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Student Athlete of the Week: William & Mary Men’s Soccer Team

Posted at 5:43 PM, Sep 27, 2013
and last updated 2013-09-27 17:43:59-04

Twenty unknown college players made America believe in 1980.

They turned the impossible into possible by winning Olympic gold in hockey.

Today, the William & Mary Men's Soccer Team, a team ranked 119th in the country, is making us feel the magic again.

They knocked off the number one team in the country last week.

Now the team is working on their own "miracle."

Gone are the names like Craig and O`Callahan. Today they are replaced with Bombelles, Albiston and Eskay. These are just three of the names that have made the impossible a possible.

Members of the William & Mary Tribe Soccer Team are, in a sense, giant killers.

It all started with a game against then number one team, the Creighton Bluejays. It should have been a game where the Tribe was just happy to be on the same field. Remember, this was a team that suffered its first losing season in more than a decade a year ago and a team that prompted the coach to tell his players it is time to go soul searching.

Searching they did. In the 82nd minute of the match down two to one, former Cox Falcon Chris Albiston had the equalizer.

Now into the second overtime period of the game, another Hampton Roads athlete would have the final say. Jeff Bombelles of Maury High School was in the right place at the right time.

That goal knocked the Bluejays from their number one perch. The Tribe did the impossible. But was it a fluke?

Last Tuesday night, the team traveled to Chapel Hill North Carolina to play the new number one team in the country, the UNC Tarheels. They were out shot and out hustled for most of the game until the 73rd minute where again Chris Albiston was a difference maker.

His header in front of the goal ended up on the goal line where Jackson Eskay was there to clean it up. The goal was the only one in the game and with it, the Tribe claimed their second number one team in the country.

What will the team do for an encore?

The Tribe will return home Saturday, October 5th when they host the college of Charleston.