By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: JD Cavrich Photography
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – In the final home match of the regular season, the Juniata college men's soccer team fell to Drew University, 2-0. However; with the Eagles solid conference record of 3-3-1, the team has qualified for its first ever post-season appearance. Juniata will have to wait for the outcome of the Catholic vs. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy game, Monday Nov. 4, to know its opponent, but the men have qualified.
"I'm very happy for the guys," said head coach Dan Dubois. "We've talked about this all season long. This comes down to what do they want out of it. I get to coach again next year. These seniors don't have that. This postseason, it's never existed before, this postseason they have is bonus soccer. It's soccer they didn't plan on when they got here. It was their goal all along, but it was a goal. Now they've reached that. They get to play in a postseason. Now we get to start on the next goal, which is winning a postseason game. It's exciting. This team has set a very high bar for this program now. We get to see how high we can push the bar. It's fun. We're playing on borrowed time. There's nothing to lose. It's exciting."
Despite failing to register a shot in the first half, the Eagles were able to create a couple of offensive chances. It wasn't until the 27th minute that the Rangers were able to break the tie and take the 1-0 lead. Ten minutes later, Drew earned a corner kick and launched a solid shot, but junior Robby Higgins (Middletown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) was there for the quick-reaction defensive save off the line.
"We picked a really unfortunate day to not be sharp," said Dubois. "Our passes weren't crisp. Our touches weren't good. Our shooting was off. We picked a bad day to have our worst technical game of the year. Our tactics worked like they usually do. We just couldn't connect the passes to make it work in our favor. We did switch tactics during the game and the guys handled that perfectly well. That's a good team. They're not in the postseason, but that's a really good team. I'm glad we don't have to play them again."
Juniata came to life in the second half, outshooting Drew 7-4 and earning two corners kicks. Drew scored an insurance goal in the 76th minute for the 2-0 lead.
"I think it was just a lot of the emotion that went into today," said Dubois. "We got a little tight because of the perceived stakes of the game and with the seniors it being their last game at home. There was just a lot of emotion in the game and it's hard to play sharp when you're relying on a lot of emotion. We've done a lot of work this year trying to keep emotion out of the game and just play soccer and it just didn't work out today. We'll be all right. It's going to be fun from here on out. If you lose your out and if you win you go on so there's no reason to hold back. We get to just go out and do the work. The guys will bounce back well."
Depending on the outcome of the match on Monday, the Eagles will either finish third or fourth and will travel to either Susquehanna University or Catholic.
"We've seen both teams [we could play] already," said Dubois. "We know roughly what they are going to do. I can't imagine they are going to change up a whole lot of tactics. It's just a matter of who's going to play the better game. Who shows up to win the day? Anytime you're in a postseason that's one-and-done, that's what it's all about, who shows up on the day. Who takes care of business on that day?"
The match marked the final home game for the class of 2014. The seven seniors have won the most games in their career in the history of Juniata College men's soccer.
"I'm proud of the way the seniors handled themselves," said Dubois. "Not just today, but throughout their entire careers. There have been a lot of ups and a lot more downs in their career. The fact that they have an opportunity to play extra is great. Everything they get from now out is making up for what they didn't get in past years. They get to just go out there, lay it out there, and see what they can do."
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