ANN ARBOR, Mich.– On a cold, dark night in the mitten, the Robert Morris men’s soccer team felt the cold and dark feeling in their heart following the 2-0 defeat in the hands of the Michigan Wolverines in the NCAA Tournament.
The Colonial roster was filled with tournament inexperience, apart from head coach Jonathan Potter. He led his former team, Presbyterian, to a postseason berth in 2017.
“I told them to relax,” Potter said. “I told them to be themselves and focus on what got us to this point. We don’t compete the whole season to enter this stage to be scared or nervous. You come here to be who you are. I thought we did that for large periods of the game.”
That inexperience was shown early as Matthew Fisher took a shot and fired it in the upper corner to make it 1-0, however the Colonials slowed it down and the shots were even 4-4 at halftime.
In the second half, Michigan took advantage and took control of the possesion. The Colonials only had one shot in the second half to the Wolverines’ five. Michigan’s Dullio Herrera found the ball just inside the box and fired it over an outstretched Josh Lane to put the dagger into the Colonials’ season.
“We went toe to toe with a very good Big Ten team who lost 1-0 to the number one team in the country,” Potter said. “We feel on our day we can compete with anyone in America. It’s unfortunate the result. They’re a great team. I wish them the best of luck in the second round against Dayton. But, I’m proud of, of what our players did here today.”
It was the final collegiate game for seven seniors, including leading goal scorer Chase Gilley and captain Gabe Norris.
Gilley, among other players were visibly emotional on the pitch and in the dugout, fully coming to the reality of the last time they will lace up their cleats in a Colonial uniform.
“They’ve been through so much in their college careers,” Potter said. “The ups and downs. The battles that they’ve had for it to culminate in their senior season to lift a trophy, to compete in the NCAA Tournament. Those are incredible memories that they’ll have for the rest of their lives.”
In just Potter’s second season, the Colonials made history winning the Horizon League for the first time. He believes there’s a lot of work to do as this is just the beginning for this program.
“We’ve got to develop a lot of players so that they can help us compete and fight for championships and help win knockout games,” Potter said. “Sustaining success is so difficult in college soccer because of the parity. We feel this is a stage where we belong and now it’s the time to keep going.”
Potter brought a lot of magic into the 2024 season. Winning the Horizon League championship and leading to RMU’s first NCAA Tournament in 19 years in his second season should bring a lot of excitement to the program.
