Matt West
Journal Staff

The men’s soccer team finished up an impressive 2010 campaign this past Saturday, losing a tough match, 8-0, to Williams College in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Williams College Ephs scored early and often, netting their first goal in the fourth minute of the first half. The Rams could not get anything going offensively all day, struggling to find any sort of rhythm offensively. In turn, the Rams were outshout, 37 to 3, making it nearly impossible for Rams’ goalkeeper Matt Esposito to make a significant contribution. (The Ephs had 11 corner kicks, and their goalie, Peter Morrell, only had to make one save on the day.)

Ultimately, the Rams had a very successful season, finishing with a strong 11-8-1 record, even beating Albertus Magnus in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship game, 2-1, behind a strong performance from Esposito.  The team had 17 underclassmen making a significant impact on the team this year, making next season an important season. It will be interesting to see if they can benefit from the invaluable experience they gained throughout the 2010 campaign, and make it a step further in the NCAA tournament next year.

Head Coach Andrius Zeikus and his group of young players will undoubtedly look back on this season as a major success. An NCAA berth is not something that happens every season, and by doing so in a tough conference they have set themselves up for a bright future.

The team had a few of its members receive recognition for their season as well. Junior forward Danny Lloyd and senior midfielder Luis Flores earned second team All-Conference honors. In addition, junior David Best and freshman Nicholas DiCicco earned third team All-Conference honors. Lloyd finished the year with nine goals and five assists. Jack DeJesus and Esposito split time in net, compiling a 1.86 goals against average. In all, the team scored 49 goals on the season, limiting their opponents to only 37 goals.