Rutgers-Camden edges Loras 3-2 in overtime, while Messiah blanks Williams 4-0
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Rutgers Camden senior Keegan Balle scored the
unlikely game winner against Loras on Friday. |
On Friday evening, No. 2 Rutgers-Camden and No. 3 Messiah emerged as semifinal winners and will face off in the national title match on Saturday at 5:00 pm CT.
In the first match, Rutgers-Camden edged Loras 3-2 in overtime. It was high-energy, end-to-end action from start to finish. Both teams came out from the opening whistle with urgency in search of goals. Rutgers-Camden was more accurate with their shots in the early going, and didn't have to wait to long to be rewarded. In the 13th minute Stevan Austino's pass found the feet of the Scarlet Raptors leading scorer, sophomore Mike Ryan, who was given too much space by the defense and was able to turn and shoot, sending the ball beyong the reach of the diving keeper and inside the right post for the 1-0 lead. Despite good chances both for the Raptors to extend their lead and for Loras to equalize, a farily evenly played opening stanza ended 1-0.
The second half opened with the same energy on display in the first 45 minutes, with both teams creating early opportunities. But as the half wore on, Loras gained the upper hand but could not find the back of the net. As chance after chance went begging, it was seeming like deja vu for the Duhawks who in three previous semifinal appearances had failed to score a single goal. Loras Coach Dan Rothart did not deviate from his liberal substitution patterns despite still trailing, and it certainly seemed to pay off when his starters re-entered the game in the 73rd minute to maitain the fast pace and up the pressure on the Rutgers-Camden defense. Seven minutes later their persistence and efforts were rewarded when Richard Lenke was able to sneak his shot from the left between the near post and keeper's finger tips.
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Messiah defenders Matt Kyne and Josh Kremers
in action against Williams. |
Not satisfied with an equalizer, the Duhawks went for the knock-out punch and thought they got just that five minutes later when Tim van den Bergh crossed for Johnny Rummelhart to head home for the 2-1 lead. With under six minutes remaining, Loras seemed on their way to the final, but Rutgers-Camden, who were second best in the second half, dug deep to summon the energy to try to save their season. And they did just that with 2:30 showing on the clock. Taylor McGrory's shot from the right got past a pair of defenders, the keeper, and the near post and just did break the plane before being cleared. After three goals in under ten minutes, the final 150 ticks came off the clock without another and the game headed to overtime.
Just over a minute into the sudden death period, a seemingly unthreatening Rutgers-Camden free kick from behind the midfield stripe turned out to be the last touch of the game. Senior defender Keegan Balle skyed the ball high and far and with the wind helping its flight, the ball ended up sailing over everyone included the goalkeeper who came of his line expecting to contest the ball near the top of the 6-yard box. Once everyone realized the ball would carry further than expected, it was too late to change fate. The ball came down untouched inside the goal to hand Rutgers-Camden the 3-2 overtime win and their ticket to their first ever championship final. It was a cruel way to go out for Loras who ended their campaign at 19-2-1 while Rutgers-Camden's remained undefeated at 23-0-2.
In the second match, Messiah blanked Williams 4-0. However, such an outcome was not immediately apparent. From the opening whistle, Williams attacked with an urgency that suggested they thought they could surprise the Falcons and grab a crucial opening goal that could change the whole complextion of the game. And they did look dangerous while Messiah looked a tad nervy at the onset. In the first six minutes, junior midfielder Matt Muralles unleashed a pair if long-range efforts that flew narrowly above the crossbar. Then at the 8-minute mark, Messiah scored off a fortunate deflection when a block of junior Brian Ramirez's shot from just outside the area sent the ball looping high over the keeper and into the goal just before the keeper could scramble back and palm it out. From there on, it was Messiah's game as they asserted themselves and made their superiority show.
Messiah's second goal coming in the 29th minute was well worked and well deserved. Junior Mike Kovach got free on the right near the end line and served a ball into the area that classmate Jeremy Payne headed home from close range when he lost his marker. Their lead nearly grew on a couple more occassions, and Williams were fortunate to only be two down at the interval. Of course, a 2-goal deficit against Messiah was going to require an unprecendented second half performance as the defending champions had never lost a tournament game in which they had score two or more goals, and the Falcons had only conceded a pair of goals twice in their previous fifty tournament matches.
Williams showed a spark as the second half kicked-off, but it was short-lived as Messiah was in cruise-control and put to rest any fleeting notions of a comeback with goals in the 59th and 63rd minutes. For the first, All-American centerback Carter Robbins got his head to Ramirez's corner kick and redirected into the goal for just his second tally of the season. For the second, freshman Danny Brandt collected the rebound of Josh Wood's shot that the keeper could only parry wide, and than calmly sent a curling shot around the outstretched arms of the recovering keeper and just whiskers inside the near post for the 4-0 lead.
With Messiah riding an insurmountable lead, Williams emptied their bench ten minutes later. The Falcons were also able to relax down the stretch in preparation for the championship final less than 24 hours away. It was an impressive display from the favorites who outshot Williams 25-11 and simply outclassed the Ephs in nearly all facets of the game. Williams closes their season at 15-7, while Messiah improves to 23-1-1 and now faces Rutgers-Camden looking for their 10th national title.
