot on them for the 70 minutes and stayed with tight and relentless defense.

Then as the women’s team looked like they were solidly on their way to victory, the Eagles’ Kelsey Doutrich scored two goals within three minutes of each other. The team continued to attack and press on with a strong offense and relentless defense but those two headers did prove to be the end all for the Cougars. The final was 2-1 as Eastern went on to face Manhattanville and continue in the Freedom Conference Playoffs.

The season ended with three Lady Cougars recognized with All-Conference honors. Helmstetter was honored with Rookie of the Year in the Freedom Conference and first-team All-Freedom. The lone senior Ashley McDonnell and junior Jenn Brucker were honored with second-team All-Freedom.

The men’s soccer team ended with a very strong six game win streak to end the regular season and go into the playoffs with healthy team morale. The team had to face Wilkes University in the first round of playoffs and it was a very intensely contested game. Going into overtime tied at two, the Cougars pulled off a 3-2 victory and went to move to the second round of playoffs. The Cougars had to face off with Manhattanville next for the Freedom Championship.

Senior goalkeeper Andrew Loyd was like a brick wall, blocking all shots made by the Manhattanville team, and junior Joey Scanlon scored the lone goal to put the Cougars ahead for the entire game. With tough and raw defense, the Cougars showed that they definitely belonged by getting the hard earned win. Scanlon hit the goal off a penalty kick and made sure that they kept playing tight defense. Loyd had a remarkable 11 saves in the game, including some very crucial ones in the second half. The Cougars clinched the Freedom Championship, Loyd was named MVP for the second straight year and they moved on to the NCAA Championships.

The men traveled to Salisbury, Maryland to face off with Johns Hopkins University, the Centennial Conference champions. The Cougars were placed in the same bracket with defending champion Messiah.

With a number seven ranking in their bracket, the Cougars had to face the number two seeded Johns Hopkins. The first half was tight, ending with both at zero. It was all about the second half in this game.

The Blue Jays’ Scott Bukoski scored on a low free kick from 20 yards out and never looked back, winning the game 2-0. The Cougars were out shot in the game 22-8 and played well attacking offense, but it just did not sway MU’s way. The Cougars fell in their second consecutive NCAA appearance.