Justin Cashman | Staff Reporter
The University of Cincinnati Bearcats men’s soccer team has had more questions this season than they have answers.
Following their third straight loss Wednesday night to the Western Michigan University Broncos the Bearcats fell to 1-5 on the season, with four of those losses coming at home.
It seems as if home field advantage has been anything but an advantage for the Bearcats this season.
Through four matches at home thus far, they have been outscored 9-3, as well as 12-6 overall on the season.
Now the question that must be asked is who is going to turn this team around after such a slow start.
Redshirt-junior forward Austin Smythe, a member of the American Athletic Conference Preseason All-Conference Team, is someone who a lot of people are hoping can get this team going and provide the spark of energy they need.
The only problem is Smythe has had his own struggles this season with only a single goal thus far.
In fact, there is not a single player with two+ goals yet for the Bearcats.
A young team like Cincinnati with 18 underclassmen, and 13 newcomers might be expected to have struggles while adjusting to one another’s playing styles and building the chemistry that they are looking for, but the window is closing for them to perfect their game for the rest of the season sitting at 1-5.
The Bearcats next home match isn’t until Sept. 26 where they will face the Indiana University- Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Jaguars, with matches on the road at West Virginia University and the University of Memphis in between then.
IUPUI has been outscored 7-2 on this season in only two road matches and a dominant home win against a struggling road team could possibly be exactly what they are looking for to give them the confidence for the rest of the season.
The Bearcats next match on the season schedule Tuesday Sept. 18 at West Virginia University and will get underway at 7 p.m..