Hillsdale’s men’s and women’s club soccer teams completed their seasons with doubleheaders Oct. 11-12. The men’s team ended with a season record of 3-6-1 and the women’s team ended their season with a record of 2-1-7. 

Hillsdale College Women’s Club Soccer ended its season with back-to-back games in Chicago, playing Northwestern University on Friday and the University of Chicago on Saturday. 

The Chargers lost 1-0 against Northwestern, but the team had one shot at the end that the referee did not count, according to junior Sophie Schlegel. 

“I was right there and saw it go in,” Schlegel said. “Ellie [Ritchey] kicked it from the 18-yard line. The goalie hit it down and fell back into the goal when Miriam rushed her.”

Schlegel said the team started celebrating after this shot. 

“The main ref and the sideline judge did not call it at all, which is crazy, especially considering the sideline judge wasn’t even in line with the end line,” Schlegel said. “It was really frustrating for us because we pushed hard, especially in the end for that goal.”

Junior MaryEllen Petersen agreed.

“I tell everyone we tied,” Petersen said.

Schlegel said Petersen played an amazing game as goalkeeper against Northwestern.

“I love having Mell back there. It definitely helps,” Schlegel said. “You know she will get to the ball if there’s a shot, and there were a ton of shots on goal all game.”

The Chargers also lost to University of Chicago 1-0 the following day. 

“We set our expectations for winning this season lower since we would be playing more competitive teams,” Petersen said. “We played really well, especially having moved up a league.” 

Hillsdale College Men’s Club Soccer finished its season the same weekend, losing to Western Michigan University on Friday 5-0 and beating University of Michigan Flint on Saturday 4-1. 

“Our last game was awesome because we had been on a three-game losing streak at that point, so it was great that we had the determination and motivation to turn that around and to end the season for the win,” junior Jude Barton said. 

Barton ended the season with a hat trick against Flint.

“We had some really good individual performances from Jude with finding the back of the net three times. So it was awesome,” junior Dylan Hughes said.  

Barton said his first goal was a header off a corner kick, and his second and third goals were to the right-hand side corner after faking out the defense.

“I don’t think we played as well this season as we think we could have, so we’re a little bit disappointed,” Barton said. “But we are looking forward to next year, and we’re hoping that we can build off of some of the good stuff that we had this year and then just shore up some of the mistakes.”

Barton said he will miss the team culture. 

“I think the team culture this year was really good, and we all formed really good bonds,” Barton said. “It’s great hanging out with the guys, so I’m really gonna miss that now that the season’s over.”

 

Hughes agreed and said that they took turns talking about their favorite soccer memories at the end of the season. 

“We will definitely keep in touch as a team,” Hughes said. “We have some fun social events coming up and play futsal during the winter to keep getting touches.”

Barton said the main structure of the team will remain for next year.

“We are losing two seniors. It’ll be tough losing them, but it’s better than losing six or seven,” Barton said. “We played some really tough teams like Michigan and Michigan State but also some easier teams like Saginaw Valley, so it’s a great balance. We can try some new things out and try some players in different positions against the easier teams, and then we get to really test ourselves against some of the bigger schools, so it’s a great league in my opinion.”

Both the men’s and women’s teams will play futsal together during the offseason to keep up their soccer skills, according to Petersen.