LOUISVILLE, Ky. (December 3, 2010) -
Despite a weather forecast calling for wind, snow and freezing
temperatures, Owsley B. Frazier Stadium in Louisville will be
paradise for one team on Saturday as Rollins and Northern Kentucky
meet in the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer National Championship
match.
The fifth-ranked Tars (15-3-3) and fourth-ranked Norse (19-2-3)
will kick-off at 3 p.m. on the Bellarmine University campus. Fans
can watch the action live on CBS College Sports and NCAA.com. The
Tars Sports Network will simulcast its broadcast on 91.5 FM, WPRK
and RollinsSports.com.
Both schools will be seeking a first national title in men's
soccer while the Tars are looking to earn Rollins' 23rd
national championship.
In the semifinals, Rollins used two goals from defender Jack
Clifford, both off Kevin
Boone corner kicks, to beat second-ranked and previously
unbeaten Midwestern State 2-1. NKU dominated its semifinal match
against Dowling, winning 4-1.
The Tars are led by a stingy defense that allows less than one
goal per game. Sunshine State Conference Defensive Player of the
Year Thomas
Biddinger, along with Clifford, Kevin
Boone and Matt
Bauchle support freshman goalkeeper Keneil Baker who ranks
third in the nation in goals against average. Since he took over
between the posts in the eighth game of the season, Rollins has not
lost on the field and produced seven shutouts.
Senior Chase
Neinken is the top scorer with nine goals and six assists while
Nick Sowers has put up five goals and six assists.
In a very stark contrast to the Tars' tactics, Northern Kentucky
sports one of the nation's top offensive attacks. They are seventh
in the nation with 2.74 goals a game and are led by Division II's
top scorer in Steven Beattie with 68 points (26 goals, 16
assists).
President Hugh
McKean first rolled a soccer ball onto Sandspur field in 1956,
laying the foundation for what, 54 years later, has become a team
on the cusp of a national championship. Tars legend Joe
Justice took over the following season and promptly went 5-1-0,
winning the Florida Intercollegiate Conference title. Three more
FIC championships came for Justice over the next 10 years.
Dr. Gordie Howell stepped in to lead the program in 1968 and
ushered in an era of winning the Tars had never experienced. In 15
years as the leader of Rollins soccer, Howell won five conference
championships and introduced a national audience to Tars soccer
with nine trips to the NCAA Tournament. In 1981, Howell led Rollins
to its first Sunshine State Conference Tournament championship and
stepped away in 1982 as Rollins all-time winningest coach.
Mark Dillon, Hugh Beasley and David Fall would serve as the Tars
head coaches for the next eight years.
In 1991, a baby-faced former Rollins striker took over the
program and in the next 20 years built Tars soccer to one of the
top teams in Division II year in and year out. Dr. Keith
Buckley has posted a career record of 228-118-21 with four SSC
regular season championships, including back-to-back titles in the
past two years as well as one conference tournament
championship.
Under Buckley, the Tars have made five trips to the NCAA
tournament, advancing to the second round in 2003 and 2004. In
2009, Rollins was the top seed in the South Region, hosted the
tournament in Winter Park and again advanced to the second
round.
To call the Tars 2010 postseason run thrilling would be an
understatement. Again the South Region top seed and host, the Tars
downed West Florida 1-0 in the first round and beat Barry 3-1 in
the second. The following week, Barker Family Stadium and
Cahall-Sandspur field was the site of the NCAA Tournament
quarterfinals against Clayton State. The largest crowd to ever see
a college soccer game at Barker Family Stadium witnessed an
exhilarating 3-2 double-overtime win that sent Rollins into the
championships in Louisville and now within one win of hoisting the
NCAA Division II National Champion trophy.
