The men’s club soccer team came away with the Open Division championship trophy in the Men’s Collegiate Club Soccer National Tournament that took place in Tuscaloosa, Ala., over the weekend.
After finishing the regular season with a perfect record of 4-0 by a combined score of 21-3, the men’s team had high expectations heading into the tournament and they certainly did not end up disappointing themselves.
The team went 6-0 in the tournament with a goal differential of 17-1.
They easily breezed past their first group of competitors which included Georgia Tech, Southeastern Louisiana and Wisconsin. They then defeated Georgia Southern in the quarterfinals and went on to face Arizona in the semifinals. The team surrendered its lone goal, but defeated the Wildcats by a score of 5-1.
In the final, Oregon shut out Cal-Berkeley and won the championship game 2-0.
Four Oregon players made the All-Tournament team: tournament MVP Bryan Mikolaitis, goalkeeper Patrick Drake, Zach McManus and Eric Richards.
The team was unable to compete for the national title because currently there is no regional tournament in the Northwest. Club coordinator Patrick Drake hopes the team will be able to play in the main tournament next year by practicing before school begins in order to compete in the California regional league. The academic calendar forces the men’s team to start competition late into the season because most other schools start at the end of August.
Until then, the team will remain proud of the fact that it was undefeated all year and outscored their opponents 38-4. The team now looks forward to competing in the indoor soccer season beginning winter term.
– Jacob May