ODAC run ends in penalty kicks for men's soccer

Eastern Mennonite University and Virginia Wesleyan College battled through 110 minutes of scoreless action before VWC captured the 2005 ODAC men's soccer championship in a penalty kick shootout 4-2 Saturday evening in Virginia Beach, Va.

VWC (14-5-1) won its eighth ODAC men's soccer championship and first since 2003. The Marlins will now make their 12th NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament appearance as the automatic qualifier from the ODAC. EMU (10-7-4) dropped to 2-3 in ODAC championship games, including 1-3 against VWC.

The Royals were trying to become just the second #7 seed to win the ODAC title. EMU previously won in 1996 as the seventh seed. It was also the fourth straight year that #1 met #7 in the ODAC title game. Like the previous three tournaments, it was the top seed and host that pulled out the victory.

The game was a defensive battle, as one might expect in a scoreless tie. The game was filled with aggressive play, tight defense by both sides, and solid goalkeeper play by EMU senior Tim Koehn (Harrisonburg, Va.) and VWC sophomore Kyle Williams (Springfield, Va.).

The Marlins had seven shots in the first half, compared to just one for the Royals as EMU struggled to find good looks on offense in the opening period. In the second frame, VWC again held an edge in shots, 8-3, but many of the Marlins' looks were from long distance and Koehn was able to keep them at bay.

VWC kept up the pressure in overtime, firing six shots in the first 10 minutes and four more shots in the second ten minutes. The Marlins played three consecutive corner kicks in the final overtime period, but couldn't connect on any of the opportunities as the game was sent into the penalty kick shootout.

In regulation, VWC led in shots 25-8 and corner kicks 9-3. Koehn finished with seven saves while Williams had two saves. EMU committed 19 fouls and six offsides infractions while VWC had 15 fouls and two offsides penalties.

In the shootout, senior Joel Shank (Harrisonburg, Va.) had the first opportunity and connected for a 1-0 EMU lead. However, senior Chris Mills (Virginia Beach, Va.) had the equalizer for VWC. Sophomore defender Braden Long (Yorktown, Va.) stepped up to nail the second PK for EMU followed by a successful shot by freshman Robert Mann (Chesapeake, Va.) for VWC.

Senior Adam Shank (Harrisonburg, Va.) had the next attempt for the Royals and his shot took an unlucky bounce off the crossbar. The ball dropped down from the bar and innocently rolled away from the goal. Sophomore Evan Rodway (Columbia, Md.) made good on his shot for a 3-2 lead for the Marlins.

Freshman Junior Kamandua (Harrisonburg, Va.) was the fourth entry for the Royals, but VWC's sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Monastra (Lake Ridge, Va.) guessed correctly on Kamandua's shot to the right side of the goal and made the save. Freshman Hugo Escanuela (Sag Harbor, N.Y.) then stepped up and put the game away for the Marlins for a 4-2 PK victory after the scoreless tie.

A record crowd of both VWC and EMU fans turned out for the championship match and were treated to an intense match-up. The 1,329 fans on hand as part of an overflow crowd helped to set a Virginia Wesleyan record for attendance at a men's soccer game.