The Ursinus men’s soccer team has officially kicked off their season, and the story they’re writing so far seems to be a familiar one.
As September concludes, the men are sitting on a record of 2-4-2, picking up two victories on the road against Gwynedd Mercy (3-1), and Wilkes University (2-1), while also suffering a few losses, two of them being from conference rivals Dickinson (1-4), and McDaniel College (0-1). All things considered, the men have opened up their season with an adequate start and displayed some decent performances against strong teams. What is concerning however is the team’s upcoming conference games, which have often spelled trouble for the Bears.
Historically the Bears have had difficulty competing in the Centennial Conference, having only recorded one conference record above .500 in the past ten years. The past two seasons serve as a prime example of this struggle, with the team recording a conference record of 1-7-1 in 2023 and 2024. But with such skilled teams in the Centennial, it is understandable why the men’s team has had difficulty making improvements in their overall record and postseason runs.
Starting their conference record at 0-2 is certainly not what the team had hoped for, but there have been some positive signs. A recent conference match was their loss against McDaniel College which saw the Bears concede just one goal in the opening stages of the game. The Bears managed fourteen shots to McDaniel’s eight, and stayed in pursuit of a win throughout the full ninety minutes. On the other hand, their match against Dickinson, who are ranked 8th in the nation as of September, was not as close, as the team suffered a 4-1 defeat. Still, the team managed 11 shots to Dickinson’s 13, so the team produced some decent offensive plays.
At the moment, it seems the Bears are facing some challenges getting on the scoresheet, being shut out in four of their first eight games. Currently the team is led in scoring by freshman Eliot Bowen who has two goals, the rest coming from five different players, all with one goal each. While having only 7 goals in the first eight games is not ideal, it is good to see that the team possesses multiple players who are capable of putting the ball in the net.
On another positive note, the team can enjoy playing in front of their fans in some upcoming games, which may serve as much needed break after playing 7 of their 8 games on the road in September. Perhaps playing in front of the home crowd will give the team a boost in their big inter-conference match ups.
Thankfully for the team, there are still a whole lot of games to come, and the second half of this season is yet another opportunity to make new developments in play and work toward building a program that can compete amongst the top teams in the conference.
We are looking forward to seeing what the men’s team can do to improve in the standings in the coming weeks.