Ashland Downs Ohio Dominican on Penalty Kicks to Earn 2010 GLIAC Men's Soccer Tournament Crown

[Boxscore]

Recap courtesy of AU's Brendan Bittner

It was cold. It was tense. It turned into one of the most exciting games in AU men’s soccer history as the Eagles won the GLIAC Tournament Championship on penalty kicks on Saturday (Nov. 6) night over Ohio Dominican in front of a boisterous crowd at Ferguson Field.

Said freshman Brian Ruhaak (Akron, Ohio/Copley): “I want to do this every year. It was a great experience and a great game to be a part of.”

The Eagles (13-4-3) and Panthers (13-5-2) played to a 1-1 draw through 110 minutes before heading into the penalty kick shootout.

Ashland took the first penalty kick of the shootout and senior James Livingston (Aughton, England/University of Liverpool) drove it home. The teams were tied at 3-3 through three kicks after Spannbauer and junior Kenny Hewitt (Brighton, England/Longhill) finished their chances for Ashland.

Sophomore Jamie Dollar (Perrysburg, Ohio) delivered AU’s fourth strike to give the Eagles a 4-3 lead. On ODU’s next kick by Chris Feller, Ashland sophomore keeper Justin Nolan (Medina, Ohio/Highland) made a diving save to his left. AU freshman Louis Clark (Brighton, England/Hove Park) had a chance to win it for the Eagles, Ohio Dominican keeper Tyler Gleason made an identical stop to Nolan’s to keep the game alive.

ODU’s A.J. Mueller sent the shootout into extra kicks with his conversion in the fifth spot to tie the PKs at 4-4, through five kicks.

Sophomore Danny Lusheck (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) converted next for Ashland, but Liam Fitzgerald came up with the goal for the Panthers to make it 5-5, through six. Next, Ruhaak stepped up and scored to give the Eagles the lead.

“I was so nervous,” Ruhaak said. “Coach (Jon) Freeman looked at me and said, ‘you’re the number 2’ (after the first full round of five kicks). But I knew Justin would come up with a save. He always does.”

That’s when Nolan made another diving stab to his left on Justin Wheeler’s attempt, sending the AU team bolting off the bench and from the midfield to pile on the sophomore keeper between the goal frame and the corner flag.

When asked of his experience in shootouts, Nolan indicated he’s no novice.

“I’ve been through a lot of shootouts actually,” he said. “That’s how we were eliminated from the tournament a lot in high school.

“It’s more luck than skill in a penalty kick,” Nolan added. “We were just able to come up with one more at the end.”

The tied result after 110 minutes would probably have been a fair result in the GLIAC regular season. Both teams took turns controlling the flow of the game, with Ashland having the run of the play in the first half and Ohio Dominican dominating in the second half.

Ashland broke the scoreless tie in the 26^th minute when Clark flicked a gorgeous pass from the midfield straight onto the foot of Spannbauer, who powered home his sixth goal of the season.

“I have the easy part when it falls on my foot like that,” Spannbauer said. “Louis did all the work. All I had to do was put it on frame.”

In any case, Spannbauer is getting hot at the right time. He now has four goals in the last three games and seems to be finding his edge in front of net just as the Eagles prepare for the NCAA postseason.

Any momentum the Eagles had after the disappeared just 62 seconds later as Dollar committed a foul in the box and Duncan Campbell converted a penalty kick at the 26:15 mark to tie the game at 1-1.

The Eagles continued to maintain possession in the next 15 minutes, but in the final minutes of the first half and for much of the second half, it was the Panthers who were threatening to break the tie.

In the 44^th minute, Nolan made a couple of fantastic saves in traffic off a corner kick to relieve the Eagles’ back line. Ohio Dominican out-shot Ashland, 19-10, in the game and 13-3 after halftime.

Nolan made eight saves in the winning effort. His counterpart, Gleason, stopped two shots.

“Justin made some huge saves for us tonight. He was terrific,” said Freeman

The Eagles had a couple chances to win the game late. In the final seconds of regulation when Clark carried the ball down the left side and appeared to be pulled down as he headed for goal, but no call was given and the game went into extra time.

Both teams had quality chances in the overtimes, but the most threatening came in the first minute of the second OT period when senior Tom Rankin (Ormskirk, England/Edgehill) had a brilliant strike from 24 yards, but it clanged off the crossbar.

Still, the Eagles persevered through the overtimes unscathed and pulled it out in the shootout.

“James Livingston was motoring all around the park, Louis Clark never stopped working,” Freeman said. “Everybody on the field played a role tonight. Everyone had to make a play at some point tonight and they did.”

Now the Eagles await their bid into the NCAA Midwest Regionals, which will be announced on Monday (Nov. 8). Entering the week, the Eagles ranked third in the region behind Northern Kentucky (which beat the Eagles, 3-2, earlier this season at NKU) and Missouri S&T. Ashland’s two wins all but assure it a spot in the tournament. The top four teams in the region will make the NCAA postseason. Now the Eagles wait to see who and where they will play.