JUST THE BEGINNING: Men’s Soccer caps off successful season with AAC post-season appearance
JUST THE BEGINNING: Men’s Soccer caps off successful season with AAC post-season appearance
Men’s soccer team suffers 1-0 loss to Milligan University in Appalachian Athletic Conference semi-final, records best program finish since 2014
St. Andrew’s Men’s Soccer Head Coach Steve Clark had one thing to say after his team’s season ended with a 1-0 loss in the Appalachian Athletic Conference semi-finals to Milligan University on Nov. 7 – “It’s not the end. It’s the beginning of a journey.”
The 26-man roster of nine seniors and 17 underclassmen battled through a competitive schedule to record their most successful season since 2014. As they made their way through Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, and South Carolina on the road, they posted a remarkable 7-1-1 record at home to clinch a playoff berth as the #4 seed in the conference.
“The resilience (of the players) has been great,” Clark said. “On the odd number years, our travel schedule is quite extensive. I think we had a week with games in Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The travel for that is more tiring than people realize. To play a game like a soccer match, our guys are running four to five miles a game sometimes. To do that after a long journey of sitting on a bus, presents different problems from other sports.”
With their favorable post-season ranking, the players earned home field advantage for the opening round of the conference playoffs against Truett-McConnell University. The Knight’s previous meeting against the squad from Cleveland, Georgia on Sept. 30 rendered a 0-0 tie.
The season’s second meeting delivered a definitive winner, with the Knight’s claiming the victory 4-0, sending them to the conference semi-finals four days later. Their opponent was top-seeded Milligan University who handed them a 6-0 loss on the road on Oct. 2.
The two teams went into half-time scoreless, but it was Milligan who found an opportunity to change that once play resumed.
After receiving a pass from Albert Montragull, Santiago Corral shot and scored the first goal of the game, putting the Buffaloes on the scoreboard. It was all they needed to surpass the Knights, as they went on to take the win 1-0, sending themselves to the conference championship.
“It was important, for me, for the first 15 minutes that we just stayed in the game and didn’t give anything up,” Clark said. “It sort of went how we thought. We would have to work really hard defensively, and we would get a few breaks. It was disappointing the goal that was conceded. We didn’t get enough pressure on the cross, we didn’t get quite close enough to the guys that were getting into the box…but give credit where credit is due. I’m really proud of how (my players) played. It’s just at the end there’s a winner and loser.”
In the offseason, Clark plans on working on technique, decision making, and strategy when not in possession. He desires to see his underclassmen work hard to step up to fulfill the potential that he knows they possess which will lead to success for the program in the future.
“I’m very proud of what they’ve done,” Clarke said. “But I think they need to expect to be in this situation. There are some really talented young men. There’s good prospects here within the program that will get better and put more pressure on each other, and they need to adapt to the competition from within and use that to work harder in training…I think it’s important to demand a lot of these young men because they can certainly deliver and they will produce more if that’s the case.”