Dan Rice's Goal Leads Gonzaga Past O'Connell in WCAC Boys' Soccer Final

In the moments after Gonzaga senior Dan Rice scored in yesterday's WCAC boys' soccer championship game against O'Connell at Catholic University, the senior made his way toward the wildly cheering Eagles student section.

He stood tall and stuck out his chest as far as possible. It was a proud pose, but for the Eagles it was a welcome sign that they had finally broken through after so many close calls in the first half.

Rice's 10-yard shot from the left that beat O'Connell goalie Alex Harrington 51 seconds before halftime proved to be the winner in No. 1 Gonzaga's 1-0 victory.

It marked the third straight year and sixth time since 2000 that the Eagles (21-1-2) have claimed the WCAC tournament title. O'Connell finished 8-9-6.

"It's our last game of the season and the last game of my high school career, so the big thing coming into this game was to leave it all on the field, and I feel that's what I did," said Rice, a varsity player the last three seasons. On racing over to his fellow Gonzaga students to strike the pose, Rice said: "You do it for the fans. They are the ones that come out and watch you."

Rice has not yet committed to a Division I program for soccer, but whichever school lands the talented midfielder is getting a player whose tenacity is unyielding. He took numerous shots, passed adeptly and in general was the catalyst behind Gonzaga's offense.

And yet the Eagles scored only once on 20 shots, and that was because of Harrington. The junior made 13 saves, making diving stops and kick saves and charging out of the net. At the end, as tears draped his face, his teammates hugged him for his efforts. One complimented him with, "Alex, you're a beast."

"Just reaction and anticipation," Harrington said. "Maybe I'm being over-agressive at times, but I'll take it."

Gonzaga junior Earl Hamilton and senior Marcus Douglas, both forwards, also played fine games, complementing Rice and setting up scoring chances. None got by Harrington, and Hamilton knew from the start that the Knights would be formidable.

"This wasn't a cakewalk," he said. "They played really well defensively -- they kept their team intact and we couldn't split through them. But we kept our hunger and never let O'Connell get the advantage on us."

No. 1 Gonzaga 1 O'Connell 0 No Goal: In the 58th minute, Gonzaga missed a golden chance at an insurance goal when keeper Alex Harrington was caught out of the net. Dan Rice passed the ball to Zach Malanoski, but the shot was blocked by an alert O'Connell defender. Good Sportsmanship: In a hard-fought game, the players' etiquette was good. In the 52nd minute, O'Connell's Thomas Ledon went down hard with an injury following a collision. The first player to extend a hand and pull him up was Gonzaga's Gabe Cunningham.