Led by the record-setting performance of the men’s soccer team, Providence College teams and student-athletes excelled in NCAA Championship competition this fall. Two teams and three men’s cross country runners competed in post-season championship action.

Not only did the men’s soccer team earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, it also won its first NCAA game in school history by edging Hofstra University, 1-0, in overtime in a first-round game in Hempstead, N.Y., on November 18.

“This is the biggest win in the history of our program,” proclaimed Head Coach Chaka Daley ’96.

The Friars then traveled to Chapel Hill, N.C., to face the tourney’s fourth-seeded team, the University of North Carolina, in a second-round game on November 22. Their dream season ended with a 2-0 loss to the Tar Heels.

The setback gave the Friars a 7-4-9 record just one season after they lost all 16 of their matches the previous fall. Their reversal tied the Friars for the 10th-best turnaround in NCAA men’s soccer history as they improved by 9.5 games over the 2004 campaign. Overall, PC appeared in an NCAA-record 12 overtime games this fall. The Friars advanced to the BIG EAST Conference semifinals and were one of seven BIG EAST teams to play in the 48-team NCAA Tournament.

Two runners attain All-America honors
The fall season also was highlighted by All-America performances by women’s and men’s cross country runners Fiona Crombie ’06 (Christchurch, New Zealand) and Martin Fagan ’06 (Mullingar, Ireland) in the NCAA Division I Championships on November 21 in Terre Haute, Ind. Crombie, who was the NCAA Regional and the BIG EAST Conference champion, finished 14th in the NCAA Championship to earn her third All-America honor and second in cross country.

Crombie’s performance helped PC’s women’s team place 16th of 31 teams in the NCAA meet. It was the 17th consecutive appearance in the NCAA’s for the Friars, who were invited to participate after finishing third at the NCAA Regional Championship.

Fagan was one of three Friar runners who qualified for the NCAA Championship on the men’s side. Placing 16th, he earned All-America honors for the first time in his cross country and track career.