Working on getting more consistent

More than half of the men's soccer season is complete, but head coach Greg Henschel would like his team to play smarter as they fight to stay atop the conference standings. "We need to show more discipline and strive to improve each game with our remaining schedule," Henschel said. The Warhawks (5-4-3) host Finlandia University (2-9) in a conference game Friday at 7 p.m., as they look to show they deserve a NCAA bid. "Finlandia is a very important game for us to win with it being a conference game," junior mid-fielder Dan Montanye said. "All of our remaining games are pretty much must win if we want to get into the NCAA tournament." The 'Hawks also host Gustavus Adolphus (4-3-2) on Sunday at 1 p.m. Throughout the season, the 'Hawks have been involved in their fair share of close games - as six of their last seven games have been decided by one point or have ended in a tie. But down the stretch, they hope to come out on top when those situations occur again since the 'Hawks have only won one of those games. "We have the skill to compete with the team's we've played, but we're getting mentally beat in the games we lose," Montanye said. The number of close games the 'Hawks have had can be attributed to their tough schedule, Henschel said. "When I made this schedule for this season I envisioned a lot of close games," Henschel said. "In my opinion, we have played strong opponents, the best from our region." The 'Hawks were in action this past week and split games with Wheaton and Lake Forest College. The 'Hawks were narrowly defeated by Wheaton in a 2-1 game last Friday. Wheaton jumped out to an early lead with a goal in the 18th minute. Junior defenseman Steve Nashleanas added his first goal of the season during the 47th minute off a free kick from sophomore midfielder Ryan Boyd to tie the game at one. But Wheaton scored a goal in the 82nd minute to edge the 'Hawks. Henschel felt the Wheaton game is an example of how his team needs to be more disciplined. "Anyone who was out there knows our team got out-disciplined," Henschel said. "Wheaton was more disciplined with their field awareness, and we made some costly undisciplined fouls down the stretch." The 'Hawks rebounded to defeat Lake Forest, 1-0, on Sunday. "We held attacking position and played strong defensively which made it hard for them to get shots on goal," Montanye said.

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