USL Feature
Saturday, September 10, 2011
By NICHOLAS MURRAY
When Jonathan Mendoza scored his second goal of the game with eight minutes to go this past Friday, it put Stetson University on the verge of one of the surprise results of the young college season with the Hatters holding a 3-2 lead against No.15 Penn State in Columbus, Ohio.
“It was the longest eight minutes of my life, just waiting for the time to go down,” Mendoza said by phone this week.
The Hatters held on for victory, their second of the season, as Mendoza continued to have the type of impact he has had on any team he has suited up for since arriving in the United States as a 16-year-old. From the Orlando Sentinel’s High School Player of the Year in 2009 for Longwood Lyman to the USL PDL All-League Team this summer for the Central Florida Kraze, Mendoza has steadily grown since arriving from his native Colombia.
And at just 5-foot-7, Mendoza is, in a way, emblematic of his college program, which prior to its win against the Nittany Lions hadn’t defeated a Top 25 opponent in 11 years. A quick, attacking midfielder that will slice open a defense with either a well-timed pass or a mazy run, Mendoza appears to always be seeking a chance to prove himself against whatever opponent comes his way.
“Every season our mentality is to come and compete, to be able to win the [Atlantic-Sun] Conference and go to the NCAA Tournament and show what we have,” Mendoza said of Stetson’s approach to the game. “Just with the first three games we’ve had, winning two of them and playing against Penn State, Ohio State, we want to play big teams and try to build the confidence so that we can go to the NCAA Tournament and play the big teams there.”
Mendoza finished the PDL season with eight assists in 14 games for the Kraze, adding three goals. While the side got off to a strong start to the season, winning all four of its U.S. Open Cup qualifying games to earn the Southeast Division’s berth in the tournament, the Kraze showed some inconsistency as they chased a place in the PDL playoffs.
If there was a turning point for their season, Mendoza said, it was a big comeback victory against the FC Jax Destroyers on July 16 that saw the Kraze trail by two goals with half-an-hour to go, only for Mendoza, with a goal and assist, and Jabari Garibaldi, with two goals, to lead the side back for a 3-2 victory.
“That was when I thought that the team had the ability to get to a championship,” Mendoza said.
Now back at school, Mendoza has his sights set on another title with the Hatters. After falling to East Tennessee State last year in overtime in the Atlantic Sun Championship Game, Mendoza and Stetson are aiming to usurp the Buccaneers, currently ranked No.19 in the country, for the school’s second conference title in three seasons.
Should Mendoza and his teammates maintain this level of form it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if they did, with better-known teams overlooking the Hatters at their peril.
“Maybe no-one knows about us, but the team likes to be like that,” Mendoza said. “People say we’re the underdog, but we’re just going to try and play soccer and win every game.”