BOX SCORE

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS – When Heidelberg University men's soccer coach Brian Haley announced to his team that the 2014 season would be his last, he might not have anticipated that it would last as long as it has. On a windy and rainy evening, his Student Princes won the OAC Tournament Championship with a 5-4 victory at top-seeded John Carroll.

The win extends Heidelberg's season – and Haley's career. Heidelberg claims the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The brackets will be announced on NCAA.com, Monday at 1:30 p.m.

The match opened up with the Student Princes controlling the ball right away, finding a few opportunities. The Berg had a pair of corner kicks and were able to get off one shot, but nothing came of those chances in the first three minutes.

John Carroll countered quickly with some possession of their own, and in the 10th minute Kevin Pachuta found his way open off of a free kick by Jimmy Mattina and beat the keeper to give the Blue Streaks a 1-0 advantage.

Heidelberg was unable to battle back immediately, but after withstanding some more attacking by John Carroll, the Student Princes made their mark, and in a big way. In the 26th minute, Alexis Mendoza found Ryan Homoki in the box, who kicked the ball into the back of the net for the equalizer, seizing the momentum in the match.

Less than two minutes later, a foul was committed in the box by the Blue Streaks, giving Hamid Shariff the opportunity to convert a penalty kick, which he did, drilling the ball into the upper 90, giving Heidelberg a 2-1 lead.

The Student Princes did not back down with that, however, as they pushed forward and a ball got loose in the box, allowing Kyle Simpson to make a strike that beat the Blue Streak goalkeeper again, pushing the score to 3-1 in favor of the Berg.

In the 42nd minute, John Carroll unleashed a vicious offensive attack, making five shots in quick succession with two of them hitting the post, one getting saved by a Heidelberg defender, one getting blocked and the other going just wide, allowing Berg to clear the ball on a goal kick. That would be the last of the offense for the first period as Heidelberg entered the half with a two-goal advantage.

About five minutes into the second period, John Carroll got off a strike on goal, but it was knocked down by Matthew Stevens, only to have the Blue Streaks follow up with another shot attempt, this time going off of the post to deny their chance at a goal.

The two squads battled defensively until the 68th minute when Kurt Wilhelmbroke loose behind the Blue Streak defense and added on to the Heidelberg lead, making the score 4-1.

Right at the 70 minute mark, Heidelberg withstood a brutal attack by John Carroll and immediately went on the counter with a two-on-one. Garrett McAfee put a shot on goal that was saved, but the rebound came out in front of goal and Mendoza put it home, giving the Student Princes a commanding 5-1 lead.

The Blue Streaks would not go down without a fight, however, as they unleashed an onslaught of shots less than a minute later, which paid off when a loose ball in the box was drilled into the back of the net to make the score 5-2.

The match grew tense as the Blue Streaks scored twice late, as Dalton Browsky scored in the 86th minute and Mattina found the back of the net in the 88th.

Clinging to a 5-4 lead, the Tricolor was able to run the final 2:32 from the clock.

As the clock ran out, the Student Princes tore across the field and celebrated with a throng of Heidelberg fans, soaked from the unrelenting rain.

"I'm just so happy for the team, and the adversity they went through, to go on the road to win this trophy" said head coach Brian Haley. "Everybody played well. We just lived by our motto, 'one team, one squad' it paid dividends. Congratulations to all of them, I'm delighted for them."

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

Commitments: Sheehan Selects Big South Side

Men's Division I Postseason Top 100

2024 Men's DI Postseason Awards