Gorloks Surrender 3-1 to Dominican (Ill.) in NCAA Central Region Semis
RIVER FOREST, Ill. - For 70 minutes, the Webster University men's soccer team had the look of a team heading to the NCAA DIII Central Region Championship...but a three and a half minute span turned the game upside down. The Gorloks outstanding 2012 season came to an end as they saw a 1-0 lead with just over 20 minutes remaining in the contest, turn into a 3-1 loss to Dominican University.
A Dominican penalty kick, at the 69:33 mark of the second half, tied the game at 1-1. But in the next three minutes, Dominican scored on a header that glanced off the Webster goal post, and on a shot off a free kick outside the penalty box. The Webster defensive wall opened up as the shot caught Gorlok goalkeeper Brian Woodward (SO, Eureka HS, MO) off guard. Stunned, Webster could not overcome the deficit.
Webster had two chances to score early even as the Stars had upper hand through the 30 minute mark in the first half. The Stars' goalie deflected one shot and a Webster head ball nicked the Dominican goal post for another near miss. Outside of those two chances, the Gorlok defense was dug in, trying to keep goalkeeper Brian Woodward (SO, Eureka HS, MO) from seeing Stars.
But when Clint Carder (SR, DeSoto HS, MO) scored his seventh goal of the season, the Gorloks had a 1-0 lead at the 29:27 mark and picked up the level of play even as Dominican kept the pressure on. Just as the Gorloks and their fans began to sense an upset of Dominican, ranked first in the Central Region and eighth in the nation, the Stars took firm control after the infamous three minutes.
Webster was outshot 24-6 in the game and the Stars had an eye-popping 17-0 advantage on corner kicks for the afternoon. The Gorloks had appeared to dodge the "penalty kick bullet" earlier in the second half, much to the chagrin of the Stars' coach, who felt on two occasions that Webster had fouled in the box.
The Gorloks end the 2012 season with their first SLIAC title since 2006, and advanced to the NCAA DIII Tournament for the fifth time in the program's history. Webster had seven SLIAC All-Conference members, including six First Team selections. The Gorloks also took home the SLIAC Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.
The 2013 season will be an interesting one for Webster as 13 of this year's team will be graduating, leaving numerous spots and plenty of opportunity for playing time.
Courtesy Webster University sports information
