Lewis rallies past Charleston to advance to NCAA Division II Final Four

By Curt Herron

The last thing that a soccer team wants is to face is a 1-0 deficit during the opening minutes of an NCAA Division II quarterfinal match.

However, that's precisely where the Lewis University men's squad found itself just 6:37 into its contest with the University of Charleston of West Virginia on Saturday.

But the host Flyers showed a resiliency that has helped carry them to a 15-1-1 record since opening the season by going 1-2-1 during their first four matches.

No. 20 Lewis got the equalizer later in the first half and added three more scores after the break to claim a 4-1 victory over the 14th-ranked Golden Eagles in Romeoville.

As a result, coach Evan Fiffles' Flyers (16-3-2) qualified for the NCAA semifinals for the first time since 2000 and for just the second time in the program's history.

Lewis, which is 11-0-1 since the beginning of October, will play Lees-McRae College, a 1-0 winner over the University of Tampa on Saturday, in the national semifinals on December 3 in Tampa, Florida.

Seniors Nestor Hernandez (Morton West), Kipp Cartwright (Marian Catholic) and Charlie Bucio (Juarez) each had a goal and an assist while Jose Ibarra (Romeoville) got the other score and Mardoche Beya added an assist for the Flyers.

"I told the boys that we were the underdogs," Fiffles said, "And obviously we were a little concerned after they popped that first one in because when you give up an early one like that, you don't know how the guys are going to respond.

"We had to stick by our game plan and we started creating shots and just needed to make them quality. We needed to pop that second one in because that goal was crucial. We didn't want to change anything and the third and fourth goals came.

"I'm happy for the guys. We knew that we had some tools in the beginning of the year after only losing one game last year. We started off slow at 1-2-1 but I told the guys then that all that it would take was for us to get back to work."

The Flyers finished with 24 total shots with 20 of those attempts being on goal, including 16 which were stopped by Charleston keeper Sean Teepen.

Hernandez registered seven of those shots on goal and Bucio collected four while Nathan Groesch, Beya and Cartwright had two shots on goal apiece.

"It's a pretty good feeling to know that we're on our way to Tampa," Cartwright said. "The job's not done so we'll take a couple of days off and get some rest and prepare for the Final Four and try to bring home a national championship.

"When we went down 1-0 there was no panic since we've been in that situation before, like in the first round of the playoffs, so we just stayed composed. After we got the first goal then I knew that we could pull it off."

About five minutes into the second half, Hernandez fired off a liner that Teepen kicked away and just past the midway point, Bucio had a short shot that the keeper got a hand on.

Lewis moved ahead for good at 2-1 at the 71:08 mark when Hernandez knocked in a loose ball in front for his team-high 14th goal, following a pass from Beya.

"I've been here for four years and this is our biggest accomplishment," Hernandez said. "We knew what we had coming back and we had high expectations. We put the hard work in and everyone is playing strong and the results are coming in.

"The past few years we came up short but we have a lot of seniors and this is our year and we're proving that we're a great team. We had a rough start today but we're a team that never gives up and fights to the end."

The Flyers added an insurance score at 79:14 when Cartwright connected from close range for his fourth score following passes from Bucio and Hernandez.

Then it was up to the defense of Zac Bond, Groesch, and seniors Alex Koprowski (Lincoln-Way Central) and Mark Switalski (Lincoln-Way East) to hold the lead.

"This means a lot to us since this is as far as we've gotten as a team," Koprowski said. "We had nine seniors together this year so I think going to the Final Four in Tampa is just going to be a great experience for us.

"We didn't let ourselves get down after the first goal. We knew that we had to pick it up even more and go at them as hard as we could and we kept playing that way the whole game until the end so this was a good win."

Bucio scored his sixth goal in unassisted fashion at 89:33 to put the finishing touches on Lewis' biggest victory in the sport in nearly a decade.

The three-goal outburst during the final 45 minutes gave the Flyers a 22-3 advantage over their opponents in goals scored during the second half.

"This feels great and I'm so happy for all of my teammates," Bucio said. "I feel so proud of the team right now since everyone went out and did their best this season and that's why we've made it to the Final Four.

"Once we went down today the team reacted so well and did it so quickly in order to tie things up. And after we did that, we knew that it was our game."

The Golden Eagles (19-4) stunned the hosts early in the match when Dion Peters scored his 18th goal, off an assist from Mladen Petrovic at the 6:37 mark.

It marked only the third time during the Flyers' current unbeaten streak that a shot had gotten past keeper Sebastian Kieruzal (Hoffman Estates), who made three saves.

Cartwright entered about midway through the opening half and soon sent a long pass to Ibarra, who put in the short shot at 28:36 for his third goal.

"I'm excited about this because it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I want to make sure that we make the most out of it," Ibarra said. "We've come a long way since August so going to Florida in December is great.

"Once they scored their goal there was a little more tension so I knew that I had to step my game up at that time. After struggling early in the season I'm happy that we're doing well at the end when it counts."

Lewis kept the pressure up during the final 15 minutes of the opening half as Hernandez, Beya, Bucio and Groesch all collected shots on goal.

Charleston had half of its four shots on goal during the final five minutes of the half with attempts from Darko Karamatic and Rob Vincent.

Also seeing action for the Flyers were starters Art Rodriguez (Fenton) and Tim Vance and substitutes Robert McGowan (Lincoln-Way East), Eduardo Acxer Way (Schurz) and Matt Mikesell.