The Monmouth College men’s soccer team’s season came to an end on Oct. 28 when they were defeated by Carroll College by a 4-0 score. The Scots’ season did not have a lot of success, as they finished with a disappointing 3-11-3 record overall and 1-7-1 in the Midwest Conference.

Most recently the team traveled to Wisconsin for two road games to wrap up the season. They played Ripon College on Oct. 27 and were defeated by a score of 5-1. Monmouth yielded two goals in the first eight minutes of the game but responded, when junior Chris Anderson netted his first goal of the season in the ninth minute. The game stayed at 2-1 in favor of Ripon until late in the second half when Ripon piled three goals onto their tally during the last seven minutes of the game.

Monmouth did not fair much better the next day against Carroll, when they again fell into an early hole. In the Carroll game, the Scots saw their opponent score an amazing four goals in the first 22 minutes of the game.

Although positives are not easy to find in a season like the fall 2007 men’s soccer team had, they are a very young team under second year coach George Perry, and they have a good deal of talent.  Hopefully the recent campaign will be a learning experience for the young Scots.

Trevor Neff and Dan Schroeder are the only two seniors on the team this year, and Neff said he thinks the team has good potential for the future.

“The future of the squad is bright,” Neff said. “There were only a few of us upper classmen, and with everyone returning next year but Dan Schroeder and me, the playoffs are a goal well within sight.”

Both Neff and Schroeder were large contributors to the team, although Schroeder suffered a season-ending knee injury with several games left in the season.

Neff was a team captain, and he has been a large contributing offensive player for three years. Neff led the Scots in goals in 2005, when he netted six. He also tied with junior Danny Davis as the 2007 team leader in goals; each of them found the back of the net four times. Three sophomores, Bryan Jackson, Jeremy Doze and Lucas Knox, were tied for the team lead in assists with each recording two this season.

Neff, who played his first two seasons for Monmouth College under former coach Rue Carthew, said he thoroughly enjoyed his collegiate soccer experience.

“The program has kept me focusing on what’s important in school and helped me meet a lot of people I probably never would have met otherwise,” Neff said. “If I hadn’t played soccer, I would have wasted away in my dorm room, playing video games and missing out on the college experience. Because of soccer, I got out, tried things I wouldn’t have otherwise and thoroughly enjoyed my years at MC.”

Monmouth’s current coach, George Perry, will be entering his third season at Monmouth College next year. He continues to recruit hard for MC Soccer. With a young team and many returning experienced players, the Scots should show improvement in the near future.

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