Minutemen a Team to Be Reckoned With

The University of Massachusetts men's soccer team continued to gain increased national prominence in 1997, rolling to an 11-7-1 overall mark and earning a national ranking of No. 11 in the Sept. 22 coaches poll. UMass posted three wins over nationally ranked teams and nearly pulled off an upset of eventual national-champion UCLA at the annual UCLA Pacific Soccer Classic. Mike Butler and Carmelo Garcia earned Atlantic 10 All-Conference honors, Brad Kurowski earned Academic All-Conference honors, and the program posted its fourth consecutive winning season. The feat of four straight winning seasons had not been accomplished at UMass since the early 1970's. This is the first time in the program's rich 65-year history that the team has posted double-digits in wins in four consecutive years.

Butler left Amherst after his senior season having firmly placed his name in the school's record book. Butler led UMass with 31 points in 1997, coming on a team-high 12 goals and seven assists. The 31 points, which ties him for the fourth most productive offensive season in UMass history, gave Butler a career total of 96 points, making him the school's all-time leading scorer. His 12 goals are tied for the sixth highest output of any UMass player in a single-season, while his 36 career tallies are third-best all-time. Butler concluded his career second in career assists with 24 after his seven last season tied him for sixth place on the single-season chart.

Butler was second on the 1997 team in assists, trailing freshman Seth Lilburn, who proved to be one of the team's top attacking players and one of the bright spots for the future. Lilburn concluded his inaugural UMass campaign with 18 points (5g, 8a), the eight assists being the highest total ever by a freshman at UMass. Sophomore Todd Fowler became the team's steady starter in goal after playing all of seven minutes a year ago. Fowler started 17 of 19 games for UMass, posting three shutouts and a 1.36 goals-against-average. He was helped by having sweeper Garcia thwart several opposing opportunities before they could produce a quality shot on goal.

UMass opened its season with a 4-2 win over Cal Poly SLO in Chicopee's Szot Park. The Minutemen rushed out to a quick, 3-0 lead at the half behind a sixth minute strike by Butler and tallies by Jake Brodsky and Lilburn in the 32nd and 38th minutes respectively. The Mustangs closed to within a goal at 3-2 by the 73:53 mark, but a late tally by Gavin Hewitt in the game's 89th minute secured the victory. Both Butler and Lilburn had a goal and two assists in the contest, while Jeff Jablonski picked up the win in net for UMass.

After a 1-1 draw at Siena, which featured Mike Purcell's lone goal of the year, UMass made its Totman Field debut on Sept. 13 against the Maine Black Bears. With the score tied at 2-2 after goals from Brodsky and Hewitt, UMass headed for overtime for the second consecutive game. As the first stanza wound to a close, Butler converted on a Brodsky feed from 12 yards out for the "golden goal" with just six seconds to play in the first overtime period.

The first of three wins over ranked teams followed as UMass traveled to Durham, New Hampshire for a date with the No. 22 UNH Wildcats. This time, it wasn't late overtime heroics that earned UMass the victory, but early overtime heroics. After Lilburn had tied the score at 1-1 in the 85th minute, Joenal Castma scored the first of his five goals on the year just 10 seconds into overtime. Riding the wave of emotion, UMass returned home three days later to face No. 9 Boston University before 917 fans at Totman Field, the second largest home crowd of the season. Kurowski struck 9:43 into the game, flicking in a Lilburn throw-in. BU tied it up at 47:21, eventually sending the game to overtime. For the second time in the young season, Butler scored the golden goal, tallying from 15 yards out at the 100:47 mark. For his play against UNH and BU, Butler would be named to Soccer America's National Team of the Week, the Atlantic 10's Player of the Week and the WHMP/UMass Athlete of the Week. Lilburn was named the conference's Rookie of the Week, but more importantly, the nation's coaches had taken notice, voting UMass No. 11 in the next week's poll with a 4-0-1 record. Unfortunately, the team's fifth consecutive overtime game did not go as well. UMass fell under the lights at Hartford in its next outing, 1-0, on a goal by Dominic Willock just 14 seconds into the second overtime.

The Minutemen then headed westward for their first weekend of conference action. At St. Bonaventure, UMass fell 2-1 , despite James Redmond's first career goal. The Bonnies had been a strong early-season conference test for UMass, and the task became far more daunting two days later in Pittsburgh against Duquesne. Castma was sent off in the fourth minute, moments after Redmond scored unassisted to give UMass a 1-0 edge. UMass would have to hang on a man down for 86 minutes, and the Minutemen kept up their fight. Duquesne finally cracked Fowler, who made eight saves in the game, at the 53:31 mark to tie the score. Not wanting to open their A-10 slate with just one point in the standings, UMass kept battling and Lilburn scored the game-winner, converting on his own rebound with 12:12 to play in regulation.

UMass returned to Totman Field the following weekend and also returned to form, posting a 3-1 win over St. Joseph's and a resounding 4-0 win over No. 19 Temple. UMass found itself tied with the Hawks at half time, but burst free in the second half. Fabio Maniatty subbed into the game and delivered his first goal of the season just shy of the 50-minute mark. Brodsky tallied at 76:11 and Butler added a goal at 82:32 to give UMass a 3-0 cushion. Matt McDonough broke Fowler's shutout bid at 87:30 but UMass had earned a critical conference win. Two days later, in a brutal contest that featured 35 fouls and six yellow cards, the Minutemen improved to 3-1 in league play and 3-0 against ranked teams with their win over the Owls. Butler and Castma both scored twice and Fowler made nine saves in posting his first career shutout. Fowler also added his first career assist in the game, his long punt helping set up Butler's second goal. Brodsky also added two assists in one of the best all-around team efforts of the season.

Fowler posted his second consecutive shutout three days later against regional and conference rival Rhode Island, a formidable side even while playing without Jamaican international striker Andy Williams who was away in World Cup qualifying. Named the WHMP/UMass Athlete of the Week for the second time earlier in the day, Butler had both goals in a back-and-forth game. The senior tallied off of a Castma cross at 23:10 and on an unassisted run up the middle with 1:41 left in the game. URI mounted a furious second-half rally, taking nine shots and 10 corner kicks after the break, but six second-half saves by Fowler secured victory for the Minutemen. The win left UMass with an 8-2-1 record on the season, the best start in the program's 65-year history. The final two games of the five-game homestand were not as successful for UMass. The Minutemen fell 3-2 to Virginia Tech, all five goals coming in a wild first half, the game-winner on a penalty kick at 43:40. Two days later, George Washington escaped from Amherst with a 2-1 win. A 3-1 loss at eventual Atlantic 10 Champion Dayton followed, and UMass, after starting off 4-1 in league play, found itself at 4-4 and fighting for its A-10 Tournament hopes on Oct. 19 in Cincinnati against a Xavier team that stood 6-0 in league play.

By now the UMass lineup had been bolstered with the mid-season addition of senior Steve Jones, who had sat out the first half of the season. With his added experience in the midfield, UMass was poised to make a final charge for the A-10 Tournament, starting against the Musketeers. Sophomore Eric Rabinovitz proved to be the hero of the day after a long and hard-fought game against a dangerous opponent. Castma opened the scoring from Redmond just 5:38 into the contest, but the Musketeers came back to tie it in the 17th minute. Kurowski put UMass back up, by a 2-1 score, before half time on the first of Paul Corcoran's two helpers in the game. Xavier recorded the second half's lone goal, sending UMass to overtime for the sixth time of the season. On the extra session's lone shot, Rabinovitz converted on Corcoran's feed 1:06 into overtime for his first career goal, a truly golden one at that.

Playing with their backs to the A-10 Tournament wall, UMass put together a pair of dazzling wins for the home fans the following weekend. Fowler pitched his third shutout of the season against Fordham, a 1996 NCAA team that featured John Wolyniec, the nation's leading scorer at the time. Second half goals by Marc Saad, Lilburn and Redmond paced UMass to the 3-0 win. Senior Day at Totman Field proved to be one of the year's most exciting contests. In a must-win situation, UMass trailed La Salle, 1-0, in the 78th minute, despite outshooting the Explorers. In his final home game, Butler tied the score at the 77:39 mark when he collected Todd Baron's pass at the top of the penalty area, quickly accelerated and slashed past a defender before firing home a 10-yard shot just inside the near post. Bad news came for UMass in the form of a Castma red card at the 88:15 mark of the newly-tied game, but Butler didn't let the game run long enough for the card to have an impact. Just 12 seconds later, he collected a long serve from Corcoran and tallied his fourth game-winning goal of the season. What would be the senior's final UMass goal broke Randy Jacobs' career UMass scoring record of 93 points, set from 1990-1993. Along with the team's four overtime wins, the La Salle game showed the team's ability to elevate its play when the pressure was on.

The Minutemen wrapped up their season in the balmy climate of Los Angeles, Calif. facing No. 3 UCLA and perennial power Cal State Fullerton in the 13th annual UCLA Pacific Soccer Classic. The Bruins and Minutemen went into the 51st minute scoreless before UCLA struck on a Martin Bruno goal. UMass bounced back and tied the score at 1-1 when Lilburn tallied, unassisted, at the 80:56 mark. The eventual national champions would get a goal by Nick Paneno at the 86:02 mark to win it. A counter attack goal by McKinley Tennyson Jr. in the final minute of regulation accounted for a deceptive 3-1 final. UMass quickly fell behind against the Titans as Cal State Fullerton scored twice in the opening 12 minutes. Hewitt scored from Butler and Corcoran at 30:12, but the score remained as such, a 2-1 final for CSF. For their strong play, Steve Jones and Brad Kurowski were named to the All-Tournament team. The game would prove to be the team's finale. While UMass ended in a four-way tie for third in the conference standings, the team would be denied an Atlantic 10 Tournament berth due to tie-breaking policies. Still, the chagrin of missing the tournament does not overshadow another successful season for Koch's team. The team moved further into the national spotlight by achieving its highest-ever national ranking and defeating three ranked teams. While senior Mike Butler left an indelible mark on the school's record book, others stepped up and showed promising signs for the future. All-Atlantic 10 sweeper Carmelo Garcia proved to be one of the conference's top defensive players, while Todd Fowler began to realize his potential in the UMass net.

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