The men’s soccer team snagged the UAA title with a 2–1 win against Wash U on Saturday. The victory was one for the books, as it marked the team’s annual senior day and gave the Maroons an automatic bid for the NCAA DIII tournament, their third in three years. The victory advanced the team’s overall record to 16–2. Game leaders included third-year forwards Matthew Koh with one goal and Max Lopez with one goal and one assist. 

In response to the team’s performance on Saturday, second-year forward Dayo Adeosun said, “As a team, we are proud of the way we started off the game. We did well connecting the early vital passes needed for the team to get a flow.”

Winning a UAA championship was an important goal for the Maroons this year, and securing the win on senior day made it that much better. 

“Obviously, it is always a great feeling beating [our] conference rival Wash U,” said second-year defender Nate Johnson. “But what made it even more special was that we did it for our four seniors on Senior Day.”

Although proud of the win, the Maroons are far from satisfied. Moving forward, they are looking to improve ball movement and vary their points of attack. After coming up short and losing in the third round of the National Tournament last year, the Maroons are looking to redeem themselves and bring home the gold. 

“Moving into the postseason, it is always an exciting feeling,” Johnson added. “Last season we came up short, so there is definitely something that the three returning classes want to get back. We know we are a championship-caliber team, and we have a lot to prove both as a team and as a program.”

Adeosun echoes his teammates sentiments, “At this point we are confident that if we continue to persistently focus in practice and understand that every moment matters, then we have a great chance to win it all. Ultimately, the national championship has been our goal since the beginning of the season, and we are determined to accomplish that.”

The NCAA selection show is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on November 6. The Maroons will find out where they are seeded and will likely play in the opening round on either November 10 or November 11. 

“Following the excitement of the win over Wash U, we have a lot of motivation moving forward into the first round of the tournament this weekend,” Johnson said. “It is going to be exciting to find out our seed and prepare for our road to the Final Four.”

The Maroons have an exciting week ahead of them with one goal in mind: winning a national championship.