By Jeff Kontz, sophomore

After a late season push, the Friends University men’s soccer team ended its season last week at the hands of Kansas Wesleyan in the KCAC Championship Tournament finals. The Falcons ended with the KCAC’s third best overall record of 13-4-3 and a conference record of 5-2-2.

“It felt like a little up and down at the beginning of the season, and then we came on strong in the tournament and then fell flat on our face in the championship game. I don’t know why that was,” said Head Coach Nathan Wilkey. “We got further than people expected us to get, and we seemed satisfied with that.”

The Falcons were led this season by three first team All-Conference players in forward Brent Hobson, midfielder Daniel Toledo and defender Daniel Sack. Josh Funk also received honorable mention for the Falcons at defender.

When looking at next year, Wilkey is optimistic about the Falcons’ ability to compete for a championship.

“We’ll have a good core returning but definitely a player or two to replace in the back.”

The team will lose senior defenders Brandon Rhodes and Andrew Hull, whom Wilkey said are a good portion of the team’s speed. Wilkey’s off-season concern is to replace his graduating seniors as well as strengthen the team at certain positions.

“I think we definitely have something to work with,” said Wilkey.