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Men's Soccer

Magical Season Ends With Runner-Up Finish

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Victor Pacheco
Victor Pacheco





 December 5, 2004


          WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS - Southern Illinois University Edwardsville completed its magical 2004 men's soccer season with a second-place finish nationally after the Cougars were defeated in the NCAA Division II Championship game 2-1 by Seattle.
          The Cougars finish the season with a 19-3-2 mark, while the Redhawks survived a late second-half offensive onslaught and were 22-0-1 for the season.
          SIUE Coach Ed Huneke could only watch as the game clock hit zero and the Cougars were defeated. Huneke said he was proud of his team's effort in this game as well as for the whole season.
          "That is the great thing about this sport, too," Huneke said. "You develop a relationship with players that is a lot of hard work, a lot of pain, a lot of fun, and a lot of success. It is an imperfect world, but time heals all wounds."
          Bobby McAllister scored the game-winning goal at 69:58 for Seattle, outdueling SIUE freshman goalkeeper Nicholas Frasca (St. Charles, Mo.) who had six saves.
          Seattle took a 1-0 lead with two minutes to go in the first half. Adam Jensen scored his sixth goal of the season off a double assist from Cameron Weaver and Santa Maria Rivera.
          "I told them at halftime that things would even out. And they did," said Huneke. "In the second half there were about 15 or 20 minutes that we were combining very well. We were right on the doorstep of finishing it off. It just didn't happen."
          The Cougars didn't back down from the No. 1 team in the nation, outshooting the Redhawks 12-10. SIUE's Victor Pacheco (Sao Luis, Brazil) scored the team's lone goal unassisted as he connected on a breakaway past Seattle's 6-foot-5-inch goalkeeper Jeremiah Doyle at 48:55. Pacheco, who also scored in the national semifinal game on Friday, became the only player this season to record a seventh goal. Six other Cougars finish with six goals this season.
          The Cougars momentarily thought they had the lead in the 65th minute as Mike Banner (Upper Marlboro, Md.) slipped the ball past Doyle. But the goal was disallowed when referee Robert Mann signaled offsides on the Cougars.
          "It happened real quick," said Huneke. "It was an awful close bang, bang play. I don't think they (Seattle) would have objected if it wasn't called."
          Banner led all players on Sunday with five shots. Banner, Kevin Thibodeau (St. Charles, Mo.), and John Matthews (Edwardsville) were honored as members of the All-Tournament team.
          Pete Cacciatore (St. Louis), whose father helped SIUE win a national championship in 1972 and whose uncle helped the Cougars to a national title in 1979, said he felt like the Cougars underachieved in the national title game.
          "We did play very hard," said Cacciatore. "We wanted to win this championship for Coach Huneke and (Assistant) Coach (Kevin) Kalish."
          Huneke enjoyed a wealth of success in the 2004 season. He recorded his 200th victory earlier this season. SIUE's 19 victories tied the school record set by the national championship team of 1979. The Cougars had six players on the All-Great Lakes Valley Conference team and won the GLVC Tournament for the second time. The Cougars also advanced to the national semifinals for the second time in four seasons.
                    -siue cougars-
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Players Mentioned

Mike Banner

#7 Mike Banner

F/MF
5' 10"
Sophomore
Pete Cacciatore

#2 Pete Cacciatore

F
5' 8"
Junior
Nicholas Frasca

#0 Nicholas Frasca

GK
5' 10"
Freshman
John Matthews

#4 John Matthews

F
6' 1"
Sophomore
Victor Pacheco

#9 Victor Pacheco

MF
6' 2"
Sophomore
Kevin Thibodeau

#22 Kevin Thibodeau

B
5' 10"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Mike Banner

#7 Mike Banner

5' 10"
Sophomore
F/MF
Pete Cacciatore

#2 Pete Cacciatore

5' 8"
Junior
F
Nicholas Frasca

#0 Nicholas Frasca

5' 10"
Freshman
GK
John Matthews

#4 John Matthews

6' 1"
Sophomore
F
Victor Pacheco

#9 Victor Pacheco

6' 2"
Sophomore
MF
Kevin Thibodeau

#22 Kevin Thibodeau

5' 10"
Junior
B