Head coach Horst Richardson joined an exclusive group on Saturday when he picked up career victory No. 500. Unfortunately, he wasn't around to enjoy it.
While the Tigers defeated the University of Dallas, 4-0, at CC's Stewart Field, Richardson was approximately 1,500 miles away outside of Chicago attending the funeral of Chris Quon, a former player who passed away last Sunday.
“I'm very happy about achieving the milestone,” Richardson said, “But I wish I could enjoy it under different circumstances.”
Richardson joins Ohio Wesleyan's Jay Martin (557), Keene State's Ron Butcher (545) and Rowan's Dan Gilmore (514) as the only Division III coaches to reach the milestone. Five coaches at the Division I and II levels also have 500 career victories.
“I'm sort of at a loss for words,” Richardson said. “I knew that it was coming, but now that it's here, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel.”
Had Richardson been on the sidelines, he would have felt an enormous sense of pride watching CC win the 2009 Boddington Memorial Tournament title with a dominating performance against the Crusaders.
Wil Nelp scored the only goal the Tigers would need just 10:28 into the game, putting a header off a crossing pass from Jordan Reese past UD goalkeeper Paul Stauduhar.
Andy McGhie, who made a total of four saves en route to his first career shutout, was not tested until he had to stop Matt Stamper from 10 yards in front of the left post with 1:04 remaining in the opening half.
Matt Fechter added an insurance goal in the 64th minute when Stauduhar couldn't control a corner kick by David Van Sicklen. Just over 13 minutes later, Brendan Douglas took a header pass from Fechter and ripped a shot from the right edge of the box that went off Stauduhar's hands into the far side of the net.
Travis Boccard closed out the scoring in the 88 minute after taking a perfect cross from Joel Dungan and putting a shot in the upper right corner.
The Tigers, who squared their record at 4-4-1, finished with 30 total shots and 12 corner kicks, compared to six shots and no corners for UD.
Stauduhar stopped five shots for the Crusaders before he was relieved by Chris Brisky with 9:44 remaining in the game. UD dropped to 2-4-1.
“I've had such a wonderful time at Colorado College working with these splendid young men,” Richardson said. “It's been a great home for Helen and me.
“Now I can continue without pressure, working with these great players and achieving other goals.”
Colorado College travels to DePauw University and Centre College for Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference games next Friday and Sunday, respectively.
