Nov. 5, 2004

Box Score

EDWARDSVILLE - Those who have followed Mike Dahm throughout his Lewis University men's soccer career know the senior defender is no stranger to scoring goals in big games.

In Friday night's Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship semifinal game against archrival Wisconsin-Parkside, he did it again.

Dahm took Cathal Brady (Dublin, Ireland/St. Peters College Dunboyne)'s free kick and beat Ranger goalkeeper Victor Perez with a header 4:07 into overtime, giving defending champion Lewis a 2-1 victory and propelling the Flyers into Sunday's 1 p.m. conference title game against top seed and host Southern Illinois Edwardsville, a 1-0 semifinal winner over fourth-seeded Quincy.

Third-seeded Lewis, the top-ranked team in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region, improved to 16-2-2 while Wisconsin-Parkside, the tournament's second seed and No. 3 team in the region, fell to 13-3-2.

Both teams are likely participants in the 24-team NCAA Division II Championship that begins Thursday with eight 3-team regionals.

The game-winner was Dahm's fifth goal of the season, while Brady's assist was his GLVC-best 13th of the year.

The Flyers took a 1-0 lead at 58:59. Justin Sanabria netted his eighth goal of the season, tying him for the team lead, with help from Joliet Township product TIto Lara, who registered his third assist of the year.

"Parkside probably had the better of it in the first half, but (Lewis goalkeeper) Jordan (Gustman) made some big saves (six) to keep us in the game," Lewis head coach Evan Fiffles said.

"We came out and played much better in the second half. We created some opportunities, held Parkside to just three shots on goal, Justin put one in and Mike finished it in overtime. It was a great game, a great battle."

The Rangers forced the extra period when Alen Osmanovic (Mike Ruffolo assist) scored at 79:26.

Gustman made eight saves and Perez had four saves. Parkside gained a 16-9 advantage in total shots.

Sunday, the Flyers will aim for their eighth GLVC title overall and sixth under Fiffles, now in his 13th year at Lewis. A Flyer win would give Lewis back-to-back league crowns for the first time since 1985-86.

History certainly is on Lewis' side. The Flyers have won each of the last five GLVC Championship finals in which they have played.

Friday's victory tied the Flyers with the 1985, 1988 and 1996 teams for the third-highest win total in program history. The 2001 team won 20 games and the 2000 squad won 17 games.