St. Thomas’s Tony Kuplic goes in for a header while Tufts goalkeeper Scott Greenwood jumps for the ball. Kuplic scored five goals in five games this postseason. (Peter Monahan/TommieMedia).
Tommie defender Johnny Mulvahill roars in celebration after scoring in the second half. He headed the ball in off of a corner kick (Peter Monahan/TommieMedia).
Forward Tyler Oliver slides to dispossess an opponent. Oliver received a yellow card in the first half (Peter Monahan/TommieMedia).
St. Thomas’s Shae Bottum passes the ball. Bottom earned NSCAA All-American honors this year (Peter Monahan/TommieMedia).
Tommie goalkeeper Aidan Hogan leaps to tap the ball over the crossbar (Peter Monahan/TommieMedia).
Defender Mark Heydt kicks the ball. Heydt earned NSCAA All-American honors this year.
Defender Shane Marshall reacts following the final whistle. Marshall is a fifth-year senior (Peter Monahan/TommieMedia).
Senior Tony Kuplic (left) and junior Pierce Erickson (right) embrace following the final whistle (Peter Monahan/TommieMedia).
The Tommies wait to receive their awards after the match (Peter Monahan/TommieMedia).
SALEM, Va. — The eighth-ranked St. Thomas men’s soccer team saw its first trip to the Final Four and its season come to an end with a 2-1 loss to Tufts University (Mass.) in the national semifinals at Kerr Stadium on the campus of Roanoke College.
The Tommies fell behind early when Tufts center back Stephen McMillian booted a 30-yard, lofted shot that fell over the head of St. Thomas goalkeeper Aidan Hogan with 6:13 to go in the first half.
“It was just unlucky; it was really difficult with the wind at their back and the sun being so bright and right in our keeper’s eyes,” senior Mark Heydt said. “The guy hit it 30 yards up into the air, and it dipped God knows how low, so it was just a very interesting goal.”
The teams maintained a highly competitive pace throughout the entire match. Tommies head coach Jon Lowery felt the game just didn’t play out the way the team wanted.
“(Tufts) conceded their first goal today of the whole tournament, and that was tough to get,” Lowery said. “The game just didn’t break the way we wanted it to.”
The Tommies took another hard blow with 29:25 left in the second half. Tufts midfielder Zach Halliday slotted a shot into the corner just out of the reach of Hogan and Heydt who were both positioned on the goal line.
“A guy snuck in about the penalty spot and me and Aidan were both essentially on the line and trying to cover our separate halves and the guy just hit a really nice shot,” said Heydt. “Couldn’t have tucked it in any farther into the corner.”
St. Thomas made things interesting when senior defender Johnny Mulvahill headed in a corner kick with 18:22 left in the game. The Tommies attacked relentlessly for the last 18 minutes but could not find the back of the net to tie the game.
“I thought it was hard to play, and I think they created that environment,” Lowery said. “They did a good job of just keeping the ball out of areas in a very simple way.”
St. Thomas, which ended the season with a 20-2-3 record, took home both the regular season MIAC championship and the MIAC tournament championship.
“Anyone who knows St. Thomas as an athletic program knows our football team is consistently there, basketball team is consistently there, and we want to bring soccer up to that level,” Heydt said. “I think we will, and I’m really proud to be a part of the team that will hopefully be setting the standard of that level of play.”
Peter Monahan can be reached at mona7035@stthomas.edu.