As the No. 4 University of Charleston men's soccer team entered the Mountain East Conference tournament this weekend, coach Chris Grassie knew that he had a team that was built for the postseason.
He had seen his team adjust on the fly before, adapting to what other teams throw at them, and he got a look at the way the Golden Eagles were able to do that once again as they beat Urbana, 2-1, at Schoenbaum Stadium to capture their fourth consecutive MEC title.
"It was a difficult game. We just trusted the guys that were out there to get the job done and they did that," Grassie said. "We had a lot of serious chances, but the game was frenetic and Urbana did a great job out there too. It was a good win for us and now we can get ready for the next step."
Charleston controlled the game from the outset, keeping possession on its half for a majority of the contest, and used that possession advantage to get ahead in the first half.
In the seventh minute of the game, UC struck first when Patrick Guier played a ball through to forward Jermaine Windster who found the back of the net with the first shot of the game from either team.
About 10 minutes later, Urbana showed that it wouldn't be going down without a fight. The Blue Knights, who were the last team to beat Charleston this season with a 1-0 decision a few weeks ago, battled right back and found the equalizer on a wonderful set piece in the 17th minute. A free kick was played into the right corner of the 18-yard box near the end line where Tom Walbeoff was able to head it into the center for Lars Blenckers who put it away to make it 1-1.
The Golden Eagles found what proved to be the game-winner in the 27th minute when Guier took a shot at the goal but it was blocked and fell to Freddie Tracy who scored the rebound to put UC up for good.
"We had a feeling once we got that lead to go ahead that we could win the game," Guier said. "We pushed hard to come right back with one after they scored theirs. They had a good plan and we struggled some, but we made it happen."
In the second half was where UC showed its mettle.
With Urbana looking to get out on the attack more, shifting out of its normal 3-5-2 formation and bringing another forward ahead to make it a 3-4-3, the Golden Eagles adjusted on the fly - and did so well enough that Grassie didn't want to make any substitutions until he absolutely needed to and could tell players needed a break.
The result was that Charleston was still able to control the game, battle through a few bumps here and there, and work through them to keep battling and adding more pressure on the Urbana defense.
"The tactics changed so quickly and we adapted really well and were able to start to exploit them," Grassie said. "We kept our head when they were buzzing around. When we're at our best it's when we possess it like we did tonight.
"I felt very confident toward the end in how we played. I thought if anyone was going to score in that second half it was going to be us getting that insurance goal, but they had some great goalkeeping."
The win continued UC's streak of conference titles, one that runs back to 2010 going back to the school's time in the WVIAC. But almost immediately the focus went to the national tournament, which is set to begin next week with the NCAA Selection Show taking place on Monday to unveil who the Golden Eagles will be playing as they begin their quest for a title.
Of course, the MEC final was a victory they enjoyed, but they also admitted its just the first step along the journey to their ultimate goal.
"It's just one step in the big view of what we're looking to achieve this year," Guier said. "We have a great team this year and it feels good to reach this first goal because we can keep building toward the tournament and hopefully keep this going."