Parker O'Leary | Echo
On Saturday night, the men's soccer season came to a close as they lost to Saint Francis 3-2 in the first round of the Crossroads League tournament.
Early on, Saint Francis controlled possession and was able to produce opportunities, forcing junior goalkeeper Michael Williams to make a few key saves. The Cougars' possession paid off in the 21st minute when Saint Francis' Jason Walcutt received a ball over the top for a breakaway and slipped the ball past Williams.
The Cougars found the back of the net again as junior Alex Fletcher won the ball on the endline and rocketed a shot over the shoulder of Williams. The Cougars led 2-0 at halftime.
"In the second half, coach (Ross) made some tactical decisions to switch up not only our tactics, but our line-ups and personnel," said senior David Maldonado. "I think he put personnel in the right spots in order for us to capitalize and score more goals."
One of these changes involved putting senior defender Kevin Miller into the midfield. Miller has played defense all four years at Taylor and the decision surprised everyone, even Miller. However, it paid off quickly.
In the 50th minute, sophomore Caleb Bouchier found Miller on a run down the middle. Miller took one touch to separate from a defender and fired a much-needed goal for the Trojans.
With the score at 2-1, the Trojans were unable to clear a Saint Francis set piece and the Cougars' Mitchell Holloway got his head to the ball to give the home team a 3-1 lead.
With all odds against them, the Trojans continued to fight and got a second goal with 11 minutes remaining as junior Danny Cawley received a pass from freshman Nate West and rocketed it top shelf.
Despite the Trojans' efforts to find an equalizer in the final minutes, the Cougars' defense stayed strong and held off for the win. The story of the year for the Trojans was coming up a goal short as they suffered nine of their 11 losses by only one goal.
As TUFC saw its season close, some of its veterans reflected on their experiences.
"Coach Ross did a good job of instilling a work rate that is required of the team and it floods over into other aspects of life," Miller said. "If you find yourself disciplined on the field, then you find yourself disciplined in other areas of life too."
The Trojans say goodbye to seven seniors in defender Kevin Miller, forward Ben Beasley, forward J.T. Briggs, defender David Maldonado, defender Ryan Beachler, midfielder David Groves and defender Matt Poland.
Poland, along with juniors Tim Daniels and Tim Miller, received All-Crossroads League honors for the season.
"I'd say a big takeaway is the whole brotherhood aspect," Poland said. "Going to fight every day in practice with those guys and working hard with those guys-it makes you never want to give up on the season, even when things weren't going our way, because we were such a close knit group."
Photography by Timothy P. Riethmiller
