Although the book has closed on Benedictine’s historical 2009 season, one thing is certain.
This BC tale ranks right up there with the best ever told.
While the Ravens ended their season against No. 7 Notre Dame (Ohio) in the second round of the NAIA Championship Tuesday, the 3-1 loss cannot diminish the history this year's team made.
Featuring a rough-and-tumble gang of male college soccer players in a region known more for the kind of football branded as American rather than European, and a young leader who’s accomplished more in five years than some coaches do in a career, the story of Benedictine’s season has all the makings of a classic thriller novel.
Expectations. Struggle. Success. Adversity.Accomplishment. Disappointment. Redemption.
“There has been a lot of legendary events that have taken place [this season],” head coach Rob Herringer said. “Some players have risen to superhero status in my eyes, helping us reach our dreams with big plays in big games.”
BC stormed through 2009, earning the best regular-season record in school history at 15-1-1 and winning the Heart of America Athletic Conference championship.
Though the Ravens suffered a heartbreaking loss to Lindenwood in the HAAC tournament semifinals after receiving a first-round bye, they were awarded an at-large berth to the NAIA Championship Tournament, becoming just the third Benedictine squad ever to qualify.
BC added to the story with a 1-0 overtime win over Ashford University Nov. 21, punching a ticket to Fresno, Calif., for the remainder of the tournament.
BC's west coast trip was short-lived, as they lost to a high-powered Notre Dame team that led the nation in scoring this year.
Midfielder Keith Parkhurst connected on a penalty kick for the Ravens' only goal.
The Ravens finished the 2009 regular season ranked 10th in the NAIA and saw eight players earn all-conference honors.
Senior forward Sean Lewis was named the HAAC Most Valuable Player and Herringer was honored as the conference’s Coach of the Year.
But the chapters that comprise the tale of this year hold as much depth and meaning as the end results themselves.
Read on.
The history
The story begins 35 years ago. The 1974 men’s soccer team cruised its way to BC’s first ever national tournament appearance and made it all the way to the NAIA Final Four. The ’74 Ravens finished third in the country and are regarded as the best Benedictine team to ever take the field.
“History is something that we have always stressed and are very proud of in our program,” Parkhurst said. “This [year’s] team has been great because it has allowed us to leave a legacy. We talked from the beginning of the season about how in the future we want teams to look at us and say ‘we want to be like the 2009 team,’ just like we have with other stellar teams like the team in '74.”
The 1974 team was honored at halftime of Benedictine’s 9-0 homecoming thrashing of Culver-Stockton.
The man at the top
BC's only other national tournament appearance came in 1983. In the years before and after that, the program struggled to compete at a consistent level.
The tide began to turn in the late 90’s, when Herringer moved two-and-a-half hours down Interstate 29 from Bellevue, Neb., and showed up on campus as a player. Herringer’s senior year saw the forward earn conference and NAIA regional honors.
After spending five years coaching girls’ soccer at Kansas 6A Leavenworth high school, Herringer came back to his alma mater as the Ravens’ head coach. Since then, he’s compiled a 59-21-10 record, leading BC to second-place HAAC finishes in 2007 and 2008. The runner-up results the past two years left a sour taste in Herringer’s mouth, making this year’s undefeated conference mark that much sweeter.
That being said, Herringer is quick to note that the Ravens’ performance this season actually exceeded expectations.
“[Coming in,] our two goals that I wanted to see us achieve were to win a conference championship and return to the national tournament,” he said. “I thought we would accomplish both by 2010. We did it with a year to spare.”
Herringer, BC’s director of athletic giving, oversaw the installation of a synthetic turf surface and stadium lights at the BC Soccer Complex, with funding provided mainly by the college’s soccer booster club.
Most members of the 2009 senior class were part of Herringer’s first group of recruits to Benedictine.
“This has been the best senior class I have ever had the privilege of working with—on and off of the field,” Herringer said. “Their dedication and work ethic has been first-class, and I never doubted their desire to make this season one of the greatest in the history of our program.”
The hero
One of those seniors along for the ride has been Sean Lewis. In addition to leading the team in scoring, shots, shots on goal and assists, the HAAC player of the year ranks first in the NAIA in game-winning goals with eight.
His latest clutch performance came against Ashford, blasting a rocket past All-Midwest Collegiate Conference goalkeeper Nick Roman four minutes into overtime.
“Scoring game-winning goals is an incredible feeling and it’s everyone’s dream, but I just try to get in the right spot where I think I can make something happen,” Lewis said. “Some of the goals were skill, but I would say that every goal took a little luck and a lot of hard work by my teammates and myself.”
All told, Lewis scored over one-third of the Ravens’ goals this year. The 6-5 lanky forward’s tenacity on both ends of the field frustrated opponents all season. That was never more evident than the Ashford game, where Lewis was double-teamed every time he touched the ball and still managed to put away yet another game-winner.
“Sean has the determination and the drive to score goals,” Herringer said. “That's what any first-class striker needs to have, first and foremost. His size and deceptive speed help him get into great positions to score.”
The mix
Lewis and fellow forward Kyle Greig (second on the team with 11 goals) were set up time and again by the stout midfield play of Parkhurst. The senior captain was relied on heavily to work the ball from the defense up to BC’s playmakers, and those three formed a formidable trio this year as opposing teams struggled to account for all three of them.
Middies Peter Clevinger and Casey Smith also played a crucial role on both sides of the half line, knocking opponents off the ball and setting up BC’s pass-and-move attack.
Defenders Matt Denker, Jaymee Highcock and Jason Durbin led a strong back line that allowed just 11 goals all season. Lewis said the on-field connection between defense and offense allowed Benedictine to dictate the course of play in many games this year, and that connection is evident both on and off the field.
“I believe if the chemistry was not as good, then there is no way we would be having this great of a season,” he said. “Personally, though, the chemistry and how much we care for each other is what pushes us.”
Since Herringer came on as coach, one of the obvious areas he’s looked to develop is depth, playing younger players in key situations. Parkhurst said the team’s chemistry was furthered by this year’s newcomers’ ability to catch on quick.
“We were fortunate this year to return a lot of good players who all already were close and could be important players to the team,” he said. “Also, this year’s freshman class has not missed a beat when it came to jumping right in and fitting into the team, both on the field and off. Their acceptance of the way we do things here has been a big part of why our team is so close.”
The rookie
Oddly enough, the one young Raven asked to show the most maturity had the most pressure heaped on his shoulders.
Freshman Tanner Fox started all but two games in goal this year, earning eight shutouts and tallying a goals-against average of 0.64, good for 11th in the country.
“Tanner has exceeded our expectations,” Herringer said. “We have really watched him mature this season, and he obviously has played a big role.”
Fox’s rookie year was not without its bumps in the road. He was suspended for two games following an alleged altercation with Baker players after BC’s pivotal conference win over the Wildcats. Defender Fernando Galvan put on the gloves for two games and earned shutouts against Lindenwood and Culver-Stockton.
The Englishman
Benedictine PA and radio announcer Ryan Gibson jokes that he gets a geography lesson every time he reads Raven opponents’ starting lineups. In such an internationally prominent sport like soccer, many small schools land recruits from all over the globe.
While Herringer has taken a more local approach in recruiting—the majority of BC’s players are listed as Missouri or Kansas natives—the coach brought in defender Highcock from Maple Woods Community College.
The Fareham, England native started all of BC’s games this year, acting as a vocal leader for BC’s back line.
“Jaymee has been a phenomenal addition to our team,” Herringer said. “I cannot say enough about what he has done with his leadership, knowledge of the game and his level of play. He was definitely one of those missing pieces to the puzzle.”
Highcock, along with Denker, Durbin and Galvan, was a huge reason Fox was able to have such a successful season. BC opponents averaged under four shots on goal per game.
The arrival
With so much talent from front to back, and the disappointment of a second-place conference finish the year before, expectations for 2009 soared through the roof back in August.
But many questions also remained regarding BC’s potential for national success.
Just two games into the season, those questions were answered.
Tied 1-1 at then-No. 11 Hastings College in the waning minutes of the second half, Fox came up with a couple big saves and sent the game to overtime.
The Ravens found out early on who they could turn to in that kind of moment. Lewis scored his second goal of the game in the 93rd minute.
From that point on, BC had a target on its back.
“The Hastings game was only our second game of the season, so I wouldn't necessarily call it a turning point,” Herringer said. “It was just a game that proved to everyone what this team was capable of doing this season. I knew when I scheduled the game that we could make the trip and beat them.”
The culmination
After losing only to Park University before entering HAAC play, BC went into its conference schedule with unprecedented confidence, which lifted it to big victories over rivals William Jewell, Baker and Graceland.
The euphoria didn’t subside, save for two contests against the Lions of Lindenwood University.
In near mirror-image games, BC mounted opportunity after opportunity but failed to score. The regular-season match Oct. 17 ended in a 0-0 draw, and one defensive lapse in the HAAC semifinals on Nov. 11 gave LU a 1-0 upset victory.
The loss knocked Benedictine out of the playoffs in a conference it dominated all season, and the Ravens’ only chance of an automatic bid to the national tournament was crushed.
Despite facing uncertainty about whether their storybook season would continue or come to a devastatingly early close, the team decided to continue holding practices at the BC Soccer Complex.
“I spoke to the senior leaders after the Lindenwood loss and asked them how they would like to proceed, although I knew what I wanted to see them do,” Herringer said. “They agreed with me that we should prepare like we would get in [to the tournament] and stay optimistic. Together we decided to keep training a little lighter, with fun games and things to keep everyone motivated and enjoying their time together.”
The continued preparation paid off, as BC was granted the second-to-last at-large berth to the NAIA National Championships, drawing No. 22 Ashford, the MCC Tournament champions and one of just six undefeated teams in the country.
Ten days after the most demoralizing point of the story, emotions ran higher than ever at Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., the site of the Ravens’ overtime victory against the Saints.
Even Herringer, whose postgame interviews usually give great insight into BC’s technical and strategic elements, couldn’t contain his emotions as Highcock and other players prepared to douse him with the contents of the teams’ Gatorade® cooler.
But the few words the coach could muster offer the perfect summation of a thrilling story.
“This team is probably going to go down in history as one of the best teams to ever wear the shirt,” said a teary-eyed Herringer. “I’m so proud to be a part of it.
“That’s all.”
