That turnout was pathetic. Seriously.

OK, so the weather was not exactly ideal, and it was a Wednesday afternoon, but there could not have been more than 200 fans in the stands, with half of them being students. Of the 100 students in attendance, most of them, I think, play for the baseball team.

One hundred fans, in a school of 11,000! It’s ridiculous; no wonder this school doesn’t have a football team. Your premier fall sports team came home after a six-game road trip, and no one went; more of you probably went to Mug Night at the Rat on Wednesday.

But maybe it wasn’t apathy. Maybe you saw the record and said, “I, Mr. Bearcat, am not going to attend the soccer game and watch a 1-4 team play in the rain.” And that’s understandable, to a degree.

But do not let that record fool you. Our soccer team is infinitely better than their record shows. And the women’s team is much better than its one-win record. Both teams have been ravaged by injuries, and come conference play, when these teams get healthy, watch out.

The men’s team was hit so hard recently that starting goalie Ryan Bertoni has been forced to play in the field. How many injuries does a team need to actually play a goalie in the field? They have played two games without leading goal-scorer Cody Germain, and have gone without starters Barry Neville and Liam Carson at times, too. When healthy and firing on all cylinders, this is not a one-win team.

Some good things have come out of these injuries, though. Red shirt freshman goalie Jason Stenta just registered his first career shutout, despite the fact that he was only playing due to injuries to teammates. Now the Bearcats know that they have depth between the pipes.

The team is recovering from a loss of some of the most iconic players in team history. There is no more Graham Munro or Danilo, but this new generation of BU soccer has the ability to be even better. We all just need to give them the chance.

The injury bug has hit the women even harder. The Bearcats were forced to play without five key players during last Sunday’s romp of Wagner. Most notably, senior Danielle White, who led the team with 20 points last season, has missed time of late. That’s a key cog missing from this team’s offense.

With healthy lineups, these teams would not have just one win each. And those injured players will be coming back, hopefully just in time for the grueling non-conference schedule to end and for America East conference play to begin. The records will improve, I can promise you that. Will the turnout improve? I hope so.

And to you, Mr. or Mrs. Bearcat fan, you can blame the records, or blame the rain. But I can tell you, the Duke fans would have been out there in the rain. So would the Maryland faithful, and the Penn State fans down in Happy Valley. Those schools have football teams, good ones, and they still find the time to go nuts for their soccer team.

Just something to keep in mind next time you whine about not having a football team.