Dominick Ingram, Contributor

The men’s soccer season came to a close this past weekend with a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to the University of Wisconsin-Superior, ending their best season since 2010.

The first round matchup took place at the University of St.Thomas on a frigid and wintery day as the Auggies made their third NCAA national tournament appearance in program history. Augsburg came into the game with a record of 12-4-4 overall, and UW-Superior came in with a record of 19-2-1 overall. There were five tough Auggies who endured through the 19-degree weather and played all 90 minutes.

Augsburg struck first as sophomore Hsinku Lay gave the Auggies the early lead with a goal at the 10:56 mark off of a corner kick from junior Lionel Vang. The Yellowjackets tied the game 14 minutes later courtesy of James Bruce, who scored off of an assist by Miguel Ocampo. The goal was number-16 for him this season. After 42 more minutes of scoreless play, the Yellowjackets scored what ended up being the game-deciding goal by Aaron Blanchard off a header inside the box.

The Auggies will graduate six seniors this year: Luke Falk, Emmanuel Egbujor, Christian Metzger, Abdullah Alshayba, Kouseng Yang and Keenan Reed. Assuming that the Auggies return key starters from this year’s squad, next season looks very promising. Augsburg will bring back valuable leadership as well as experienced underclassman as they look to keep their wings soaring in the tough MIAC conference and build off of this year’s success.

This article was originally published in the Nov. 16, 2018 issue.