Nationals hump sours stellar CSM men's soccer, volleyball

Hawks still rebuilding in women's soccer

Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008

This past fall season was no exception.

The CSM men's soccer and volleyball teams boasted lofty campaigns that saw them garner national acclaim and contend at the state and region levels, but there was still frustration at the end of the tunnel for each program as both were left with unpunched tickets to nationals.

"We have to let that bitter taste go, because there is always next year," said head men's soccer coach Tony Galeano, whose 19-1-1 outfit finished as the nation's ninth-ranked team among Division I junior colleges. "In sports, you have to have a short-term memory, and we have to move forward. I just have to use it as fuel to the fire, in my recruiting. I look back at this year and think that we have turned lots of heads at the national level, and we definitely took our program to the next level. We are still ranked ninth in the country so that proves right there that we did turn some heads at the national level.

"We also cannot forget that we won the Maryland JUCO title. Just the fact that we keep forgetting that we accomplished that says how far we have come."

Head volleyball coach Michelle Ruble added, "This season was a good and solid showing for our team. We peaked at 16th [ranked] in the country with some quality wins early in our schedule and the team kept growing and improving as the year went on."

CSM volleyball completed the season with a 32-12 mark, just outside the top 20 in the country among Division II junior colleges as the Hawks amassed national votes in the final poll.

"We know we should be pleased with such a great year," Ruble said, "but to many of us, we did not achieve one of our most important team goals and that was to compete at the national tournament."

CSM men's soccer remained undefeated until its final game of the season. Yet the only blemish on its record proved to be most costly, as the Hawks were dealt a crushing blow by rival Essex in Oct. 25's Region XX title game, suffering a 3-1 upset.

The game was tied at 1 until the last three minutes when Essex tallied a pair of goals due to what Galeano described as mistakes by his team.

Essex also spoiled CSM's national-tournament hopes in 2007 by winning the regional final that year in 1-0 tight fashion.

CSM men's soccer claimed back-to-back regional titles in 2005 and 2006 after first claiming the crown under seven-year frontman Galeano in 2003, but the program was unable to secure a berth into the national gathering each time due to losing in the tournament's play-in game.

"[Essex] was the better team on that day," Galeano said of the disappointing regional final. "I will say that I have never played or coached in conditions like we played in that day. I was surprised we even played the game. The wind is always bad that time of the year at Chesapeake, [host college], and on that day, we had 30-40-mile-per-hour wind gusts for nearly the whole game and at times, strong rain. We had actually had a delay, because the storm squalls were so strong. The wind was so strong that the goalie's punts were coming back to him. It was just a messy one.  

"In those conditions, luck plays a big part in things, and it turns into a battle of 50/50 balls –– who can roll up their sleeves? And, we just lost that battle. I would have played Manchester United, the best team in the world, that day, because skill, speed and strategy all goes out the window in those type of conditions."

Despite 13 straight winning seasons under Ruble, CSM volleyball has never won the region and earned a nationals berth during her 18 years at the helm.

Nemesis Hagerstown is largely responsible for the drought, downing the Hawks for the fourth straight time in the regional final, 25-18, 25-12, 25-12, on Nov. 2.

"Hagerstown outplayed us this year," Ruble said. "They had a few phenomenal athletes who got stronger as the season went on, and their team as a whole peaked at the right time."

Despite losing key players from each of their squads, Galeano and Ruble have constructed programs that are based in reloading on an annual basis. They expect their teams to be right back in the national picture next year.

The CSM women's soccer team wrapped up its 3-7 rebuilding season Oct. 14 in a 1-0 overtime loss to Howard. All but one of the team's games were decided by three goals or loss with the Hawks' highlight to the season being a 3-1 win over Essex for CSM's Fall Festival on Sept. 13.

"Never satisfied with a losing season," women's soccer head coach Rodney Fugitt said. "However, there were some positive things during the season, which is always satisfying and provides the encouragement which is needed to take into next season. We had a great bunch of young ladies this year."

dcogle@somdnews.com