Men’s Soccer 2015: The Season in Pictures
The Bruins quietly made considerable leaps in 2015. Though their seventh-place Northwest Conference finish on 12 points suggests a mediocre season, the Bruins improved in nearly every facet from 2014, and flashed the potential of young players who could lead the Bruins to even greater success.
Offensively, the Bruins banged in 29 goals in 2015, up from 21 last season, boosting their goals-per-game from 1.1 all the way to 1.5. The shot conversion percentage rose as well to 9.4%, thanks in part to freshman forward Jose Becerra, who led the Bruins with six goals. Junior Luis Rangel almost matched Becerra, bagging five goals of his own. Miguel Lopez and Joab Logan were also instrumental: Lopez scored four times and Logan twice, and both notched three assists to share the team lead.
As a unit, the Bruins showed creativity and pace going forward, plus an ability to find space: the Bruins improved their shots per game from 12.7 to 15.5.
Defensively, the Bruins plugged holes and put together a solid defense that consistently put opposing offenses off-balance. Overall, the Bruins’ goals-against-average dropped nearly an entire goal, from 2.82 to just 2.02. And, after a 2014 season that saw just one shutout, the Bruins tripled that total, shutting out opponents three times. This sudden stinginess suggests better play from both the goalkeepers and the back line. Splitting the goalkeeping duties, sophomore Murray Noble and junior Ricardo Sotelo were both effective: Noble posted a better save percentage, .756, but Sotelo allowed fewer goals on average.
Constant rotation kept fresh the Bruins’ defense which featured both youth and experience. Freshman Rowan Blake and junior Grant Basquez had stalwart performances, and seniors Austin Fish and Josh Scarth provided leadership. Ultimately, though the Bruins are still building with an eye to the future, there are promising signs now: the Bruins 4-4-3 record at home was a marked improvement, and big wins over rivals Pacific and Linfield (a 2-1 triumph) are good signs that the Bruins are on the upswing.
