Greensboro, NC – Senior backup goalkeeper Nick Blossey had dreams about this.
Saturday afternoon in the 2008 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer National Championship, they became reality.
Blossey thwarted three straight penalty-kick efforts from Stevens Institute of Technology to help Messiah to its sixth national title in program history, as the Falcons claimed a 1-1, 3-0 penalty-kick decision over the Ducks in the most jaw-dropping of fashions. After 110 minutes of soccer was not enough to decide things, Messiah head coach Dave Brandt inserted Blossey for the round of PKs.
It was his first appearance in goal of the entire NCAA Tournament. He had not played in a game since Nov. 8.
And he stopped three consecutive penalty kicks dead cold.
Senior JD Binger got Messiah on the board first in the shootout, before Blossey guessed correctly and blocked a shot from Stevens' Jason Nachman. Sophomore Geoff Pezon then connected to make the PK count 2-0, and Blossey came up with yet another stop on Stevens' Peter Bednarsky.
After senior Josh Sanders pushed his attempt just over the crossbar, Blossey did the unthinkable. With two saves already under his belt, the lanky senior leapt to his right, bobbled a shot from Stevens' Jeremy Lippel and clutched it tightly to his chest.
Three straight stops on penalty kicks.
After that, it was easy. Sophomore Nick Thompson buried his PK effort to finish things, immediately sprinting to join the growing pile of humanity on top of Blossey.
“I did dream about this,” Blossey said after finding his way out of the celebratory madness. “Actually, I had many dreams. After I realized that my role this year would be as a backup, I dreamed about us getting into the NCAA Tournament, or national championship, and it going to PKs. In a way, I feel guilty. It's almost as if I wished this upon us. But I was 100 percent enthusiastic to help the team win. We always talk about needing every single guy on the team to win a national championship. I knew coming in what I needed to do.”
What Blossey did was earn the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honor, the first such award bestowed to a player that did not play a single minute in any NCAA post-season contest. His heroics were defined further by the conditions and the magnitude of the moment, as Blossey had watched 110 minutes of soccer end in a 1-1 draw on an unseasonably cold, windy North Carolina afternoon.
“Bloss is a great shot stopper,” said Messiah head coach Dave Brandt. “(Junior Jared Clugston) has attributes that serve him well, so we've went with him in game play. We had waffled on who we would go with if we went to PKs. It's cold, Bloss had been standing around for two hours, but we felt if it happened today we were going with Bloss.”
In retrospect, that move was pure genius, though it was anything but an anomaly for Brandt and company. Saturday's win – a PK decision is only recorded as such in the national championship – gave Messiah an NCAA Division III record 52 wins in NCAA Tournament play, while the program's six national championships is also the most in the history of Division III men's soccer (the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and Messiah were previously tied for the honor with five each).
Early Saturday against Stevens, going to penalty kicks were the last thing on anyone's mind at Machperson Stadium at Bryan Park. Messiah (22-2-2) scored just 2:52 into play, following a free-kick serve from Pezon that was headed in by freshman Danny Thompson. Standing 35 yards out on the right wing following a Stevens' foul, Pezon curled a ball into the box that was guided in by a remarkably wide-open Thompson, giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead before things had really gotten started.
“The whole near post was open, and we had guys sitting on the back post,” Pezon said. “I knew they would be crashing to the near post, so I just focused on playing a good ball.”
That score would be of utmost importance to Messiah's chances throughout the remaining 87 minutes of regulation, as Stevens Institute of Technology (19-3-4) boasted a relentless, athletic and pressuring attack. Slowly, the Ducks began to take control of the possession game, putting pressure on each Messiah touch all over the field.
Binger was largely responsible for keeping the Stevens' side of the slate clean through the first half, breaking up a pair of certain goals late. With just 9:42 remaining in the first half, Ducks' scoring-leader Terrence Johnson got through the midfield and had a one-on-one chance with Clugston – had it not been for Binger. The 6-4 senior cut off Johnson's full head of steam just 10 yards outside the box, winning the ball and clearing it out of danger.
The same scenario repeated with just 7:29 to play in the period, as Binger broke up a brilliant through ball from Stevens' Lippel to Johnson. Again serving as the last line of field defense, Binger stepped on the effort just yards off Messiah's end line, averting disaster to keep the 1-0 lead into halftime.
“He's a fantastic athlete,” Binger said of Johnson, whom he marked for the duration of play. “I told myself that in my last game, I wanted to go up against the best. He was certainly one of the best I faced all year.”
Stevens increased its pressure as the second half began, eventually tallying a 7-4 advantage in second-period shots, the only stanza in which the Ducks would lead the stat (Messiah finished with a 15-12 advantage in total shots). The designated visitors finally broke through at the 79:59 mark, taking advantage of a free-kick opportunity from nearly the exact same spot as Pezon's. After Nick Thompson was whistled for a foul on the right flank, the Ducks served a ball into the box that was initially cleared. It then squirted out to the left wing only to be pummeled by Lippel, sending an absolute rocket to the far post, upper 90 to tie things at 1-1.
“We knew it would be this type of game,” Brandt said. “Stevens plays great soccer. They're disciplined, well-organized and dynamic. Unfortunately we knew it was going to be a tight game. We knew it wasn't going to be the best match-up for us.”
The Ducks had their best chance for a game-winner less than four minutes after their score, as one of the team's three corner kicks was nearly converted at the 83:02 mark. Lippel made a quality serve from the right side that was initially batted out of the air by Clugston, only for the rebound to come to the leg of Johnson just six yards off the end line and dead center in front of the goal. Attempting to volley the shot, Johnson sent a floater just over the top of the crossbar, his effort settling on top of the netting and drawing gasps from the crowd of over 1,500.
From that point on, however, the opportunities came primarily on the Messiah end of the field, as the Falcons recorded seven of the game's last eight shots. Brandt's club was most dangerous in the second overtime stanza, taking an incredible 5-1 advantage in shots during that 10-minute stretch. Perhaps the best chance to end things in game play came from Pezon at the 101:21 mark, as a nifty run through the box resulted in a slow roller that hit the left post before caroming harmlessly away.
“The reality was, everyone knew we were hanging on a bit,” Brandt said of his team's 1-0 lead in the second half. “We were tired, but they were energized. When you're behind, you don't feel it as much. The other reality was the energy they expended over 75 minutes to tie us came into play. So after they scored, we were even, both on the scoreboard and in terms of fatigue. I think that was a big reason we were able to pressure a bit more effectively (toward the end).”
With no further scores accompanying regulation and two overtimes of soccer, it would be Blossey's aforementioned heroics that would steal the show. Making his last appearance during Messiah's 7-0 win over Widener University in the MAC Commonwealth Conference Championship Nov. 8, Blossey stopped three penalty-kick efforts as if that was the typical protocol in shootouts.
“I was just glad I wasn't facing my own team,” Blossey said in Saturday's post-game press conference. “Our guys place their shots so well. But you train for something like this. Some people don't believe you can practice PKs, but you can. We've been training for this over the last four or five weeks. Because of that, I wasn't too worried about it.”
Pezon, Binger and Danny Thompson joined Blossey on the all-tournament team. Complete all-tournament team information is available at the host institution championship site.
Messiah's latest national championship comes in what Brandt called “probably the most unlikely of the six,” citing the personnel changes from last year's team and the overall youth of this year's squad. The title was the program's first after having not played an NCAA Tournament game at home, while the post-season run also produced the most extra-time contests (three double-overtime games and an overtime affair) in single-season program history.
“We're always toward the goal of a national championship, but this is really meaningful and cool for this team to win because of those reasons,” Brandt said. “I think we've shown a capacity to get better. I think the question this year was, 'Is our ceiling too low?' Are we too young, are we missing too many parts, etcetera. I think we were able to get it done because the guys continued to believe we could improve enough to get to this point.”
Messiah adds to its national championship collection, putting its newest piece of hardware alongside golden trophies from the 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006 seasons. For Binger, Blossey and their senior classmates, it marks their third title, a feat that Binger said may top the rest.
“I honestly don't know how to describe it to you,” the defender said in Saturday's press conference. “It's far more beautiful and wonderful than I could imagine. To be able to do this as a senior, with these guys … I'd die for this team if it came down to it.”
