Daniel Webster Narrowly Falls to Middlebury 2-1 in NCAA Men's Soccer
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – It was an afternoon when David didn't topple Goliath, but he certainly put a healthy dose of fear into him and in the end, earned his respect.
Making their NCAA tournament debut, the Daniel Webster College men's soccer team hung tough with heavy favorite and one year-removed as national champion Middlebury College, falling 2-1 before over 400 sun-splashed fans Saturday afternoon.
The regionally top seeded (14-3-1) Panthers, which won the national title just two seasons ago, advanced to the second-round where they will face second-seeded William Patterson, a 2-1 winner over third-seed Thomas College on Sunday afternoon.
The Eagles finished 12-6-1, matching the program's best overall all-time record with last year's 12-6-1 mark. With NECC tournament championships coming in each season, this year's campaign finished as the best ever culminating with the Eagles first ever national tourney appearance.
Despite the tough ending, fourth-year Head Coach Bill Lawler effused worthy praise on a program that went into the most uncharted of waters for the College, becoming only the second program in school history to reach a NCAA regional and the first to ever play in a NCAA tourney game.
"It was really a tremendous effort," said Lawler. "Myself and [assistant coach] Matt [Correia] couldn't be me proud of these guys."
"To come into an environment like this and face a program with such a tradition of success, our guys could have been forgiven if they maybe had a little deer-in-the-headlights look to them, but they didn't," Lawler continued. "They played with poise. They played like they belonged here."
Just 2:16 into the contest, Daniel Webster effectively changed the tone of first half thanks to a stunning kick from junior Alex Jackson (Kent, Ohio).
Jackson, who broke the all time program record for goals and points in a season, took a loose ball at midfield, took a few steps up the middle unchallenged and launched a 40-yard serial straight downfield toward Middlebury's first team all conference and junior keeper Tim Cahill. Cahill, who had allowed just seven goals all season while racking up 11 shutouts, took a half step forward, but Jackson's shot continued to sail high and just passed overhead to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
"In a situation like this, we knew we'd have to carve out some chances," Lawler said. "We wanted to establish in the opening 10 minutes that chances needed to be manufactured, be they half chances or full chances."
"Alex's goal was one of those plays, sort of a half-chance considering his location, but give him credit, he took it," Lawler added. "It was an incredible shot."
Energized, the Eagles tempo looked to take advantage of the stunned Panthers and DWC nearly built the lead to 2-0 at the 15:37 mark, but Spencer Bernard's (Windsor Locks, Conn.) header went just over the crossbar after a nifty feed from Nick Klesh (Waltham, Mass.).
The Middlebury midfield began to open up the field a bit and the Panthers threatened when Tyler Macnee let a shot go that sailed just over the crossbar after taking a feed from Alex Colucci at the 14:10 mark. Carson Cornbrooks was looking to tie the game in the 36th minute, but his shot was denied by a diving save Eagle keeper Joe Keene, who put forth a remarkable effort, stoning seven Panther scoring attempts.
Middlebury continued to press and had another great chance in the 37th minute on a Jake Edwards shot from the left 10 yards out that was tipped away drawing a corner kick.
On the ensuing attempt, Macnee had another look and nearly tied it off the corner but his tip was swatted away by Eagle defender Elliot Kilgore (Milford, N.H.).
As Panther frustration began to build, Jon Portman added another great look with 1:10 to go in the half, but his shot also went just wide.
Finally, the sophomore midfielder and the Panthers got their biggest break of the game 20 seconds later as Portman took a free ball straight on and ripped a low 18 yarder. The ball caroomed off an Eagle defender and squibbed past a helpless diving Keene. It was suddenly 1-1 at the break.
The Panthers pressed throughout the second controlling much of the tempo in the Eagle defensive zone, but the DWC defense continued to effectively shut down the center lanes thanks in large part to some solid defense from senior Samson Kiberu (Waltham, Mass.), Kilgore, and junior Andrew Donovan (Milford, N.H.).
Cornbrooks would miss a chance in the 60th as his header and follow up were denied after a cross from Edwards. Cornbrooks saw a shot go just over the frame from 25 yards out in the 66th, while Harrison Watkins's header just missed after service from Edwards in the 71st.
Portman would finally strike for the game-winner at 75:54, placed a perfect seeing-eye shot to the upper left corner from 23 yards out. From there, the Panthers locked down the middle of the field on the way to finishing with a 20-4 shots advantage. In a pivotal sidebar, the hosts garnered 14 corner kicks while holding the Eagles to none.
While the defensive crew performed admirably, Lawler had particular praise for his outgoing seniors in Kiberu and midfielder Mike Lohr (Chepachet, R.I.), along with Keene's work between the posts.
"Samson was phenomenal, simply phenomenal" Lawler said. "He was steady throughout and did a great job of shutting down their attack, especially in close. Mike was equally tremendous, cutting down a number of their chances in the midfield."
"Joe played one of the best games we've got from him yet," Lawler added. "He kept us in it the whole way. Both of their goals were quality goals. They [Middlebury] had to work for them."
"Regardless of the outcome, we talked about the type of attitude we needed to have to stay close and challenge ourselves," Lawler said. "We didn't just want to be happy to be here. I think we met that challenge."
Courtesy of Daniel Webster Sports Information
