The Patriot League opposition of the AU Men's Soccer team knew who to keep an eye on coming into this weekend's PL tournament at Reeves Field - or so they thought. Lafayette and Lehigh both kept sophomore midfielder Salvatore Caccavale and senior forwards Sean Albright and David Marut in check, and PL Offensive Player of the Year Shawn Kuykendall was at least contained.
But somehow, sophomore midfielder Garth Juckem slipped under the radar. It was a fatal miscue for both of AU's opponents, as Juckem scored the game-winner in two 1-0 wins, leading AU to one PL trophy, one NCAA tournament bid and a 14-5-2 record.
"He sure picked a heck of a weekend to step up," said Todd West, AU head coach. "To score two game-winning goals in a tournament like this - that's big time."
In Sunday's championship game against Lehigh, Juckem pestered the Mountain Hawk defense all day, but needed overtime to break a scoreless deadlock that didn't reflect an action-packed affair. Just two minutes into overtime, Juckem struck a gorgeous game-winner worthy of deciding such a match. After receiving a pass from Kuykendall, Juckem curled a shot from the left corner of the penalty area just inside the right post and past Lehigh 'keeper Charlie Sales.
"It started in the second half," Juckem said. "I saw they kept expecting me to cross the ball, cross the ball and cross the ball. So this one time I was not going to cross the ball, and have a go. As soon as I hit it I knew it was going in."
The entire team then joined Juckem sprinting to the far sideline into a mob of students, who rushed from their seats to celebrate AU's first PL Men's Soccer title.
Meanwhile, Lehigh, which looked every bit AU's equal, especially in the first half, stood dejected, watching the celebrations and wondering if the selection committee might give the Mountain Hawks an at-large berth, with an 11-7-2 record.
"I hope the league pushes the fact that whoever loses this game will be waiting for the NCAA selection show," West said in support of Lehigh. "I think it's a two-bid league this year." The Eagles will watch the selection show, on ESPNews Monday at 4:30 p.m., knowing their PL win puts them in the tournament and eagerly awaiting the announcement of their destination. "If we can get anyone here, or on a flat surface somewhere else, and just play our game, we're not scared," Kuykendall said. "We're hot right now. After being 4-4-1, I think we're something like 10-1-1 in our last 12."
Kuykendall's math checked out. But the preservation of AU's good form never seemed certain.
For a while, it looked like the Mountain Hawks might secure that NCAA bid, and they looked very dangerous early on. Brandon Smith came closest to putting Lehigh ahead in the 39th minute, with his 20-yard half volley hitting the crossbar.
AU turned up the pressure in the second half. Twice in the early portions of the period, Juckem whipped crosses to Albright, whose headers went wide or didn't beat Sales. Later, Kuykendall carried the ball into the penalty area, made contact with a Lehigh player and went to the ground before shooting. No foul was called, but the Eagles appealed for a penalty kick.
The Eagles kept pushing but didn't create any glaring chances. Then Lehigh nearly stole a win in the 80th minute on a counterattack, stringing together three passes from right to left before Kyle Hartman's worm-burner missed just wide of the left post.
Ten minutes later, regulation ended, and two minutes after that, AU booked its tournament ticket.
The Mountain Hawks advanced to the final by defeating Bucknell in a penalty-kick tiebreak Friday after the two sides held each other scoreless for all 90 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime.
After that match, the Eagles took to a muddy, chewed-up Reeves Field surface to take on Lafayette in the second semifinal, played in bone-chilling rain and wind. The tussle, because of muddy field conditions, often looked more like American football than the global variety.
AU again persevered, 1-0, and again Juckem was the difference-maker.
Juckem's goal, which ended up the match-winner despite coming early in the match, was obviously important. But just as importantly, Juckem sparked much of AU's offensive pressure, keeping the Leopards from developing any rhythm of their own in the teams' second meeting within a week.
"The big thing is confidence," said Juckem, who has noticeably improved over the season's second half, but not to the extent to foreshadow his tournament eruption. "Once you start to believe in yourself, you become the player you were brought here to be."
The confidence that oozed into Juckem channeled from the Leopards, who grew increasingly frustrated as the match progressed. That frustration exploded in the 64th minute, when the referee ejected Leopard head coach Dennis Bohn for persistent verbal dissent. And it resurfaced when Leopard midfielder Victor Krasij was sent off in the 80th minute for dissent after receiving a yellow card for a dangerous tackle.
Krasij's ejection seemed to be the last straw. Juckem's goal, meanwhile, was the first. That game-winner, created by a wonderful curving ball from Kuykendall, came in just the eighth minute.
Kuykendall's ball dipped in from the right. Senior forward Sean Albright made a run down the middle and just missed the cross. But Albright's run kept Lafayette 'keeper Mike Tortora honest, allowing Juckem to reach the ball at the back post and tuck it by the charging goaltender.
"It was planned for [Albright] to flick on or dummy to someone," Kuykendall said. "I knew if it skips to Garth, he could put it away, and he did."
Aside from that chance, the Eagles and Leopards both used mostly an aerial attack, since passes played on the ground would die in patches of muddy earth or puddles of dirty water. Players were as likely to be grounded as the ball was, with soggy conditions allowing for an abundance of hard slide tackling.
On a few occasions, the Eagles did muster dangerous chances to double the lead. Juckem twice just missed the goal-frame on mid-range shots in the first half. Then in the 56th minute, the midfielder almost scored a goal for the ages, drilling a shot from about 35 yards, well out of Tortora's reach. But that effort smacked against the crossbar. In the 75th minute, Dave Marut reached a rebound of yet another Juckem shot, but somehow the senior forward ended up sliding into the net, while the ball did not.
