Dallas Soccer Falls in NEAC Tournament Finals

After making an inspired run through the NEAC Conference Tournament, including a 4-0 thrashing of top seeded Penn State Abington in the semifinals, the Crusaders season ended this evening when they fell in double overtime of the NEAC Conference Championship match to third seeded Cazenovia College, 2-1. It was a tough way to finish there season after coming so close to qualifying for the NCAA tournament as they had last year.

After a defensive struggle, in which junior goalkeeper Paul Stauduhar (Longwood, FL/Lake Mary H.S.) was forced to make 5 saves, Cazenovia scored first in the 75th minute, but the Crusaders quickly answered, when just four minutes later junior midfielder/forward Ryan Meske (Niwot, CO/Niwot H.S.) scored off an assist from freshman forward Garret Johnson (Lewisville, TX/Lewisville H.S.). Also contributing for Dallas was junior midfielder Sam Sheetz (Alexandria, VA/Bishop Denis J. O’Connell H.S.) who had 5 shots, and sophomore midfielder Michael Chapman (Madison, MS/St. Joseph Catholic School H.S.) with 3 shots.

The game ended regulation time with no other scores, and the first overtime also ended with the same result, a 1-1 deadlock. But sadly, the Crusaders season ended in the second overtime when Cazenovia finally managed to get one past Stauduhar in the 107th minute. With the conclusion of the NEAC Tournament the season ends for Dallas Soccer. Their final record stands at 7-9-3.