By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – At the start of the 2013 season, the Juniata College men's soccer team had never qualified for a post-season tournament. They had never won more than 10 games in a season and had never finished higher than seventh in the Landmark Conference. In recent years they had been knocking on the door and this season they charged straight through. After almost three months of competition and 22 games, none of those facts stood true any more. The Eagles finished the year 13-6-3 over all, fourth in the Landmark regular season, second in the conference tournament, and earned an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament berth.
"The season was special for so many reasons," said head coach Dan Dubois. "There were a lot of points during the year where it felt like we could be headed down a path like we had in the past; start out really well and then all of a sudden go down hill and not level out until there's really nothing to gain or to lose – when all of a sudden all you're playing for is pride. This year, every time we thought, as a coaching staff, we might be hitting one of those spots; the guys bounced back and turned things around. They made something out of it and answered the call."
Juniata was picked to finish sixth in the conference by the league preseason poll. The ranking was the highest preseason standing the Eagles had ever received and they confounded even those expectations.
"I don't know if, as coaches, we addressed the guys differently or if the team was just that different, but I have to think the team was just something different this year," said Dubois. "I don't think the staff did things much different than in the past. We had to keep a level head. It would have been very easy to get an inflated ego, but the guys kept their heads on straight, kept muscling through everything, thinking through everything, and really keeping on track. That's really why it was special for us as a program."
From even the first game on conference play the season was different. Juniata had never started out league play 1-0 let alone the 2-0-1 they accomplished in the first half of the conference season.
"There were so many new challenges this season," said Dubois. "They were great challenges - great problems to have to deal with. Every time we did, the guys handled it really well. Not only did we accomplish a lot, but we also learned a lot."
Top 5 Moments
28 September – Eagles defeat Scranton for first time in program history
On a warm and overcast day, in front of a home crowd at Winton Hill Field, behind an outstanding defensive effort, and a late overtime goal from junior Robby Higgins (Middletown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), the Eagles earned a win over The University of Scranton for not only Juniata's first Landmark win of the year, but also a win over the Royals for the first time in program history.
2 November – Juniata qualifies for first ever post-season appearance
On the final day of conference play, the Eagles spent their senior day barbeque waiting to see if their 3-3-1 league record would be good enough to qualify them for their first ever post-season bid. The news spread quickly that Juniata had clinched the No. 4 seed and would hit the road for No. 1 Catholic. The 2013 team became the first team in Juniata men's soccer history to play beyond the regular season.
7 November – Eagles upset top-seeded Catholic in Landmark Tournament
Playing on barrowed time, Juniata stepped onto Catholic's field less than two weeks after suffering a defeat on the very same pitch and didn't blink. The Eagles scored in the sixth minute of play and again just before the halftime horn. A mere minute out of the break, Juniata had a three-goal lead and advanced to the tournament championship with a 3-1 upset win.
9 November – Juniata competes in Landmark Championship match
In front of a massive and rowdy crowd, the Eagles took on Susquehanna University under the lights on Sassafras field to determine the 2013 Landmark champion. Juniata eventually fell to the Crusaders on a late second half goal, but in the Eagles first ever post-season appearance they competed for a conference title.
11 November – Eagles selected to participate in programs' first ECAC Tournament
Juniata was one of eight teams selected to participate in the ECAC South Tournament. The Eagles also earned hosting rights for the programs first ever home post-season match. The tournament birth was yet another first for the Juniata men's soccer record books.
"When each one of those things happened, we were all ecstatic, but after, it went quickly from 'this is great' and 'is this really happening' to 'ok, this can't be that big of a deal' and 'this can't be where it ends,'" said Dubois. "The message we gave to the team was, this is great, but is this where you want to stop? And the answer was always no, we want to keep going. We told them what we have to do to go forward and the guys just ate that up. It was always, no, we're not done. They just continued to climb this year."
Bonus: 1– 21 October – Juniata regionally ranked for three consecutive weeks by NSCAA
After the Eagles win over Scranton they found themselves ranked No.8 in the Mid Atlantic region by the National Soccer Coach Association of America (NSCAA) for the first time in program history. The ranking was not a one-off as Juniata remained in the top-10 in the region for three solid weeks.
"The ranking means a lot to the guys because they have friends, and opponents, and acquaintance, that play for teams that are always in those rankings," said Dubois. "We compete against a lot of those teams and to never be in that same discussion is taxing. The guys have always handled it well. When all of a sudden we were up there, and stayed there for three weeks, it showed, not only can we do it, not only do we belong there, but also, we can stay there, long term."
All year long the Eagles continued to confound expectations and turn heads in the men's soccer world.
"Each one of those things, we were looking at each other and saying, 'did that just happen?'" added Dubois. "The goal against Scranton, the ranking, then waiting to see if we'd make post season. We were thinking of what happened in past years. Yes we've done well, yes, the deck is in our favor, but things could still go wrong. Then in the game against Catholic, going up a goal, going up two goals, going up three goals, and we were all thinking, 'is this really going on right now?' It was always about making sure we kept the guys focused and going in the right direction. The Susquehanna game, just as a game was unbelievable, and then you add to that, we're playing in a championship game. Each one of those things got more and more exciting."
At the end of the season, three Eagles were named Second-Team All-Landmark selections. Senior Dane Azeles (Duncansville, Pa. Hollidaysburg) earned his second all-league honor while juniors Nick Weit (Litiz, Pa./Warwick) and Higgins both garnered their first Landmark accolades. Dubois was also recognized as the Landmark coach of the year.
"You're in awe of what you're doing all while trying to not be in awe of what you're doing and pretending like you've done it before," said Dubois. "You hear people say, 'act like you've been there.' That's easy to say when you've been there. When you've never been there, you have to handle it and I think this year the team handled it very well. That's 34 years of history that we jumped in front of this year. The challenge is to make sure we keep going forward."
The senior class for Juniata helped propel the Eagles through the season and the seven departing upperclassmen have left their mark as the programs most accomplished class.
"The two biggest things these seniors brought were passion and leadership," said Dubois. "As a group they led this team where it went. It didn't happen by accident. These guys knew what they wanted to accomplish this year and they were willing to do whatever it took to get that to happen. They did it the right way. Those are the kind of leaders that you want."
Azeles, Andy Blunk (State College, Pa./State College), Evan Decker (New Berlin, Pa./Mifflinburg), Anthony Glossner (Centre Hall, Pa./Penns Valley), Ben Kitko (Lock Haven, Pa./Central Mountain), Austin Nace (Littlestown, Pa./Littlestown), and Seth Ruggiero (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) won 36 games in their career and doubled career-conference-victories is their senior season alone.
"They were very passionate about the way they went about doing things," added Dubois. "This meant the world to them. This team meant everything to these guys. It's been there life for four years, as it has for every senior class that has gone through, but as we've been getting more and more competitive it gets easy to say, 'we're better than we were so I've done my job.' These guys never said that. They knew there was an end point they wanted to get to. They wanted to be that first team, the leaders and the seniors on that first team, that made post season. They never once waivered from that. They pushed the team every day and kept everyone in check."
The combination of talented youth and strong leadership helped the Juniata College men's soccer team to new heights. The 2013 season raised the bar for future Eagles and made a statement: Juniata soccer is eager for more.
"With all the leadership leaving, the challenge is going to be, can the younger guys that got the experience this year keep that going?" said Dubois. "They had good examples to follow this year and the upper classmen for the coming year have played a lot. They know what's going on and they know how to lead a team. We want to see, can we keep taking steps forward?"
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