KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The Covenant College soccer team's hopes of claiming a first-ever NCCAA National Championship trophy fell short on Thursday as the team slumped to a 4-0, semifinal defeat at the feet of Cedarville University. After advancing to the final four via a dramatic 3-2 victory over Hope International University just one day prior, the Scots were unable to maintain the momentum that was required to come out victorious in a game that wasn't quite as lopsided as the score suggests.
The evening began badly for the Scots when they surrendered a goal to Cedarville's Ryan Thurman after just seven minutes of play. The early goal sparked both teams to life, and Covenant earned several key chances of its own in the first half. Julian Allgeier saw his crossed free kick elude the keeper only to hit off the crossbar, Tyler Morrison saw his one-on-one with the keeper tipped inches wide of the goalpost, and David Pifer had a thunderous free kick ricochet off the crossbar. Cedarville withstood the pressure, though, and rode the 1-0 lead into the break.
The fifth-seeded Yellow Jackets opened the second half, though, much like they had the first; with a goal. Eventual Offensive Player of the Tournament Matt Niemiec flicked in a Ryan Thurman cross to double the advantage after just one minute of play, and when James Twinem scored a penalty to make it 3-0 some twelve minutes later, the contest was essentially put to rest.
"In the end, they were the better team today. They got on a roll and got the breaks they needed in the first half to keep their slim lead," said Head Coach Nathan Pifer. Pifer's Scots conceded one more goal in the game – a Matt Niemiec header for his second goal and an unreachable 4-0 lead – that effectively doomed them to a second consecutive appearance in the tournament's consolation game. The final shot count was 17-10 in Cedarville's favor.
"Our goal at the beginning of the season was obviously to win this thing, but we came up one game short, so now we are forced to play in the third place game for the second year in a row," said Pifer. "Either way, I'm still proud of what this team accomplished, and I hope our young players will learn from the example these seniors have set so that they can step up and fill their shoes in the years to come."
On Saturday, Covenant concluded the tournament in the above-mentioned third place game (which it won last year), and with all of the young guys earning a chance to play, came out on the wrong side of a 5-0 loss to Judson University. The defending champion Judson Eagles scored two penalty kicks and three breakaways in the first half to put the game out of reach, and Covenant never managed to claw any of the goals back. "I think the first half was rough," said Pifer, "but I saw some good things in the second that we can look to build upon for 2011."
With the season now officially over, the Scots have finished with a 14-8-1 overall record and a 4th place trophy from the NCCAA National Tournament. Senior Hunt Davidson and sophomore Chris Pifer were named to the All-Tournament team for their performances over the three game stretch, and although Davidson will ride his award into the sunset, Chris Pifer and the rest of the remaining underclassmen will look to return next year and build upon the semifinal finish.
