Photo by Jakob Komel
McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College men's soccer team wrapped up the fall portion of their season on Saturday, hosting the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles, the top team in the KCAC and ranked nationally.
On this day, the Bulldogs came out on the wrong end of a 5-0 decision but for the first 45 minutes, they hung right with one of the top programs in the nation. In the first half, the Bulldogs and Eagles were locked in a 0-0 draw for the first 19 minutes. In the 20th minute, the Eagles broke through on a corner kick. The Bulldogs didn't challenge well when the ball was played in and an Eagle attacker simply out jumped the Bulldog defenders and headed the ball past Jose Alonso (Sr. Wichita, Kan.), who was in net.
That goal would be the only score in the half, but that would change in the second half. Like the opening half, the Bulldogs played well defensively and in the midfield early in the period. About 16 minutes in, cracks began to appear in the Bulldogs' defense. The Bulldogs were without their full complement of players, and the lack of depth began to show itself. The Eagles broke down the Bulldogs on back to back plays, scoring in the 61st and 62nd minutes. The Eagles would tack on two more goals, one in the 74th minute, and the other in the 89th.
Coaches Quote
"Oklahoma Wesleyan is every bit as good as advertised. I felt we really did well for the better part of the match defensively. We stayed organized and were able to dictate some things until we ran out of gas. Our injuries really hampered some things for us today as the game wore on.Â
Offensively we just offered nothing going forward. We connected passes to get out of pressure and were able to possess the ball in our build just fine, but boy did we struggle in the final third to create anything. Our composure and decision making in the final third this fall has just been a continuing problem.Â
This group has really stayed the course all year long balancing the constant unknowns. Every day they clocked in to get better and that as a coach makes things enjoyable. We look forward to some much needed time off before we get geared back up in the spring.
Next Up
As Coach Quint alluded to, the Bulldogs are off until spring 2021. They have four regular season matches scheduled and then the KCAC tournament. They will open up on March 24 at home against Bellevue University, then another non-conference game against Mid-America Nazarene University on March 27. On March 31, they will play the first of two KCAC game remaining on their schedule against the Ottawa University Braves. They wrap up the spring regular season on April 3rd on the road at Southwestern College. The KCAC tournament opens on April 10 with the quarterfinals and finishes a week later with the finals at the Stryker Complex in Wichita, Kansas.
