Men's soccer continued their stellar run through the postseason, winning a hard-fought battle against #1 seed Fort Hays State on Friday. With the win, the Tars will play for the National Championship on Sunday against #3 Midwestern State (TX), who defeated #2 Southern New Hampshire, 3-0.
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The teams do not have a deep history, but it is a notable one. The only other time the two squads have met in men's soccer was in the 2010 national semifinal, the only other time that Rollins has made it this far in the tournament. In that game, played in Louisville, Kentucky, Rollins used a pair of goals from Jack Clifford to win 2-1 and advance to the title game.
A comparison between the two teams can be seen below:
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The Mustangs sit at 18-3-3 heading into Sunday. They are unbeaten in road/neutral games, going a combined 11-0-2. They captured the Lone Star Conference regular season and tournament titles, and are undefeated (4-0) against Top 25 teams this season. Their road to the final included a huge win over #1 seed (#3 ranked) Stanislaus State, followed by victories over #3 seed (#16 ranked) Point Loma, and #2 seed (#6 ranked) Southern New Hampshire. Of their six postseason games, five have been shutouts. Â
Rollins' win over #4 Fort Hays State gave them seven wins against Top 25 teams this season, including four wins against Top 6 teams. Of the 23 games played by the Tars this season, more than half (13 games) have come against nationally ranked opponents.
Midwestern State has outscored their opponents 47-17 on the year. Parker Plaxco is the team's leading scorer with 13 goals and five assists. Four other players have at least five goals on the year. Liam Pritchard is their main playmaker, dishing out a team-best eight assists this season. In goal, Jake Morris has been lights out as of late. In his last seven matches, he has six clean sheets and has allowed only two goals.
The Tars only scored once against Fort Hays, but their phenomenal defense held strong, led by a valiant effort from
Kilian Vallant. The Austrian keeper recorded seven saves on Friday, and saw twenty shots come his way in the second half alone. The lone goal came from
Justin Nelson, giving him ten on the year, which leads the team.
Michael Meachem is in his eighth year at the helm of the Mustangs. He has collected three Lone Star Coach of the Year awards, and a pair of USC South Central Region Staff of the Year awards, including this year's. Rollins head man
Keith Buckley is in search of his first national title in his 35
th year as Tars head coach. His staff was also awarded the USC South Region Staff of the Year award this year.
A few Rollins notes heading into Sunday:
- Finlay Prain now holds the program record for most games played in a season with 23. Five players have played in 22, tying the old record.
- Kaden Foreman is tied for tenth-all time with 74 career games played. When he steps on the pitch Sunday, he will move up to eighth.
- The team will play it's 24th game of the year on Sunday, setting a new program record (22 in 2010).
- Nelson's ten goals make it the 26th time a player has achieved the mark in one season. His 25 points on the year put him in the Top 30 all-time for one season.
- Vallant's 80 saves are the 13th most in a season in school history.
