The Bucks played the game with one eye on the future and acknowledging the hard work the sophmores have put in over 2 years.The first half was played with an all freshman team looking to gel together and put down a foundation in preparation for next season. The second half was a sophmore dominated team as they played their last game for the Bucks.

 

The game started very well for UARM taking the lead within 2 minutes from a penalty kick by Miles Kairschner (West Monroe, LA). Taylor Marange (Nuneaton, England) played a long ball over the defenders heads for Kairschner to run onto, and after his first touch took him into the penalty area, he was fouled to have the penalty kick awarded to him.  

 

UARM dominated possession of the ball and looked very solid in team defense keeping Rose State easily at arms length. Then suddenley halfway through the half, the game turned on it's head with two quick goals for Rose State pouncing on UARM mistakes. The first goal was scored when a long ball was played behind the UARM back line who was caught ball watching and too high in their positioning which enabled the Raiders striker to have a free run at goal. The second soon came along very quickly afterwards due to a Bucks defender being caught in possession of the ball within his own penalty area dawdling on the ball. Just before half time, Rose State scored a third goal after running past the right side of the Bucks defense and to have a clear cross into the heart of the Bucks goal where a Raiders striker was waiting to tap home.

 

The Sophmores took the field for the second half, and the game was very much a stalemate with neither team really threatening each others goal. Once again, the game followed the pattern of the first half when a mistake being made with an offensive corner kick for the Bucks ending up in a giveaway and a quick counter attack leading to a 4^th goal for Rose State. The final score was 4-1. 

 

Coach Sherry stated after the game, "It was interesting to evaluate the freshman in the first half and see who we can rely on to build a foundation for next season which was useful, and of course, it was only right to give the sophmores play the second half and thank them for their contribution to Bucks Soccer.  Overall, it was dissapointing to see giving the ball away so frequently with lateral passes in midfield which gives us something to concentrate on in the off-season. It is time to take a break, then re group, and get in the gym to build our strength as at times this season you can see a big divergence in the physicality of the game being played by our players compared to the rest of the region. We have improved from last season, and we have a good core of players we can add to with another good recruiting class to give us every chance to progress in the standings next year. I am confident there are brighter days ahead for the men's program."

 

The men finished the season with a 3-9-2 overall record.