Auburn, ME - The 2018 Men's Soccer season exceeded expectations. Preseason was productive for the Mustangs, with several incoming players stepping up to fill important roles while returning captains Zach Lowe and Cody Dolloff provided a solid core of seven returning players. In the first week the team created a vision for the season and shared their own expectations for accountability to each other.
The potential was realized in the first game where the Mustangs came away with a 3-0 win against University of Maine at Machias. A week later CMCC remained focused and got another key conference win, 2-1 over Vermont Tech. The teams first loss came at the hands of SMCC, but the Mustangs rebounded with a solid 5-0 win at Hampshire College just three days later. And the following day CMCC was successful in their first home game, winning 3-2 over Paul Smith's College. The team showed real resiliency by beating Unity College 1-0 to complete a demanding stretch of four conference games in seven days. were eager for a win and worked tirelessly in practice the following week. Their persistence paid off, resulting in enough fire power to earn two conference wins over Hampshire College and Vermont Tech. Unfortunately the momentum halted with an overtime loss to Unity College and another loss to College of St. Joseph. To wrap up the September and the Yankee Small College Conference matches CMCC hosted NHTI and lost 2-0 in a difficult match.
October saw a mixture of out-of-conference opponents for CMCC. As the rest of the conference finished their schedules out, the 5-2 record for the Mustangs earned them second place in the standings and their first appearance in several years in the final-four. Ultimately the team fell to Vermont Tech 1-0 in an exciting game played in the sleet, snow and rain.
Success in the 2018 season was found in the effort and solidarity of the entire CMCC team. That strength was complemented nicely by determined players such as defensive standouts Adolphe Bounga and Julian Clements, midfield standouts Guerby Dorvil, Alinoor Deqow and forward Jordi Valls. The leadership and hard work of graduating player Cody Dolloff earned him a spot on the YSCAA All-Conference team.
The team ended the regular season with a Conference record of 5 wins and 2 losses and an overall record of 9-3-1. With the promise of several impressive newcomers, a large group of returning players, a strong off-season the men's coaching staff are more confident than ever that the direction and attitude of the men's soccer program are both positive.