It’s been three years since the Waynesburg University men’s soccer team qualified for the Presidents’ Athletic Conference tournament.

In the 2014 season, the Yellow Jackets posted a 5-2-1 conference record, earning them the third of four playoff spots. After losing nine players to graduation, Waynesburg has gone 5-28-2 overall and 3-11-2 in conference play in the two years since, missing out on the postseason both years.

Although the Jackets finished seventh out of nine teams in the PAC last season, Waynesburg raised its win total by three games, and did so with almost exclusively underclassmen making up the starting lineup.

Head coach Brad Heethuis, who is in his fourth season at the helm, hopes to see improvement out of several key contributors that are returning from last year’s squad.

“We have probably similar rosters [to last season],” said Heethuis. “But if you look at the core of it, the guys are a year older, and have more experience.”

One of Waynesburg’s weaknesses last year was its inability to close out games. The Yellow Jackets went to double overtime on four occasions in 2016 and won just one of those contests. For junior forward Austin Zurik, who led the team in goals last season with three, finishing will be essential to a successful season.

“Last year, I think we improved a lot [from 2015],” Zurik said. “What we needed to improve a lot more on was finishing, which I think is our strong suit this year. I’d say from [my] freshman to sophomore year, we improved as a team, but we just couldn’t close out games. We need to improve on finishing.”

Zurik, junior goalkeeper James Snyder and sophomore midfielder Justin Buberl are some of the key returning members from last year’s squad. There are also freshmen who are contributing, such as defender Steven Haines, forward Daniel Holt and forward Thomas Drake, who are seeing significant playing time.

An example of Waynesburg’s struggles in tight games took place in Tuesday, Sept. 5, loss at Franciscan. With goals from Drake and sophomore midfielder Nate Kumar, the Jackets led 2-0 with less than 35 minutes to play. But three tallies in a little over 20 minutes, two by Baron senior forward Leo Herrmann, put Franciscan ahead for good and Waynesburg suffered its first loss of the season.

Heethuis cited fatigue, as well as Franciscan feeding off the momentum from its first goal as reasons for the defeat.

“Overall, whether it was tired bodies from having three games in five days, or just kind of tired minds, we quit playing our brand of soccer,” said Heethuis. “Coupled with Franciscan [gaining] momentum from the home crowd. So it wasn’t one thing per say. Franciscan played well, didn’t quit and put us under some pressure. Leo is a beast up top, and he got the job done for them. We had opportunities, and they didn’t go our way at the end. That’s soccer.”

Zurik cited complacency as a primary reason for the loss.

“Once we got up 2-0, I think we kind of got comfortable,” said Zurik. “We stopped playing that long ball and started possessing. So I think we just got too comfortable. We let them change their game, and we didn’t [change ours].”

Waynesburg’s next contest is Friday, Sept. 15, against Mount Aloysius at John F. Wiley Stadium. After that, the Jackets have four more non-conference games before opening PAC play Friday, Sept. 29 when they travel to Latrobe, Pennsylvania to take on St. Vincent.

A key cog in Waynesburg’s quest for a playoff will be James Snyder. Snyder started all 17 games in goal as a sophomore and already has a shutout under his belt this season with a clean sheet against Penn State Altoona. Like Heethuis and Zurik, Snyder also sees playing complete games as vital for Waynesburg’s playoff chances, as well as communication with young players.

“Being mentally in the game for a full 90 minutes is key,” Snyder said. “Another key thing is making sure where our lack of experience may be in some positions doesn’t affect our play. We [need to] back each other up and make sure that our communication is high, and there shouldn’t be an issue as long as we keep control of the game.”

Overall, Zurik is confident in Waynesburg’s playoff chances.

“Obviously, our goal is PAC Champions, but I see us as a playoff team no matter what,” Zurik said. “Especially this year, with the amount of talent we have.”

Heethuis has a similar sentiment.

“I think the goal is to win the conference, but really to improve from last year and get to the conference tournament to give [ourselves] a chance to win that championship,” Heethuis said.

Heethuis is particularly impressed with the work ethic of his players, dating back to summer workouts.

“I think in the offseason, the guys really got in the weight room and took things seriously and got after it,” he said. “We know we have a good squad, and I think they know that they can compete in the conference, and that’s something that they’ve worked for this offseason, and it’s really something they’re shooting for.”