Soccer club ends for a season

This archived article was written by: Sterling Mumford

Sterling Mumford
staff writer
[email protected]
The weather is changing; the school year is coming to an end and so is the first chapter in CEU’s soccer club. The soccer team ended its first official season as a team a few weeks ago. The soccer club has battled, been bruised and has done everything they could to help Coach Dadgari in its inaugural season at CEU.
The team was not sure when their season was going to end. CEU thought it was to be going to a tournament in St. George during the weekend of November 19-20. However the tournament was cancelled and CEU’s year was cut short by a few games. Southern Utah University and Dixie were supposed to come up the week before, but due to weather and other reasons, were not able to come and play CEU.
CEU’s soccer club didn’t have the greatest season in the history of the game, but all the players were looking to the upside of the season any which way they could. Most of them were just glad to be playing at a collegiate level.
CEU’s last official game of the year might perhaps be the best soccer they had played all year. CEU biggest problem over the year had been scoring goals. Their defense was good, one of the best, but the offense was lacking. During a game against Snow College on November 6, CEU’s offense came alive and had two quick goals by Dan Wood and Rob McEvoy. CEU saw some life out of its team and was excited with its 2-0 halftime lead. At the start of the second half, Snow got a few lucky calls and was able to score. All that did was open up the flood gates. CEU’s demeanor changed and with that, Snow kept pounding it to them.
“The first 20 minutes of the game, it seemed like I never touched the ball. Then in the second half, I saw too much of it and couldn’t stop the bleeding,” said defensive player and team captain Ivan Carroll.
CEU ended up losing that game 4-2. The fifth goal by Snow is not counted among any of the CEU soccer players for the blatantly missed offside call. Not knowing that would be the last game of the season, the team did take some good things from it. They knew that in the spring their offense would possibly be able to provide the scoring that they have been so desperately seeking.
The teams plan was to set up for the future. That was the plan from last spring, to help CEU build a team that can compete. Coach Dadgari is hoping that CEU can be a school that high school soccer players from around the area can come and play for. CEU can act as a feeder school to the larger schools in the state. The soccer players are hoping that next spring there will be a women’s and a men’s soccer team. The team is always looking for new recruits.
Were the fans of the soccer team disappointed with this year’s effort? No. “I enjoyed going to all the games and watching the team play. I look forward to seeing them in the spring as well,” says CEU student Heather McNeill. The bleachers always had parents, grandparents, faculty and students cheering the squad on as they fought diligently on the field. Caleb Bott said, “I know a few people on the team and I just wish them the best of luck and hopefully they can win a game in the spring. That would be nice.”
CEU might not have had the best season in the world, but CEU soccer is here to stay. The team can only improve and get better by next spring. The cleats and shin guards may be hibernating this winter, but come spring time, CEU is ready to get back out and show the world what they got.