By ADAM JOHNSON
By SAM DITTMANN
Sophomore Dominic DeVasto heads the ball in front of Chad McBride from Fontbonne University on Nov. 4. The Gorloks defeated the Griffins 3-1 in the first round of the Conference Tournament. They later defeated Greenville College 1-0 to claim the SLIAC Conference Championship. They competed in the NCAA Regional Tournament, ending the season with a 3-1 loss to Loras College.
All good things must come to an end. That old adage couldn’t be more true when referring to Webster University’s men soccer team this year.
The Gorloks were sent packing early in the NCAA tournament after losing 3-1 in their first game to Loras College at the Rock Bowl in Dubuque, Iowa on Saturday, Nov. 14.
The loss ended a turnaround season that saw a winless team become conference champions in just a couple of months.
“They never stopped fighting and they never gave up,” coach Marty Todt said. “The heart that these kids showed was inspirational. It’s just been a real pleasure.”
The DuHawks of Loras went up 1-0 at the 20-minute mark, adding another goal in the 32nd minute to take a 2-0 lead into halftime. Loras added another score eight minutes into the second half. WU’s only tally came from senior forward Mike Riti at the 66-minute mark. After the goal, the Gorloks played tight defense and aggressive offense for the rest of the contest, but couldn’t muster any more goals.
“We really did come out ready to play,” said senior captain Kyle Gamache. “They just took advantage of their opportunities better than we did. We just didn’t have what it took.”
The DuHawks outshot WU 13-2 in the first half. The Gorloks only mustered six more shots on goal in the second half.
“They were exactly who we thought they were going to be,” said junior midfielder Bryce Johnson. “We came out strong and really hung with them for a good while, but when they settled in, it just wasn’t our day. They were ranked number three in the nation with good reason.”
Loras was a Final Four participant in last year’s tournament and posted a 19-2-2 record this year. WU finished the year with a 10-7-1 record, recovering from an 0-5 start.
Senior midfielder Andy Rudroff finished the year leading the team with 10 goals. Junior Kyle Leifield and Riti followed with six and five respectively. Rudroff was also the leader in points with 22.
Leifield and Riti followed again, with 16 and 13. Junior defender Mike Politte led the team in assists with five to go along with his three goals on the year.
The future is still in question for the Gorloks as nearly all of their starters will be graduating at the end of the year.
“We will be losing a lot of guys,” Johnson said. “But, at the same time, the ones coming back still have that good chemistry together. We need to just keep knocking the ball around with one another and learn each other’s tendencies. Hopefully, that good chemistry will get us in another title picture next year.”
