The Emerson men’s soccer team battled the MIT Engineers in the regular season finale on Saturday. Before kickoff, the Lions honored a trio of defenders—seniors Kyler Maira and Cade Mallett, and graduate Dominic Reiter—on senior day.
“I don’t know if there [are] three individuals that have done as much as they have,” head coach Liam McKersie said, adding that they’ve all had unique journeys “built on resilience and mental strength.”
According to McKersie, the fifth year Reiter has given the Lions “absolutely everything the last two years.”
“[He has] incredible leadership, and it’s no coincidence [that] in his two years here, [we have] our first back-to-back conference playoff appearances,” he said.
McKersie also highlighted Maira’s resilience as a former walk-on player and praised his versatility when he changed positions last year.
“By doing so, [he was] showing incredible grit and toughness to will himself onto the field, and [he] has five NEWMAC goals in the last two seasons and counting,” McKersie said.
Mallett, who will be graduating in December, is “the winningest player since we’ve moved into the NEWMAC,” McKersie said. The 6-foot-5 defender won NEWMAC’s Rookie of the Year in 2022 and earned Academic All-Conference nods in 2023 and 2024.
“This year, [he’s] playing at that [award-winning] level, All-Conference, All-Region,” McKersie said. “And it’s impressive for him to do it year after year to help us get to the point where we are now.”
“The standard’s been completely reset by those three,” he added.
Despite the celebratory atmosphere at Rotch Field, the Engineers stunned the Lions on senior day, 3-0. All of their goals came in the second half, with MIT converting two low-right shots in the 47th and 59th minutes. They tacked on one more off a penalty kick, finding the back of the net with less than six minutes remaining.
Ten of the Lions’ eleven shots came on goal, but nine of them found the hands of the Engineers’ goalkeeper. The Engineers’ three points came on eight shots, five of which were on goal.
Among McKersie’s key takeaways from Saturday’s loss was a lack of confidence and energy. However, he was encouraged by the team’s ability to respond to adversity, noting a four-goal match against WPI on Oct. 29 after a shutout loss to No. 1-ranked Tufts.
“For us, the focus is leaning into what we’ve proven we can do, which is bounce back together with a ton of energy,” he added.
Maira echoed the sentiment around the Lions’ resilience and considers Saturday’s loss an “outlier.”
“We’ve responded so well to being in different situations that are less than optimal,” he said. “We, at one point, had one tie and three losses, and we thought, ‘No chance we’re getting into playoffs.’ And then we won three straight and beat teams we’d never beaten before as a program.”
Although that trait has stood with the Lions for years, Maira said this year’s group has enhanced it through a tight-knit chemistry.
“The resiliency I’ve seen in many years, but this year, because we formed such a good bond, I think our resiliency is even higher,” Maira said.
One of the biggest lessons McKersie and the team will take into the playoffs is a high level of competition and “[earning] the right to get the ball,” McKersie said.
“I know [Saturday] was not what we wanted, but the last two weeks, we’ve been playing pretty well,” he continued. “Keeping that at the forefront, that we earn everything and we’re rewarded with being able to score the goals we want to score.”
The NEWMAC playoffs begin Tuesday, Nov. 4, with the Lions set to meet Worcester Polytechnic Institute for the second time in two weeks. The match is slated for 1 p.m. at Rotch Field.
As the postseason inches closer, McKersie believes the Lions’ transition play was a key area of growth throughout the regular season.
“Scoring four goals at WPI came from really, really good moments in transition,” he said. “From our attacking [midfielders], making really good movements in our wing backs, and then our forward making really good passes and runs.”
That speed, McKersie believes, will be vital as the Lions look to embark on a deep postseason run.
“Being lightning quick in transition is where we’ve gotten so much better, and we’ve been able to score a lot of big goals,” he said. “That phase has been our biggest one, and it’s kind of our calling card that we’ll need to get a lot out of in a playoff game if we want to keep playing.”
