Men's Soccer Doesn't Let Adversity Get in Way

CARLINVILLE, ILL. -- The Blackburn College Men's Soccer team faced lots of adversity but continued to bring energy and effort every day as they worked hard and displayed their "Built Dam Tough" mentality throughout the year. 

Head Coach Josh Oswald, ""We had a lot of this that worked against us this year, but the guys continued to battle and compete every day." 

This effort was displayed consistently throughout the season as the squad earned the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Sportsmanship Team Award. The Beavers received five first-place selections for the award which recognizes the team that exemplifies the best sportsmanhip virtues throughout the season. Freshman Sam Burrows was also named to the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team, and award given to one student-athlete from each conference team. 

The Beavers started the year with a 1-0 victory over Rockford University, a team that eventually advanced to their conference tournament. In the game, senior goalkeeper Dawson Klunk returned from an injury that cost him the entire 2022 season to record his third career shutout. 

Junior transfer Jacob Sauvage got his BC career started in a big way as he took a free kick from just inside midfield and booted the kick over the Rockford goalkeepers head for his first career goal for the Beavers. 

For the season, senior Shane Greenhouse paced the team's offense with six goals and two assists. He also a perfect 2-2 on penalty kicks for the season. 

Senior Luke Atkinson added three goals and two assists while senior Dylan Klunk notched two goals and an assist. Klunk also scored the team's game-winning goal over Eureka. 

In total, eight players scored goals for the Beavers while six notched an assist. The team also improved on their accuracy over the 2022 squad, put .511 of their shots on goal compared to .440 last season. 

In goal, Dawson Klunk finished his final season with a career high 107 saves

In the team's final home match of the season, the Beavers defeated Eureka College 4-2. Eureka also went on to make the St. Louis Intercollegeiate Athletic Conference Tournament. BC jumped out to an early lead behind a goal from senior Hayden Reese in the 17th minute off a pass from Hayden Fox. 10 minutes later, Atkinson gave Blackburn a 2-0 advantage, scoring from Dylan Klunk. After Eureka answered to make it 2-1, Klunk knocked in the game winning goal in the 73rd minute with Reese getting the assist. Grant Halley then gave the Beavers an insurance goal in the 76th minute. Eureka would add one more later in the game to make it a 4-2 Blackburn victory. 

The team continued to improve and show competitiveness throughout the season but one player stands out, despite playing a spot that doesn't receive much recognition. "Halley was the most consistent player this season and improved the most this year." The junior defender doesn't get many opportunities to score but capitalized by putting his first career penalty kick into the net. 

This year's senior class finished their career with a total of 22 wins and two SLIAC Conference Tournament Appearances.