The men’s soccer team battled the Willamette Bearcats on Saturday, Nov. 5 in Salem, Ore. and ending the last day of the Northwest Conference men’s soccer season with a winning score of 2-1.

Isaias Flores, ‘20, made the Wildcats’ first goal in the 11th minute. The game tied in the 15th minute with a goal by Willamette’s Jack Elton.

Senior Rhys Lendio brought the Wildcats back into the lead in the 57th minute.

“Brian was able to have a greater influence on the game once we dropped him into the midfield at the center attacking mid position. We stifled their possession,” said coach Alex Bockel.

“He has been our main source of goals and attacking threats, but also led by example on the field all year long with his work ethic and intensity. He had a rough start to the season, but was resilient, which is one of our core values,” said Bockel.

The Wildcat’s defense stayed strong in the last 33 minutes as the Bearcats attempted many more goals.

“I believe that our tenacity and work rate from everyone contributed a lot to the team winning this game,” said Chris Palmer, ‘18.

The team lost captain Jake Smith two weeks ago to a torn ACL, as well as Dylan Shepard to the same injury, both midfield players.

Despite the lack of these two players, Bockel said the team “played with heart. We didn’t dominate the game in any category or facet of the game but we battled.”

Bockel describes the first half of the season as tough, as it was difficult to find the formation that fit the individual players best and the team was still learning to work with the new coaching staff, but continued to improve during the course of the season.

“The team improved immensely this season. We could have easily given up with the way the first half went, but we grinded and put in a lot of hard work and effort in practices and in the end became a team that will be a real threat in the conference next year,” said Palmer.

The turning point for the team was during their game against George Fox, when despite missing three of their best players, they stepped up and won the game.

“From then on, the guys played every game with the belief that they could win,” said Bockel. “Despite finishing 7th, I would call it a fun and successful year and I think most of the guys would agree.”