The Pios Did What????

A team ravaged with injuries, start three freshmen, with five freshmen getting significant time, somehow beat Wisconsin power-house UW-Oshkosh.

What thoughts were going through minds of the fans or on-lookers?
• Oshkosh let one get away last year against a phenomenal senior class of the 08 Pioneers. No seniors, no chance.
• Who are these starters? Ksobiech, Szescy, Johnson? Never heard of them.
• Oshkosh is returning nearly their entire team from 2008! That alone should win this match.
• Missing Carroll players: Wickman, Hietpas, Klug. No way this squad is deep enough to compete.
Despite all of that. Despite anything one may have thought of little ole’ Carroll University, there were victories against some less than stellar MWC teams, and some less than impressive victories against the better teams in the MWC. Who are they kidding in thinking they can even lace their cleats up with the likes of UW Oshkosh.

Yet somewhere along the line, the game was actually played. Carroll came to the match with all the vigor and all the swagger of a heavy weight prize fighter in a Division III soccer clash. From the opening whistle Carroll let it be known that they were not only there to play, they were there to win. Not even six minutes into the match, goal keeper Stanislaw Miaskowski drop kicked a punt to forward Andy Prentice where the ball was pushed behind Oshkosh’s back line. Freshman Doug Johnson came streaking in, unmarked, burying the game’s first shot to put Carroll up 1-0.

As the half progressed Carroll did not show signs of slowing. In fact, constant pressure on the Oshkosh back line led to several turnovers and countless errant passes. With every possession, the Pioneers tried to push the ball past Oshkosh’s flat four.

The game was evening out when Craig Carlson played a ball through Oshkosh for Prentice, from his own half. Prentice having a good bead on the ball reached it a few steps before Andy Kohel could get there. With Kohel bearing down on him, Prentice fired a shot from the right corner of the 18 yard area, beating out-of-position keeper James Pike.

As the half continued, Carroll and Oshkosh exchanged possessions and shots, neither content with the score. Both teams had to go into the locker room accepting a 2-0 Carroll lead.

As the second half got under way, one could sense a change in urgency. Carroll, having played most of the first half in their attacking third, were now forced to defend almost continuous pressure. The Titans amped up the pressure and turned to quick passing and excellent off-the-ball movement.

As a Carroll fan, the clock could not have moved any slower.

Possession after possession, Carroll held on for dear life. It looked like Carroll’s defenders, with career games coming from Scott Pease and Danny Pender, were going to be enough. Both defenders were dominant in the air. If one missed a tackle, the other would come in to blow up the play. Despite their best efforts, in the 65th minute, Oshkosh brought an attack that seemed to last forever. Players were sprinting into a hornet’s nest of defenders; even when tackled, the ball would land into the waiting arms of the next Titans player. Cross after cross, Carroll could not earn a significant clear. At the 70th minute, the ball was lofted over the heads of the Pioneer back line, and a shot bounced off of Miaskowski. The ball was too close to catch and popped out towards the end line where Devon Prideaux placed a shot into an open goal.

As expected, Oshkosh found new life and when Andy Prentice went down with injury, it seemed the stars were aligning for an Oshkosh comeback.

Enter the freshmen: Niel Zoglman replaced Prentice, Justin Gerhartz played significant time on the wing, coupled with starting freshmen Ryan Szecsy, Andy Ksobiech and Doug Johnson. Athletes who had been playing for state honors in the WIAA tournament just one year ago, now found themselves in a dog fight with one of the country’s best squads.


Not content with being relegated to defense, “team freshmen” put together countless attacks, getting Johnson, Szescy and Zoglman behind the Titan defenders.

Entering the last ten minutes of play, possessions were going back and forth. The clock was now an additional opponent. With every Oshkosh attack, came a Carroll clear and subsequent Carroll possession.

At the 90th minute the ball was harmlessly shot into the sky; the 14-1-2, 22nd ranked team in the country mobbed the field to celebrate one of the program’s biggest wins.