Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
What a difference a year can make.
Exactly 52 weeks since the Medaille Mavericks knocked the Swarthmore men’s soccer team out of the second round of the NCAA Tournament in penalty kicks, the two teams met again, this time in the final of the ECAC South Region Championship game from Alvernia.
In the rematch, it was the Garnet bench that raced onto the field in jubilation as senior Micah Rose finished his Swarthmore career with a free kick goal in the 104th minute to complete a thrilling 1-0 victory. “Not too many teams get to end their season like this,” Rose said, who is a captain. From just outside of the 18-yard-box, Rose, who was named the ECAC South Region’s Most Outstanding Player, curled a perfectly-struck ball past Medaille goalkeeper Jimmy Frascati and off of the left post before it dropped into the back of the net.
Prior to Rose’s goal, the two teams had played 213 minutes of scoreless soccer over the past two matchups. In last year’s NCAA Tournament, neither team could find the back of the net over the 90-minute regulation and two 10-minute overtimes and Medaille advanced 3-2 on penalties.
Once again, it was the two defenses who controlled the match, as senior Arsean Maqami, a trio of sophomores– Geli Carabasses, Cam French and Jake Weiner — and freshman Michael Superdock blanked the high-powered Maverick offense, the second-best scoring offense in all of Division III.
With the victory, senior David D’Annunzio completes his illustrious career with 29 shutouts, the most in program history. Over his Swarthmore career, D’Annunzio surrendered just .61 goals per game.
The match was physical from the outset and three yellow cards were assessed to each team. Medaille outshot Swarthmore 6-5 in the first 45 minutes of play but the Garnet responded after the intermission with seven shots, four on target, in the second. In the final minute of the match, senior Fabian Castro skidded a shot just wide as the teams went to overtime.
After D’Annunzio made a big save just over a minute into the second overtime, Rose ensured that the nine Garnet seniors would end their career in victory as the 1st-team-All-Centennial performer scored his fifth goal of the season.
Over the course of their four years with the program, the Class of 2012 won two Centennial Conference Championships (2008, 2010), reached three NCAA Championship Tournaments (2008, 2009, 2010) and this year’s ECAC South Region Championship.
The Garnet seniors leave with an overall record of 62-12-10 for a .797 winning percentage.