The Mac Weekly

Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Christopher Mitchell / SportShotPhoto.com Ryan Palmer '08 was voted this season's MVP by his teammates for his work in goal

The men's soccer team finished out the season in thrilling fashion last Saturday with a come-from-behind 2-1 overtime victory over Augsburg. It was a bittersweet victory, however, since the team ended up missing the playoffs by one point in the standings.

Macalester was still in the playoff hunt entering its final three games, but after a 1-1 tie with St. Thomas and a 0-1 loss to Gustavus the team's playoff hopes were dashed.

"We rode some really high highs, and sunk to some low lows this year and to miss out by one point really makes you think about all the 'what ifs,'" goalie Ryan Palmer '08 said.

"What really hurt were our losses to Hamline and Carleton, two teams that hadn't been able to beat us for years," Brandon Arents '10 said. "If we could have won one of those games we would have went on [to the playoffs]."

Macalester ended its campaign in the MIAC with a 5-4-1 record and 11 points, just shy of St. Olaf's 12 points. St. Olaf beat top- seeded Carleton in the playoff semi-finals on Wednesday and will play Gustavus in the MIAC Playoffs Championship match tomorrow.

When Macalester faced St. Olaf during the regular season on Sept. 21, however, the Scots put together a convincing 2-0 home win in front of the Mac faithful.

"For the team I would have to say that the win against St. Olaf was our highpoint," Carson Gorecki '09 said. "We really clicked and it was a lot of fun. It is too bad that we couldn't capture that momentum for the remainder of the season."

After the strong performance against St. Olaf, the team wasn't able to realize its full potential. A lack of assertive play early in games ultimately proved costly. In each of their three losses after the St. Olaf game they fell behind early and were not able to respond with an equalizer.

Macalester has now missed the playoffs for two straight years after claiming the league title seven times from 1997-2005. During his nine years of coaching in the MIAC, Head Coach Ian Barker has seen other MIAC schools develop a greater commitment to their soccer programs, obtaining local players that previously might have gone on to play at bigger schools. As a result, Barker says that of the 11 teams in the conference, there are eight teams currently in position to make the playoffs next year. Still, he believes that winning the league outright is not a completely unreasonable goal.

Continued...

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