In the past six months, the men’s soccer program has gone through extensive changes including adding sixteen new players along with a new head coaching staff. Last March, Hamline University welcomed new head coach Tyler Oliver, who has found early success in his first season on the staff.
“I already have so much love for this community and university. Being a head coach in the MIAC is a dream come true for me,” Oliver said. The MIAC is the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
They opened up the 2023 campaign with a 2–1 come-from-behind victory in St. Bonifacius versus Crown College.
“I thought scoring goals this season might be a challenge after we only had two goals scored last season by players who are still in the program,” Oliver said. “Our transfers and freshmen have stepped up massively to help fill that void, having either a goal or an assist on all five of the goals to this point.”
Just two days later the Pipers jumped to an early lead before the game was called off in the twentieth minute due to the excessive heat, and the game will be rescheduled for later in the season. The heat could not keep the Pipers away forever as the next day they were able to fight off a late push from Minnesota Morris with a game winning goal late in the second half.
Sophomore Drew Axel was proclaimed the match’s MOTM, or Man of the Match. Axel netted a go-ahead goal in the fifty eighth minute and later was awarded an assist on the match’s winning goal.
“Overall it’s been going really well,” Axel said. “It’s been very competitive, always positive and definitely looking good for the future.”
The quick turnaround can be accredited to a tough but rewarding spring for the squad, they met to practice fifteen times as well as playing the annual alumni game.
“We had an awesome spring session together as a team,” Oliver said. “Then culturally some big shifts as well with dialing in our programs four main core values/pillars: love, dedication, respect, and competition.”
The players on the squad do not take these values lightly, as they alongside their coach know of the impact it can give.
“It’s everything for us right now,” Axel said “That’s how we’re basing our play and how we treat each other on and off the field.”
Oliver hopes these core values can keep the team resilient and hopefully lead to partaking in the MIAC playoffs, a place this team has not seen since 2018.
“To be in the playoffs we have to be top six in the MIAC,” Axel said. “So our goal is to be in the top six and to have a better season than we did last year.”
The 2022 season had more downs than ups for the Pipers as they finished with just five wins, going 2–8 in MIAC play. Although it has just been a few games, the most recent season is shaping up to be nothing more than an afterthought.
“I think that we’re definitely a team to be reckoned with,” Axel said. “Which hasn’t happened for this team in the past so we’re definitely excited for the future.”
In his short but seemingly already successful tenure, Oliver and the Pipers are looking early on to reach places they have not seen in recent memory.