The Emerson men’s soccer team wrapped up their regular season with a Senior Day game against Clark University on Saturday, Nov. 2. 

Before the opening kickoff, the team honored its five seniors—Emmett Biewald, Ivan Bruce, Teddy Bushara, Anthony Ramlochan, and David Yu—and two graduate transfers—Sean Connelly and Dominic Reiter. 

The celebratory match also had critical playoff implications. The Lions needed to win Saturday and for Wheaton to lose or draw to MIT to keep their postseason dreams alive.

Emerson was aggressive right out of the gate, as a shot by junior midfielder Diego Garcia-Ocampo was saved 17 seconds in. The Lions also started off strong defensively, as sophomore goalkeeper Beckett Hobbs saved a shot with 1:32 elapsed, and Emerson defenders blocked a shot at the 2:05 mark.

Junior defender Kyler Maira found Bushara for a left-side goal moments later, putting Emerson up 1-0 with five minutes gone by. Bushara attempted to extend Emerson’s lead with his next shot at the 8:10 mark, though it missed right. Hobbs recorded another save with 17:14 elapsed before the Lions foiled four more attempts in eight minutes. Still, Emerson’s defense remained steadfast, blocking two Clark attempts in the 27th and 28th minutes. Their attacks were close, but couldn’t find the back of the net, as Bushara’s left-side shot hit the right post with 15 minutes left in the first half. Emerson and Clark continued to trade shot attempts until the halftime buzzer, where the Lions rolled into the locker room with a 1-0 lead.

Emerson continued their forceful offense in the second half, as Bushara attempted two shots in three minutes—but failed to convert both times. The third time was the charm for the Lions, as Reiter passed to sophomore midfielder Rohan Edwards, who scored at the 48:46 mark to put the purple and gold up 2-0. Maira nearly scored after an Emerson corner kick—before the refs called it offsides. He then connected with Bushara once more at the 53:54 mark, giving the Lions a comfortable 3-0 lead with half an hour of action to go.

Clark got on the board at the 67:16 mark, scoring off of a corner kick to cut into the Lions’ lead. Bushara’s next and final attempt of the game was saved with 15 minutes to play, and Hobbs recorded another save with four minutes remaining. The Lions cruised to a 3-1 victory in the regular season finale, ending the regular season at 7-9-2 overall, including a NEWMAC record of 3-4-1.

The Lions tallied 20 shot attempts Saturday (seven on goal), and Bushara led the way with 11 of them, including his two goals. According to head coach Liam McKersie, Bushara’s performance got him to 18 goals on the season—-the most scored by a Lion in “at least 15 years,” and the most since Emerson joined the NEWMAC in 2013.

Maira led the Lions with his two assists to Bushara—his only two of the regular season—and Hobbs ended the game with five saves. Clark, meanwhile, put up 13 attempts, with six being on goal, and their keeper tallied four saves.

“We got the job done, and played in honor of the seniors and played hard,” McKersie said. “[We] scored three really nice goals, created a ton of chances. So it’s all positive, and we did what we needed to do today.”

McKersie believes the team’s biggest area of growth throughout the season was their focus and competitiveness.

“Not losing focus in moments and competing every second of every game,” he continued. “We’ve grown a lot in our attacking as well. We’ve been more productive and efficient with how well we’ve advanced the ball up the field, gotten it wide, and created chances.”

McKersie also took time to reflect on the men’s soccer class of 2025, beginning with the five seniors, who came into Emerson just as he started as an assistant coach.

“It’s a very, very, very special [group],” McKersie said. “We’ve seen the same last four years … They are so special.”

He acknowledged the adversity they have gone through, which included several head coach changes before they began their Emerson careers.

“In the summer before their freshman year, there was a head coach change. They went through another head coach change, there was lots of turnover,” he explained. “There [were] a lot of tough seasons—two winless NEWMAC seasons. And then this season, so much talent, so much promise, so many good performances early. A lot of results didn’t go our way, and when our backs were up against the wall, their leadership helped dig us out of it to finish the regular season winning three of four [games]. That itself shows the resilience of the group.”

In reflecting on his four years at Emerson, Bushara says he’s learned plenty in his time as a Lion.

“It’s made me not only a better soccer player but just a better person and better teammate,” he said.

When asked about his memories with the program, Bushara pointed to the camaraderie with his fellow seniors.

“These four other seniors are four of my best friends here, on the field but also off the field,” he said. “I live with three of the guys right now, so really just making memories and hoping that it lasts as long as possible.”

Bushara says the seniors have tried to pass their legacies down to the younger players, teaching them to create good habits and continually be positive teammates toward each other.

“The main thing that I learned is that no matter what adversity you see, there’s always a way out and there’s always hope that can be found,” he added.

Maira says the class of 2025 has meant “so much” to the program.

“We’ve gone through so much … but they’ve been the only thing that’s been the same about the team,” he said. “And they’ve been gluing everyone together the whole time. All five of them [are] great leaders, and the grad students [are], too.”

Maira also shared one of his fondest memories with some of the seniors, adding: “I do the New York Times Spelling Bee with Teddy, Emmett and Ivan every day, and it’s the best part of my day.”

The 2024 NEWMAC Championship bracket was released Saturday afternoon. Emerson clinched the sixth and final spot thanks in part to Wheaton’s 0-0 draw against MIT. The Lions will travel to Connecticut to face the Coast Guard Bears on Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 6:00 PM. The last time these two teams met was on Wednesday, Oct. 30, when Emerson pulled off a 1-0 victory on Coast Guard’s home turf.

The men’s soccer team will join the women’s team—who also earned the no. 6 seed—in their respective championship hunts. It’s the first instance since 2022, when they both earned trips to the title games.