A
Brendan Roth (Elkhart, Ind./Memorial)
goal in the seventh minute was all the scoring Valparaiso would need, and three
second-half markers secured the Crusaders’ first-ever win in Horizon League
Championship action, as third-seeded Valpo downed sixth-seeded Milwaukee 4-0
Tuesday afternoon in a quarterfinal matchup at Brown Field.
The win was the Crusaders’ tenth of the 2009 campaign,
breaking the 1987 squad’s single-season record of nine victories. Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year Ryan Schwarz (Rockford, Ill./Boylan
Catholic) made six saves in net to earn his seventh shutout of the season,
leaving him alone atop Valpo’s single-season chart for clean sheets by a
netminder.
“Scoring the early goal really helped take a little bit of
the pressure off for us today,” said Crusader head coach Mike Avery. “Then when we
were able to get the second goal pretty early in the second half, it really
sealed the game for us. In the latter
portion of the game, Milwaukee
pushed forward looking to score, and we were able to get behind them a couple
times to ice the game. In the end, the
name of the game in the playoffs is survive and advance. We’re still alive and looking forward to
playing Green Bay
on Friday.”
The match-winner from Roth came on a nice set piece off a
free kick by the Crusaders. Danny Jeftich (Valparaiso,
Ind./Valparaiso
[IUPUI]) initiated the piece from about 30 yards out on the left flank and sent
it into the center of the box to Roby
Del Giudice (Toronto,
Ont./Robert F. Hall [Wallace State C.C.]).
Del Giudice touched the ball back to Roth, who took a well-placed strike
from 15 yards that eluded Panther goalkeeper John Shakon for the game’s opening
goal.
Zack Stivers (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg)
gave Valpo a critical insurance tally early on in the second half to help
secure the game for the Crusaders. A
foul was called on Milwaukee
inside the box, leading to a penalty kick opportunity. Stivers took the initial spot kick, which was
saved by Shakon, but the rebound came directly back to the junior, who punched
it into the back of the net for his team-leading sixth goal of the season in
the 53rd minute.
Roth added his second goal of the contest in the 78th
minute, as Ken Perkins (Cedar
Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy) sent a long pass up the right side, where Roth outraced
both Shakon and a Panther defender to the ball and chipped it over Shakon’s
head into the goal from 20 yards out.
Valpo closed out the scoring in the 88th minute when Clayton Lyons (Louisville, Ky./Trinity)
sent a long lead pass to Kelvin Zelee (South
Bend, Ind./John Adams [Indiana]), who found himself one-on-one with Shakon on a
breakaway and converted for his first collegiate goal.
Valparaiso placed seven shots
on net on the day to six for Milwaukee
(3-13-2). Schwarz made the
aforementioned six stops in net, while Shakon made two saves and the Panther
defense came up with another save.
“A lot of credit goes to Brendan for two very well-taken
goals today,” said Avery. “His first one
was just a really good strike from the top of the box, while he earned his
second one out of determination. He just
out-ran the goalie and defender to the ball and was able to slot it in. I also thought Ryan played well in goal
today. He handled a lot of cross balls
cleanly, and while he wasn’t called on to make a lot of tough saves, he handled
everything that came his way and managed the game well.”
Valparaiso (10-6-2), which was hosting its first
postseason game since 1998, earned a victory in the postseason for the first
time since 1996. The Crusaders advance
to Indianapolis on Friday, where they will face
second-seeded Green Bay
at 11 a.m. CST. Links for live video
through the Horizon League Network, as well as live statistics, will be
available at www.valpoathletics.com.