2005 WCC Men's Soccer Champions
2005 West Coast Conference Champions
Head Coach: Erik Visser (WCC Coach of the Year)
Overall Record: 11-6-4 WCC Record: 6-3-3
All-WCC Team: Rob Valentino (Defender of the Year), Luis Aguilar
Most Goals: Aaron Chandler (6) Most Assists: Matt Languis (7)
Most Points: Aaron Chandler (18 – 6 goals, 6 assists) Goals Against Average: Geremy Uhl (0.77)
USF got off to a rocky start in West Coast Conference play, but finished on a tear, going unbeaten over its final five WCC contests to secure its second straight league title. The Dons won their 11th WCC championship and did it with outstanding defense, pacing the league in fewest goals allowed (18) and goals against per game (0.81).
The non-conference slate included wins over Stanford, San Jose State and No. 25 Florida International and narrow defeats at the hands of California and 22nd ranked Vermont. WCC league play for USF started on September 30 in Moraga with a 1-0 loss to St. Mary’s. The Dons though, bounced back to win their next two WCC matches, 1-0 at Loyola Marymount as WCC Defender of the Year Rob Valentino netted the only goal of the game, and 3-0 at San Diego, with high-scoring forward Aaron Chandler contributing two goals.
A short slump followed, as the Dons went the next four league games without a win, going 0-2-2 over the four contests, with three of the four games going into overtime. But, when the league title was on the line, the Dons came on strong, going undefeated over their final six contests, pulling out the WCC title on the final day of the season with a 2-0 win in Spokane over Gonzaga. The Dons finished just one point ahead of Santa Clara in the final standings with a 6-3-3 record and 21 points. The Broncos stood at 6-4-2 with 20 points.
The competition was fierce in the WCC as every team except for St. Mary’s had at least one tie. Half of the Dons 12 league games went into overtime and four other games were decided by one goal. The top five teams in the standings were separated by only four points.
The Dons squared up against Southern Methodist in the NCAA College Soccer Cup Tournament and found themselves in another closely contested match-up. The Mustangs who were making their 21st postseason showing in 22 years, bolted out to a 2-0 halftime lead. The Dons tallied a late second half goal, but couldn’t quite complete the comeback. USF ended up No. 21 in the final Soccer America rankings.
Did You Know? The Dons were by the far the best WCC team in the second half of league play in both the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Over the two-year span the Dons combined record in the second half of league competition was 10-1-1 with 29 goals scored and only nine allowed.
They Said It: “Even though we started league play slowly, we were determined to force someone to take the title from us,” said Dons Head Coach Erik Visser referencing the Dons second consecutive league title. “We had the determination and tenacity to earn the most points we could, and put ourselves in a position to win. The last two years are the foundation of where we want this program to go, we want to challenge for the conference title on a yearly basis.”
