GREENSBORO, N.C. (December 5, 2008) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's soccer team will play for the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship. The Ducks dominated Amherst College 4-1 on Friday afternoon at Macpherson Stadium in Greensboro, N.C. in a national semifinal match to earn a date with Messiah College in Saturday's National Championship game. Messiah cruised 3-0 over Loras College in the first semifinal of the day. Stevens broke through less than four minutes into the game and never looked back as the Ducks got two goals and an assist from junior Terrence Johnson in the victory.
Stevens (19-2-4) got on the board just 3:52 in when Johnson made a run on a long ball into the box. Amherst keeper Leonard Kovacs (Wolfersdorf, Germany) met Johnson at the top-right corner of the 18 but could not control the ball. Junior Todd Sheridan did control, made two touches and lifted his shot into the top right of the net to put the Ducks on top. It was Sheridan's 12th tally of the season and the first goal Amherst had allowed in its last seven games.
About five minutes later, senior captain Jeremy Lippel put a nice through ball into the left side of the box to Nolan Sandberg, but Kovacs got to the ball just in time to thwart a solid Stevens chance.
The Ducks took a commanding 2-0 lead at the 17:36 mark when junior back Chris Faustino carried the ball down the left sideline from more than 40-yards out, crossed in front at the end line and found Johnson who scored for the 15th time this season.
Amherst had some solid chances starting at the 25-minute mark, but the Stevens defense held strong. The best opportunity came after a hard cross across the box from left to right, but senior Jake Duker (Newton, Mass.) was too strong with his initial touch in front and senior Jason Nachman cleared for the Ducks.
Stevens controlled the ball and field position for a most of the first half, but when Amherst did get possession, the Stevens defense was suffocating. Every time the Lord Jeffs got deep into the Duck zone, a Stevens defender was there to get it out. Faustino, Nachman, junior Josh Williams, and senior Peter Montalvo all played very strong on the back line for the first 45 minutes.
Inside of five minutes in the opening half, the Lord Jeffs put some free kicks deep into the Stevens penalty box but could not convert, and the Ducks went into the break with a 2-0 lead. Stevens ended the opening stanza with a 3-1 edge in shots as Amherst took the half's only corner.
Less than seven minutes into the second, Johnson had the ball deep in the Amherst zone, tapped out to the top of the box to Sheridan, but he couldn't get off a clean shot. About a minute later, Johnson tracked down a looser ball inside the box, put a move on the keeper and banged home a shot for his second goal of the game and a 3-0 Stevens lead. A lengthy discussion amongst the officials followed as to whether the goal should count, and it was eventually decided it was in fact a score. The debate was over a downed Amherst player, but the whistle never blew, Stevens never lost possession and the Ducks did what any team is taught, play until the whistle blows.
The next 20-plus minutes saw the Ducks continue to dominate both sides of the ball. Both Johnson, Lippel, and senior Craig Moquin made some solid runs at the goal, and any time Amherst had a chance, a host of Stevens defenders were around the rock to put an end to the opportunity.
Amherst cut the lead to two when Duker found the back of the net after a cross from senior Nick Lynch (Kingston, Jamaica) with 13:10 remaining. Duker one-timed the shot from eight-yards out.
The Ducks immediately answered 50 seconds later. Johnson angled a pass to the top-left corner of the box where a streaking Al Lockhart controlled, made a move to get the keeper off balance and put a low tracer in the back of the net from 10-yards out. It was Lockhart's third score of the season.
The Lockhart tally was the dagger as a deflated Amherst (15-4-3) squad could not muster much in the final 10 minutes. Stevens ended the game with an 8-7 edge in shots, but those numbers do not come close to telling the story as the Ducks clearly outplayed the Lord Jeffs in every facet of the contest.
Sophomore Zach Carr earned the win in net, making three saves.
The Ducks will now play Messiah for the National Championship on Saturday at 1 p.m. Messiah rolled over Loras College 3-0 in the first semifinal and will be looking for its sixth title in the last nine years. The Ducks will come into the game looking for their first title in program history.
