The morale at the Rawlings Field seemed as as high as it could be while honoring the seniors playing in their final game on Sunday vs. the UCCS Mountain Lions.
By the 15th minute however, it would be completely different.
The ThunderWolves lost to the Mountain Lions 3-1 following a hat trick by Matthew Cox within the first 15 minutes of regulation.
"The three goals are indicative of what has been our Achilles' heel this whole year. We just struggled with keeping a clean sheet and making them earn their goals," said head coach Roy Stanley. "You can't say that that those are great goals, they're goals."
The loss capped off what was a 3-13-1 (2-10-1 in RMAC) season, one in which saw the ThunderWolves struggle due to moving players around on defense early on in the season, according to Stanley.
"We had to start shifting some people around defensively, that's where we struggled. This (game) is indicative of our previous games," Stanley said. "It started a little bit in the beginning of the season with a couple of guys, one guy not being eligible academically and another guy getting injured, to where when you lose two players at a position, it makes it tough, you have to reshuffle. The guys who went there I thought played their hearts out, but it was tough."
Among the seniors who played in their last games were forward/midfielder Dustin Geist (Sr. Durango, Colo), who has scored five goals and one assist on the season and midfielder Denim Douglas (Sr. Greenville, Texas), who has three assists on the season.
"Not the greatest season, it's kind of disappointing ending on a loss," Geist said. "But it's great to come out here with these guys, they're always a joy, we make the best of it, we always have a good time."
"Our team kept our head up every week and we put in a valiant effort every week and we worked our butts off. I'm proud of these guys," Douglas said.
One challenge moving ahead, according to Stanley, will be to find replacements for the seniors who played their final game on Sunday.
"I think we have four or five guys, and it takes 15 or 16," Stanley said. "That's where we've got to have a great off season. And that's one of the good things about men's soccer is that we are allowed to play spring games, and we have a lot to improve in the spring."
