WolfPack postseason run ends
Caleb Sanford
Issue date: 10/28/09 Section: Sports
The stage was set. The Madison Area Technical College soccer team was poised to make a run for the North Central Community College Conference title in their first year in the conference. The team that stood in their way was undefeated Triton College, currently ranked No. 7 in the national polls among Division III NJCAA teams.
And while MATC is one of the four teams to have scored against Triton College (who they lost to 5-1 on Sept. 9), they became just another link in the chain of six straight shutouts for Triton College, losing 5-0.
"They're a really good team and they played well," said head coach Jeff Richardson. "No excuses, they beat us."
Key injuries on offense and defense have hurt the team. They were on a seven game unbeaten streak before facing Kishwaukee College on Oct. 4. Since then, they have gone 1-4 and erased any chance of a conference championship. Losses to non-conference opponents North Iowa Area Community College and Kankakee Community College have also been hard on the team.
"We match up well against North Iowa, which is a Division I program with a lot of scholarship kids," said Richardson. "But injuries kept us from playing like we wanted to against them. And when it comes to the game against Kankakee, it was a series of unfortunate bits of luck. They are a team that should not be beating us at this point. "
"So yes, we've had some injuries to some key players, and that has prevented us from taking advantage of many of our opportunities," said Richardson, "we don't have the same lineup, so our team chemistry has been off. But the players have adjusted well and faster than expected. Everyone should be at 100 percent for the playoffs."
Still, there are bright points to the season. They start with the team's 4-3 overtime win against MATC-Milwaukee, in which the two conference rivals traded goals constantly.
"It was a weird game, but exciting," said Richardson, "It was back and forth until the last goal."
The team's first playoff game was against MATC-Milwaukee as well, and they put in a dominating 8-2 performance. The WolfPack outshot Milwaukee 22-4, and first-year player Thiemoko Kone put in a four-goal performance.
However, in their next playoff game, the WolfPack lost to Harper College 4-3 at home on Oct. 24, ending their playoff run earlier than they had hoped. The teams were dead even in shots and neither team was ahead by more than one goal at any point during the game. Kone scored three unassisted goals, putting his total for the year at a team-high 17 goals scored.
Team captain Serigne Sarr led the team wProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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h nine assists and was tied for second in goals with Tim Kennedy at eight goals apiece. The WolfPack ended their season with a record of 9-7-1 overall and 5-3-1 in conference play.
And while MATC is one of the four teams to have scored against Triton College (who they lost to 5-1 on Sept. 9), they became just another link in the chain of six straight shutouts for Triton College, losing 5-0.
"They're a really good team and they played well," said head coach Jeff Richardson. "No excuses, they beat us."
Key injuries on offense and defense have hurt the team. They were on a seven game unbeaten streak before facing Kishwaukee College on Oct. 4. Since then, they have gone 1-4 and erased any chance of a conference championship. Losses to non-conference opponents North Iowa Area Community College and Kankakee Community College have also been hard on the team.
"We match up well against North Iowa, which is a Division I program with a lot of scholarship kids," said Richardson. "But injuries kept us from playing like we wanted to against them. And when it comes to the game against Kankakee, it was a series of unfortunate bits of luck. They are a team that should not be beating us at this point. "
"So yes, we've had some injuries to some key players, and that has prevented us from taking advantage of many of our opportunities," said Richardson, "we don't have the same lineup, so our team chemistry has been off. But the players have adjusted well and faster than expected. Everyone should be at 100 percent for the playoffs."
Still, there are bright points to the season. They start with the team's 4-3 overtime win against MATC-Milwaukee, in which the two conference rivals traded goals constantly.
"It was a weird game, but exciting," said Richardson, "It was back and forth until the last goal."
The team's first playoff game was against MATC-Milwaukee as well, and they put in a dominating 8-2 performance. The WolfPack outshot Milwaukee 22-4, and first-year player Thiemoko Kone put in a four-goal performance.
However, in their next playoff game, the WolfPack lost to Harper College 4-3 at home on Oct. 24, ending their playoff run earlier than they had hoped. The teams were dead even in shots and neither team was ahead by more than one goal at any point during the game. Kone scored three unassisted goals, putting his total for the year at a team-high 17 goals scored.
Team captain Serigne Sarr led the team wProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0
h nine assists and was tied for second in goals with Tim Kennedy at eight goals apiece. The WolfPack ended their season with a record of 9-7-1 overall and 5-3-1 in conference play.
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