Nine years. It had been nine long years since the men’s soccer team had sniffed the MIAC playoffs. That streak ended last Tuesday, Nov. 3, when the Pipers traveled to Northfield to face the Oles in the first round of the 2015 MIAC playoffs.

The Pipers took a hard-fought 0-1 loss to the Oles and were knocked from the playoffs. The Oles scored their goal 25 minutes into the first half and Hamline pressed hard for the equalizer. Several scoring chances for the Pipers were knocked away in the box, and were never quite able to beat the St. Olaf goalkeeper, Ben Braman.

“We had all these chances in the box and they would get a block on it or something,” said first-year Dean Isaacson, starting goalkeeper for the Pipers. “We had a bunch of set pieces we couldn’t execute on and they played really well defensively.”

In what can only be considered a small comfort to the Pipers, the Oles were crowned the MIAC champions after defeating Saint John’s, 1-0, and St. Thomas, 2-0.

“St. Olaf is one of the best teams in our conference,” said senior forward Abbai Habte. “That first regular season game showed us how they played, what the atmosphere was like at their stadium, and what the field itself was like.”

Hamline was beaten 1-3 by the Oles at St. Olaf in the regular season and were more than ready to face the Oles again in the playoffs.

“We knew going in that we would have to make it difficult for those guys, have to slow them down a little bit and to keep the ball more,” said coach Alex Morawiecki. “It was kind of like playing the same game twice, we went down, gave up a goal in the 25th and we just weren’t able to equalize.”

Isaacson blamed himself for two goals in the regular season matchup between the two teams and was focused on not repeating those mistakes.

“I slipped on one of their goals and I was out of position on another,” Isaacson said. “That was on my mind the entire time and I was making sure that wouldn’t happen again.”

The Pipers got off to a rough start this season, winning just two of their first nine games (2-5-2 overall, 1-1-1 MIAC). There was one game, though, that Morawiecki focused on when describing turning points for his team.

“Our win down in St. Mary’s was the first road win in the MIAC since I’ve been here,” said Morawiecki. “We were down 0-1 and came back to score two goals. Our next road game was at Augsburg and we won there, too.”

The St. Mary’s and Augsburg wins came during a 4-1-0 streak by the Pipers that led to the Pipers ending their season 8-9-2 (5-4-1 MIAC). Their 16 points tied St. Thomas for fifth place in the MIAC, and with the Pipers’ 2-1 win over St. Thomas midway through the season, the Pipers had a head-to-head advantage and claimed the fifth seed on the tiebreaker.

Despite the hard-luck loss to the fourth-seeded Oles, the future seems bright for the Pipers. Loaded with young talent, the Pipers appear ready to compete for several years. The biggest issue? Finding the talent to replace Habte, who led the team and was second in the MIAC with ten goals. Habte was also top five in several other MIAC statistical categories, including points, shots, and game-winning goals.

“Next year’s goals will have to come more by committee than from a single player,” said Morawiecki. “That will come through growth in the offseason by our younger guys.”

Habte was particularly impressed with the performance of the younger players and sees a bright future for the team.

“I think the freshmen did really well,” he said. “They did what they were asked to do by the leaders on our team and they provided really well for us.”

Isaacson likes the potential of his class as well, and looks forward to the opportunity to continue growing with his teammates.

“With this big class we have, we’re going to have a lot of experience by the end of our careers,” said Isaacson. “If we keep bringing in recruits, those guys who want to win just as much as we do, I think we’ll do really well.”

With their nine-year playoff drought snapped, the Pipers should be directing their attention towards the next step to winning a championship: winning a game in the postseason. If the Pipers have anything to say about it, it will happen soon.