The AU men's soccer team missed out on its fourth Patriot League championship in five years Sunday, losing to Lafayette (13-4-2) in the PL final, 1-0, at Reeves Field.
Lafayette sophomore Luke Sullivan scored the game's only goal less than four minutes into the first half. Sullivan headed the ball into an empty net from five yards out after reaching a corner kick from junior forward Thomas Harju.
With more than 80 minutes left to play AU (7-10-1) stuck to its game plan: moving the ball methodically thorough the midfield and attacking the wings with speed. This largely worked, as AU outshot Lafayette, 14-5, in the first half. But none of those 14 shots were on goal.
"We missed three or four [shots] from six or seven yards," AU coach Todd West said. "But if you don't get the ball on goal, you're not going to score. That's about being ready to play, and we've got to do a better job of that."
The Eagles' shooting struggles continued in the second half. Early in that half, junior forward Larry Mark dashed up the right win and connected with streaking freshman Stephen Romeo, who nailed a shot right over the crossbar.
Next, junior midfielder Nigel White got an open look from 25 yards out, but his shot was re-directed wide by a Lafayette defender.
AU grew frustrated. With just over 30 minutes to play. AU senior Gordon Templeman yelled at Sal Caccavale for what he saw as a half-hearted challenge. But all the Eagles looked tired.
AU's grip on the game then deteriorated, and most of the late chances were Lafayette's. Harju, Mark Price and Scott Hawkins were the most active Lafayette attacking players. Sedlak saved 7 shots in the second half to keep AU close, including one shot off a corner kick found a Lafayette player four yards deep in the box. The vicious drive off the rebound knocked Sedlak flying backwards. But he held on.
In the 68th minute, AU got its best chance to reward Sedlak for keeping the game close. Freshman Philip Purdy danced into the mid-field and took a 20-yard shot, but it was blocked at the last possible second by the Lafayette keeper.
"That game summed up the whole season: good in stretches, bad in stretches and very inconsistent," West said.
Lafayette will play in the 48-team NCAA tournament, likely in a first-round match this weekend. The Eagles will be out of any running for an at-large bid, with a record under .500.
Friday, AU displayed one of those good stretches, and beat Colgate, 1-0, in its semifinal match-up at Reeves Field.
Freshman Philip Purdy notched his fifth goal of the year after AU displayed great ball movement through the neutral zone through much of the first half.
On the goal Purdy stepped into midfield where junior Garth Juckem's pass caught his right foot. The rest was elementary, as Purdy fired a 35-yard shot low and left in the 67th minute.
"Nobody can touch us if we move the ball around like that," Purdy said.
Colgate didn't cave and created six scoring chances in the final 20 minutes of the game. One, a drive in the 70th minute, sent Sedlak sprawling to his right to block it. A minute later, Sedlak made a leaping deflection on a five-yard drive to send the ball over the net.
After spending much of the game yelling at officials for what they contended were missed calls, AU coaches could finally smile after Sedlak's saves preserved the 1-0 lead.
Colgate players were decidedly more physical than AU, drawing 11 penalties and pleas for many more from the AU bench. The physical play often left AU players face down on the turf, including freshman defender Miyad Movassaghi, who left the game in the 15th minute with a foot injury.
Sunday, it was missed chances, not missed calls that ended AU's season.
"I think we out-played Lafayette, but we couldn't capitalize," senior Coco Del Rio said after his last collegiate game. "But nobody's going to congratulate us for coming in second. We were here to win"
