Nov. 9, 2007

After a 1-0 loss to Great Lakes Valley Conference foe St. Joseph (Ind.), the Lewis University men's soccer team found itself fearing a very disappointing season.

"At that point (Sept. 28), we had a 7-4 record and all four losses were in conference play," 16-year Lewis coach Evan Fiffles said. "We were either eighth or tied for eighth in the league standings and the last thing we were thinking about at that time was playing in the (NCAA) Great Lakes Regional."

That regional, though, is exactly where the streaking Flyers (17-4) are heading after winning the GLVC tournament last Sunday at Northern Kentucky.

"We were having trouble scoring and our defense was very inconsistent," Fiffles said. "We needed to make some adjustments."

Whatever adjustments the Flyers made, they certainly worked.

Since that home loss to St. Joe's, Lewis has reeled off 10 consecutive victories. The streak was capped off with three wins at the GLVC tourney, including a 1-0 stunner over host and No. 1-ranked Northern Kentucky in the conference final.

"Everything really came together last weekend as we beat three outstanding teams (Bellarmine, Indianapolis and Northern Kentucky). I think the most telling note about our streak is the teams we have beaten," Fiffles said. "Our conference is one of the toughest (NCAA) Division II leagues in the country and most of the wins in the streak have come against teams from the upper half of the league."

The Flyers open play at the regional at 4 p.m. today against GLVC foe Southern Illinois Edwardsville (10-3-3). A win today and Lewis might be facing Northern Kentucky for the third time, and with a regional title on the line. On top of that, all three meetings will have been played on the Norse's home field.

Lewis dropped a 2-1 decision at Edwardsville on Sept. 23 in the regular-season meeting with the Cougars.

"They (SIUE) have a lot of postseason experience," Fiffles said. "They were knocked out of the conference tournament in the quarterfinals so they have had about a week to rest and heal some injuries.

"But if you look at it the other way, we have played two games since SIU lost and we won them both so we are coming into the game with a lot of momentum.

"They are one of the best possession teams in the country. That will make them especially tough on the faster Field Turf surface that they have at Northern Kentucky."

Fiffles believes that one thing the Flyers need this week is a short memory.

"We can't be thinking about last week," Fiffles said. "We can't just show up and expect to win based on our championship last weekend and our 10-game winning streak. Three of the four teams at the regional (Lewis, SIU-E and Northern Kentucky) are from our league, but this tournament represents the start of a new season for all of us."

Despite its loss to Lewis in the GLVC final, Northern Kentucky (20-1) carries the No. 1 seed into the regional. Lewis owns the No. 2 seed and SIUE is third. Gannon (16-2-1), from Erie, Pa., is the lone non-GLVC team. It is seeded fourth and must play Northern Kentucky in today's semifinals.

Tim Clodjeaux Staff Writer