Thirty years ago, Glassboro State reached the pinnacle in collegiate soccer, capturing the 1990 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship, winning the title in exciting fashion, battling through four overtimes and the round of penalty kicks.
It was the second NCAA title for the Profs under head coach Dan Gilmore, in his 15th season at the helm in 1990. Although the team finished third in the very-competitive NJAC that year, Gilmore's squad would end up with a 20-3-2 mark and the cherished national championship.
In the NCAA Final on November 17, 1990, the Profs faced off against host Ohio Wesleyan at Roy Rike Field. All-American Andy Logar tallied GSC's lone goal of the match in the first half, with the assist from Bill O'Neill. Goalkeeper Jeff McManus made 15 saves and limited the home team to one goal, as regulation ended with the score tied, 1-1. The teams battled through four overtimes and then faced off in the round of penalty kicks, with Mat Santoro, Rich Buckley all connecting on their tries. George Tittlemayer subbed in for the round of penalty kicks and stopped the second and fifth attempts by Ohio Wesleyan. That set up the winning boot by Dan Isidor, giving the Profs a 4-3 win in penalty kicks and the second national title in school history.
The Profs showed from the beginning of the season that they would be able to shut down their opponents, recording shutouts in the first seven games, and a total of 10 on the year. GSC won its first nine games and finished the regular season 15-3-2 and 6-2-1 in the conference.
GSC earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, in the first year of the 32-team format, and its road to the championship started in Glassboro in the Metro Regional. It was, in essence, an NJAC playoff with conference rivals Montclair State, Trenton State and Kean participating. The Profs opened play with a 4-1 win over Montclair State and then notched a 1-0 victory over Kean to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals. .
In the quarterfinal match in Glassboro versus Bethany, the teams played to a scoreless tie through regulation and four overtime periods and headed into penalty kicks. In what proved to be a foreshadowing of the title match, Isidor scored on GSC's sixth kick and Tittlemayer, the penalty kick specialist in goal, stopped Bethany's last chance and the Profs moved on to the Final Four.
GSC traveled to Ohio Wesleyan for the Final Four, and the semifinal matchup with Salem State in the pouring rain resulted in a Prof shutout, 2-0, with John Kennedy and Carl Lindmark providing the goals. That advanced the Profs to the national championship match for the third time in school history and set the stage for the thrilling win over Ohio Wesleyan for the program's second national championship.
"We were a very, very resilient team and by not winning the conference, I think we appreciated the opportunity in the NCAA Tournament even more. We really came together in the NCAA's," said current head coach Scott Baker '93, a defender on the championship team.
"To win something like that, it goes beyond what you felt afterwards. It's 30 years later and all of us are all close and that's what a championship season does for a team. It was an amazing feeling then but it's like it's still happening because we're all connected. I know a lot of the guys feel as strongly as I do, and it was awesome to be a part of it."
The 1990 men's soccer team owns its place in Rowan's storied history and was honored in 2016 as the squad was inducted into the Rowan/Glassboro State Athletics Hall of Fame.
