Oracle Online

Hamline had their work cut out for them. A preseason coaches poll predicted that the Pipers would end the season tied for sixth. Last season the team brought Hamline to its first playoff appearance in the sport, but the loss of key seniors like Ben Watkins, Andrew Helling and Micah Merritt were enough to inspire doubt in the minds of the MIAC coaches.

Despite these doubts, the Pipers went undefeated in their first nine games and were only held to one or fewer goals three times. The second half of their schedule proved difficult on paper and also on the field as they matched skills with the elite of the MIAC. Starting in the middle of October, Hamline ran the gauntlet of a virtual who's who in the conference. The Pipers lost to St. Johns (ranked 1) and Gustavus (ranked 2) in consecutive games by a total of just three goals.

After a 12-5-2 season, the team slid into the fourth and last playoff slot in the MIAC Men's Soccer Tournament. The Pipers were pitted against St. Johns, who would have home field advantage. In a stunning upset, Hamline overturned the Johnnies 1-0 on a goal from senior Steven Dupic assisted by Jacob Helling and Jason Engedal in the 72nd minute. The victory earned the Pipers the first championship berth in school history.

"I didn't know that we would make it to the playoffs, but the fact that we did and then went on to St. John's and upset the top seed was another quite good achievement," Head Coach Andy Coutts said.

Meanwhile, the Gustavus Gusties had put down third seeded Augsburg. Again, Hamline would have to play on the road against a team they had lost to less than three weeks earlier.

"We really didn't do anything different [to prepare for the championship]. We knew we could play with them," Junior midfielder Jason Engedal said.

Gustavus' home field is the largest in the MIAC, so the Pipers made minor adjustments to account for the change during practice. On a larger field a skilled team can spread their opponent out, making it difficult to mount an effective offense. Coach Coutts was also confident that the team could adapt to the larger field and the energy of the Gusties.

"The guys were pretty loose and excited for the game. I thought we were in the right state of mind going into the game. We were happy to be there, but not just happy to be there, and we thought we were going to win," Coutts said.

Despite the fact that Gustavus had a much larger crowd present for the game, the Pipers remained focused. Around one fourth of the crowd, including Hamline President Linda Hanson, was comprised of Piper fans. Unfortunately, the game had to compete with the last Hamline home football game for Piper fans. Still, the team appreciated the support they received from the Hamline community.

"We had a good crowd, but they had a really good and, at times, obnoxious crowd," Coutts said.

Throughout the first half, the Pipers proved that they could handle the Gusties. Gustavus out-shot Hamline 6-3 in the first 45 minutes, but HamlineÆs defense was such that keeper Andrew Clement only had to make one save. The Pipers also effectively shut down Gusties goal-scorer Mike Butterworth in the first half, keeping him from putting a single shot on goal. The two teams appeared to be evenly matched at the half.
When they returned to the field for the second half, however, the Gusties stepped up their intensity. The Pipers werenÆt able to respond in kind.

"Against [Gustavus], you have to pick which one your going to do well, attack or defend, and we didn't do either of those particularly well," Coutts said. "We didnÆt match their energy level the way we needed to hang in there and make it a game at the end."

In the 55th minute the Pipers finally faltered, allowing the Gusties to put the first point on the board from a set piece. The play that led to the goal began, with some controversy, when Butterworth picked up the ball for a Gusties throw in. There was some question as to whether or not Butterworth had touched the ball before it rolled out of bounds, a circumstance which would lead to a Pipers free-kick. Amidst the confusion of whether or not there had been a handball, Butterworth threw the ball in, allowing sophomore Flynn Stewart-Franzen to put score the goal.

"When that first goal went in I think some of the wind came out of our sales and it just became harder and harder to get up and down the field," Coutts said.

Just six minutes after scoring their first point, Gustavus made another push into Piper territory. The defense was able to turn the ball away, but conceded a corner kick, a trend that would become more frequent throughout the second half. Senior Dan Suchy played the ball in from the corner, but Hamline goalkeeper Andrew Clement was able to push the ball away. Unfortunately, the ball ricocheted off another Hamline player and back into the goal

"Both [goals] were disappointing," said Coutts. "After such a great performance against St. John's on Tuesday, it looked like we didn't have as much left in the tank [against Gustavus]."

The Pipers struggled for the rest of the second half and found difficulty transitioning from defense to offense. They were able to take five shots, but none came close enough to goal to really threaten the 2-0 lead Gustavus had amassed. The Gusties, on the other hand, had little problem peppering Clement and the Piper defense with shots.

When the whistle finally sounded the end of the match, Gustavus had retained their lead and earned a clean sheet against the Pipers. Hamline had played hard, but on two occasions minor lapses had allowed the Gusties capitalize. With the win, Gustavus Adolphus has taken three of the last four MIAC tournaments.

"The determining factor, for the most part, is that Gustavus is really good. TheyÆre not 17-2-1 for no reason," Coutts said.

Though they made an impressive run, the upstart fourth seed Pipers were unable to best the biggest giant of the MIAC. Still, they had made it further than any Hamline soccer team in history, arguably against some of the best opponents in the MIAC, and had done so in a year they were predicted to finish a meager sixth in the conference.

"Even though it hurt losing, we didn't feel devastated. We had a great season and set some more records," Engedal said.

The championship was the last match three seniors will ever play as Pipers. Steve Dupic, Jacob Helling and Jeremy Wade will all graduate this year, and with them will go a significant portion of the PipersÆ scoring power. Helling alone has either scored or assisted on over half of the Pipers' goals this season.

"It's gonna be interesting to see who steps up to be the big goal scorer [next season]," Engedal said.

The team will have a large aggregation of talent in the sophomore and junior classes, but will once again have relatively few seniors. While all of those seniors show prowess, none play at the forward position.

As the season ends, the Pipers look back on a year of records and firsts. Down the stretch the team lost three games, but when it mattered most they turned on the jets and earned themselves the right to play in the biggest game in the Hamline soccer history.

Written with contributions from Dave Nicholson