KISSIMMEE, FL – If there wasn’t any good-natured, competitive animosity between the two teams to enter Monday’s match in the NCCAA II Consolation match, there might be now.
In what has become somewhat a passionate rivalry building up over each of the past three seasons, PBU versus Southeastern University has become a routine event in the National Tournament.
Unfortunately for the Crimson Eagles, Southeastern managed one goal wins in each of their last two meetings, including a 1-0 victory in overtime to take home the national banner two years ago.
But not this time.
Looking to avenge back-to-back losses to the Fire in each of the last two National Tournaments, the men’s soccer carved out a slice of satisfaction Monday afternoon, holding onto a 3-2 overtime win against Southeastern.
The two teams’ most recent meeting was physical to say the least -- if not an outright football match. The two traditional powerhouse soccer schools combined for 46 total fouls for the game (yes, that’s nearly one foul for every two minutes of action) in a slugfest that saw PBU eventually churn out a 19-15 advantage in total shots over 97 minutes of play.
Freshman midfielder Justin Hays came up huge for the Crimson Eagles, sending home back-to-back goals in the 29th and 37th minutes of play. But, almost as one would come to expect, the Fire would produce two scores of their own to send play into extra sessions meaning that PBU’s ‘08 match with Southeastern would once again be decided by a solo goal.
Enter senior Jeremy Dunham.
The fourth-year forward scored for the second straight game, this time notching the golden goal seven minutes into the extra session off a feed from classmate Warren Scales, helping lift PBU to a victory over a team that has knocked their squad out of title contention in each of the past two seasons. It marks Dunham’s team leading 14th goal of the season.
The triumph gives PBU a third-place finish nationally in the NCCAA II National Tournament as the Crimson Eagles finish the ’08 season with a 10-12 overall record.
