The UNC Wilmington men’s soccer squad has had more than its share of close, tough losses this season. Going into Wednesday night’s game against Virginia Commonwealth, the Seahawks had suffered five one-goal defeats.

After Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to the Rams that list grows to six. Only further disheartening the team is the fact that the lone deciding goal came on an own goal.

VCU’s talented forward Jason Johnson raced down the sideline during the 65th minute and sent in a cross to the UNCW penalty box. UNCW freshman defender Jacob VanCompernolle slid in front of the ball’s path in hopes of deflecting the shot away from goal. Instead, the shot ricocheted off VanCompernolle’s toe and rolled into the net.

UNCW’s best chance at a response came minutes later when forward Shawn Guderian was able to get his head on a cross from defender Mark Harris. However, the volley just missed the left side post and went out of bounds.

“We really needed tonight,” said UNCW coach Aidan Heaney. “We’re just running out of games. We needed tonight to kick start us so we can finish strong and make the playoffs. We scheduled those hard games at the beginning of the season to prepare us for these crucial games at the end here and it hasn’t worked out.”

Entering Wednesday night’s matchup, the Seahawks (3-10-1, 1-6-1 CAA) only trailed the Rams (9-6, 4-3 CAA) by five points in the conference standings. VCU is in a tie with Delaware for the final playoff spot so a win tonight would have helped propel UNCW to challenge for the final spot. Instead the Seahawks face an uphill climb for the playoffs with only four games left in the season.

After the own goal, the Seahawks appeared motionless almost as if they could not believe their continuous bad fortune this season. VanCompernolle laid still on the ground after the own goal, looking devastated. The event is something that VanCompernolle should not dwell on, though, coach Heaney says.

“We’ve all been there. We’ve all had those unfortunate things happen to us. If it’s not Jacob, it has happened to others on our team,” Heaney said. “Unfortunately, he took one away tonight but he is having a great season and this will only make him a better, stronger player.”

It may be hard to look past losses and on to better opportunities, especially in intense defensive battles as Wednesday night’s match was. Heaney has faith in the team’s resolve, though, and believes his squad will not throw away their season in the midst of these close games.

“The guys just want to play,” he said. “They have too much character to allow themselves to pitch it in. We’re going to keep improving and trying our hardest to close out the season with some wins.”

The Seahawks travel to Towson (1-10-1, 0-7) Saturday to play the Tigers.