Dan Sherman
Asst. SID
Juniata
814-641-3513
Coming off a 2013 season in which the team won ten-plus games for the first time in program history, earning its first playoff birth, and finishing second in the Landmark tournament, head coach Dan Dubois’ team was looking to continue taking steps forward. Despite losing a strong senior class, this year’s group had the talent and leadership skills to lead this team.
Unfortunately, the team took a step back in a very competitive conference that saw its top two teams from the previous season finish at the bottom of the rankings in 2014. Said Dubois, “It was certainly not what the team thought they were in for after the 2013 campaign. Overconfidence combined with some key injuries led to some early disappointments.” After a slow start, the team started to click and controlled their own destiny as the regular season dwindled to a close, “The good thing was that the team was able to regroup and get themselves in position to make a run at the end of the season that fell just a couple games short.”
The team got off to a slow start on offense, but was able to find the net with greater success as the season progressed, “One of the biggest highlight for our season has to be the way we were able to score goals in bunches at times late in the season. After a pretty slow start to the year, we went through a series of matches where we scored 13 goals in a 5 games span that really showed offensively what we could do.” Another obstacle the team had to overcome was the loss of its top two returning keepers early in the season, “After losing both of the goal keepers that played almost all of the minutes last year, James Johnson (Cumberland, MD / Fort Hill) and Garrett Lavelle (Eden, NY / Eden) both stepped up, doing everything we could possibly have asked of them between the pipes.”
Undeterred by the struggles, the team was able to overcome adversity and earn several conference victories, “Getting a couple of Landmark Conference victories felt pretty good as well and I know the team probably enjoyed them the most.”
10 September – Arrivillaga Strikes Twice as Eagles defeat Pitt-Bradford 2-1 at Home
Sophomore Dani Meyer-Arrivillaga (Durham, NC / Carolina Friends) scored twice to carry the Eagles over the Panthers for the team’s second win of the season. The forward put the Eagles on top 1-0 seven minutes into the match, heading in a cross from senior Pat McEvoy (Avon, NY / Avon Central). The Panthers tied the match a 1-1 early in the second half, but Meyer-Arrivillaga helped his team retake the lead, scoring off an assist from Adam Heller (Rockville, MD / Colonel Zadak Magruder).
7 October - Offense Comes to Life in 3-2 Win Over PSU-Berks
Tied at 2-2 with 10 minutes left in the match, Nick Stone-Weiss (North Olmsted, OH / North Olmsted) dribbled through the Penn State defense and scored the game-winning goal in the 87th minute to seal the victory. Dubois was encouraged by his team’s offensive output, “All we’ve worked on in training is how we want and need to move the ball, where and when we need to. Today, we finally started to see some of that success. We had an attacking threat that we really haven’t had this season.” The game was the team’s fifth in a row playing away from Winton Hill Field. The Eagles and Dubois were excited to return home to face Moravian in a conference match the following Saturday.
2 September - 3-0 victory over St. Vincent in the home opener
After being shutout in the first two matches of the season, the team scored its first three goals of the season, earning their first victory of the year in front of the home crowd. Chandler Steffen (Lewisberry, PA / Red Land) struck first in the 29th minute on an unassisted goal. Seniors Robby Higgins (Middletown, PA / Lower Dauphin) and Stone-Weiss each added a goal about a minute apart in the second half to put the game away.
After defeating PSU Berks 3-2, the team returned to Winton Hill Field, and the offense stayed hot, scoring another three goals to earn back-to-back 3-2 wins and their first against a Landmark rival. Tied at 2-2 late in the match, Meyer-Arrivillaga came through yet again for the Eagles scoring on a one-on-one opportunity in front of the net off of a through ball from Aaron Kulig (Green Lane, PA / Boyertown). “They guys have worked really hard in training and gained a little confidence this last week, scoring six goals in two games, after having only one in the previous seven. I’m glad their hard work is paying off. They fought through adversity today. We were playing against a dangerous opponent. They pushed hard in the second half, but we were able to weather the storm.”
Meyer-Arrivillaga scored twice, with Stone-Weiss and Kulig adding goals of their own as the Eagles scored a season high four times to defeat Susquehanna for the first time in 24 years to earn their second conference victory. After Juniata took an early 2-0 lead, the Crusaders retaliated with a pair of their own to tie the match early in the second half. Meyer-Arrivillaga helped the Eagles retake the lead with his team leading sixth score of the season and Kulig added an insurance goal with 10 minutes remaining in the match to lock up the win in a rematch of the previous season’s Landmark Championship game. Dubois stated after the match, “I know our team and Susquehanna are both not what they were last year when we met in the championship match, but they’re both competitive teams that are going at it. For us to create opportunities the way we did, etting these seniors go out on a high note for their careers. It sets the rest of the team up well for coming back for a great year in 2015.”
Higgins was the lone Eagle to receive conference honors at the end of the season. The senior earned 1st team All-Conference for his performance this season. Higgins trailed Arrivillaga and fellow senior Stone-Weiss, finishing third on the team with three goals. Described by his coach as, “the energy and fight behind everything our team does. He always finds a way to be involved in every play and more often than not comes out on top”, the mid was a crucial part of the offense this season and was part of a strong senior class of leaders.
Seniors
“The class of seniors that we are losing is one of the most talented groups to ever go through the program. It feels as though we are losing our ‘rock’ in every aspect of the team. Offense, defense, midfield, leadership and talent all take a hit as this group leaves. The good thing is that this group has also left a lasting impact on the program, which is going to make us better in the future.”