Loras celebrating after advancing to the Sweet 16 for the third year in a row.

The men’s soccer team fell short of their bid for a third straight berth in the Final Four of the NCAA Division III Tournament with a heartbreaking 1-0 overtime loss to Dominican University in the third round of the playoffs on Nov. 21.

“We were inches shy of winning, and (our players) have nothing to be ashamed of and should hold their heads high,” said Coach Dan Rothert, punctuating yet another wildly successful season.

“It was another great run, and it’s really like we’re expected to do well now,” he continued. “We are disappointed that we only made it to the ‘Sweet 16,’ and that’s a change from when our seniors were freshmen. It leaves us a little bit to be desired and things to be desired in the off-season.”

Despite an admission charge, the stands were packed with fans to root for the Duhawks, but Dominican fans also made their presence felt at the Rock Bowl. It was a chilly night, and those working at the concession stand were selling hot chocolate faster than they could make it.

The Duhawks knew it would be in for a fight against Dominican. A year ago, the Duhawks felt fortunate to escape with a 1-0 victory over Dominican in the second round of the tournament.

“I think we adjusted pretty well,” Rothert said. “We came out kind of slow and Dominican came out strong. They were pressuring us for the first 15 minutes. But then we had the ball as much, or more, of the time than they did.”

The tension grew as the game progressed. Neither team scored in regulation, and loyal Loras fans were bracing for a second overtime as time wound down in the first overtime. However, with 30 seconds left in the overtime, Dominican converted a corner kick to abruptly end the Duhawks’ season.

“It was going to be a one-goal game either way,” Rothert said. “It was either going to be a free kick or a corner kick, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Throughout the season, five starting players suffered season-ending injuries. Rothert said he “would like to think” that the team could have gone further if not for a rotten run of luck.

“Soccer is a funny game, it’s a game of inches,” he said. “We didn’t expect to play a lot of guys we haven’t played before, but with the injuries we had to. But I mean guys stepped up all over the place and, yeah, it might have made it a little easier to win, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse that we didn’t win on Saturday. Good teams battle through all that.”

Rothert spoke at length about the many seniors on the team, praising their work ethic.

“They’ve had awesome careers, to make it to the NCAA tournament four times,” he said. “Freshman year, they were just happy to make it. Sophomore and junior year, they were happy to make it to the Final Four. Then they made it as far as the Sweet 16 this year. They battled all four years. They’re the envy of all their peers, not just at Loras, but nationwide.”

A couple of seniors earned special recognition from the coach.

“I have to give credit to A.J. Joseph,” Rothert said. “He started all year for basically the first time in his four-year career and did a great job. He played a new position. He was typically a forward for us and he played outside midfielder for us this year, he played on the wing. Matt Splittgerber made an amazing recovery from his injury last year.”

Rothert also mentioned two other players that he thinks made the most improvement during the season: first-years Brad Joiner and Josh Kutzkey.

Senior James Johnson agrees that he and his teammates will be doing a lot of reminiscing. He even rendered the impression that he felt a little piece of his youth will be forever lost after this season of soccer.

“Loras and the Rock Bowl will certainly be missed by this class of seniors, but we are definitely grateful for the great friendships that the Loras soccer program has given us,” Johnson said. “I think that the end of the season will signal a change in many of our lives as we make the transition from student-athletes to adults with careers.”