The Future is Bright for ONU Men's Soccer!

    As the fall season comes to an end, there is much to takeaway. Even though losing in the Sweet 16 was not how we wanted our season to end, we were able to accomplish many feats that were not in our favor. For example, we able to end the season regionally ranked #3, we won our first OAC tournament title since 2015, and we were able to travel to unknown territory and defeat the #1 team in the nation. Although we started the season nationally ranked #13 and had aspirations of winning a national championship, it was important that remained steadfast and take it one game at a time. This season was a roller coaster, full of highlight and full of lowlights. However, we were able to conquer those weaknesses by trusting each other on the field to do their job. Our coach always said throughout the season, "Know your role." What he meant by that was to master the thing that you offer to the team and trust that the other players have mastered their role to come together and perform collectively. I think as the season progressed, the boys became more bought in with their roles and it resulted in winning more games and building our confidence for the home stretch of the season. After every win, our confidence in each other grew stronger and the boys were able to play a beautiful brand of soccer. This is only the beginning of the hunt to win the programs first national championship. 

    As the season comes to a close and we are on our own until the spring season, it's important that we are all staying bought in with the process. Which means attending winter workouts, and staying on the ball as much as possible. Our goal is to always be prepared for the spring season like we never stopped playing in the fall. All throughout the off-season, the boys host small sided games in the fieldhouse to stay on the ball and we will go lift with our buddies at Kinghorn. It's also important to keep our bodies healthy. Eating right, sleeping right, and exercising daily will all be keys to coming into the spring season on the right foot. The boys are already excited for the next fall season because we aren't losing any guys from the fall. We will have a stacked upperclassmen roster and we have some very talented recruits coming to impact the program in the best way possible. We just hosted a winter camp over the past weekend which gave the returners a chance to meet the new guys and build a connection with them before they arrived on campus in the fall. All of the recruits showed signs of promise in the camp that they can impact this program and potentially chase a national championship in the coming years. We are all super excited for the spring season and the 2024 fall season and we can't wait to get the ball rolling again. 

Go Bears!