2008 Woodie Awards
Men clinch MAAC title, Bannister's goal downs Niagara
Dave Lomonico
Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: Sports
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Sports Editor
The "Oles" echoed one last time from the raucous home crowd last weekend as the Loyola men's soccer team closed out their regular season with a pair of wins to finish first in the MAAC for the first time since 2003. With a dominating 3-0 win over Canisius on Friday to clinch the conference title and a 1-0 overtime victory over Niagara on Senior Day on Sunday at Diane Geppi-Aikens Field, the North Atlantic region's No. 1 team earned a bye in the first round of the MAAC tournament in Orlando, Fla., and will play either the No. 8 or No. 9 seed in the second round on Nov. 15.
Freshman Phil Bannister made sure the Hounds went out on a winning note with his sixth game-winning goal of the year off a pass from junior Ziggy Kamara.
"It's just unbelieveable," Bannister said. "Now we'll go to the MAAC Tournament on a high."
The Hounds, who honored a pair of seniors, Camilo Correa and Janson Blake, before Sunday's finale, looked lethargic after clinching the top spot just two days earlier. It drew the ire of Mettrick, who was obviously frustrated with his team's play.
After 90 minutes of regulation, neither team was able to score, forcing the Hounds into their first overtime of the year. With just over two minutes left in the first overtime, Bannister sent a low liner into the bottom left corner to give Loyola the hard-fought 1-0 win.
The Greyhounds (15-3, 8-1) are now in prime position to make their first NCAA tournament since 2003 even if they fall short in Orlando. Speculation is that Loyola's strength of schedule and RPI is high enough to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
"It was probably my most important goal of the season with an at-large bid on the line," said Bannister, who now has 11 goals.
In Friday afternoon's title-clinching match, Loyola took advantage of a first half Canisius red card and scored two goals in a six-minute span to take a commanding first half lead. The Griffs continued to attack, but with the stifling Greyhound defense protecting a 2-0 lead, Loyola could smell the conference's top spot before halftime.
"The boys are doing great -- the back five, we're doing well," sophomore co-captain Tennant McVea said. "It was a brilliant effort tonight, and we're all happy as hell."
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