Double overtime upset

 Springfield, Mo.- The University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s soccer team’s 2009 season ended last Sunday when the eighth-seeded Tritons lost 1-0 to top-seeded Drury in the first round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Tournament. 

 

Despite being picked in August by the GLVC coaches’ preseason poll to finish 10th in the conference, UM-St. Louis managed to get into the postseason this year by pulling off the upset of the season: a 2-1 win in the regular season finale at then 12th-ranked Northern Kentucky last month.

 

The Tritons were hoping to find the same kind of magic against an 18-1 Drury squad that was ranked No. 4 in the country in last week’s NCAA Division II national poll.

 

For over 105 minutes, UM-St. Louis stayed right with Drury. The Tritons managed to keep the Panthers scoreless despite being outshot 22-4, thanks to a brilliant effort by top defenders Justin Barwick, junior, business; Mike McCarthy, sophomore, engineering; Joe Randazzo, senior, media studies; and Ryan Vines, senior, business adminstration. “Our four backs played outstanding,” UM-St. Louis men’s soccer coach Dan King said. Triton goalkeeper Tim Boruff, sophomore, accounting, played all 105-plus minutes in goal and made five saves, including a couple of brilliant stops on back-to-back chances in the 71st minute against Drury stars Steve Wilczewski and Ben Hamilton.

 

It looked like Drury might finally break through and take the lead on the play, but Boruff somehow managed to get his hands on Wilczewski’s blast and then stopped Hamilton’s rebound shot, which looked like it was surely headed for the back of the net. The flurry for Drury left them with several players out of position and opened the door for a UM-St. Louis scoring chance. 

 

The Tritons raced the ball up the field and were awarded a corner kick chance when a Drury defender intentionally kicked the ball out of play near his own net. Andy Schaul, senior, biology, took the corner kick and found teammate McCarthy, who managed to put a good shot on net, but his scoring chance was stopped by Drury goalkeeper Stephen Conner. That was UM-St. Louis’ only real scoring chance in regulation play. 

 

Neither team could get much done in the first overtime, but both the Tritons and the Panthers had golden opportunities to win the game in the second overtime. In the 102nd minute, Drury’s Jake Allison had a chance the home crowd thought he would bury, but Boruff once again made the stop. 

 

Then in the 106th minute, UM-St. Louis’s Paul Hummel, senior, liberal studies, got open and blasted a shot at the Drury net. Unfortunately, Hummel’s shot sailed high and wide. The Tritons’ season came crashing down moments later. Drury’s Micah Whorton took a pass from teammate Peter Higgins and slipped a shot past Boruff and into the UM-St. Louis net for his team-leading 14th goal of the season, ending the Tritons’ season. “We placed well, we dictated the game,” King said. “We did what we wanted. We were four minutes from penalty kicks with the number four team in the nation.”

The Tritons finished the season with a 9-7-2 record, their best mark and first postseason appearance since 2006. Although disappointed, King couldn’t help but reflect on what really was a fantastic season for the Tritons. “I thought we had a great season and we reached some of our goals,” King said.“We reached the playoffs, and I feel we were a final four team. I’m so proud of the team.” The Current’s Matthew B. Henry and the UM-St. Louis and Drury sports information departments contributed information for this story.