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Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Joshua Moczygemba THAT'S USING YOUR HEAD: Senior midfielder Robert C'DeBaca heads a cross towards the goal in the national championship game versus Middlebury (Vt.). The team brought a perfect 23-0-0 record into the game, but lost on penalty kicks when neither team scored in regulation or two overtimes.

After a record-breaking season, the Trinity Tigers men's soccer team lost last Saturday in the NCAA championship game versus Middlebury College (Vt.).
Though Trinity dominated for ninety minutes of regulation and twenty minutes of overtime, neither team was able to score, and the game was decided 4-3 on penalty kicks. Trinity ends the season 23-1-0, Middlebury 18-2-2.
"We were never down the entire season," said Head Coach Paul McGinlay, "from the first game to nearly the end of the last game, we were never down. Not until the last kick of the last game were we down-and then we were down and out."
The shoot out that decided the game saw one miss from Middlebury, which Trinity saved, and two from Trinity, both of which came off the frame of the goal.
"Any time a game goes to penalty kicks it's complete lottery," said mid-fielder captain Kyle Atlman, senior.
According to McGinlay, anyone watching the game would have expected Trinity to win.
"The Middlebury coach, Dave Saward, he went to the same school I did, the University of London. He came up to me after the game and he said, 'I'm sorry.' That was his interpretation of the game. It was a massive injustice. And was heartbreaking. The players were inconsolable. They completely broke down. We gave so much to this in an attempt to take the championship and we were so close but we finished second. The soccer gods would have us at number one, but the NCAA gods would have us at number two."
During the game play itself, Trinity racked up 23 shots to Middlebury's 12, and 10 shots on goal to Middlebury's two, keeping control of the ball and the game's tempo throughout.
"In the first fifteen minutes or so, we really dominated," said ward Patrick Floeck, junior. "We had a few opportunities to get on the board early. They had a lot of luck on their side, but we controlled the game."

Continued...

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