In the span of seven days, former Ankeny Centennial soccer standout Andrew Heckenlaible experienced both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
After helping St. Louis to a stunning 3-2 win at Akron in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship on Dec. 6, Heckenlaible saw his sophomore season come to an end on Friday, when the Billikens dropped a 2-1 decision to eventual runner-up NC State in a Men’s College Cup semifinal at First Horizon Stadium in Cary, N.C.
St. Louis finished with a 13-3-8 record after its record 52nd appearance all-time in the NCAA Championship. The loss ended a 14-game unbeaten streak for the Billikens, who advanced through the tournament to the College Cup for the 17th time in its history and the first since 1997.
All of the scoring came in the second half of Friday’s game. After NC State notched a pair of goals in a 4-minute span to take a 2-0 lead, the Billikens got one back in the 81st minute.
Tanner Anderson was taken down in the box, giving SLU a penalty kick. Quentin Blair buried the chance for his team-leading sixth goal of the season.
SLU continued to pressure and had several more chances down the stretch, including a shot by Drake Fournier that was deflected and sailed just wide for a corner kick. But the Billikens were unable to get another one through on the NC State defense.
Jeremi Abonnel made five saves in his final game for St. Louis, several of them on dazzling stops. He stopped an NC State penalty kick in the second half, the fourth time out of five tries this season that he stopped a PK in regulation.
Heckenlaible, a forward, played 28 minutes off the bench against the Wolfpack, who eventually lost to Washington, 3-2, in overtime in the championship game on Monday night.
St. Louis punched its ticket to the Men’s College Cup a week earlier with a thrilling come-from-behind victory at Akron, which had previously allowed no goals in the tournament.
As they did several times throughout their run in this NCAA Championship, the resilient Billikens did not panic and stayed true to form after falling behind 2-0 at halftime.
St. Louis began its comeback via an Akron own goal in the 50th minute. Abdoul Karim Pare created the opportunity when he sent a ball into the area, and it deflected off an Akron defender and over the line to trim the deficit to 2-1.
SLU was awarded a penalty kick in the 78th minute after Pare’s entry into the box hit the arm of a defender. Blair converted it for the equalizer, and all of the sudden it was a 2-2 game.
The game-winning goal came in the 87th minute off a set piece. Jack DiMaria played a corner kick short to Heckenlaible, who took the ball into the box and centered it.
Anderson was there to magnificently deflect the ball into the upper netting for the eventual game-winner. SLU then held on down the stretch to seal the win.
The Billikens fired 15 shots in the second half after having just one in the first half. Akron played a man down for the final 27 minutes of the game after receiving a red card.
The assist was the fourth of the season for Heckenlaible, who started and played 60 minutes in the Billikens’ win. He also had a pair of goals while seeing action in 23 games with 18 starts on the year.