The Falcon men’s soccer team was handed their 10th defeat of the season Wednesday, when they traveled to Wright State, but the Falcons must rally together and beat visiting Northern Illinois tomorrow if they want to keep their hopes of making the Mid-American Conference Tournament alive.
‘We have been making some good progress over the last few games,’ coach Eric Nichols said on Wednesday. ‘Tonight, we took a night off. We just didn’t show up. I know the guys are disappointed in their performance tonight.’
WSU’s Braden Fleak scored a goal in each half, giving the host a comfortable 2-0 win.
Fortunately for the Falcons the loss was in an out of conference match, thus not affecting their chances for a berth in the conference tournament.
Even with the Falcons’ poor record, the team is in a ‘win and you’re in’ position for the tournament. If the Falcons are able to defeat Northern Illinois this weekend and Florida Atlantic in their next conference tie, they will earn a place in the tournament.
Freshman Joey D’Agostino understands the importance of tomorrow’s game.
‘Our season is on the line with this game,’ D’Agostino said. ‘This is a chance for us to really accomplish something this year.’
But beating NIU will not be an easy task for the Falcons; Nichols knows the Huskies can be a very dangerous opponent.
‘NIU is a very good team, they have been one of the powers in the conference over the last few years,’ Nichols said. ‘They play a very direct style that is difficult to defend against, and they are very good at it.’
Sophomore Max Weston said the Falcons will be fully fit and prepared for the big conference showdown. ‘This game means a lot to the seniors, it signifies their last chance to make a MAC Tournament,’ Weston said. ‘It’s really important for our moral to go out on a high not, and I think that the team will be 100 percent mentally and physically against NIU.’
Saturday’s kickoff will be at 1 p.m. at Cochrane field and will coincide with the Falcons’ annual cancer awareness event – which was originally scheduled for last weekend. All fans are encouraged to wear pink, in support of cancer awareness and research.
