Recently, the Wheaton College soccer season came to an unfortunately disappointing end for both the men and women’s teams. Both lost in the semifinals of the NEWMAC Playoffs coming off of successful, yet admittedly rocky, seasons.
The women’s soccer team finished with an overall record of 11-7-1. They made it to the playoffs and beat MIT, who they had lost to in the quarterfinals earlier in the season. Sadly, the women’s team fell to Springfield in the semifinals in a 3-1 loss.
This is not to say that the women’s season was not an overall success. Entering the playoffs, Jenna Palmer ’21, a member of the women’s team, reflected on the season: “I think, overall, our season went well. We hit a few rough patches, but we’re very proud of how we kept moving forward. We all worked our hardest despite many injuries throughout the season, and I couldn’t be prouder.”
The women’s team faced a lot of hardship during the regular season in the form of injuries, and in the words of Palmer, “Throughout the season we had a series of injuries with players all over the field which was overall very concerning, but we managed to bounce back and had plenty of talented players to fill in.” To face this type of uphill battle and finish with a winning record shows what kind of hardworking and persistent team Wheaton College has in women’s soccer.
The team will not spend time thinking about the past as they look to the next season. In the words of Palmer, “We learned a lot this season in how our team works and our strengths. I hope that next year we take what we’ve learned and become stronger for it. I’m very excited to see what our team can do next year with the players we have now and the talent we’re bringing in next year.”
The men’s team did not do as well during the regular season as the women’s team, with a record of 9-10-1. The men’s team lost to Babson in the semifinals 2-0. Jules Stewart ’21 had this to say about the team’s playoff performance: “I feel like we did okay. We had a real shot to go all the way and we came up short and didn’t play that well in the semifinals.”
Looking towards the next year, both Stewart and Palmer have high hopes. When asked about the upcoming season, Stewart said that he wants to make it to the NEWMAC championship and an NCAA tournament, and Palmer believes that, with a strong team returning, they’ll be able to win with the major talent on the field. Next year, the Wheaton community will definitely be looking at the soccer teams in hopes that they bring back a championship.