Pipers prevail in Tommie takedown

Piper men’s soccer defeat St. Thomas Tommies for the first time since 2006.

First-year+James+Reardon+%28left%29+celebrates+with+first-year+Francisco+Guzman+%28right%29+after+Guzman+scored+his+first+career+goal.

Cole Mayer

First-year James Reardon (left) celebrates with first-year Francisco Guzman (right) after Guzman scored his first career goal.

The Pipers men’s soccer team upset the St. Thomas Tommies to win their first conference game of the season, marking the first time they beat the Tommies since 2006.

“It was intense. Everybody wanted to win. I think [that’s] what made a huge difference,” senior Tyler Tallaksen said. “There was no way we were going to lose. It was physical, it was fast. You had to make the right decisions at all times, otherwise a goal could be scored.”

Prior to the game, the Pipers were at the bottom of the conference with an 0-3 record. The St. Thomas Tommies were on the opposite side of the spectrum as they were 3-0 in conference play. What made this game different for the Pipers was for the first time this season they had a conference game at home at Pat Paterson Fields.

Tallaksen said the crowd was packed and he definitely noticed a difference.

“When you can hear people cheering for us instead of against us or for the other team it’s a huge confidence booster; and also, when they cheered against the other team it was frustrating them so it kind of made it easier for us too,” Tallaksen said.

The seniors on the Pipers were also going up against their former head coach Jon Lowery, who coached the Pipers from 2009-2011. Tallaksen said it gave him an extra incentive to beat them because they hadn’t when he was a sophomore and as a junior they tied.

In the first half, the game was deadlocked at 0 until the Tommies broke through with a goal 40 minutes into the half. First-year Francisco Guzman was substituted into the game for the Pipers late in the first half and in less than two minutes of playing time, Guzman made the most of his opportunity.

Guzman was on a breakaway and scored a goal to tie the game up in less than 30 seconds from when the Tommies scored. He helped the Pipers tie the game at 1 before heading into halftime.

“I wasn’t starting, I was on the bench. When I saw the opportunity I took it,” Guzman said.

First-year Francisco Guzman sizes up the goalie to score his first career goal to tie the game for the Pipers before heading in for halftime.
Cole Mayer
First-year Francisco Guzman sizes up the goalie to score his first career goal to tie the game for the Pipers before heading in for halftime.

Guzman said he didn’t receive as much playing time as he wanted to and was looking to prove himself to his team.

“I feel like I needed the goal…proving to my coach and my team that I can keep up with these guys,” Guzman said. “[Playing against the Tommies has] been one of my favorite games to play in…every game is a tough game in college soccer. It’s a lot different than high school.”

Tallaksen said he was glad to see Guzman score his first career goal in a crucial situation to help the Pipers against the Tommies.

“I was happy for him,” Tallaksen said. “It was great, a lot of freshmen have been stepping up for us this year.”

In the second half with the help of Tallaksen and junior Victor Lara, junior Abbai Habte scored the go-ahead goal for the Pipers to put them up 2-1.

“It was a good team effort. Tyler had the ball on the right side but beat his defender. Played the ball in and I just happened to be on the end of it,” Habte said. “It was a great feeling to be honest, scoring a goal against the Tommies, especially being that they are the rivalry school right across campus. I thought it was a good win for us, I was just happy to be the one that was scoring the goal to get the win.”

The Pipers played sound defense and with senior Derrick Mora’s lights out defensive play they were able to hold off the Tommies to pick up their first conference win of the season. Mora recorded three saves to pick up his fourth win of the season, the victory against the Tommies improved Mora’s record under the net to 4-2-1.

“It was their first conference lost and we hadn’t won yet,” Tallaksen said.

Tallaksen said it also felt good to defeat his former coach.

“It was hard to describe, it was against my old coach,” Tallaksen said. “It was awesome. At the end of the game he didn’t even look at me. He was like ‘good game Tyler.’ That feels good, he wouldn’t even look at me.”

The team’s goal this season was to crack the top six in the MIAC, the win definitely has Tallaksen confident they can get on a roll. Also in the Pipers favor, they will have three of their remaining six conference games home at Pat Paterson Fields.

Habte said the atmosphere of their home game was great and he’s looking forward to the atmosphere at the home games down the stretch.

“It was great. The atmosphere at home was great. The hockey team was all there and all the fans were really hypered and getting us going. I felt that was the biggest difference throughout the game…we had so many fans cheering us up,” Habte said.

Tallaksen said he wants to continue to see the younger players step up as they have all season. He said he and the other seniors are trying their best to prep them.

“Mostly teaching them what it’s like playing in the MIAC and what it’s like to play college soccer. It’s a huge difference from high school so its getting them up to speed and teaching them the new physicality of the game pretty much,” Tallaksen said.

Tallaksen said the team is very close and has a tight bond.

“This is the closest the team has ever been since I’ve been here for four years,” Tallaksen said.

The Pipers will look to keep the momentum rolling after their victory over the Tommies, their first since 2006.

“The feeling that we got after the game was that we can beat anyone,” Habte said. “We played the top team in the MIAC and ended up beating them so that just gives us confidence.”

Tallaksen said he’s looking for the younger players to take make strides to propel them forward.

“It’s going to take work, winning is not easy. It’s going to take me and the other seniors leading the younger kids to get through the rest of the games,” Tallaksen said.

Habte said the mindset for the Pipers is to focus on getting as much points as they can to push for a playoff spot.

“Beating a team like [St. Thomas] just shows us what we can do to any team in the MIAC and that just gives us a chance to be able to perform against whoever comes in our way and get to the playoffs. The number one goal…is to get to the playoffs and get as many points as possible and accomplish our goal for the season,” Habte said.