Robert Morris men’s soccer goalkeeper Josh Lane was sitting with captain Gabe Norris at the end of last season. They had just completed a 5-6-5 season but had already turned their focus to the next year.
The pair knew they had a lot of talent returning — seven seniors and graduate students on top of the players who now had at least a year under their belts. They were talking about the capabilities of the team and truly thought they could make an NCAA tournament appearance.
So, before preparation for the 2024 season started, they changed the team group chat name to “2024 Horizon League Champions.”
The Colonials fell short of the regular season title but were able to pull out a No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. Only No. 3-seeded Milwaukee and No. 1-seeded Oakland stood in their way.
Forward Victor Thompson scored 8½ minutes into the game, and then it was just about maintaining the lead. When regulation ended, it was quite the celebration. Robert Morris had earned an NCAA tournament berth for the first time since 2005.
“It was just a feeling of relief,” coach Jonathan Potter said. “You lived through that second half when [Oakland was] a man down and they were playing really well. You just really want the team to see out the game. It’s just total elation from our team to win a championship. There's no better feeling. It was incredible.”
The players knew early that they had the capabilities to make it this far. Potter always knew they’d be in the hunt for a championship, but it wasn’t until the first preseason game when he really saw the potential. Potter was impressed with his squad, even though it lost the game to Bowling Green.
When the Colonials played Duquesne, the true turning point of the season occurred. It was a rivalry game, heightened by the Dukes’ No. 18 TopDrawerSoccer ranking. The score sat at 0-0 until Robert Morris defender Tim Koczulap took the lead. It opened up the floodgates, with goals from Logan Gilley and Kosi Udeh following suit.
“It just gave us a belief that we can play with these huge teams and we can compete,” Lane said. “It just gave us that confidence throughout the season. Beating Green Bay at home 5-0, beating Wright State — every win built confidence.”
Some teams are heavy on the defense, and others are really strong offensive teams. Robert Morris is fairly well balanced, having had to play from behind and with a lead at various times in the season.
The Colonials aren’t the flashiest team. Their 1.89 goals per game are tied for 31st in the nation. Goalscoring was something Potter put an emphasis on, especially in the back half of the season. Robert Morris scored a total of 12 goals through the first eight games, compared to 21 in the last eight regular season games. Add in the two Horizon League tournament goals, and it is at 23 in their final 10.
“We've started to use the ball a little bit better, so more guys are getting involved,” Potter said. “We have great players, but it really is a team game with our group — particularly offensively, with a lot of different guys chipping in with goals. Just moving the ball more, using the ball a little bit better helps create more openings for more players. The team's a little more selfless offensively, where different guys on different days are playing the last pass or scoring the final goal. What's been really cool toward the end of the year, you just really see other guys happy for teammate success, which, as a coach, is just great to see.”
Chase Gilley’s seven goals lead Robert Morris, but 12 other players have scored goals. Seven have scored multiple.
Potter really focused on the defensive end between the final regular season game and the conference tournament. The Colonials lost to Cleveland State 3-2 in the regular season and knew if they wanted to make a run at the NCAA tournament, they’d have to clean it up. They buckled down in the eight days between games and really focused on locking in on defensive jobs.
It helps that it’s a veteran group. Thompson, Fabian Overkamp and Victor Koah are juniors. Then you have Norris, a graduate student, closing out the backline ahead of Lane.
The defense was truly the deciding factor between going home and lifting the trophy at the end of the weekend. There were still 25 minutes left when Chase Gilley scored against Milwaukee. There were 80 minutes remaining when Thompson scored against Oakland.
“The experience of playing competitive knockout for soccer really helps,” Lane said. “Having a game where you score 10 minutes in and you're up against it for the rest of the game, having that grit and the determination to win — having that under our belt already really helps. It shows that we're capable of winning as a team and defending well as a team. The Milwaukee game, too, it took a while for us to get our goal, but when we did, we defended well.”
Robert Morris’ next challenge is in a Michigan team that went toe to toe with No. 1 Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game. The Wolverines came just short, falling 1-0 to the best team in the country.
But the Colonials just had success in Michigan. They won their Horizon League title in Rochester, so the players have joked that it’s “destiny” for them to head back to the state.
It might be a bit of a David vs. Goliath game at 6 p.m. Thursday, but Robert Morris knows all it takes is one goal.
“College soccer, it's different from other sports,” Potter said. “In college football, college basketball, we've got these blue bloods that just are so far ahead of everyone else. There's such a great level of parity in Division I college soccer, where most of the teams are fairly even. It comes down to mindset. It's hard to find because when you're losing games, it's hard to have a great mindset. Some of it is coming from just winning games, but right now, the guys are flying high. You've kind of got to ride the crest of a wave going into the opening weekend, and you see how far that can take you.”
First Published: November 20, 2024, 8:24 p.m.
