Seattle U. claims 2004 Div. 2 Crown

sounderfan · Dec 6, 2004

The NASL (North American Soccer League) is long gone...but the sons of the men who played the game are keeping the flame alive in Seattle...

The Seattle University Redhawks go undefeated at 22-1-0 and win the NCAA Division 2 National Title!

Seattle University features the SONS of several former SEATTLE SOUNDERS NASL (North American Soccer League) players. Bobby McAlister (MVP) is the son of Jimmy, Alex Chursky is the son of Tony (famous Sounders' goalkeeper), Steve Jenkins is the son of Tommy (Sounders' midfielder), and Jeff Stock Jr. is...well, the son of Jeff Stock (Sounders defender).

SOUNDERS SONS: Bobby McAlister, Jeff Stock Jr., Ian Chursky (graduated),Steve Jenkins, Alex Chursky.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002110287_susoccer06.html

School Press Release:

WICHITA FALLS, Texas — Just four years after moving to NCAA Division II and less than two months after qualifying for its first NCAA tournament, Seattle University won its first NCAA Division II men’s soccer national title with a 2-1 win over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at the MSU Soccer Field at Midwestern State University.

Seattle (22-0-1) earned its first NCAA title in any sport at any level in the history of the school. Seattle was an NCAA Division I member before dropping to the NAIA more than 20 years ago. The Redhawks won an NAIA title in both men’s soccer (1997) and men’s swimming (2001) before making the move back to the NCAA Division II level four seasons ago.

It was little surprise that the game-winner came from Bobby McAlister (Federal Way, Wash./University of Washington), who notched his 11th game-winner of the year and his 22nd goal of the season to earn the Redhawks the win. McAlister was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the 2004 NCAA Division II Final Four after scoring the game-winning goals in both of Seattle’s wins in Texas.

Other awards went to Santa Maria Rivera (Yakima, Wash./Wenatchee Valley College) who was named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player. McAlister and Rivera were joined by goalkeeper Jeremiah Doyle (Vancouver, Wash./Evergreen HS) and Pat Doran (Bellingham, Wash./Sehome HS) on the all-tournament team.

The win caps Seattle’s first undefeated team in school history and just the ninth in NCAA Division II history to finish a season as undefeated national champions. It is also the seventh time in the past nine years that the Far West Region champion has advanced to the NCAA championship match, and the fifth in the last nine years that the Far West Region champion has won the NCAA title.

Seattle continued to move up several all-time NCAA Division II record lists with the win as well. The Redhawks are now unbeaten in 23 consecutive matches which is tied for ninth best in Division II history and Seattle will carry that mark over into the 2005 season. The 22 season wins is tied for the third most in NCAA history, only trailing Cal State Dominguez Hills and South Carolina-Spartanburg’s 23 wins in a season.

The strong wind in Wichita Falls played a major part in this game, which could not be described as pretty. With the gusting winds, both teams had trouble figuring out exactly how to handle it.

Seattle chose to play into the wind to start and despite withstanding some strong pressure — including a shot that ricocheted off the crossbar by John Matthews — the Redhawks took the lead with two minutes left in the first half. Rivera sent a free kick from 45 yards into the box that Cameron Weaver (Kent, Wash./Skagit Valley College) headed to the far post. Adam Jensen (Missoula, Mont./Sentinel HS) rose above the defense and redirected the header back to the other side and into the net for the early lead.
It was Jensen’s third goal of the NCAA tournament.

SIU-Edwardsville (19-3-2) wasted no time after halftime to tie the score. Victor Pacheco went on a 50-yard run down the left side of the field and cut to the middle at the endline. With Doyle cheating off his line slightly to cut off a cross, Pacheco slid the ball behind Doyle and in the goal at the tough angle to tie the score.

But, just as he has done all year, McAlister got the job done when he needed to. The junior received the ball at the top of the box and flipped it over the defender’s head. With goalkeeper Nicholas Frasca charging, McAlister just touched the ball as it came back to his feet past Frasca leaving him alone in front of the goal for the game-winner.

The Redhawks will gather at 4 p.m. at Seattle University’s Student Center to celebrate the national title. The public and media are invited.

No. 1 Redhawks 2, No. 6 SIU-Edwardsville 1
1 2 F
SIU-Edwardsville (19-3-2) 0 1 1
Seattle University (22-0-1) 1 1 2
Scoring Summary
SU—Adam Jensen (Cameron Weaver, Santa Maria Rivera), 43:00
SIUE—Victor Pacheco (Unassisted), 48:55
SU—Bobby McAlister (Unassisted), 69:58
Shots—SIUE 12, Seattle 10
Fouls—SIUE 14, Seattle 12
Corner Kicks—SIUE 3, Seattle 4
Saves—SIUE 6 (Nicholas Frasca 6, Greg Crook 0), Seattle 6 (Jeremiah Doyle 6)
Cautions/Ejections—SIUE: Mike Banner (c); Seattle: Jacob Besagno (c), Santa Maria Rivera (c).
Attendance—550
Click to expand...

Ax2-Y · Dec 6, 2004

Congratulations,
By far the best team we played this season. They deserve this

Sandon Mibut · Dec 6, 2004

Combine this with the NAIA title the school won in 97 and its becoming a very good program.

A couple of questions:

Are any of the players, particularly the seniors, on this team MLS-caliber?

Does the university have any plans to move the athletic department up to comepte at the Division I level or are they content at staying D-II?

jason1551 · Dec 6, 2004

Sandon Mibut said:

Combine this with the NAIA title the school won in 97 and its becoming a very good program.

A couple of questions:

Are any of the players, particularly the seniors, on this team MLS-caliber?

Does the university have any plans to move the athletic department up to comepte at the Division I level or are they content at staying D-II?
Click to expand...

Was at the game, so I'll add my two cents:

For Seattle, #10 (Santa) and #14 on defense, and #21 in midfield looked like they were capable of being developmental players that could do well in MLS, especially under the new reserve system. #7 (Mike Banner), #2, and #9 for SIUE looked pretty good as well, although Banner was the only player from SIUE who looked like he could really make the leap based on his play throughout the tournament.