For the third straight year, the WolfPack soccer team’s season ended with a losing record.

The WolfPack finished the season with a 5-9 record (4-4 in Conference play). However, despite the tough record, there is much reason for optimism. For the first time since 2009 Madison College finished with four conference wins, a highlight especially since it was Cory Sims’ first season as head coach.

Only one loss all season was by more than three points, a 7-point loss to Joliet on the road on Sept. 23. That was also one of only two times they were shut out all season, the other being to eighth ranked Anoka-Ramsey on Sept. 29. This after being shut out in over half of their games last year. One of the biggest factors in this was the fact that Madison College had a full roster of 22 players this year, while they only had 14 players last year.

“We had a full roster, we had a lot of players with a lot of heart,” Sims said.

Another big reason for their success was the play of Marco Meneses, a freshman forward who finished the season with 13 goals and three assists, the best single season performance since Thiemoko Kone had 17 goals and 7 assists in 2009.

“Every day that we go to practice I try to practice what the coaches tell me to do. Practice makes the results I have,” Meneses said of his performance this season, which included a pair of 2-goal performances and a 3-goal performance against Lakeland on Oct. 6.

Madison College finished off the season at home with two consecutive losses, the first being a 3-2 loss to Joliet. Joliet took a lead shortly before half and before 60 minutes had been played they improved their lead to 3-0. However, Madison College did not fold. Instead, they took over and scored two goals in crunch time and nearly managed to bring the game into overtime.

“We almost executed our game plan perfectly but we didn’t so we didn’t get the victory,” Sims said.

The second game was a 2-1 loss to Concordia University-JV. Concordia scored first but Madison College quickly responded with a goal from freshman Mid/Forward Devan Hilleshiem. However, Concordia scored another goal at the 31st minute mark to seal the game. Despite the loss, this was another hard fought game in which the WolfPack would threaten several times, but not capitalize on all of its opportunities. It should be noted that key players, including freshman Forward Marco Meneses, saw very limited playing time.

Madison College will play their first playoff game at Joliet on Oct. 23. Joliet beat Madison College twice this season including a 7-0 decision on the road on Sept. 23.