Senior midfielder Lewis Dunne scored twice to lift No. 13 Urbana University past No. 21 Mercyhurst 2-0 in the second round of the NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Championship at UU Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The win, which advances UU to the round of 16, ties the UU men’s soccer record for most victories in a season. It is also the second NCAA tournament win in school history.
UU (14-4-1) advances to the NCAA Atlantic Region Semifinals, where it will take on Charleston in a rematch of last year’s tournament. The round of 16 match will be held in Brookville, New York, with LIU-Post as the host. More details on a date and time will be released when available.
“It was a good win, the players are buzzin’ after that,” UU head coach Nick Roberts said on Sunday. “So, it was good, you know, the first half was a little bit cat and mouse, right, it was scrappy and nil-nil at halftime. I thought they did a really good job against us, they stopped us playing out the back. The second half, we came out and got on top of the game. We got wide and got in behind them a few times.”
In the first NCAA Championship event hosted at UU, the Blue Knights didn’t disappoint the home crowd as they outshot the Lakers 20-11. Both of Dunne’s goals came in the second half, with the game-winner coming in the 60th minute. David Veauthier controlled possession off a misfire from the Mercyhurst keeper and sent a perfect low cross from the right side to Dunne, who one-touched for the goal.
Dunne’s second goal came 10 minutes later off a rebound from a saved penalty kick. The senior co-captain from Ellesmere Port, England, now leads UU with 22 points (eight goals, six assists) on the season and four game-winners.
Senior goalkeeper Nathan Jones was fantastic between the pipes, recording his second career shutout in an NCAA match. Jones had six impressive saves, including five in the second half, while picking up his career-best ninth shutout. The MEC Defensive Player of the Year is ranked fifth nationally among active career leaders in shutouts (25).
The Lakers were led by their leading scorer Thom Derks who posted three of the team’s six shots on goal. Mercyhurst held the advantage in corner kicks 6-4.
