BURLINGTON, Iowa — Doug Desmarteau has seen just about everything in his 30-plus years of coaching.
“But this,” he said, “is gonna be tough to recover from.”
Desmarteau’s Allen Community College soccer team was minutes away Saturday from a Region VI and Plains District championship, when the unthinkable occurred.
Host Southeastern Community College scored twice in the final three minutes, with goals 1:20 apart — including a hotly disputed shot to stun the Red Devils 2-1, thus securing a berth in the upcoming NJCAA-Division II National Tournament.
Allen still has an opportunity to receive one of four at-large bids in the national tournament, which runs June 5-10 in Wichita.
The at-large bids will be announced Thursday.
“We think we have a pretty good shot, especially with how that game turned out, and our record. They’ll also look at rankings,” Desmarteau said Monday. “We have a pretty good case for it. We’ll have to see who else submits bids.”
If selected, this will be the first ever Allen team to compete in the national tournament.
If not for the last few gut-wrenching moments, the Red Devils would have already had their ticket punched.
As has been their wont, the Red Devils controlled play from the get-go, but many of those early scoring opportunities came up empty.
Two shots hit the side post. Jordan Mase poked one that flew inches above the crossbar.
After a scoreless first half, Allen’s David Almeida pushed the Red Devils in front, 1-0, with his unassisted shot in the 59th minute.
From there, it was a matter of Southeastern attacking relentlessly.
“They started lumping balls into the box, and we pretty much got rid of them all,” Desmarteau said.
But an attack in the 85th minute turned the tide.
