2008 Woodie Awards
Kicking balls and taking names
Soccer beats Principia (Ill.); travels to Missouri for Round 3; advance to Final Four with victories
Ariel Barkurst
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Sports
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Last Saturday, the Trinity Tigers men's soccer team faced off against Principia College (Ill.), which won the St. Louis Intercollegiate Conference with a 17-1-1 record and had given up a total of three goals since September.
The game had its close moments, but despite Principia's formative record, the Tigers ended their opponent's season with a 4-0 clean sheet that brings Trinity's record to 20-0-0 and launches them into the third round of the playoffs this weekend.
"These guys are a different level," said Principia Head Coach Vitalis Otieno after the game. "We need an upgrade in the type of player we had in the program. The school level, the pace, it was hard to withstand that for 90 minutes. You're playing against the No. 1 in the country, and there's a reason they're No. 1. We had to dehumanize the team a little bit- so we can say we can try."
Though the game ended in a shutout, the Trinity crowd- which was the largest of the year- stayed on the edge of its seat through most of the first half, which ended at 1-0 Trinity with a goal from forward German Gomez, junior, in the fourth minute.
"They [Principia] probably felt the game went as they wanted in the first half," said Head Coach Paul McGinlay. "We were taking too many touches in the first half of the field, without finding out how good their keeper is."
Trinity maintained possession throughout most of the first half, but the primarily defensive Principia kept Trinity from increasing their lead.
"We had most of the ball in the first half, but we were still only at a one-goal game," said goal keeper David Steinberg, senior. "We've all been in games like that, and soccer is the kind of game where things happen- even if you have the ball you might not score."
When the second half began, Trinity's offense started driving past the thirty for practically the first time in the game, scoring three goals in three and a half minutes. Forward Patrick Floeck, junior, scored in the 46th minute; midfielder Kyle Altman, senior, scored two minutes later; and midfielder Robert C'deBaca, senior, scored Trinity's fourth goal one minute after that.
The game had its close moments, but despite Principia's formative record, the Tigers ended their opponent's season with a 4-0 clean sheet that brings Trinity's record to 20-0-0 and launches them into the third round of the playoffs this weekend.
"These guys are a different level," said Principia Head Coach Vitalis Otieno after the game. "We need an upgrade in the type of player we had in the program. The school level, the pace, it was hard to withstand that for 90 minutes. You're playing against the No. 1 in the country, and there's a reason they're No. 1. We had to dehumanize the team a little bit- so we can say we can try."
Though the game ended in a shutout, the Trinity crowd- which was the largest of the year- stayed on the edge of its seat through most of the first half, which ended at 1-0 Trinity with a goal from forward German Gomez, junior, in the fourth minute.
"They [Principia] probably felt the game went as they wanted in the first half," said Head Coach Paul McGinlay. "We were taking too many touches in the first half of the field, without finding out how good their keeper is."
Trinity maintained possession throughout most of the first half, but the primarily defensive Principia kept Trinity from increasing their lead.
"We had most of the ball in the first half, but we were still only at a one-goal game," said goal keeper David Steinberg, senior. "We've all been in games like that, and soccer is the kind of game where things happen- even if you have the ball you might not score."
When the second half began, Trinity's offense started driving past the thirty for practically the first time in the game, scoring three goals in three and a half minutes. Forward Patrick Floeck, junior, scored in the 46th minute; midfielder Kyle Altman, senior, scored two minutes later; and midfielder Robert C'deBaca, senior, scored Trinity's fourth goal one minute after that.
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