Mens Soccer Falls Short

EAST PEORIA — After a long, hard fought season by the ICC mens soccer team, they fell short of advancing to the Regional-Semi Finals. On Saturday October 26, they faced off against Lincoln College in the Regional-Quarter Final. Earlier in the season the Cougars were defeated in a home loss to Lincoln 3-1. But the Cougars weren’t going to let Lincoln off that easy this time.

It was a defensive battle throughout the game. Neither goalie surrendered a goal throughout all of regulation play as the score remained 0-0. Even after 10 minutes of overtime the game remained scoreless, sending the game into a shootout. Lincoln went on to win the shootout 3-1, ending the Cougars post-season.

The Cougars had nothing to hang their heads about, as they finished with an overall winning record of 9-5-2. “It’s unfortunate that we didn’t make it to the National Tournament, but we still had many positives along our journey. My highlight
of this season was our team winning two-games in a row in over-time, against Southwestern Illinois College and Kishwaukee Community College,” Ibrahim Keita, sophomore defender said.

Heading into next season the Cougars will be returning with a roster full of experience. The Cougars had a total of 14 freshmen on their team this year and only four sophomores. Off-season workouts will soon begin, as the Cougars attempt to improve and hope to make it to the National Tournament next Fall.