posted November 20, 2008
) Luidgi Beauzile celebrates after Lee’s victory over Berry last Saturday. |
The Cougars, who are making their first-ever appearance in the NAIA National Championship, are currently 15-3-2 overall and ranked No.7 in the final NAIA poll. MVNU, which had never cracked the Top 25 prior to this season, finished second in the American Mideast Conference regular-season standings with an 8-1-2 mark and then dropped a hard-fought 2-1 decision at NAIA No. 2 Notre Dame College, the AMC regular-season champion, last Saturday in the AMC Tournament championship match as the team’s school-record 10-match winning streak came to an end.
For the Flames, its has been a season of ups and downs from a record stand point, but also a season of perseverance that is now paying big dividends. The team has played a tough schedule that has included a 0-4-1 record against teams in the Top 25, and a 2-2-1 record in five other matches against teams receiving votes.
Lee dropped seven matches this season by one goal including five to ranked or receiving votes teams. Their 9-9-2 overall record is very deceiving. They have also battled through injuries and seem to be peaking at just the right time. Coach Henry Moyo’s team has a 3-0-1 mark in their last four matches, winning the Southern Stats Athletic Conference Tournament despite being the No. 6 seed.
Having earned the first NAIA post-season home match in school history by finishing second in the AMC regular-season standings, the Cougars then pulled off the biggest win in the program’s history to date with a 1-0 shutout of then No. 5 Rio Grande in the AMC Tournament semifinals, snapping a 19-year winless streak against the Red Storm. That win, coupled with Notre Dame’s semifinal victory, guaranteed MVNU a spot in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.
Lee countered with huge SSAC tournament decisions over Southern Poly and Auburn Montgomery. They won a tournament match for the first time over long-time NAIA power Berry College to gain the berth in the nationals.
Senior forward Adam Worrall leads MVNU with 20 goals and nine assists in 20 matches and is among the top five in the NAIA with eight game-winning goals. Sophomore forward Rockey Cane has scored seven goals, while freshman forward Chris Allen and junior defender Brady Swanson have added six goals apiece.
Junior midfielders Chris Mast and Scott Spangler have each registered six assists and 14 different players have combined to score the team’s 54 goals. Defensively, junior goalkeeper Alex Stout has posted a school-record 11 shutouts and allowed just 13 goals for a 0.69 goals against average.
Lee has also had a lot of balance in its offensive attack with 12 different players scoring at least one goal for a team total of 30 goals. Freshman forward Mark Behan leads the Flames with eight goals and six assists, while senior midfielder Ivan Heredia, freshman midfielder Nick Chase, and sophomore midfielder Nathan Brown have each scored four goals apiece.
Sophomore goalkeeper Luidgi Beauzile has been solid in goal with a 1.31 goals against average and three shutouts. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the SSAC Tournament.
“We were very excited that we won the SSAC championship match against our arch rival, Berry (Ga.) College,” said Moyo, who has now guided the Flames to the NAIA national tournament for the third time in four years and has posted a 94-46-12 mark in seven years with the team. “This team has been working hard at finding a winning formula. We knew that we were very young, but also that we were good. We just did not get the results. However, when we were finally able to win, we got a lot of confidence.”
“We have played some superb teams and done very well against them,” Moyo continued. “The seven matches we lost by (one) goal could have broken our spirits, but we concentrated on the positives on our team and what made us who we are. Those common goals pushed us further and constantly restored our confidence in each other. That is what took us through the conference and that is what helped us reach our preseason goal to get to the conference championship match. It is quite an honor to enter our third national tournament field in four years.
"One just has to look at our conference teams and see the battle there. To come through (the conference) is a testimony of the strength of our team and the resolve with which they played,” he concluded.
Both coaches realize that their teams will need to come ready to play against a talented opponent in order to advance to the next round, which would be a second round match at the NAIA National Championship Final Site – Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, Calif. – starting on December 1.
“Lee has stepped into the national forefront in the NAIA the past four years under coach Moyo,” said Furey. “They had the NAIA National Player of the Year last year in Ricardo Pierre-Louis and now he is playing down the road for the Columbus Crew. Their record is deceiving. They have played a tough schedule and they came out of a strong conference. They also have national tournament experience. We will have to bring our ‘A-game’ on Saturday if we hope to keep our NAIA national tournament going. It should be a great match.” (Lee All-American Stanley Nyazamba is also a member of the Crew, which has qualified for the MLS final).
“We will face a very strong opponent who has qualified for their first national tournament,” said Moyo. “They have done so on the back of a very solid season and I respect what coach Furey has done with his team and congratulate them. It will not be an easy match by any means. We will have to be on our best game and be aware of an unknown opponent. We have done quite a bit of research on them, but at the end of the day it’s how we perform against them. They have quite a bit of firepower at midfield and quick players up front."
In addition to the MVNU-Lee match on Saturday, there are 14 other NAIA National Championship Opening Round matches being held at campus sites across the nation. The 15 winners will advance to Fresno Pacific to join the host school in the 16-team single-elimination bracket that gets under way with four matches on Dec. 1.
The winner of the MVNU-Lee match will take on the winner of the match between No. 3 seed Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) College (17-1-1) and unseeded King (Tenn.) College (14-5-2). That second round match will be played on Dec. 1 at 4:30 p.m. PST.
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