Sport in world

Close calls the story for Western in 2007

January 11, 2008 on 8:40 pm | In Athletics |

MACOMB, Ill. The Western Illinois men’s soccer team quest for a fourth straight trip to the NCAA tournament in 2007 fell short in a season of tough games.

For the first time since 2001, the Leathernecks (7-10-3, 2-3-1 Summit League) missed the conference tournament with a fifth place finish. Their tournament life came down to the final weekend of the season. Unfortunately a loss at Oral Roberts, November 9, coupled with UMKC and Oakland playing to a tie the next day, left Western a game out of fourth place.

Senior Phil Duret was the lone Leatherneck to be given Summit League honors, being placed on the second-team. In his senior season, the Sarasota, Fla., native registered two goals. His first came at then No. 12 Northwestern and he followed that up three days later with a goal at IPFW. The goals were the first of his career and helped propel him to defensive player of the week honors November 5.

Despite the losing record, Western played nearly every opponent tightly. Out of the 20 matches for the Leathernecks this season, 12 were decided by a single goal, in addition to their three ties on the season. In Summit League play, all three loses came by one goal, to the first, second, and third-place teams in the final standings.

While the offense for the Leathernecks struggled, scoring only 19 goals, the defense held strong by only allowing 20 scores. Western utilized two goalkeepers throughout the season. Stephen Paterson and Charlie Sales combined to allow the fewest goals out of all league teams. Western also led the conference in goals against average at a mark of 0.96.

In his first season at Western, Sales broke the single-season record for goals against average with 0.83. The Springfield, Ill., native contributed two shutouts, to go along with two ties on the year, one of which came at No. 10 Creighton.

Martin Browne, Jr. led the Leathernecks in scoring for the second-straight year. The sophomore from Brooklyn Park, Minn., registered three goals to go along with three assists, for nine total points. Also contributing three goals this season were seniors Preston Bernardi and Dwain Barker. All three goals for Barker were game-winners in the final three victories of the season.

Despite not having a chance at a fourth-straight trip to the NCAA tournament, Western made the most of what tournament play it saw this season. The Leathernecks opened up the year in the Appalachian State Classic with victories over Appalachian State (2-1) and Georgia Southern (1-0) to bring home the title. Luke Greenwell was named tournament MVP for his two game-winning goals, while Phil Duret notched defensive MVP honors. Joining Duret and Greenwell on the all-tournament team were Bernardi, Browne, and J.J. Stefanic. Greenwell was also named Summit League Offensive Player of the Week for his effort in the tournament.

One week later, they brought home their second tournament championship. In the Comfort Inn/Diadora Classic at Missouri State, Western defeated Drake (1-0) and tied Missouri State (1-1). Jona Andrade, Nikola Katic, along with Bernardi and Browne, captured all-tournament team honors. The second title of the year also brought another individual honor from the league. Paterson was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Week after registering a shutout and a tie in the tournament.

The Leathernecks lose seven seniors from this year’s squad as Barker, Bernardi, Duret, Jonathan Fridal, Greg Jones, Stefan King, and Stefanic all move on. Western does return more than half of its scoring offense, along with both goalkeepers for next season.

Originaly from Source