With their first loss of the season on Sept. 29, the Emory men’s soccer team finally ended their eight-game winning streak. The final score of the match against Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) Bears was 2-1, one of the closest games the Eagles have had to date. The team managed to maintain their attention to ball control and an aggressive offense, but fell victim once again to a slow first-half pace.
Saturday’s match began without much action. Emory managed to put up the only three shots of the first 15 minutes of play, but without any success. The game continued with matched plays from both sides until the Bears carried out an assisted shot from the box into the far corner of the goal midway through the half. Other than a few late shots with five minutes remaining, the goal was the last major action in the half.
One consistent issue the Eagles have had to face this season has been low-energy starts to their matches. Despite their perfect record in the first eight games, the Eagles have had very low score counts in the first half. Of their 26 goals so far this season, only nine have been scored in the first 45 minutes of play. Though they have found much success with their current playing style, if there is room for improvement, it certainly lies in how quickly they can begin to control a game. Once in their regular rhythm of play, the Eagles seem unstoppable.
Head Coach Cory Greiner acknowledged the team’s difficult start, especially in the later minutes of the first half.
“I thought our performance definitely dipped,” Greiner said. “That was a point of emphasis [for us] at halftime when we met. We wanted to make sure we came out in the second half much, much better. I thought the first half against WashU was one of the weakest we have played all season.”
The second half of the match began with more intensity from both teams, as Emory made two shots, and WashU made one shot in only five minutes. After a slew of fouls that slowed the pacing back down, the Bears found their second goal at 30 minutes remaining. Finding their stride, Emory took only 10 minutes to answer with a goal of their own from junior midfielder Jun Tsuru. Tsuru scored his fifth goal of the season off an impressive assist from junior midfielder William Jones. For the second consecutive game, Tsuru managed to score with the goalkeeper in the net, showcasing his speed and precision.
Of their second half performance, senior midfielder Aidan Datene (who had three shots during the match) felt the team had made improvements.
“I think it shows a lot of character that we were able to get one [goal] back,” Datene said.
Despite their ability to refocus for a goal, the Eagles were unable to find many more shots, none of which found the net. This, in combination with a strong performance from Bears’ goalkeeper Matt Martin, ensured the final score stayed in their favor.
“That part is obviously frustrating, and we’re kind of disappointed,” Greiner said. “But I also think we can take it as a lesson for the team and realize we can’t show up and feel like we deserve to win because we have a good ranking and have won some games before.”
The formula of late-game surges that has kept the Eagles’ record strong this far into the season may need adjustments if it is going to carry them to the NCAA tournament. Though their overall gameplay is consistently clean and controlled, improvements to the Eagles’ energy could easily produce nine more wins for their remaining schedule this season.
“Going forward we have a really big game against Chicago which is a good game to put us back on the map against one of the top-ranked teams in the country,” Datene said.
The Eagles will host the University of Chicago on Oct. 6 at 11 a.m.
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