It is the end of the season for the Saint Xavier University Men’s soccer team and everybody knows what that means. It is time to go Christmas shopping on “Black Friday” after Thanksgiving so you battle people over that 45 inch flat screen TV that’s only $45 and that new Miley Cyrus CD for $5. Ok so actually it is time for the CCAC Tournament to start to determine the kings of the conference.
The Cougars had to finish the regular season first against Robert Morris University in Arlington Heights, Ill. It was an important game for the Cougars as they were still jockeying for position trying to win one more conference game so they could get the opportunity to host a home game in the conference tournament.
It was a close game for the Cougars but they fell short losing to the Eagles of Robert Morris 3-2 in their regular season conference finale.
Even though the Cougars never led in the game they fought hard to keep the game close and tied it up twice after falling behind before finally losing by one goal at the end.
The Eagles kicked off the scoring in the 21st minute of play when senior midfielder Gordy Gurson scored off an assist from fellow senior midfielder Bobby Hurwitz. Junior midfielder Brandon Simoes responded for the Cougars after receiving the nice assist from sophomore forward Marco Gutierrez. The game remained tied at one until halftime.
After halftime in the 55th minute the Eagles regained the lead off a header by senior forward Stefan Zindovic set up off a cross by freshmen midfielder Irving Eloiza. SXU responded once again when junior defender Xavier Corona scored off a rebound from a shot attempt by Gutierrez. The game remained tied at 2 until the 81st minute when RMU sophomore forward Steve Garofolo scored his first goal of the season to give the Eagles the lead and the win.
Last Saturday the Cougars finally began postseason play in the CCAC Tournament with a game against Judson University in Elgin, Ill. It took two overtimes and penalty kicks but the Cougars pulled off the upset.
The Judson Eagles did get on the board first at the end of the first half in the 43rd minute when junior midfielder Bruno Oliveira scored to make the game 1-0. In the 52nd minute of action Judson doubled their lead when the Eagles junior midfielder Michael Berrequin put one in the back of the net.
The Cougars would start to fight back in the 63rd when junior midfielder Tom Lojek scored on off a free kick to make the deficit one goal.
Time started to run out on the Cougars season then in the 88th minute junior defender Rene Leon scored to tie the game up at 2. It gave the Cougars new life as they prepared for overtime.
Both teams could not score during either overtime so the game went to penalty kicks to determine who would advance to the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Cougars came up huge with their season on the line to win the shootout 4-2 and advance to the semifinals. Simoes had the game winning penalty kick for the Cougars.
It wasn’t pretty or easy but the team survived and advanced to keep their hopes of a conference title alive and earning a spot in the NAIA National Tournament. The team will play Olivet Nazarene University on Wednesday Nov. 13 in the semifinals with a chance to advance to the championship game.
Damone Griffin
Sports Editor