CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The journey was legendary and for the Drake men's soccer team despite a 2-1 loss to No. 4 North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals on Friday (Dec. 4) at Fetzer Field, the accomplishments of the Bulldogs' run through the 2009 NCAA Tournament are ones that will long be etched in the memories off all who witnessed their magical run of soccer.
Proving why they are one of the premier programs in the country, the Tar Heels broke open a scoreless tilt at halftime with goals in the 55th (54:47) and 58th minutes (57:01), from Kirk Urso and Alex Dixon, respectively, to clinch a berth in the College Cup.
Junior Kenan Malicevic (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Cedar Valley) scored his sixth goal of the year on a shot from 18 yards out to the lower left net with 41 seconds remaining in the contest when the outcome had been decided. Earning the assist on the play was junior Evan Harrison (Evansville, Ind./Reitz Memorial).
"That was clearly the best team we've played all year and I thought at the end of our 25-game journey that we perhaps were a little bit gassed out," Drake head coach Sean Holmes commented. "To constantly go on the road is challenging and I don't want the one painful 90 minutes to undo the work that the guys have done all season."
Despite being outshot in the first half, 7-1, Drake held its own against the vaunted Tar Heels as neither side found the back of the net.
Making only his fourth start of the season and first since Nov. 1 at Missouri State, redshirt sophomore Jordan Kadlec (Hiawatha, Iowa/Cedar Rapids Kennedy) made the save of the game with 7:54 left in the half.
The Bulldogs were whistled for a foul in the box and North Carolina was awarded a penalty kick with Zach Loyd taking the attempt. Loyd placed the ball to the lower left corner and Kadlec dove to his right and made a sensational save to thwart the scoring opportunity for the Tar Heels. Kadlec bounced his feet and gave out a euphoric exclamation as the stop reinvigorated the Bulldogs to close the stanza.
Drake was bested in shots in the affair, 16-6, while being led by three shots from senior Kevin Shrout (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit). Urso paced all players with a game-high six shots for North Carolina.
Kadlec finished the affair with six saves, while Brooks Haggerty pulled in three stops for the Tar Heels.
The Bulldogs end their year at 16-7-2, while the Tar Heels improved to 16-2-3.
The game was the final in the record-setting careers of Shrout and fellow seniors Garrett Webb (Prairie Village, Kan./Shawnee Mission East), Calvin Clark (Overland Park, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas), Brian Wurst (Kansas City, Mo./Park Hill South), Luke Gorczyca (Overland Park, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas), Julien Edwards (Ottawa, Ont./De La Salle), Ted Schleisman (Verona, Wis./Middleton) and Tom Spiess (Roseville, Minn,/Totino-Grace).
"Ultimately, I'm more sad for the seniors that have done so much to get us here and then won't have the opportunity to play again," said Holmes. "The guys who are returning will always get another day to play, but those guys are at the end of one chapter of their lives and I hope they look back with fondness at what they've achieved and the love that exists between them. In all my 21 years of coaching I've never had a group this close, this committed, this achievement-oriented and hopefully their legacy will reverberate through the program for years to come."
