Bobby Martinez – Sports Writer
After finishing the season with a 13-3 record, Owls men’s soccer team headed in to the Northeast-10 tournament with one thing on their mind: capture the school’s seventh National Title.
Last season ended on a sour note for the Owls despite defeating Franklin Pierce University 2-1 in the NE-10 quarterfinals due to an ineligible player. This time around, the Owls’ first matchup in the NE-10 tournament was against Franklin Pierce University, a team that defeated the Owls one week prior 2-1.
Owls freshman forward Chae Brangman, scored the game’s first goal 15 minutes into the game. Ten minutes later, Sophomore Markus Jacobsen would take over the Owls offense. Jacobsen would score three of the Owls five goals, which led to a 5-0 shutout, the most points the Owls scored all season.
Owls head coach Tom Lang, said his team played much more energized and poised in comparison to their last matchup against Franklin Pierce.
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— SCSU Athletics (@SCSU_Owls) November 10, 2014
“The last game we were a little flat at times,” said Lang. “This game we came our very very focused. We discussed about playing the balls forward a little earlier and we were successful.”
Co-captain Tyler Naef said, he liked the way his team went out and played and it seemed as if everyone was on the same page the entire game.
“We were definitely clicking on all cylinders,” he said. “We moved the ball well, we were much more direct and we executed our game plan very well.”
Naef added, “I think we knew that we were a better team than the team that played last week and we didn’t get the result we wanted. So when we came into our next matchup against them (Franklin Pierce), we knew we could play much better and we wanted to get a little bit of payback. Once we stepped on that field, we were just focused on winning.”
With a 5-0 shutout against Franklin Pierce, the Owls next matchup was against Adelphi University, a team the Owls lost to 1-0 late in October. Naef said, “they are a much more athletic team than Franklin Pierce. But I think we are ready for the challenge. We get to get some pay back against them as well.”
And payback was what the Owls managed to do. In an intense game from start to finish, the Owls were ice cold on the offensive side of the ball for the majority of the game. Both team played tight defense for most of the first half. But Adelphi’s Diego Zuniga, scored the game’s first points, giving his team a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
But the Owls would fight their way back in the closing minutes. Coming off a three goal game against Franklin Pierce, Jacobsen would find the back of the net in the 82nd minute, tying the game at 1 with seven minutes left in the game.
In the 87th minute (87:39), Owls Daquan King, off an assist from Brangman, would score the Owls second point of the game, giving his team 2-1 lead with two minutes left in the game. King’s goal would secure the game for the Owls and punch their ticket to a title game against the defending champions, Southern New Hampshire University. The last time these two teams met, the Owls suffered a 5-0 loss, their first loss of the season.
Just like their last matchup, Southern New Hampshire would strike first. But King would respond with his 10th goal on the year, tying the game up with 15 minutes left in the first half. Southern New Hampshire would score two more goals before halftime, extending their lead, 3-1.
Trailing 3-1 at the start of the second half, Jacobsen would score the Owls second point, trimming the lead 3-2 in the 51st minute. But Southern New Hampshire would take over for the rest of the game, scoring two more goals which secured the game for them. Southern New Hampshire would win their second title in two years with a final score of 5-2.
The quest for a 7th @NCAADII men’s soccer title begins this weekend for the Owls! @SCSUtweet @SCSUMensSoccer pic.twitter.com/FB6U0ADJpn
— SCSU Athletics (@SCSU_Owls) November 11, 2014
