LAKELAND, Fla.—The "firsts" keep coming for the Fire men's soccer team.
Last Saturday, with a 1-0 double overtime win over Cumberland University, the Fire (16-4) earned a bid to the NAIA National Championship Round of 16 in Delray Beach, Florida.
Southeastern was one of three teams playing in the opening round for the first time to win and advance to the final site. On top of that, road teams, like SEU, were just 4-10-2 in the opening round.
Jake Van Der Luit's fourth postseason goal in three games was the difference against Cumberland, as the freshman found the back of the net in the 102
nd minute of play. Van Der Luit scored the game winner in overtime of The Sun Conference semifinal, and both goals in the championship.
"We certainly knew what Jake was capable of; I've seen him play at a high level for years," said coach
Clay Roberts. "He's been quiet until now due to injuries that have kept him out. The heart of our season, we never saw him, but here at the end of the year, he's gotten back in. I think he has a big upside and a lot to learn, but his natural ability is what we're playing off of right now."
With the shutout, freshman keeper
Jorge Navarrete earned his school record eighth shutout of the season. During SEU's current 11-game win streak, the Fire have allowed just three goals.
"Early on in the season, we had some hiccups in results when we were missing Kendal (Crouse), Kyle (Krause), or Jorge (Navarrete), who have been our rocks back there," said Roberts of the defense. "As soon as those three were in place, we haven't lost. We have a young player in Jorge that's learning to be a leader amongst older players, and we have older players like Kyle and Kendal who know what's expected of the team in front of them and have found a rhythym."
The opponent for Southeastern in the second round are the Wildcats of Indiana Wesleyan. Ranked 23
rd in the final regular season Top 25 poll, the Wildcats earned a trip to Delray by knocking off Lindsey Wilson in penalty kicks 4-2 after playing to a 2-2 draw.
Against Lindsey Wilson, the Wildcats trailed 2-1 in the 78
th minute after a goal by the Blue Raiders, but IWU (15-5-1) answered in the 81
st minute to tie the match and force extra time.
The champions of the Crossroads League come in with a four-game unbeaten streak, and have totaled 12 shutouts in 21 matches. Senior keeper Josh Goepper has allowed just 15 goals in 1,844 minutes this season, and has made 68 total saves this season. Senior Corey Lopez is the team's leading scorer with 11 games and 26 total points, and was a first team all-conference selection.
"Indiana Wesleyan is a fantastic team that works very hard, and is a conference champion and has beaten a perennial power in Lindsey Wilson to get to this game, and we're excited about the opportunity to play them," said Roberts. "We're going to have to defend as usual, and be very organized and not have costly mistakes, and find a rhythym against a formation that's a little different than what we've seen this year."
Indiana Wesleyan also has the Crossroads League Player of the Year in Keaton Albert with five goals and five assists, and has dialed in three game-winning goals. Last season, he was the conference's offensive player of the year.
"We're four games from a national championship, and we need to not talk about that," said Roberts. "We don't need to make these games bigger than they are. We need to be organized and be us going into this tournament."
The two sides will square off at 1 p.m. on Monday at the
Seacrest Soccer Complex in Delray Beach. If you can't make the trip,
live video is available on a pay-per-view basis, and
live stats are available through Dakstats.
