Ean Goldstein ’23
Staff Writer
After winning the Midwest Conference Tournament, the Lake Forest Men’s Soccer team is headed to its first NCAA Tournament since 2017. The Foresters won two thrilling games on Farwell Field over the weekend to secure the conference championship, including late-game heroics by junior forward Rayan Khalid ’24. In the semifinals against Knox College, Khalid scored his first goal of the season, cutting the Prairie Fire lead to 2-1.
After a last-minute goal sent the game into overtime, Khalid scored again in the 100th minute, giving the Foresters a 4-3 lead that they would ultimately hold on to, winning 4-3. The next day, in the conference championship, Khalid scored another clutch goal, getting it past Grinnell’s keeper with only 20 seconds left, helping the Foresters to a 2-1 victory, and sending them to the NCAA Tournament. Stentor Staff talked to Khalid about his amazing goals, as well as the team’s upcoming NCAA tournament berth.
Where are you from?
I am from Karachi, Pakistan.
What’s your major?
I am studying biochemistry and molecular biology and am on the pre-med track.
How long have you been playing soccer?
I think I started playing when I was three or four years old. The older guys wouldn’t let me play with them unless someone got hurt or they didn’t have enough to play, so I would sit there and watch a lot and I picked up on so much stuff that helped me when I started playing more.
What is your favorite part about being on the soccer team?
It’s being able to work and train every day with this group of guys and go to games knowing that the guy next to you wants to win as much as you do!
What do you think is the number one reason you and your team have had so much success this season?
It’s a lot of factors. The coaches did an amazing job with recruitment and the returnees worked all summer to get better and we came into this season hungry and wanting it more than any other team in the conference. That has been a huge reason why we have fought every game to the end and are here now making history for this program.
What went through your mind after scoring your first goal against Knox, putting the Foresters down 2-1?
It was my first goal all season with a delightful ball by Rafa(el Bonilla-Climaco). I came running back to the kickoff line and in my head, all I was thinking was “the job ain’t done yet”!
How would you describe the atmosphere on the bench before extra time started against Knox?
After our comeback in the last minute with nine men, everybody knew what we had just done was nothing short of extraordinary and that one way or another we are going to win it and that self-belief and confidence manifested the win in overtime.
How did it feel to score the game-winning goal in both MWC tournament games?
Oh, it’s situations like these that you dream of as a kid and as a player. You look at soccer games and you see game winners and you think to yourself, “I wish this could be me”. That feeling that it was is still something that I am having trouble processing and it’s going to take a while! And not just one game but being able to get the game-winner twice in as many days, I can’t describe to you even now what it feels like.
What are you and your team doing to prepare for the upcoming NCAA Tournament?
We took the weekend off to celebrate and recover and Monday went again in training for the physical part. Mentally, the coaches will bring us in for talks to help us deal with the emotional aspect of playing nationals and the pressure that comes with it. Overall, we reset now and go again this weekend to get another win and be the first team in Lake Forest history to make it past the first round of nationals.
