Going into the game against Westminster, the Panthers knew it was going to be a very epic battle in the quarterfinals. Going into the game, the team felt as if they came with a prepared mentality to win. All of the Panthers were wanting to win this game and knew that they had to be focused and have a good warmup to do so. Making it to the SLIAC Tournament Quarterfinals was big for the university. As the game started, things were well evened out for both opposing teams in the matchup. Going into the 17th minute, the Blue Jays went ahead 1-0 on the Panthers. One of the key points of the game followed the Blue Jays’ goal. The Panthers brought some substitutions into the game, and they provided some good minutes on the field when they were given that opportunity. Unfortunately, the team couldn’t manage to score a goal throughout the rest of the game to tie. Jared McPeek for the Panthers explains how the team stayed confident even though they were down. He says, “After they scored, we still had to stay focused, and even though we were down 1-0, we had to keep our heads up and continue to play hard. We kept the same strategy, which was to attack the wings and get into the “assist zones” to get a good goal-scoring opportunity. “
The whole team managed to do a very good job at being supportive on and off the field as either in the locker room, on the sidelines, and even on the field during the game. Going into the 2nd half, Greenville started to play their style of the game by controlling the pace of play and making Westminster defend them. The Panthers had plenty of opportunities to score, but sadly, they just could not find the back of the net.
Many of the players responded about the game from different views. Some believe they dominated possessions and were more technical and skilled than Westminister. Some players say they felt as if “all they did was play kickball up to their forwards and hope for the best.” At the end of the second half, they made a couple of adjustments and changed their formation to make it more on the attacking side. They also had two very good opportunities at the end of the game, but again, they could not find the back of the net. Overall, though, they all think they did a good job at playing for each other. The Greenville University Men’s Soccer Team ended this season of conference play with a record of (4-7-3).
