By Lilyen McCarthy
Despite two tough losses against top teams in their penultimate week of regular season, men’s soccer has seen great success this fall. The team heads into their last game with a No. 3 ranking in the NE10 conference, behind Franklin Pierce and American International, respectively. No strangers to post-season success in the past, the team is completely confident moving on from regular season play.
“Personally, I feel very positive going into post season,” said sophomore defensive player Benji Jones. “We are playing some good soccer right now, and we know we are more than capable of performing at a very high standard against the best teams in the country.”
The team has backed up their confidence in the past, only falling to both No. 5 Franklin Pierce and No. 23 American International by one goal in each match up.
Looking forward to future matches, Jones believes staying in shape and knowing the opponent will keep the Panther men prepared for all levels of play. He said, “Then psychologically we may focus on how we will succeed in order to win the game and progress into the coming rounds.”
Freshman midfielder Matthew Lynch attributed the team’s success to a great team mentality and like Jones, confidence. He described his experience coming to America to play. “One of the biggest things I noticed coming from Ireland is the support you feel from those not playing. That’s a credit to them, playing a massive role in helping those lucky enough to step out and play.”
As of press time, there was only one game after Halloween weekend and then the team heads into playoffs. Lynch, who said he’s grateful for such huge support from campus students and others, added, “We hope that’ll continue into the final home games. It makes such a difference for us, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.”
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