For the third year in a row, Dalton State College’s men’s soccer team has secured a spot at the NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship tournament’s final site following a second round victory at home.
On Saturday, the Roadrunners shut out Eastern Oregon at Dalton Stadium 3-0.
The No. 1 overall seed, Dalton State will travel to Wichita, Kansas, for the round of 16. Dalton State will take on Michigan’s Spring Arbor University at 10 a.m. Central Standard Time in Wichita’s Stryker Sports Complex on Monday, Dec. 2.
Saturday’s bout closed out the three-team Dalton bracket in the first and second rounds of the tournament, which began with an Eastern Oregon victory over Lakeland, Florida’s Southeastern University on Thursday on penalty kicks after a 2-2 tie.
The Roadrunners, who received a bye in the tournament’s first round this year as one of the top eight seeds, remain undefeated in 2024 with an 18-0-2 record.
Against Eastern Oregon, the Roadrunners scored their first goal late into the first half when Jack Stainrod sent the ball into the net off of assists by Kazuma Ishizuka and Jip van den Essen.
Dalton State’s final two goals came in the second half, beginning with another Stainrod kick at the 49 minute, 54 second mark. Assisting Stainrod were Juan Demichelis and Giovanni Poliero.
Poliero capped off the scoring for the Roadrunners when he sent the ball into the Eastern Oregon net as part of a set piece at the 74:28 mark on an assist from Jamie Mendiola.
“I think the feeling going into the game was excitement and just wanting to get out on the pitch and play,” said Dalton State Soccer Director Saif Alsafeer. “The guys just wanted to get after it, really. They were eager to play, they were ready, they were prepared and they wanted to just go out there and execute.”
Eastern Oregon ends the season with an 11-4-5 record.
“I think after the game, it was just a feeling of ‘Well done,'” Alsafeer said. “We took a step, did what we needed to do and now let’s move on.”
Alsafeer said the Roadrunners were “very much business-oriented” against Eastern Oregon.
“I think they wanted to get out there and take care of business,” he said. “And when they did, I think they wanted to figure out what’s next and move forward.”
Last year, the fourth-seeded Roadrunners knocked off William Penn 1-0 in the tournament’s round of 16 in Wichita to advance to the quarterfinal round, where they lost to St. Thomas on penalty kicks to end the season with a 14-3-3 record.
This year, Dalton State hopes to secure a spot in the quarterfinals for the third time in program history.
“We’re just doing what we need to do to prepare as we’ve done all season,” Alsafeer said. “Spring Arbor is a great opponent and a very good team. We’ll just need to take it day-by-day in how we want to approach things, but that’s the same that we’ve tried to do all year. These games have to be taken one step at a time. You have to be dealing with what’s right in front of you.”
Sometimes, Alsafeer said, that takes determination and “a little bit of luck.”
“That’s a big thing that people don’t always realize,” he said. “You need things to go your way. You need calls to go your way and you need to try and be healthy, and keep people healthy when you’re there. All those things play a factor. So, we’ll take it one step at a time and hope the ball bounces our way this year. But I know we’ll give our best effort.”