ONU Men's Soccer Diving into OAC's!

     The non-conference is finally over. After a lot of tough competition throughout the month of September, the boys after a long time can take a breath. The Polar Bears finished the non-conference with a record of 4-4-1 which is not up to ONU standards. The boys are not satisfied with how the first part of the season went. However, every team is now preparing for conference play meaning it's a clean slate for everyone. Although non-conference is an important part of the season because it gives us an opportunity to play tough opponents and get good results to build our ranking, the conference schedule is the ultimate test to play for a conference championship and get into the NCAA tournament. We are the reigning regular season champions of the OAC and if we want to defend our title and get a bid for the NCAA tournament, the boys need to have a flawless conference schedule. 

      The boys have an extremely difficult test this Saturday at home against the #9 ranked Mount Union. They have had a flawless non-conference campaign heading into the OAC schedule as the front runner and the team to beat. In past years, Mount Union has been a middle of the pack team that struggled to find the back of the net and get results. However this year, it is completely different. Mount Union has been able to find the back of the net more than any team in the OAC with their two star forwards Jamon McCort and Carter Hancock. As they head into conference competition, they serve as a real threat to make a run for the OAC title and the NCAA title. However, this won't stop the Polar Bears from trying to put an end to their flawless run. This week, we have had the week off from any competition. With that being said, we have the whole week to prepare for one of the biggest games of the season. Even though our confidence isn't soaring like Mount Unions is, it still doesn't give us an excuse to not put forth our best effort. In past years, we have been able to bounce back from a rough non-conference and go on runs to win the OAC title and make the NCAA tournament. Therefore, we need to stay locked in and continue to build team chemistry. We have a very deep squad this year with a lot of talent in all positions on the field. For that reason, I believe that the Polar Bears can repeat history and bounce back to ultimately send a statement to other teams that we have unfinished business to take care of.

       Come and support the Polar Bears as they kick-off their OAC campaign this Saturday Sept. 30th at 1:00pm! 




Comments

  1. Nate HeckerSeptember 28, 2023 at 10:27 AM

    Super excited for the Polar Bears to kick off their conference season! I know that this team has it in them to put all the pieces together to do something really special!

    ReplyDelete

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