Men’s and Women’s Soccer Teams Continue to Struggle

The Shepherd University men’s and women’s soccer teams have fallen on hard times as the 2013 regular season draws to a close. The men have lost all but two contests this season and they have struggled on both ends of the playing field throughout their 2013 campaign while the women, despite an impressive start to the season, have failed to earn a victory since Sept. 23 when they managed to take down Chowan University. Moreover, both teams will finish the regular season with a sub 500 record and face the possibility of finishing last in their respective Mountain East Conference standings. The last time the men’s and women’s soccer teams took the field for a game, both suffered setbacks to MEC rival West Virginia Wesleyan.

On Wednesday, Oct. 23, the men’s soccer team was far from competitive throughout the contest and fell to West Virginia Wesleyan by the score of 3–0 at the Shepherd University Soccer Complex. The Bobcats jumped on the scoreboard first as Joe Fararacci scored on an assist from Rodrigo Bevaqua at the 22:08 mark to make the score 1–0. WV Wesleyan’s second goal came courtesy of a Shepherd player who caused an own goal at the 56:56 mark. Not only did the Rams score on themselves, but they had an arduous time pushing the ball up field and producing any offense. In addition, taking shots has been a problem for Shepherd all season and this game was no different as they managed only eight shots compared to WV Wesleyan’s 21. The Bobcats put the game out of reach for the Rams and took a commanding 3–0 lead when Kuda Chijech scored on a pass from Alexandre Zidani at the 64:19 mark. The loss to West Virginia Wesleyan dropped Shepherd to a disappointing record of 2–12–1 and 0–10–1 in the MEC.

The Shepherd University women’s soccer team lost their second straight game to West Virginia Wesleyan by the score of 2–0 on Oct. 23. It was their seventh loss in nine contests since September 23rd. The Ram’s fell behind at the 16:07 mark when Rachel Ransom scored off an assist from Jade Smith to give the Bobcats a 1–0 lead. Smith tallied the second goal of the contest when she scored on a penalty kick at the 31:04 mark. The Rams spent the second half trying to respond to the two-goal deficit. However, despite numerous shots on goal and their attempts to battle back, it was not enough. The loss dropped the women’s soccer team to 5–8–3 on the year and 2–6–3 in MEC action.

It hasn’t been the best year for either of the soccer programs here at Shepherd. You never want to start looking to the future too early, but at some point it definitely becomes inevitable.

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