Eckert has golden foot in leading Bees back

By Maria Naert

The first day of November was a day that held a lucky finishing touch by the Saint Ambrose University men's soccer team.

The higher seeded Iowa Wesleyan College was stopped in their tracks as just 26 seconds into overtime, SAU senior Rob Eckert knocked in the winning penalty kick. The thrilling win means the Bees will play for a conference title, and have qualified for the regional tournament for the sixth straight year. Prior to this run, the Bees had only been there once.

“We came out and finished it off quickly,” said Coach Fr. Bud Grant. “Having Rob Eckert, our senior captain, make the goal was just a nice way to finish it.”

It is true that that the Bees have had a rough year, and the toughest competition they’ve ever played, but Fr. Bud is not giving up on his team, nor is the team about to give anything less than their best.

“We’ve had critical players out at critical times,” explained Fr. Bud, accounting for the teams 0-8-2 start. “We’ve been starting 8 sophomores this season.”

“We had 14 games in September, nine of which were on the road. I think this is definitely the most difficult year we’ve ever had in the program. Winning, and getting into Regionals was a vindication for us.”

The Bees have won seven of their final 10 games, heading into Saturday’s championship match against NAIA No. 7 Grand View with a record of 7-10-3.

“This will put us back in the running,” said Fr. Bud. “Anything can happen. We’ve had a very difficult year, but the important thing is that the guys stuck together. We owe a great credit to our senior leadership.”

Leading those seniors is Rob Eckert, whose golden goal propelled what had initially seemed to be a doomed season into a championship calibur team.

“Without our defense, we never would have made it into overtime,” Eckert said. “Our defense made a huge save. Our whole defense and Justin De Sousa, our keeper, was the reason we could even get there.”

“In overtime, we were just really fired up to win,” said Rob. “Winning during Regionals is just such a huge deal for us. It was just chaos and everyone ran down onto the field cheering with excitement. It was just that incredible last second shot.”

When asked about the team, Rob responded: “We’ve come a long way. Each game we get better and become more of a team. Obviously, this win wasn’t just important to me, it was about the team; all the rest of the guys.

“I think we’ve built up a program where we deserve respect from other teams now. Eight of our first ten games were against some of the top 20 teams in the nation. The way we’ve turned things around this season, I’d say we can hope for nationals now in Florida.”

Should the Bees win their first round regional game, they will travel to Chicago for the semifinals, with the regional venue set for the MLS’ Chicago Fire home stadium.