ARKADELPHIA — No more than a dozen spectators stood beside the soggy soccer field where Ouachita Baptist University’s men’s soccer team kicked off against Central Baptist College on Oct. 19.
Others preferred to escape the afternoon rain by sitting inside one of the cars forming a line on the north side of Ouachita Baptist’s field. But four students — 19-year-old Josh Buchanan the only male among them — sat alone on one section of sideline metal bleachers to cheer their OBU friends on. The four chatted and giggled among themselves on the highest of four rows until 27 minutes into the match, when Tiger Andrew Davis crossed to Sergiu Postolache, who dribbled the ball on his knee before blasting it past a diving goalie and into an open net.
In the ensuing celebration, Buchanan bellowed at Postolache’s teammate and roommate, Rizvan Ceka, who at that point led the Gulf South Conference with eight goals: “Riz, you better watch him. He’s catching up to you!”
Indeed, the goal was Postolache’s seventh of the season.
One minute and 40 seconds later, Ceka put OBU up 2-0 as he deftly headed in a cross from Clayton Case before sticking out his tongue and breaking into a celebratory run.
“That a way to put yourself back up, Rizzy,” Buchanan yelled.
And so the roommates’ friendly rivalry continued. It seems the more these Eastern European natives push each other in the game that has given them identity in American society, the more they push their program to unprecedented heights.
This season, they have led their Arkadelphia university to a record of 9-5, already two wins more than the decade-long program’s previous best season. Ouachita Baptist will likely soon qualify for its second conference tournament after debuting in 2009, when Ceka and Postolache were freshmen.
While recurrent hamstring issues sidelined Postolache during much of last season’s 6-8 campaign, Ceka scored nine goals and was named GSC Freshman of the Year. So impressive was his one season that he was named to the conference’s men’s soccer All-Decade team.
But now “Serg” is healthy and, in the conference, trails only his roommate in goals and points per game, as well as overall goals and points. That an assist is worth one point but a goal two points was perhaps never more evident in Tuesday’s match than late in the first half when Postolache passed to Ceka, then asked for it back as Ceka dribbled 30 feet from the opponent’s goal. Instead, Ceka maneuvered for his own shot, which streaked wide left. Postolache yelled “C’mon, Riz!” in agitation as he walked to the middle of the field.
“Me and him pretty much have a competition in everything we do,” Ceka said after the game.
They compete for first shower, better grades in their business classes and in the FIFA World Cup video games they play.
Incessant competition framed the worlds in which these 19-year-olds grew up.
From age 4, Ceka played soccer with his older brother and his friends on the streets of his hometown near Pristina, Kosovo. Unable to afford much equipment, they used shoes as goal posts, he recalled. School games pitted classes against each other.
“After every recess, there would pretty much be fights because the games got intense, man,” Ceka said. “We kept getting beat up.”
But the older players’ matches were at another level.
Ceka recalled 5-on-5 tournaments involving teams made up primarily of the ethnic groups populating nearby towns. Large ethnic groups in Kosovo include the Albanians, Ceka’s ethnicity, as well as Serbs. The matches could resemble miniature national team competitions without the benefit of a security detail.
“People would bring guns,” Ceka said. “It was a very serious thing.”
In 1998, war erupted between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo, and Ceka’s family left all their possessions to flee to the Dallas area, where his uncle lived.
His mother began work as a cashier at Tom Thumb grocery, while his father began the path to his current job: the owner of an Italian restaurant. The whole family initially struggled to learn English, but Ceka found solace in soccer.
“It was very tough since I couldn’t communicate with the other kids, but one thing that got me closer to them was recess. We played soccer every day, and when the others saw what I could do, they immediately accepted me,” he wrote in an e-mail.
Postolache grew up in Comanesti, Romania, and lived with his grandparents after he was 6 years old, when his mother moved to California. At age 13, he joined her, and two years later they moved to Rockwell, east of Dallas. There, Postolache, who had also played street soccer in Europe, joined a club team for the first time. He starred in high school and joined Ceka’s Solar Soccer Club his senior year.
“All my friends, I met them through soccer,” Postolache said.
Two of those friends from the Dallas club team — Payam Pourjavad and JT Goodrum — remain teammates with Ceka and Postolache in college. Their presence, as well as the relatively short three-hour trip home, are major reasons why Ceka and Postolache spurned scholarship offers from farther schools such as the University of Dayton, Marshall University and Houston Baptist University.
By the time the second half began in Tuesday’s game, the rain had stopped.
About 40 people watched as Central Baptist stormed back from a 3-0 deficit. With 19 minutes left, the Conway school scored on a free kick and drew to 3-2 as its players lapsed into jubilation.
But within 30 seconds, Postolache struck.
After beelining to the opposite goal, he received a pass from Ceka, fired off a shot blocked by the goalie but quickly retrieved, and powered back another shot to give his team the final 4-2 margin of victory.
“He fights for balls he wouldn’t have last year,” Ouachita Baptist Coach Alex Denning said, adding, “He’s always in the right spot at the right time. That’s his No. 1 strength.”
Sitting in the dugout after the match, Ceka praised his 6-2, 176-pound teammate, singling out his long-distance shot and jumping ability.
Postolache, in turn, listed positives in the smaller Ceka’s game: “He’s one of the most skilled players I have ever played with. He’s very good at running at the defender and beating him with step overs and has, uh …” A grinning Ceka interrupted: “Our emotions are coming out. You should record it. This is a ‘bromance’ moment.”
“Good touch,” said Postolache, finishing his thought while starting a smile. “And a negative would be ‘Pass the ball to Serg more.’”
Ouachita Baptist University travels to Searcy to play its next game against conference rival Harding University at 5 p.m. Friday. Watch the game online by going to www.hardingsports.com and clicking on “Live Video.”