Head coach of the men’s soccer team, Alex Morawiecki, said the Pipers are “moving in the right direction” as they head toward the final stretch of their season.

The Pipers have made progress this season which started with three victories in their first three games. Unfortunately for the Pipers, they struggled in their next eight games and dropped five games by a one goal margin and suffered a five game losing streak. In a seven game span the team’s they faced had a combined record of 37-14-10 (as if Oct. 10).

“We are learning lessons the hard way, but sometimes that’s how it goes,” Morawiecki said. “We have made a lot of positive strides and continue to get better…we are continuing to progress and we haven’t played our best soccer yet.”

Their toughest games in that stretch was the three straight games where their opponents had a combined record of 24-5-5 when they played Wartburg, St. Thomas and St. Olaf. The team had improved and continued to be competitive in those games.

During that stretch, the team played competitive as they picked up a 1-1 tie on the road against nationally ranked St. Thomas, who at the time was ranked fifth in the region. The tie also marked the first time in five years the Pipers have earned a point on their record after a meeting with the Tommies.

Following that game, they faced St. Olaf who was ranked sixth in the region and a team that had received top 25 votes nationally. The Pipers held them scoreless in the first half; however, St. Olaf scored on a goal that barely hit top of the net which closed the game at 1-0.

“We are not that far off from turning these games that are close and that we are competitive in [into victories],” Morawiecki said.

Morawiecki said his team has evaluated each of the games to review things they’re satisfied with and track their progress; however, he said his team’s standards are far beyond last year’s.

“The standards for these guy’s expectations has risen dramatically in the last year…they’ve embraced where we are going,” he said. “We always talk about potential and just playing to our potential…but you have to win, its college athletics, we want to win.”

Morawiecki said the Pipers’ defense has kept them in games, after all that allowed them to play down to the wire with nationally ranked teams. The only flaw was the team’s struggle to consistently put up multiple goals in a game. Morawiecki said he sees the team playing more “proactive” rather than “reactive” when it comes to offensive production.

“What it really comes down to is decision making and execution,” he said. “The guys have the ability to do it…they have the tools to score goals, I’m confident they can score goals.”

The team has proven they can this season when they opened the season with a 6-0 victory followed by a 3-1 victory.

Morawiecki said the team just needs a game where they could rally some goals to get the team’s rhythm back.

“Usually at a point like this where a team is really close its [a situation where] we need a game where we could break open and get one, two or three goals,” he said. “Usually, the flood gate opens from there.”

The Pipers next game will be at Augsburg on Wednesday, Oct. 16.