DANVILLE — Soccer has just two goalkeepers, but on Tuesday around 100 community members lined up in front of the net to successfully deflect a proposal to eliminate Danville Area Community College’s soccer program.

DACC’s Board of Trustees meeting was a standing-room-only affair, leading the board — in its first item of business — to take the soccer question off the agenda for “further review and study.”

Area coaches, players and fans took turns during the public comment phase of the meeting to voice their confusion about why soccer was being targeted.

DACC administrators say soccer was picked due to general funding concerns and a recently conducted study of the college’s sports programs — which shows DACC, with nine, carries more sports than most other Region 24 colleges.

Dave Kietzmann, vice president of instruction and student services, said the internal study compared all of the sports and took into consideration the competitiveness of each, its history as a campus sport and longevity of its coaches, and the number of athletes who move on to compete at the “next level.”

Soccer supporters called the college’s criteria arbitrary and said the study left out other important aspects of the program — including its impact on county youth and high-school soccer programs.

Several speakers disagreed with the college’s revenue figures, saying soccer is, in fact, a money-generator.

“Soccer unites Vermilion County like no other activity,” said Tom Halloran, president of Danville Area Soccer Association, which offers programs to about 1,500 area children. “It’s vital to our program.”

Halloran said the college’s program, which was reformed in 1999, and DASA have a symbiotic relationship: The team uses the fields for its practices and games, and DACC players volunteer for refereeing duties for the youth league — and give young players aspiration.

He said the league also foots many team costs by not charging it fees for using the soccer complex.

“(Area children) get a great feel for the international game right here at home,” he said. “You’d think DACC would want more of such programs.”

DACC soccer coach Dave Barney said he had been confused by the proposal to eliminate soccer since it was first reported.

“Soccer is No. 1 financially,” said the four-year coach “We didn’t see how we could be the one to cut. We want to know, ‘Why soccer?’”

Barney said the team also had shown recent success, posting a .500 record and competing closely last season with nationally ranked teams.

“It’s taken a while to start back up,” he said, noting the team had been eliminated several times in its history, “but we’ve come a long way.”

Juan Carlos, a DACC player from Columbia, said he’s learned much more than soccer while on the team.

“I’m improving my skill in soccer and English,” he said. “That’s why I’m here.”

Ed Barney, Dave’s brother and soccer coach at Schlarman High School, said the soccer team serves more local students than the other sports, with 10 of 18 players on last year’s team residing in Vermilion County.

“These things do benefit the community,” he said. “The factors don’t seem to fit the recommendation. I think there are other factors.”

“I strongly suggest we have a study session,” said pro tem President David Harby, serving in the absence of Vickie Miller. “It will be an open meeting and it will be publicized.”

He said the meeting would be scheduled in the next few weeks.