After a highly successful season, the MSU men’s club soccer team ended the year with some disappointment after a competitive display at the Collegiate Soccer Sports Club Championships in Tempe, Ariz.
Consecutive 2-1 losses to Texas A&M and Minnesota in the tournament’s opening round ended the Bulldogs’ hopes for a national title, while a 3-0 defeat by Colorado in the consolation round sealed an early trip home.
The tournament, held annually by the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association, consists of the top 24 collegiate club teams from around the country to determine the national champions.
This year’s tournament was hosted by Arizona State.
A narrow opening loss to Texas A&M left the Bulldogs needing a positive result against Minnesota to advance.
The loss that followed was the product of two successful Minnesota set pieces: a penalty kick and a last minute free kick that sent MSU to the consolation round.
Team president and starting goalkeeper Joe Macias says the loss to Minnesota was an unjust result, citing a slew of injuries to key players and suspect officiating.
“It was just some unlucky stuff,” Macias said. “The referee was pretty pitiful. He could not keep up with the game.”
Macias said Minnesota employed hit-or-miss long ball tactics and only threatened the Bulldogs’ goal with free kicks, from which both goals were conceded.
Midfielder and co-president Peter Rush, who suffered a concussion during the game, also admitted the result was a letdown.
After defeating the likes of Auburn and LSU and finishing with a 10-2-1 record during the regular season, Rush says the team expected more out of this tournament.
“We had played and beaten teams of this caliber before,” he said. “We just couldn’t win this time.”
The loss in the consolation round was particularly frustrating for a team that had struggled just to find the necessary funds for the trip.
Macias said that although the team received $500 from the Student Association and earned some money selling ads, they had to pay for most of the $10,000 trip out of their own pockets, including airfare.
“Every time we talked to someone about sponsoring us, they would direct us somewhere else,” Macias said.
Despite the frustrations, Macias and Rush concede that there is just not enough money to fund a fully sponsored men’s varsity team.
Senior forward Michael Hill was impressed by the organization, coaches and matching warm-ups of the other teams but says the team’s success despite the lack of these amenities gives them a sense of pride and togetherness other teams lack.
“We worked really hard considering we had to work with no coaches, little funding, no set practice field or time and people working and going to school at the same time,” Hill said. “We struggled, but we did better this year than the previous just by making nationals.”
Regardless of the team’s financial plight, Macias says their success this season has led to a somewhat increased profile around campus.
“Hopefully we’ll keep getting recognition for what we’ve done, and then some more people will notice us,” Macias said.