A Season Ending Just Short of the Title

Adam Hunt
Sports Reporter / Columnist

The Mercer men’s soccer team fell agonizingly short of clinching the silverware in the final of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship final.

Facing an in-form Stetson at a neutral venue in Buies Creek, N.C., the Bears fought bravely in the second half but could not prevent a narrow 2-1 defeat.

The loss marked the end to a somewhat fairytale run which saw Brad Ruzzo’s side become the first team seeded fifth or higher to reach the A-Sun Championship Game since Florida Atlantic a decade ago.

Mercer were pegged back early on by a lively Hatters front line which included hot-shot striker Griffin Gilstrap.

In fact, it was senior Gilstrap who broke the deadlock after only four minutes, finding the net with an accurate strike from 12 yards following some neat build-up play.

The Bears defence then managed to steady the ship, reducing Stetson to a series of long-range efforts.

However, after 28 minutes, Gilstrap struck again, this time from distance. The powerful forward received the ball from fellow senior Kevin Munz and created space just outside the box.

Mercer’s defenders closed him down but he managed to fire his shot past keeper Brett Petricek to make it 2-0 and put his side firmly in the driving seat.

The Bears avoided any further trouble until the interval, still in with a chance of clawing the game back.

Following a rousing Ruzzo team-talk and the introduction of sophomore Zach Rall on offense, Mercer began to turn the tide at the beginning of the second half with a period of sustained pressure.

As a result, Stetson began to defend deeper and deeper, trying to get men behind the ball and prevent their opponents from scoring.

However, the Hatters’ safety-first tactics were to no avail as Mercer broke their duck in the 70th minute. Star man Ian Cameron weaved past Ryan Corning on the left flank and swung in a hanging cross. Senior Arkenson Neckles rose above a clutch of Stetson defenders to head home past keeper Logan Potter.

With the momentum firmly in their stride, the Bears then threw all they had at Stetson in search of an equalizer. They came mightily close as sophomore Ryan Young hit the crossbar with a header and Edmonson had a shot cleared off the line.
But it wasn’t to be and the Hatters held on to clinch the title.

For the game, Mercer out-shot Stetson 14-13 overall, but Stetson held a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal which proved to be the telling factor.

With the loss, the Bears 2009 campaign ends with an overall record of 7-11-2.

“I am so proud of our guys and the way they played throughout this entire tournament,” commented Ruzzo after the game. “Obviously we didn’t get the result we were looking for today against a solid Stetson squad, but we have to move on and look forward to next season. We certainly have the ability to go one better in 2010.”
The game marked the final appearances for four Mercer seniors. Neckles, Thomas Knerr, Geoffrey Oliveria and Chrispine Ong’Ango all are set to graduate in May and were integral parts of Ruzzo’s unit.

Four Bears also made the A-Sun Championship All-Tournament Team including Neckles, Cameron, Petricek and Edmonson.

Junior Cameron remained philosophical in looking back on the season: “We definitely had our ups and downs but that is the nature of college soccer. We found our form just at the right time going into the Championships and that is all credit to the guys’ hard work and persistence.”