On Tuesday evening, men's soccer got a pretty good win over a good Big East team, Xavier. It was disappointing that there were only 202 people at Loyola Soccer Park to see it. It was a weird start time and a non-conference game, but still....

The team has been pretty inconsistent this year, and they've struggled on the road (with the exception of the nice win over SIUE and at DePaul). The defense has been impressive, and goalkeeper Josh Lagudah (a junior) has been very solid. The Portuguese kid Vasco Cardoso (only a freshman) has had two game-winning goals so far, but he needs more help from the other attackers.

There's a big match coming up this Saturday (the 13th) against #25 Missouri State. This is a huge game in the conference standings, and could reverse the position of the Ramblers and the Bears with an LU win. A win might earn votes or a ranking, and put the Ramblers in position to have top seeding for the conference tournament.

Men's soccer is a HUGE opportunity for Loyola to have another program with a winning pedigree. Creighton was a perennial NCAA Tournament participant and made the NCAA Final Four (2011, 2012). Saint Louis, Santa Clara, San Francisco, and Stanford have had long-running success. Akron has won a National Championship, lost in the final, and reached the Final Four in the past nine years.