The Simpson men’s soccer team got its revenge on rival Central College in the final game of its 2002 season.

“To beat Central was huge, especially when they beat us during the regular season,” said Head Coach Aziz Haffar. “We ended our season with a quality win.”

The men traveled to Waverly for the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament and came home with a third place honor after defeating Central 2-1. The team tied Luther in the semi-final game and lost in a shoot-out.

“Overall I thought we played pretty well,” said senior Matt Edgington. “The ball just didn’t bounce our way in the Luther game.”

Taking Luther to a shoot-out was an accomplishment for the men, after previously losing to them 0-4 in regular season play. The team ended with an overall record of 15-5-2, and 7-2 in conference games.

“I think we had a really great season,” said Edgington. “I’m sure a lot of teams in our conference would kill for a record like ours.”

Now that the season has come to an end, Haffar will be looking at his returnees and recruiting class to bring back the same intensity of the 2002 men’s team.

“I saw dedication and determination in almost every player,” said Haffar. “I’m really pleased with the work ethic and commitment that everyone displayed this season.”

The Simpson women’s soccer team ended its 2002 season with an exciting double overtime match to Luther College.

“We played hard against Luther,” said senior Ashley Wilson. “We had fun in our final game and ended our season on a positive note.”

The Storm lost in its semi-final game to Loras by a score of 3-0 and then went on to play Luther for third place and ended its season in a tie of 1-1.

“We gave up a quick goal in our Loras game and that set the tone for the rest of the game,” said Haffar. “It was a disappointing loss for the fact that we know we can beat Loras, we had already done it.”

The team had an overall record of 15-4-2 for the season and was 7-2 in conference play, with one of those losses going to Luther earlier in the season,

“Overall, I was very pleased with how we played,” said Haffar. “We had some adversities to overcome and we dug ourselves out of them.”

The loss of the four senior women will be felt next year, but with high hopes for the returnees and the recruiting class, the team will come back as strong as it was this season.

“We are losing quality seniors,” said Haffar. “But hopefully we can build on what we have established for the team this year.”

“To have been (at the NCAA tournament) and won would have been the only way to end this season better,” said Wilson.