It could be easily forgiven if, at 7:00 tonight, you happened to confusedly stumble your way down to the Principia College soccer field and, with a puzzled look on your face, wondered aloud why there was a soccer game going on in November…?
After all, the last time Principia College men's soccer found themselves in the SLIAC tournament was 2010, a year that saw Justin Bieber release his debut album, Apple release the iPhone 4 and Amazon still being a happy online book store.
2010 doesn't feel like a long time ago, but it was a pretty long time ago.
The only remaining link between that 2010 team and the 2017 team is current head coach Jess Semnacher, who served an assistant coach on the 2010 team. That season featured a dominant 5-1-2 conference record on the back of a stingy 1.14 goals allowed average, the 4th lowest rate in Principia College history.
However, in the SLIAC tournament, a promising season ended in utter heartbreak when, with barely 2 minutes remaining in double overtime, Fontbonne University scored a stunning semi-final winning goal.
And, unfortunately, postseason overtime heartbreak has been a trend in the history of Principia College men's soccer.
2009 saw Greenville defeat Principia in penalty kicks following a hard fought 1-1 game. In 1992, MacMurray were the ones to dole out Panther torment, winning 3-2 in double overtime. And, somewhat stunningly, 1993, '94, '95 and '96 all saw Principia downed by a Maryville semi-final overtime goal.
Now, all of these losses happened a long time ago, but knowing what you do now sure makes that penalty shootout victory over Webster this past Wednesday night a little more historic, does it not?
When sophomore center back David McCook slotted home the winning kick to send Principia College through to their first SLIAC championship game since 2007, he sure wasn't thinking about years of heartbreak.
"It was just another kick or pass" McCook told me, "Seeing my teammates' confidence and poise as they stepped up to the mark only made me more confident. I didn't really need to think."
So here we are. Principia hasn't just made the SLIAC postseason tournament for the first time in 6 years, they've qualified for the championship game and have a chance to move on to the NCAA Division 3 men's soccer tournament for the first time since 2007.
After a 1-6 start that featured 3 disheartening home losses, morale and optimism surrounding the men's soccer team wasn't particularly high. But those inside the locker room remained confident enough to fearlessly turn around that poor start.
"We were able to keep our heads high after all of those tough early games because they gave us a sense of how good we had to be," sophomore midfielder Aaron Marczi told me. "We saw big improvements each game and that gave us the confidence to know that we were going to do well in conference play."
Principia College men's soccer now finds itself on the doorstep of destiny but, before the first whistle blows tonight and the SLIAC championship game gets underway, let's dive into the matchup between Principia and Westminster.
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While the Panthers were winning a scoreless thriller in penalty kicks over Webster, the Westminster Blue Jays were busy dispatching Fontbonne by a 1-0 scoreline in the other semi-final game. Justin Gerdiman slotted an Austin Chandler cross into the back of the net to provide that 1-0 scoreline in the 18th minute before a frugal Westminster defense stymied the Fontbonne attack the rest of the way to make that lone goal stand tall in the end.
In what turned out to be an extremely entertaining affair, Westminster accrued 7 yellow cards, 6 of which came in the second half. With 33 yellow cards overall, Westminster leads the SLIAC by a fairly wide margin yet the Blue Jays only have 1 red card on the season. Westminster plays a physical, edgy game that feeds off of getting opponents to break down from the pressure.
The player to watch for Westminster tonight is #14 Daniel Barone. Barone has been out injured for the past two games, but he will be the Blue Jays' offensive key tonight if fit to play.
"In play, he's great at switching the point of attack," sophomore centre back Carson Hussey told me. "Our midfielders need to be aware of where is at all times and not let him turn towards the goal when they play it to him."
To Hussey's point, Barone is at his most dangerous when allowed to turn towards the opposing net due to his ability to shoot at will or slash piercing passes through to his striking-mate, #19 Patrick Wisnewski.
"The backs also need to be ready to drop for the ball to the corner and watch for who is coming into the box to mark up because that's how they scored against us last time" Hussey finished.
From a Principia standpoint, the player to watch tonight will be #24 Cameron Sellers.
Kaleb Keller has set the all-time school record for goals this season with a remarkable 17 tallies and every single team that the Panthers play knows that. In the previous matchup, Westminster left two or three defenders watching Keller at all times, making sure he had virtually no space to roam and negating his exceptional counter-attacking skill.
Expect more of the same tonight, with Westminster upping the physicality on Principia's #14 and looking to challenge him at all times. That being said, Sellers has been in tremendous form lately and played a terrific game the last time out against Westminster, highlighted by an 81st minute equalizing goal.
Principia's #24 will need to boss the midfield in order to keep the Panthers on the front foot tonight and also in order to give Keller room to run up front. Look for Sellers to try and control as much possession as possible in the middle of the field before feeding through-balls to Principia forwards George Agai and Keller.
Another massive factor tonight will be the crowd and atmosphere.
The Principia College soccer field has not seen a game this important since that 2007 championship game and the fans wearing blue and gold should be out in droves tonight. Keeping calm under the pressure from Westminster and the noise of a loud home crowd will be imperative for PC tonight, but the players aren't worried about either of those.
"We love our fans," McCook noted. "The crowd atmosphere at our semi-final game was incredible and only made us want to play harder. I can't wait to play in front of a home crowd tonight!"
"One of our themes this year has been that we are our only opponent and today is a great day to have that attitude," Hussey mentioned. "A lot of the guys were cool under the pressure on Wednesday night and played their best games of the season. I don't expect any different tonight."
It's been a long time since Principia has hosted a game this important and the men's soccer team has a chance to make history while ending Westminster's run of 4 consecutive conference championships.
So, at 7:00 tonight, don't be confused if you see a Principia College soccer game happening in November. Savor the atmosphere, appreciate the history and be ready to enjoy a top quality soccer match.
