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2004 was a season of ups and downs for the Bulldog men’s soccer program. Coming off a tie for 7th in the KCAC in 2003, the aspirations included a berth in the conference post-season tournament and an upper division KCAC finish.
With ten newcomers on the 18-man roster, finding the proper chemistry and each player’s role was at the major early concern of the Bulldogs’ coaching staff. “These guys were all good high school players, but they are playing with equals or better now. Egos can work for you, or they can work against you. ‘Ego’ plus a strong sense of ‘team’ can be a real plus. ‘Ego’ plus a ‘me’ attitude usually has the opposite effect.”
Four games into the season, it appeared the Bulldogs were beginning to come together as a good team. After losing a 2-1 double-overtime decision to Midland Lutheran to fall to 0-4, the Bulldogs righted the ship by grabbing their first win of the season, a dominating 3-0, non-conference win at Bethel College after the tough double-overtime loss to MLC the night before.
A 2-0 loss at Mid-America Nazarene was followed by KCAC wins over Southwestern and Kansas Wesleyan. But, then mental lapses led to losses to an Oklahoma Baptist team, with a strong international flavor, and Ottawa before the Bulldogs turned things around at Sterling, winning 2-1.
Then came a string of heartbreaking losses, keyed by lapses in intensity at the beginning of the game or immediately following halftime. Breaking up the string of four losses was another overtime match, this one a double-overtime tie with the University of Saint Mary. A 2-1 overtime win over Bethel guaranteed the Bulldogs a spot in the KCAC post-season tournament. The Bulldogs then closed out their regular season with a double-overtime, non-conference tie (2-2) with Oklahoma Wesleyan.
In the first round of the conference tournament, McPherson traveled to Ottawa, but another double-overtime loss (2-1) on the muddy pitch of the Braves ended the Bulldogs’ season. That match marked the fifth OT contest of the season for the Dogs, matches in which McPherson went 1-2-2.
That loss dropped McPherson to 5-12-2 on the season, 4-4-1 and sixth in the KCAC.
“This wasn’t the record we envisioned for ourselves at the start of the season,” said head coach Doug Quint. “Only twice were we not in the game, but the rest of the time, we could go back to lapses in intensity or mental preparation as being the difference.”
Individually, junior transfer D.J. Townsend led the Bulldogs’ post-season awards as he was selected to the All-KCAC first team in addition to being named the KCAC “Newcomer of the Year.” Joining Townsend in earning all-conference honors were sophomores Tyler Lawrence and John White, both of whom were named to the All-KCAC second team. Freshman Trenton “Dino” Bell and junior transfer Robert Magana-Garcia were named to the All-KCAC honorable mention squad.
“With only two seniors (Kevin Lamm & D.J. Seghers) this was still a very young team. We have some growing up to do, both physically and emotionally, to be able to compete at the collegiate level day-in and day-out. But, we’re getting there.”
“We have a solid core group of players. Now, we have to fill in around them. One thing we know, we’re not satisfied with being sixth.”
