Disappointment, heartbreak, frustration, anger: these are all emotions that every team (besides the one that lifts the trophy) that makes it to the NCAA tournament feels when they exit. For Ashland Friday night, you could possibly triple that. The Eagles have made it to the first round of the tournament each of the past three years, and each of the past three years they have been beaten in the first round; the last two in heartbreaking fashion.

In 2008, the Eagles lost 3-2 to Northern Kentucky. Last year, Ashland played to a 1-1 draw in regulation before Lewis was able to score a sudden-death goal in overtime. On Friday, the Eagles (the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region) looked to reverse that trend when they took on the third-seeded Missouri S&T Miners.

Ashland came out flat in the first ten minutes, allowing the Miners to control play and create chances. The Miners made the pressure pay in the 11th minute when Jervis Atagna crossed a ball in for Trent Doerner, who placed a brilliant shot into the upper right corner of the goal from 15 yards.

From there, Ashland shook the butterflies and proceeded to play some of the best soccer that they have all year, creating chances and forcing standout goalkeeper Pat Mcnamee to make some saves. In the 28th minute, the Eagles drew a foul at the edge of the box, setting up a free kick in a promising position. James Livingston lined up to the left, Kenny Hewitt to the right of the ball, but it was sophomore defender Jamie Dollar who fired the shot into the right side of the goal that nearly ripped a hole in the net.

While the goal, only the second of the season for Dollar, didn’t actually rip a hole in the net, it did rip the game wide open.

“Dollar hits a very good ball, a little bit different than the way Livo (James Livingston) or Kenny (Hewitt) takes one,” Coach Jon Freeman said. “Livo and Kenny both like to curl the ball in and Dollar just strikes it very hard. He’s accurate with his shot and I told him if he had an opportunity to take one to go ahead and take one if he’s feeling it. He was feeling it at that moment and it was good to see that he put it in the back of the net.”

Ashland continued to pour on the pressure for the rest of the first half and much of the second, but the score remained tied. Louis Clark, Andrew Iden, Adam Spannbauer, and Kenny Hewitt all had chances to put Ashland in the lead, but it just wasn’t the Eagles’ day in front of goal.

Finally, in the 84th minute, Missouri S&T took advantage of a counter-attack, Mario Calderon flying up the right side with the ball. Ashland defender Brian Ruhaak made a challenge, but appeared to be thrown to the ground by Calderon right in front of the sideline referee. No call was made and Calderon crossed the ball in for Kyle Schraier, who put a shot off the crossbar and in to put the Miners into the lead.

“I think it’s just part of the game,” Freeman said. “The referee was right there and I thought the center ref had a good line-of-sight to it. At the end of the day, it is what it is. It’s a close call to make and you’ve got to give respect to the referee. That’s the game of soccer.”

Ashland pushed numbers forward looking for an equalizer, and in the process they got caught open in the back. David Kekec received the ball inside the box for Missouri S&T and put it into the net from ten yards to seal Ashland’s fate.

“It was heart-wrenching for me because of how hard this team battled all year and for what they’ve accomplished,” Freeman said. “We’ve been in this game three years in a row now and I was really hoping we’d get something more than a first round game. It was a fantastic year and the boys should be proud of what they accomplished.”

The men’s soccer team has accomplished a lot this season. Finishing at 13-5-3, the Eagles are the only soccer team in school history to never be shut out in a game. They are also the first team to win a GLIAC Tournament Championship as well as winning the regular season title for the third straight season. Four Eagles (Louis Clark, Kenny Hewitt, James Livingston, and Jamie Dollar) were named to the All-Conference first team and Adam Spannbauer and Michael Kennedy were second team selections.