10.29.07 Champions!

The William Carey Crusaders (10-10) persevered through injury and poor form early in the season to bring around a remarkable transformation. Having lost to both Belhaven and Mobile in the regular season they turned the seedings and regional rankings on their head by defeating both to claim the 2007 G.C.A.C. Championship on Saturday night (10/27) in tournament play.

The University of Mobile Rams ranked #4 in the nation and #1 in the region took a 6th minute lead when a Ruben Diaz free-kick was touched home by Onesimus Ikongo for the opening score. Despite the set-back the Crusaders played good soccer and had the Rams back pedaling in an evenly fought contest. Jr Charles Hines went close with a couple of headers for Carey but chances were few for both teams.

Carey made two changes at the half with Fr. James Taylor coming on along with leading scorer Jr. Jared Wooley. The tactical changes appeared to work as the Carey defense stifled the Rams offense and the frontline found a little more pace and power to trouble the Mobile defense. Captain, Jr. Chris Schaefer missed a glorious opportunity to score on a one on one when keeper Adrian Rochofski came up big for Mobile diving to his right and pushing the midfielders shot wide of the upright. As time ran down the Rams tried to hold firm but everything changed in the 81st minute when So. Rick Beebe overlapped and crossed for Fr. Joeseph McNiel to dummy over the ball and let in Wooley to sweep the ball home and level the score at 1-1. A minute later it was 2-1 Carey as the always impressive Fr. Carl Reynolds cut in to drive an unstoppable shot past Rochofski for the game winner. Carey held on firmly to the lead and took the G.C.A.C. title from long time nemesis the Mobile Rams. In the process, by taking the automatic bid for regional play the Crusaders also knocked rivals Belhaven from regional tournament participation.

Head coach Nigel Boulton was proud of his players after the game saying, “It is everything the players deserve, they came through a lot of adversity from earlier in the season and their character showed through and now they are the champions that they should be. We talked about persevering, patience, coming together, how important it was to be prepared even if you were on the bench. Fourteen players did it on the field that day but so did the support players off the field with their help and commitment. Some filmed games, some acted as ball boys and others took stats. They also trained hard and made themselves and everyone else better for that. For every one of those this championship is equally theirs.”