When the Williams men's soccer team got to San Antonio, Texas for the Div. III national semifinals, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich gave an inspiring speech to the players before their semifinal game. But despite Popovich's words of wisdom, the Ephs could not surprise defending national champion Messiah, falling 2−1 last Saturday.
The Williams team had shown a remarkable amount of perseverance on the road to San Antonio. The Ephs played back−to−back NCAA tournament games against York College and Christopher Newport University, and banked on penalty kicks to secure both wins. But the close loss ended Williams' remarkable season that included a NESCAC championship and a string of close shootout wins.
Williams needed all the help it could get against a Messiah squad that went wire−to−wire atop the Div. III rankings and lost just one game all year. With that in mind, former Ephs basketball head coach Curt Tong, who worked as the athletic director when the Spurs coach led the basketball team at Pomona−Pitzer College many years prior, got Popovich to speak to the team.
Moments after Popovich began talking, he unzipped his sweatshirt to reveal a Pomon−Pitzer T−shirt and said, "Just to show you that I'm a dedicated D−III guy."
He then spoke a few words to the team.
"The most important thing I can tell you about today's game is that it's not about you individually," Popovich said. "This game is not going to be won or lost in the first five minutes, so if you make a bad play, focus on the next play. Help and support each other — it's about you collectively and competing your ass off. No matter what happens, don't think about yourself, think about the team. Play the game, listen to your coach and execute your system. The purity of the game is the competition."
Popovich echoed many of the values on which he has built a Spurs dynasty: solid team defense and each person doing his own personal job.
"I was really impressed because the Spurs had just lost to the [Boston] Celtics the night before," Ephs coach Mike Russo said. "He is just a really nice, classy guy, and I know it meant a lot to a lot of our guys."
With Popovich's words echoing in their minds, the Ephs came out strong against Messiah and controlled play for much of the first half. It looked like the Ephs were going to strike the first blow, but Messiah senior goalie Jared Clugston made a great diving save to his left and robbed Williams junior striker Gaston Kelly of a 21st minute goal.
"Our plan was to attack them early and often," Russo said. "We moved men up and didn't allow them to get comfortable. I thought that we were athletic enough to cause some problems, but we couldn't get one in before halftime."
Despite dominating play and outshooting Messiah 10−5 in the first half, it was Messiah that took a one goal lead into the intermission. Falcons sophomore striker Trevor Lee pushed the ball past Ephs senior keeper Andrew Graham in the 32nd minute to put his squad on top 1−0. It was a lead that Messiah would hold for the rest of the match.
"They scored a goal that was against the run of play," Russo said. "It was too bad because we carried play for a lot of the first half."
The Messiah squad was much more assertive in the second half. They began to control the pace of play on the offensive end. Messiah had a number of good chances early in the second half, but Williams kept it from widening its lead thanks to superb defense by junior Joe Vella. A slide tackle in the box by Vella saved a goal in the 57th minute, and less than a minute later he was there again to reject a shot by Messiah freshman Josh Wood from the top of the box to keep the score 1−0.
In the 78th minute, the Falcons finally scored their second goal off the foot of sophomore Derek Black. Williams made some late adjustments in a desperate attempt to stage a comeback, moving senior defender and NESCAC player of the year Conner Smith forward in a push for more offense. In the 82nd minute, first year defender Matt Ratacjzak got the Ephs on the board, but their comeback bid ultimately fell short after sophomore Angus Kennedy's last gasp effort went high and to the right.
Messiah went on to win the championship over Calvin College — its seventh Div. III national title in the last 10 years.
"Messiah played very well. They are a strong program and have carved out a nice little niche in D−III soccer," Russo said. "I was just glad that we were able to be there to represent the NESCAC. I think that we come from one of the strongest and most competitive all around leagues in the country."
Williams loses five starters in 2010, but has a number of promising underclassmen. For now, the team will just have to wait until next year to see if it can get back to the Final Four.
