11.07.07
No. 1 Trinity Too Much For ASC Champs
Undefeated Tigers Make Comets' Trip To NCAA Playoffs Short-Lived
SAN ANTONIO, TX - Just three days after winning the American Southwest Conference championship and automatic berth in the NCAA Division III national tournament, the 2007 season came to a screeching halt for the UTD men's soccer team.
Trinity University (19-0), which the Comets drew for their first-round opponent, remained undefeated and ranked at the top of two seperate national polls after posting a dominating 3-0 win over UTD Wednesday night.
The Comets ' season ends with a 14-4-3 overall record while Trinity moves on to host a regional tournament this weekend with hopes of winning its second national title in the last four seasons.
The Tigers left little doubt of the outcome of this match by scoring twice in the first 14:34 of the contest, then keeping the pressure on the Comets offensively the rest of the way. After giving up the two early goals, UTD was able to hold off an attack that included 30 shots (14 on goal). The Comet backline of senior Rory Rahn, Coleman Cochran, Nate Danko and others held up well under the pressure, but were constantly called upon to quash Trinity attacks.
Trinity finally broke through with a third goal 15 minutes into the second period. At that point, the Comets had been able to muster only four total shots and had not put a single shot on goal. UTD was able to mount a bit of a threat late as leading scorer Kevin White had a pair of chances to get the Comets on the board (and break UTD's alltime single season scoring record), but backup goalkeeper Patrick Johnson deflecting one shot away with a diving save and the other went wide to the left. The Comets ended with just six total shots.