TicketsOct. 27, 2010
By Dave Malaska
GoBEARCATS.com
They come from six different cities and three different countries. Heck -- the six Bearcats even hail from two different continents, but they're as close as brothers.
On Saturday, the six -- Mark Konitsch, Chris Mitchell, Branden Stelmak, Tristan Watson, Nick Weightman and Matt Williams -- will be honored on Senior Night and play their final regular season home game at Gettler Stadium.
"It's going to get emotional," says Williams, elder statesman of the group. The fifth-year senior has been at Cincinnati the longest, coming to UC in 2006, redshirting as the Bearcats made their most recent run to the NCAAs.
As they gear up for Saturday's match against Syracuse, a first-round tournament bye at stake and with their family members packing Gettler Stadium's seats, the group will be have a chance to address their teammates before the game. The seniors always get a chance to say a few words on Senior Night. It's a Cincinnati tradition, and always results in a few cleared throats, some eye-rubbing, and some averted faces.
This year, it's probably going to be even tougher to maintain manly stoicism, admits Williams.
"With this group of seniors? Yeah, I'm sure there's going to be a few tears shed. We might all be from different places, but seeing us together you would think we all grew up on the same street, we're so close," the goalkeeper says.
It would be one long street. Williams comes from Maine. Konitsch, who joined the Bearcats in 2007 as a walk-on, is a New Yorker. Stelmak, who entered UC's picture the same year as Konitsch, is the lone Ohio kid. Then, there are the transfers. Mitchell and Watson are the Canadians, and draw endless teasing because of it. And then there's Weightman, who came to UC in 2008 along with the Canadian duo. Weightman grew up in Scotland.
Each has their place in the group, says Konitsch. Williams is the joker, he says, the guy who everyone points a finger at when an anonymous practical joke has been pulled off. Stelmak can elicit a good laugh, too, though most of the time he's content to be the quiet guy in the bunch. ("He's sneaky-funny," says Williams.)
If there's a debate raging in the locker room, no matter how benign the topic is, the Canadians are usually at the heart of it. The guy who's always checking on his teammate's state of mind; who always knows what's going on in their lives? That's Weightman. ("He's the pretty boy," Williams estimates with a laugh.)
And Konitsch? He's "Car Crash," as dubbed by his Bearcat brothers.
"Mark's always fired up, always motivated," judges Williams. "He's also the first guy to stick up for the rest of us. Against DePaul, I think it was, someone took down one of the guys. Mark got in their face right away. He wasn't going to let anyone treat one of us like that. He was serious."
Truth be told, the sextet did kind of grow up on the same street. Each arrived as individuals, says UC head coach Hylton Dayes, and grew up on Corry Boulevard, which borders Gettler Stadium. They arrived as the Bearcats went through rebuilding years, and now have the team back in the postseason, looking to score another BIG EAST title run.
"This is where they defined themselves as young men," says Dayes. "That's part of the beauty of soccer. These guys came here on their own and have grown up here. They've become our leaders. It's bittersweet, Senior Night. On one hand, they're closing out one part of their lives, but it's also the beginning of the next stage of their lives. By the time they leave us, they've got plenty of reasons to be proud -- to have a sense of accomplishment in what they've become."
And, whether or not that includes soccer, they've got little doubt that their teammates will always be part of their lives.
"We're brothers," says Konitsch, simply. "We're always going to be calling each other on the phone, riding each other no matter where we end up, no matter what we do. I'm always going to have their phone numbers and when I do get married, they're going to be in the wedding. They're part of my family."