Club soccer beats OU; advances to nationals
Nationals will be played Nov. 16-18 in Tempe, Ariz.
Published Oct. 31, 2006
After going 5-0 at regionals last weekend, the MU men's club soccer team will head to Tempe, Ariz., for the national competition on Nov. 16-18.
Zach DeBord credits the team's set pieces, especially from throw-ins, as one of the reasons for its success. He said players Shane Rasch and Ryan Huber are talented at long throw-ins, and it was the reason for the success.
Huber is also a staff writer for The Maneater.
DeBord said there's no way for other teams to prepare for long throw-ins.
DeBord also said that the team's unselfishness also played a role. He cited a goal he scored off an assist from Ben Novak in the team's game against Kansas as an example.
"I pretty much give him all the credit for it," DeBord said. He said that the players' willingness to make an extra pass instead of shooting themselves was key to the team's success.
The national competition will have 24 teams. Eighteen qualified through regional competition, including MU, and six others will receive at-large invitations. Club President Kurt Austin said no other team in MU's region will receive an invitation.
Later this week, the qualifying teams will be divided into groups of three. At the beginning of the competition, each team will play the other two teams in their group. The top two from each group will advance to elimination rounds to play for the championship with the loser going into a consolation bracket.
MU was credited with a win after Wichita State forfeited on Friday night. The team then played Kansas on Saturday morning. Kansas scored the first goal — the only time MU trailed all weekend.
"We started off flat, that woke us up," Novak said of the goal.
MU tied the game later that half after a throw-in deflected off a Kansas defender and the team added two more in the second half to win 3-1.
The team's second match on Saturday was against Oklahoma. MU scored an early goal by Bryan Wessel, which was quickly matched by an Oklahoma goal on a penalty kick. But Novak said MU wasn't worried before scoring again to take the lead.
"We knew we had plenty of time," he said.
With about nine minutes to go, Kyle Goepel scored the game-winning goal.
On Sunday, the team competed in a semifinal game against St. Louis University. Novak said the first half went back and forth with no scoring until Kevin Maurer scored late in the half. Early in the second half, Rasch scored to give MU a 2-0 lead.
"It put them away," Novak said.
Andrew Hannigan scored a third MU goal to help lead the team to a 3-0 win.
The championship was a rematch with Oklahoma. The first half was a defensive battle that was scoreless at halftime.
Austin said Oklahoma controlled the possession for most of the half. Early in the second half, Brandon Butcher scored a goal off a throw-in from Huber.
"I think getting that first goal really changed the momentum," Austin said.
MU won 2-0 with Maurer scoring the second goal.