Traditionally one of the strongest among the 23-sport contingent at the University of Mary Washington, the men's soccer team turned in yet another outstanding season in 2006, finishing with a 14-5 overall record, ranking as high as 17th in the nation, and advancing to the Capital Athletic Conference championship match.
Led by a group of five seniors and an exciting class of freshmen, the Eagles finished 7-1 in Capital Athletic Conference play, defeated nationally ranked Gettysburg College on the road, and outscored its opponents, 53-20, on the season. The Eagles - playing with anywhere from three to five freshman in the lineup at any one time - opened the season by hosting the annual UMW Soccer Classic.
Head Coach Roy Gordon's squad blanked Eastern Mennonite University, 2-0, before shutting out Shenandoah University, 3-0, to kick start a season opening seven-match winning streak. All-CAC senior midfielder Tommy Park netted both goals in the win over EMU, and three freshmen - Ryan Snyder, Michael Johnson, and Matt Lawrey - scored in the Shenandoah victory. The Eagles then downed #24 Gettysburg on the road, 2-1, thanks to goals by junior Luke Hostetter and Snyder, who picked up CAC Player of the Week honors for his stellar early season scoring spree.
The Eagles would then score 15 goals in their next four matches - all wins - over Randolph-Macon (4-1), eventual USA South Conference champion Greensboro (6-2), St. Mary's College (3-0) and Goucher College (2-0). Snyder had six goals in this stretch, and junior Vincent Kooijman added four goals, with Park scoring three. With a 7-0 mark, the Eagles faced a difficult pair of games in the same week - at undefeated Washington & Lee University and at home against undefeated and nationally ranked North Carolina Wesleyan College.
A pair of 1-0 losses dropped the Eagles to 7-2, but these strong efforts, played without starting goalkeeper senior Elliott Jones, showed the team that they did belong among the elite in the NCAA Division III South Region. Entering a portion of the schedule that included four straight home CAC matches, the Eagles thrived with a four-game win streak, with wins over Catholic University (4-2), Salisbury University (3-2), Hood College (7-1), and Marymount University (3-2).
Kooijman scored four goals in this stretch, and Park added three. The Eagles then dropped a 1-0 decision at third-ranked and undefeated York College, nearly tying the score in the final minutes on a blast from senior Bryan Hargrove that deflected away from goal by a York field player who was positioned perfectly at the far post.
After dropping a 1-0 overtime match to eventual NCAA Tournament participant Christopher Newport University, the Eagles downed Gallaudet, 6-0, in the regular season finale, and then topped Catholic, 6-1, in the quarterfinals of the CAC Tournament. Senior Chris Dolan scored three goals in this pair of games to lead the offense. UMW then hosted and defeated St. Mary's College in the CAC semifinal game. The Eagles opened the scoring early in the game on a goal by Michael Johnson, but St. Mary's tied the score midway into the second half. With less than four minutes remaining, Johnson possessed the ball near the top of the penalty area, and slipped a pass across the face of the goal for junior Luke Hostetter, who drilled the ball into goal for the winning tally.
The Eagles fell in the CAC Championship at York, 3-0. With the score knotted at zero with 26 minutes remaining, York exploded for three goals to claim the CAC title. In addition to its national and regional rankings (the Eagles finished the year ranked seventh in the South region, and were as high as third during the course of the season), UMW also improved its win total by eight games in 2006 over their results in 2005, among the best in the nation.
Six players were selected to the All-CAC team, with seniors Tommy Park and Glenn Gray earning first team honors and senior Elliott Jones, junior Luke Hostetter, and freshmen Ryan Taibi and Ryan Snyder claiming second team kudos. Park would claim first team all-region honors by the NSCAA, with Gray and Taibi named to the second and third team respectively.