There are many different kinds of sports; some require more endurance than others, and some require more strength than others. While all sports are different, there is one thing that every team, regardless of sport, will face: adversity.
Some teams face heart-breaking losses, while others are plagued by injury. For the men’s soccer team at Asbury University, the injury plague struck before the season even began.
The team suffered three significant injuries over the summer, all on the defensive side. While the depth on defense has been minimized, Head Coach Ben Andrews is not worried.
“When we recruit, we bring in guys we know will be able to step up when needed,” said Andrews. “Guys like Trevor Matthews (Fr.) and Nash Philogene (Fr.) have stepped up big-time to fill the role.”
To help with the transitions, the team will look to the six seniors, Aron van Gooswilligen, Owyn Howard, Neil Lumm, Andrew Nesselroade, Noah Welch and Brian Wood, for leadership.
“This senior group genuinely prioritizes the team’s success over their own,” said Andrews. “It is a very rare quality and is a credit to the team.”
“The stats don’t matter,” said Lumm. “I just want to have a major impact and help the new players transition to the collegiate level.”
“This is my last season,” added Welch. “I just want to give it everything I got.”
The conference schedule, however, will not make things easy for the Eagles. The River States Conference is an extremely top-heavy field featuring the number five team in the nation, Rio Grande.
Over the past two seasons, the Eagles have posted an impressive 11-4-2 conference record, but the regular season success did not translate well to the postseason.
The team has been upset both seasons in the conference tournament by Indiana University East, something this year’s team hopes to stop.
“Ultimately the goal is to win the conference tournament,” said Andrews. “If we can get a top four seed, it should give us good pairings.”
To avoid the results from the previous two tournaments, the team is making strides to be more competitive in the postseason.
“We have changed our formation so it matches up better with the big teams in our conference,” said Howard.
“As long as we give it our all, the rest will take care of itself,” added Welch.
