By Randy Capps
Community Sports Editor

The Fayetteville Observer

Reprinted with permission

BUIES CREEK — 2008 will long be remembered as a special year for Campbell University athletics.

For the first time in 58 years, the Fighting Camels fielded a football team and the 3,095-seat Gilbert Craig Gore Arena will replace Carter Gymnasium as the home of the men's and women's basketball teams.

Meanwhile, something else with historical possibility is brewing on the soccer field.

The Camel men's soccer team will host the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament, starting today at the Eakes Athletic Complex.

Campbell (13-5) earned a first-round bye by virtue of its 9-0 league mark and will await the winner of tonight's game between Stetson and Belmont for another 7 p.m. contest Thursday. Lipscomb and Mercer play in the other quarterfinal today at 4.

Campbell hasn't played since a 2-0 victory at High Point on Nov. 4, but the Camels are riding an 11-game winning streak into the A-Sun Tournament.

"It was a tough September, but those five losses were one-goal losses and all of them were on the road," Camels coach Doug Hess said. "The good thing was that we had a six- or seven-day layoff heading into the Stetson game, which is what sort of started this winning streak.

"So it gave us some time to reassess, get positive again and get things going in the right direction."

A 2-1 win at home over the Hatters started the current run, which includes a 570-minute scoreless streak.

Two big reasons for the Camels' stinginess are senior goalie Aaron Johnson and senior center back Stephen Oyuga.

Both players have taken unusual routes to Buies Creek.

Johnson hails from St. Charles, Mo., and is a three-time all-conference selection. He's the school's all-time leader in goals against average (1.05) and ranks near the top in several other categories.

He's also a couple of inches shy of six feet tall, far shorter than the prototypical keeper.

"I've dealt with that my whole life," he said. "It's an advantage to be taller, but I make up for it in different ways. Through intelligence, being in the right place, I can jump, you've got to work hard, and that's what I've done the whole time here.

"You come out and you work hard every day, things will work out for you."

Oyuga was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and transferred to Campbell after playing a season at the University of Mobile, a NAIA school in Alabama.

His brother, Paul, plays professionally in Norway and has 35 appearances for the Kenyan national team.

Oyuga is a computer information systems major and an all-academic team selection, but he'd like to try following his brother's career path after his Campbell days are over.

"He's been a big factor for me, and sometimes I come and share whatever he tells me with the team," he said of his brother's advice. "He kind of keeps track of how we're doing.

"Hopefully, (I can) play pro like my brother. You can never really depend on one thing, so with my degree, I can try to look for another job if my career doesn't work out. If I could get the opportunity, I'd love to play for my country and do my best to make them proud. It would be a good feeling to play for my country."

Last season, the Camels won the A-Sun Tournament over Jacksonville on penalty kicks and advanced to their first NCAA tournament in school history, where they lost a 2-0 decision at No. 20 Furman.

This time, the Camels are looking for more.

"We thought that last year, and we've only gotten better," Johnson said of his team's chances to spring an upset or two in the NCAA Tournament. "If we make there, we can definitely go farther."

Contact Randy Capps at cappsr@fayobserver.com or 323-4848, ext. 354.