After a full 90 minutes of play and double overtime, the Blue Jays took the eighth-ranked Franklin & Marshall Diplomats to penalty kicks in the semi-finals of the Centennial Conference Tournament. The final score was 0-0, but the Blue Jays fell short 4-3 in penalty kicks.
“I thought it was a great game with both sides competing and giving it all they had,” freshman midfielder and forward Achim Younker said. “We always believed we were the better team, and we proved that by how we played. [We] just couldn’t get a goal to get the result.”
Offensively, the Blue Jays came out with a strong and steady performance. They totaled 21 shots and 15 shots on goal. In comparison, the Diplomats only tallied 13 shots, six of which were on goal.
“Even though I think we dominated the game offensively, their defense did a great job of holding us off, and they had a number of good chances as well,” Younker said.
The Diplomats have been averaging two goals per game this season, but senior goalkeeper Bryan See and the Blue Jays’ strong defensive front kept them off the board for the first 110 minutes of Saturday’s game.
See saved five shots in regular play, marking his ninth shutout of the season. He is tied for ninth in most shutouts during a single season in school history. See finished the season with a 0.486 goals against average and an .880 save percentage. He leads the Conference and is ranked third in school history for both and has has only allowed nine goals in 18 games and none in the final four games.
The score was still 0-0 after two rounds of overtime, which led to penalty kicks, among the most nerve racking moments in soccer.
Junior co-captain and forward Mike Swiercz shot and succeeded for the Blue Jays’ first round of penalty kicks. The Diplomats also scored on their first penalty kick, tying it up at 1-1.
Neither team scored on the second round of penalty kicks, with both goalkeepers successfully protecting the goal. It was still 1-1 going into the third round of penalty kicks.
In the third round, the Diplomats tallied another score, while the Blue Jays were unable to convert their shot. The Diplomats led 2-1.
Both teams scored in the fourth round, and the Diplomats kept their lead at 3-2.
In the fifth round, senior co-captain and forward Victor Osio scored for the Blue Jays. Defensively, See stopped the Diplomats’ junior midfielder Stephen Sherbahn, tying up the game and bringing about a final sudden death round.
In the last round, the Diplomats’ senior goalkeeper Dave Reingold made a stop, and the Diplomats were able to convert a decisive goal to seal the 4-3 penalty kicks victory.
Younker shared that despite the loss, he was still immensely proud of the way he and his teammates played. “At the end of the day, we played an amazing game, and I thought we deserved to win, but that’s just how the game of soccer goes sometimes,” Younker said.
The Diplomats’ victory in the semifinals advanced them to compete in the finals of the Centennial Conference Tournamentthe next day, which resulted in a loss to the Haverford Fords.
The Blue Jays are now 39-24-7 all-time and 3-0-1 in the Centennial Conference Tournament against the Diplomats. Competition has been tight between the two teams, with a single goal deciding the outcome of a game 16 times within the last 16 years.
Saturday’s semi-final game also marked the 11th time since 2000 that the Blue Jays and the Diplomats have taken a game to overtime.
The Blue Jays had a successful season. They won eight out of the nine most recent games they played, with the then second-ranked Diplomats being the only team to have defeated them.
Younker noted that this was the best season that the team has had in recent memory, and they have a lot to be proud about heading into the offseason.
“A 12-win season is the best the program has had since 2010,” Younker said. “The amount of growth we’ve shown as a team over the past few months has been unbelievable, and we will only get better in the coming seasons.”
Moving forward, the Blue Jays are focused on having a strong offseason to prepare for next year.
“We definitely will be lifting and running a good amount [in the off-season],” Younker said. “Being in the best shape possible is essential for being a championship team. We need to build the work ethic, skill level and team chemistry that we’ve already established this season and carry that over into the next.”
The Jays will be looking to carry their momentum into next year, as they are set to retain a number of key contributors.
However, they will be without their star striker and all-Conference standout Samy Ramadane, who will be graduating in the Spring.
Replacing Ramadane’s leadership will be vital if the Jays want to build on their semifinal finish in the Centennial and attempt to capture the Conference crown next season.
It will definitely be exciting to watch and see who else emerges for the Jays in 2017. But for now, the athletes will just be looking toward improving their skill set during the off season and keeping up their conditioning by following their training programs.
