Lost in all the hype about the newly begun basketball season and all the sound coming from the raucous student section at Alumni Hall is the fact that a team playing a different kind of roundball may go down as the greatest in school history.
When the men’s soccer team upset UConn last weekend in a thrilling 2-1 triumph, it became the first team of any sport in school history to win an NCAA tournament game.
In doing so, the team put the University’s name on the national soccer map, splashing “Fairfield” all over headlines throughout the region and the country.
By going where no Fairfield team had ever gone before, the team certified its place in history. Championship teams like that win not simply because of talent, but because of a mixture of determination, chemistry and character.
In every way possible, this team fit that description.
When it lost a 1-0 lead in last Sunday’s win over UConn, it had the grit to bounce back, taking the lead on a goal by Jimmy Gaughan ’07, a backup fullback who hadn’t scored a goal all year prior to the game-winner.
A sizable portion of the group of players who celebrated that win last weekend in Storrs, and then traveled to Maryland for a second round game Wednesday against Towson, has been together for four years, when the team’s current superstars – Mike Troy ’07 and Alex Cunliffe ’07 – started as freshmen.
The chemistry that the group has built over that time served them quite well this season.
And topping off the list of reasons to like this team is that the roster is composed of a group of humble, fun-loving characters who sport matching mustaches for good luck.
Although the season ended Wednesday with a 2-0 nothing loss at Towson, it’s members are still deserving of congratulations from the entire University community.
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