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Bearcats rely on motivation as they head to NCAA Tourney

Lander men's soccer team will play at Carson-Newman Wednesday in regional

Jamie Ramm provided reminders of 2006 championship season

GREENWOOD - Lander senior defender Jamie Ramm wanted to make sure his teammates could really "picture" the championship possibilities that lay ahead for the 2009 men's soccer team.

Above the lockers on one wall in the Bearcats' dressing room inside Finis Horne Arena is a large, black-and-white picture of the 2006 Peach Belt Conference championship ring resting on one of Ramm's fingers balled up in a fist.

On two different walls, there are black-and-white pictures of Lander celebrating the 2006 PBC championship, one is a silly picture with the players' twisting in different directions with the trophy, the other a professional looking team photograph with the trophy resting in front of the players.

Among the players in those pictures are current seniors Ramm, Adam Arthur, Ivan Stoykov and K.C. Dunbaker, along with stars from that 2006 team like 20-goal scorer Nick Cooke, Colin Kent, Drew Courtney, Martyn Bell, Tyler Davis, Christian Mason, and Garrett Daum.

Yet another picture shows the Bearcats celebrating when Cooke scored what proved to be the winning goal with only seven minutes left in the 2006 Peach Belt championship game, which Lander won 1-0 over USC Aiken.

Having not won the PBC Tournament since his freshman year in 2006, and with the nucleus of a talented and veteran team returning this fall, Ramm wanted the Bearcats to not only hoist the PBC championship trophy again in 2009, but to also make waves in the NCAA Tournament.

Lander met one major goal by winning the Peach Belt Tournament on Sunday, tying regular season champion Flagler 2-2 after regulation and two overtimes, and then beating the Saints 4-3 in a shootout.

Then the Bearcats had to await an NCAA Tournament berth that they felt they had earned, and the invitation came Monday night when Lander was named the sixth seed in the ultra-competitive Southeast Region.

"I like to use visual aids to inspire people," said Ramm, a team captain. "Back in August, I put out some pictures from the 2006 championship winning team, celebrating with the trophies, the rings, scoring the winning goal, as well as motivational quotes. It's something we see every day. I wanted us to do what we did in 2006.

"And luckily we were able to win the (2009) tournament. It's just something that I like to do to motivate the lads, to give them a daily reminder of what's at stake and what we can achieve."

Regular-season games are not immune to inspirational photos either. Before the Francis Marion match this year, Ramm put pictures of the Patriots celebrating the 2008 PBC championship in each player's locker. Francis Marion won last year's title game 1-0 in double overtime against Lander. Although the Bearcats did not win the rematch this year, the teams played to a 2-all tie in Florence.

"It was the pictures of them winning the Peach Belt with OUR trophy," Lander junior Aaron Brittain said.

The Bearcats (12-5-2) need no motivation for their next game even with the words "Stay Hungry" posted during the team meeting. Lander will face No. 3 seed and nationally 15th-ranked Carson-Newman (13-4-1) Wednesday at 6 p.m. at McCown Field on Carson-Newman’s campus in Jefferson City, Tenn., in the first round of the 32-team NCAA Tournament.

After heavy rains on Tuesday, the game will most surely be played on a soggy field. The Bearcats were scheduled to leave for the Tennessee mountains early Wednesday morning.

Lander is 8-1-1 in its last 10 matches and enters the NCAAs on a high note with its PBC Tournament championship. The Bearcats are making their fifth consecutive NCAA post-season appearance.

Arthur, Lander's top scorer with a PBC-leading 14 goals, says the pictures are quite motivational.

"It's right above my locker. Every day, I see that ring right there on Rammy's fist," Arthur said. "You just look at it and think, 'that's what we are working towards.' It does get you motivated. It just gets you ready for practice, ready for games."

There are inspirational phrases neatly typed on 8½ by 11 pieces of paper taped throughout the locker room. One says, "Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records." Another says, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog."

Some of the quotes rang true Sunday when Lander outlasted Flagler 4-3 in the penalty kick phase to win the championship. After Bearcats goalkeeper Matthew Atkinson stopped two kicks, Stephen Magennis clinched the victory with a chip down the middle that totally fooled the Flagler goalkeeper.

"First of all, I can't believe he chipped it," Arthur said, with a smile. "He confused him (the goalkeeper).You are supposed to run up hard like you are going to smash it and it confuses the goalkeeper."

"I missed the PK (wide of the net) that could have won it," Brittain said. "Personally, I was relieved. When Steve chipped it, I thought, 'oh, no,' and it went in. I was relieved, to say the least."

"I was standing next to (assistant) Coach (Neal) Brown. I was in no physical shape to take a penalty kick after double overtime," Ramm said, with a smile. "I don't normally get emotional. But that really hit me on Sunday with everything that I went through over the summer (including ankle surgery in March and intensive rehabilitation just to get to play in 2009). 

"It was our last chance to win the Peach Belt Tournament. To play in four finals and only win one would have been devastating. It was a great, great feeling, something that I will never forget."

The way Magennis scored will surely be a topic for years to come.

"I'm glad he scored. I would have liked to have seen coach's reaction if he missed. Stephen might not be here (on the team) today if he didn't (score)," Ramm said, jokingly.

Lander also had a dramatic semifinal victory, beating rival Clayton State 2-1 in overtime on Andy Ludewig's third game-winning goal out of his four goals this season.

"We knew it was going to come," Brittain said of the goal. "He (Ludewig) really stepped up to the plate. And he really defends as well."

"It's great to see him light up when he scores," Arthur said of Ludewig. "It was brilliant."

Ramm has always done his best to back up his leadership skills, not only with inspiring pictures but by showing a knack for performing in the big games with his ability to transition from his defensive position to offense. Going into the regular-season finale, Ramm, while doing his usual excellent job in the back, had scored just two goals this season, both against Limestone on Sept. 9.

But he had the game’s only goal as the Bearcats clinched second place in the Peach Belt regular season standings with a 1-0 victory over Clayton State on Oct. 31, and scored both regulation goals against Flagler in the PBC Tournament championship game. Without those goals, Lander's season is probably over.

Ramm also had the assist on Ludewig’s overtime goal against Clayton State that sent Lander into the finals, and was named Peach Belt Tournament MVP for the second time in his career (also as a freshman in 2006).

Ramm also scored the game’s only goal when the Bearcats beat Clayton State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2007. Ramm was an All-American that year when he helped lead Lander's defense to 12 shutouts, and is a strong candidate again in 2009. Had it not been for a dislocated ankle suffered during the early part of the 2008 season that led to surgery in the spring, Ramm was potentially a three-time All-American.

"I guess I'm lucky," Ramm said of his flare for big goals. "I'm not the biggest person in the world. I have a passion to achieve, not for me, but for the team. I will do anything I can to make this team succeed. If it means me defending, if it means me attacking and scoring goals, I will do whatever it takes. The movement of people (teammates) taking defenders away, allowing me that space (to score)... it's all about the team."

Meanwhile, Arthur not only leads Lander in scoring, but also has eight assists. The senior, despite missing eight games due to injury during his sophomore year, has 47 goals and 29 assists in his Bearcat career. The 2009 Peach Belt Player of the Year made the All-American team in 2006 and 2008, and is a strong candidate again this year.

Another dynamic playmaker for the Bearcats is Brittain, who was both the Peach Belt Player of the Year and Lander University’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2008. The junior has 12 goals this season, giving him 37 career goals. Brittain scored a goal in the semifinal overtime victory over Clayton.

Joining Ramm, Arthur and Brittain in Lander’s deep starting lineup are Craig Hughes, Samy Beydoun, Magennis, David Winskill, Alex Pethick, Ben Jones, Ludewig and Atkinson. Jamie Davison was starting until suffering an injury. Hughes, Beydoun and Atkinson made the All-PBC Tournament Team.

"It doesn't matter how good you are" as a player, Ramm said. "You need your team behind you. It's not just the starters or the 15, 16 out there, it's the guys that drive you every day in practice, guys that don't even dress (for games). They want you to succeed, so they give their best (in practice)."

Next up for the Bearcats is Carson-Newman, which is also on a hot streak but had a nine-game winning streak snapped in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament semifinals against Tusculum.

The Eagles will be playing without leading scorer Robert Hill (16 goals, five assists), who must sit out Wednesday’s match with an automatic one-game suspension after receiving a red card with 16 minutes left last Friday versus Tusculum.

Fellow All-SAC forward Omar Cooke is the next biggest scoring threat with 10 goals on the season. Carson-Newman also boasts a pair of All-SAC first-team defenders in Adam Thomas and Matthew Finlay and is making its seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

"We have never played them in our four years," Ramm said of Carson-Newman. "We hear things from other teams. Everybody gives you little bits of information. But we just have to worry about ourselves. We know if we perform to our capabilities, we'll come out with the victory."

The winner travels to Banner Elk, N.C., on Friday to face No. 2 seed Anderson University (12-3-3) at 6 p.m. on Lees-McRae's home field. The Bearcats lost a hard-fought 2-1 double-overtime game at Anderson on Oct. 7, when the Trojans scored with just 3:10 left in the second OT.

The other part of Wednesday’s bracket features No. 5 seed Flagler (13-4-2) at fourth seed Wingate (12-4-1), with that winner facing top seed and nationally seventh-ranked Lees-McRae (15-2-1) on Friday.

The winners of Friday’s semifinal matches meet Sunday for the Southeast Regional championship and a trip to the national Elite Eight. While taking one game at a time, one of Lander's main goals is to be playing in Banner Elk on Sunday.

The Bearcats will draw on their vast NCAA Tournament experience.

"We had a team capable of winning the whole thing (in 2006)," Ramm said. "Getting knocked out by Queens on penalty kicks is still on my mind. We should have gone further every season. The second year, we got to the regional final. We want to go farther."

At some point, seniors Arthur, Ramm, Beydoun, Winskill, key substitute Stoykov and reserves Dunbaker and Dylan Potts will see their careers come to a close.

"It's really good to have so many seniors on this team," Arthur said. "No one wants it to be over yet. Everyone wants to keep playing. You can see how we are playing with so much passion, with such a will to win. I don't want it to be over. I know Rammy doesn't want it to be over. I know the rest of the players don't. We just want to keep going as far as we can. We have the potential to go all the way."

"It is our final year," Ramm said. "You want to go out on a high. Sunday was a very big high. But there's more to come. This is not the end. This is just the beginning. Like the coach said, we are packing for five days. We intend to be there on Sunday."