Throughout the course of the 2015 men's soccer season, redshirt sophomore midfielder/forward Matt Chasman has been chronicling his and the team's journey from an inside perspective. This is the third edition of Chatting with Chaz, following the conclusion of the regular season. 

I have not written my blog for a while because I have been busy with school and rehabbing an injury, but there are so many things that have happened since my last post. This season has been one filled with amazing highs and devastating lows. Our team started our our Pac-12 campaign winless in our first five games (two ties). This included a humiliating 6-0 defeat at UCLA that was by far our low point of the season. Although the devastating loss left us frustrated and embarrassed, it also was a great learning experience that allowed us to grow as a team and become even better as the season went on. Following our loss at UCLA, our team had a much needed meeting where all of us could put our thoughts, feelings, and frustrations all out in the open so that we could come up with solutions on how to improve. What we got out of our meeting was that we need to focus on having fun while playing the game we love and with that, keeping positivity throughout our team.

After that meeting, we went on a four game winning streak against some difficult teams including getting revenge on UCLA just a week after they crushed us with a 4-3 win and a difficult away win at Washington. The loss to UCLA and the team meeting that followed was clearly the turning point in our season. Most recently, we played our last Pac-12 game at Stanford this past Thursday. We played a great game, but unfortunately lost 1-0. Outshooting Stanford 13 to 5 and still not getting a result was something that was hard to accept, but Coach Grimes was proud of our efforts.

The Pac-12 season is now over, but our post season fate is still yet to be decided. Following our tough loss to Stanford, we have continued to practice as usual in order to prepare for the postseason (if we are fortunate enough to make the tournament). The selection show is tomorrow (Monday, Nov. 16) and we eagerly await what the committee will decide. If we do not make the tournament, this has truly been an unforgettable season and a great experience. Hopefully that is not the case, because I feel like the team still has a lot more to give. GO BEARS!