Ryan Land
Editor-in-Chief
The Roughrider soccer team closed out their 2014 season on Oct. 25 with an overall record of 9-9, 2-5 in Region 16 play, after suffering a 2-1 loss against East Central Community College during the quarterfinal round of the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) tournament, held at Roughrider field.
“We didn’t score,” said Brad Smith, head men’s soccer coach.
Crowder started off the season with a 6-2 overall record after the first eight games of the season. The next eight games leading up to the Oct. 21 regular season finale against St. Charles Community College would only find the Roughriders winning two games. Crowder would go on to win their final regular season game 2-1 against the Cougars.
“The big reason … we didn’t score much at the end,” Smith said about the late season falter. “But I think that happened more than anything is that we got complacent and we were really happy with where we were, so there was no real push at the end.”
According to Jose Mendez, freshman center back, multiple problems plagued the team as they went through the season.
“We started off strong but as we went along down the road, there were a lot of injuries and a lot of miscommunication; not much leadership,” Mendez said.
Mendez, whose from Houston, Texas, states the team needs to focus on the fundamentals of the endings of each game throughout the upcoming offseason.
“Finishing is something we really need to work on,” said Mendez.
Post season recognition was awarded to two midfield players. Dan Collins, sophomore, was awarded to 1st team all regionals while Yonas Girma, freshman, was awarded to 2nd team.
“Well I think Dan Collins is probably the best midfielder in the region,” said Smith. “Yonas has tremendous athletic ability and I think he is potentially one of our best ever players if he improves a little bit more. So they were in line.”
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