The Auburn men's club soccer team wrapped up their regular season Sunday, Oct. 19, with a 2-0 win over Memphis and now looks forward to regionals in North Carolina this weekend.
The Tigers have dominated in their division, going 7-0 and outscoring their divisional opponents 30-0 in the process.
Second-year head coach Mac Matthews said he has been more than pleased at the progress his team has made this season.
"They have done exactly what I wanted them to," Matthews said. "We started well, and we have gotten better. We had kind of a midseason lump as we went into some tournament play, but every game we have gotten better. I could not ask for a whole lot more. We have maxed out our points, and we have not given up a goal yet, so I am very happy with it."
That midseason lump was the invitational held at the University of Florida, where the Tigers lost twice and tied once.
But midfielder Lans Stallings thinks games against teams, such as Florida and Miami will pay off in the end.
"The tournament did not go the way we wanted it to," Stallings said. "But playing that level of competition will definitely be good for us as we approach regionals."
Matthews said he believes the tournament was beneficial for the Tigers' development as a team.
"In that tournament, you can't make too much out of a big win or a big loss," Matthews said. "We have learned a lot from them, and they have a lot to do with the progress that we have made since the season started. That is why you play in those tournaments."
Even though they performed much better in the Florida tournament last season, Matthewssaid he thinks this year's experience is better for his team.
"Last year it went really well, but this year it did not," Matthews said. "I will take this year over last year because we have learned so much as a result of it."
Matthews said his team's biggest weakness is not being able to finish games on a strong note when things get tough.
"We have not yet proven what we want to, which is our ability to get a goal when we absolutely need it," Matthews said.
Despite that, Matthews said he still believes his team is more determined this year to make it through regionals after falling in the final minutes in the previous season.
"Everything we do, every training session, every game plan is designed to take us into the form we need to be for regionals," Matthews said. "That has been our focus the entire season. We got there last year, and with seven minutes to go, we give up a goal and go out, so this team is really focused to go through to regionals this year."
If the Tigers can get through regionals, the next and final stop would be nationals, a tournament Auburn has competed in as recently as 2012.
Forward and co-leading scorer Michael Montero knows how important a good week of practice is leading up to such an important tournament.
"The upcoming week will prepare us and allow us to fine-tune some aspects of our game," Montero said. "It should put us in good position to have a real legitimate shot of winning the tournament and from there going towards nationals, our ultimate goal."
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