Men's Soccer Looks for Conference Win
Tiffany Williams
Manchester is the home to a variety of sports, but one sport in particular is having trouble kicking up some points.
The men’s soccer team has had very few wins this year so far, with only two wins and a tie out of the ten games they’ve played this season. This includes their first conference game against Hanover that took place on Saturday, Sept. 29, with Hanover for the win 3-0.
Admittedly their non-conference season is supposed to be harder to prepare them for their conference season. “We’re playing really difficult teams, but we’re competing,” said head coach Corey Brueggeman. “It’s not like we’re getting outplayed or blown out; we’re just not competing the whole game, but we’re really close.”
Breuggeman went on to explain how the team has everything they need to be successful; all the team needs to do is believe they can do it. He thinks it would help the team if they took a look at their day to day goals such as getting in a good practice rather than worry about the end goal. “The team spirit, the moral, the resiliency that you can’t teach or coach is there, Brueggeman said. “We just have to put it together and go for the win.”
Drake DeWitt, a senior captain, has been instrumental in inducting more of the younger players on the team. DeWitt understands what it takes to better the team as he has seen the growth the team has made over the years.
The varsity team this year has three first years on its team: Ryan Worman, Drew Gavit and Trey Smith who have been starting and playing a lot with, around, the nine returning players. Worman and Smith are defenders whereas Gavit is a mid-fielder. Brueggeman said: “I always tell the guys to trust the process and they’ve done a really good job of it.”
The main goal that the team is shooting for is to get to the NCAA tournament; however, there are several steps the team has to take to get there. First and foremost, they have to make it to the top four of ten in their conference teams to even have a chance of making it to the NCAA tournament. Getting there will push them through to possibly winning the conference and then go on to possibly winning the tournament. Last year the team finished fourth but lost the conference tournament.
“We’re trying to have the guys take it minute by minute, game by game and not focus on the end result,” Brueggeman said. Although the team lost their first conference game, they have eight more games to go.