ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Scott Reber has given a lot of pregame speeches in his 35-plus years as a soccer coach, but he's never given one like he'll give tonight when he addresses the Roberts Wesleyan University men's soccer team prior to the first NCAA Division II tournament game in program history.
Reber, a 1986 Roberts graduate who is in his 11
th season as the head coach at his alma mater, has a pretty good idea of what he'll say before the 10
th-seeded Redhawks (10-2-7) take on No. 7 Wilmington (11-3-5) in the first round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Super-Region 1 Championship at 6 p.m. Franklin Pierce University. The winner will play Franklin Pierce on Sunday.
"We don't have to do anything crazy, we don't have to do anything heroic," Reber said. "Just stay the course, play your game and enjoy the moment. With any sport I think you play your best when you're relaxed. I think when you're tight and you realize the weight of that game, the weight of the moment, sometimes you play tight and it can get overwhelming. If we can just remain calm and just stay the course and enjoy it, I think we'll be fine."
The Redhawks certainly did that in the East Coast Conference Championship, outlasting third-seeded Saint Thomas Aquinas in double overtime in the semifinal on a goal by
Archie Murphy and prevailing over top-seeded Queens in penalty kicks in the final.
Senior goalkeeper
Eric Jewson was named the Most Outstanding Player after allowing just one goal on 16 shots in 218:31 of play. Defenders
Takumi Horan and
Luke Hanes, who have played every minute of every match this season. Stalwarts
Dwayne Lewis and
Aiden Ambeau have been strong despite injuries and freshman
Louis Ferrari has filled in admirably.
"They're the unsung heroes," Jewson said. "I'm getting all the credit for what they're doing. They're limiting the shots that get shot on me and you know I can't score the goals. It takes everyone on the field, the 11 guys on the field and everyone on the bench. It's not one person. I mean if it was just me back there, I'd lose."
The Redhawks' ability to adapt has been one of the keys to having only two losses in 19 games.
"They're playing with a lot of confidence and they've been playing really well lately," Reber said. "We've had some injuries near the tail end of the season, so we have had some guys in and out of the lineup. It seems like when one guy goes down, it's the next man up and they've been able to go out there and do the job and do it really well."
Murphy, a junior forward, has scored 13 goals this season to lead the offense. Midfielder
Jack Hopson has added five and sophomore
Sebastian Guerrero has contributed four. Murphy and Guerrero lead the Redhawks in assists with four and Hopson has notched three.
Jewson said the Redhawks' success has been a total team effort.
"We all trust each other and we all like each other," said Jewson, a second-team All-ECC choice with 110 saves and a 1.18 goals against average. "I think those are two big things that go under the radar a lot of times. A big difference that I can tell on the field is our bench is always in the game. They're all part of the game. Sometimes they don't realize it, but if you look at our bench compared to a lot of other benches, they're all up, active and cheering us on the whole time."
Wilmington is led by Central Atlantic Collegiat Conference Player of the Year Theo Faillon, who has 37 goals in 37 career games as a Wildcat. He was named a First-Team All-American by D2 CCA in 2024. Sophomore Michiharu Takanashi, the CAAC Rookie of Year in 2024 and a first-team all-conference pick this fall, has totaled nine goals and four assists.
The Wildcats, who were eliminated on penalty kicks in the semifinals of the CAAC Championship,have outscored their opponents 48-26. Emil Lollike, a freshman from Denmark, has started 18 games in goal and has made 70 saves with a 1.20 goals against average.
Wilmington played two ECC opponents this season, defeating STAC 4-3 and overpowering Mercy 5-0, but the Redhawks are only concerned with what happens this evening.
"At the end of the day, it's going to be two very good teams playing one another and to get through you're going to have to play your best, and maybe get some lucky bounces or maybe some favorable calls," Reber said. "You have to be good to get here and then you have to hope for a little bit of luck here and there."
