By: Dylan Fearon
It was the most surprising thing that happened all season.
No, not the brutal non-conference schedule. Not the inability to score on a regular basis. Not Eamon Whelan’s lingering injuries or Rashawn Dally’s early-season struggles.
It was James Doig’s missed penalty in the Quinnipiac men’s soccer team’s loss to Fairfield in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference semifinals on Thursday.
Doig has seen a lot in his five years, and it all began with a 2013 MAAC regular season and tournament championship, capped off with a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Somehow, it would be the only time the captain punched his ticket to the national stage.
I bet if I told Doig that in 2013, he would laugh in my face. Maybe even hit me.
Four All-MAAC team selections, three MAAC regular season championships, one tournament victory and a single NCAA Tournament appearance, all while being the most-winningest player in Quinnipiac men’s soccer history.
It makes the miss that much more shocking.
After 110 minutes of scoreless soccer, Quinnipiac and Fairfield headed to a penalty shootout.
Head coach Eric Da Costa picked his five most confident penalty takers. Doig, without a doubt, was in the five. Who more confident than the best player in program history, who had been in plenty of big games and shootouts?
Down 2-1 in the shootout, Doig stepped up to even the score. He always goes down the middle, and this was no different.
Powerful side-footed strike. Center of goal.
Saved.
In what would be Doig’s last time touching the ball as part of the Bobcats, he had come up short. Matt Taylor and Simon Hillinger went on to miss as well, and Quinnipiac went home losers.
A brutal end to a fantastic career.
Doig has been a mainstay in Quinnipiac’s midfield. Moved from the center to the wing to bring freshman Paulo Soares into the middle, Doig was uncomfortable and out of position. It’s no surprise that Quinnipiac struggled at the beginning of the season. Then, Da Costa adjusted and brought Doig back in the middle. More goals, wins and points followed.
Coincidence? I think not.
Doig has seen the up’s and the down’s, the injuries and everything in between.
He propelled them to the national tournament. He was there when Quinnipiac lost to Fairfield in the 2014 MAAC semifinal in Hamden. He was in Disney, albeit on the bench with injury, as the Bobcats finished their season with just two wins in 2015. He was there when Quinnipiac fell to Rider 3-1 at home in the 2016 MAAC Final.
And he was there Thursday.
Like Morey Hershgordon said about Sam Anas, we should’ve cherished Doig while he was around.
Because now he’s gone, in the cruelest way possible.
