2009 NCAA.com Division I Men's Soccer Blog
Three months ago, more than 200 teams opened up the D-I Men's Soccer season. Today, just eight remain. After a Round of 16 that saw the top team in the country set even more records, two unranked teams attack the nets to the tune of 10 goals between them and three ACC teams stay alive, read on for a breakdown of Sunday's action before the Tournament starts again on Friday.
And, as always, for everything you need to know, from quarterfinal info to recaps to highlights to Tournament leaders, check out our Interactive Bracket!
*All pictures below are courtesy of their respective athletic departments.
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The second-seeded Cavaliers got a goal from Ari Dimas in the 46h minute, and then held on vice-tight over the final 20 minutes to blank an immensely talented Portland team, 1-0. The goal from Dimas was the very first of his career. Meanwhile, Virginia ran its unbeaten streak to 13 games and posted its 10th straight shutout, pushing goalie Diego Restrepo's shutout streak to 1127:34, breaking the great Tony Meola's school record.
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Maryland hasn't had to play on the road in the Tournament since 1997. But playing away from Ludwig Field hasn't seemed to affect the defending champs at all, with the Terps downing No. 7 seed Penn State, then blanking 10th-seeded Harvard. It took an epic effort from Zac MacMath in goal to keep the Crimson -- a team that scored three goals a week prior -- off the scoreboard, and goals from Billy Cortes and Casey Townsend to win
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We should have expected something like this. Two teams coming into the Tournament after torching their late-season schedules. Two offenses that can strike from anywhere. But it would have been nearly impossible to predict this. When the game ended, the Bulldogs were the ones moving on, the winners of a 6-4 offensive explosion. After falling behind early, senior-led Drake rallied back to tie it...and then never slowed.
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When North Carolina scores first, few teams still left in the Tournament are better at making the rest of the day miserable for their opponents. And that's just what the Tar Heels did, getting a goal from Alex Dixon and then clamping down on an Indiana attack that had recently found its stride to post the 11th shutout of the season earn he Tar Heels' second straight national quarterfinal berth.
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In a rain-drenched match in Tulsa, the hosts finally broke through in the 74th minute, getting a goal off the foot of Austin McNeill -- his team-leading 14th of the season -- and then held off Northwestern over the final 16 to earn the Golden Hurricane's first quarterfinal berth since 2004. They'll be taking on Akron, a team that Tulsa coach Tom MacIntosh called "one of the best teams in college soccer that I've seen in my 15 years of coaching."
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Akron is now just three wins away from the first-ever 24-0-0 season in D-I Men's Soccer history. Of course, the Patriots were a win away from going 19-0-0 in 2007-08. But to date, few teams outside those New England Patriots have looked as dominant as Akron. On Sunday, the record-setting season continued with the Zips controlling the pace from the start, getting goals from stars Teal Bunbury and Anthony Ampaipitakwong and notching their program-record 16th shutout.
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In the lone Round of 16 matchup between conference rivals, Wake Forest took another step toward a national championship that it seemed destined for last year, pounding away at the Duke defense all day, en route to the Demon Deacons' fourth quarterfinal appearance in four years. Zach Schilawski led the way with five points on the day, notching his third multi-goal game of the year.
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Three years ago, UCSB ran over UCLA in the national championship game. On Sunday, the Bruins returned the favor, earning a berth in the national quarters for the first time since that year, climbing back from an early 1-0 deficit to move on. After UCSB scored in the 11th minute, two unanswered goals followed for the Bruins -- the first from Fernando Mongo just four minutes later, the second from Ryan Hollingshead in the 37th minute.
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- Akron,
- Boston College,
- Drake,
- Duke,
- Harvard,
- Indiana,
- Maryland,
- NCAA Tournament,
- North Carolina,
- Northwestern,
- Portland,
- Stanford,
- Third Round,
- Tulsa,
- UCLA,
- UCSB,
- Virginia,
- Wake Forest
 Isaac Taylor (11) after scoring the Golden Goal in BC's 2-OT win over Dartmouth. Courtesy of Boston College
Look up. Take that picture in for a second. Witness Isaac Taylor fairly levitating off the grass in Newton, Mass. after scoring his first-ever collegiate goal at the perfect time to send a young -- very, very young -- Boston College team into the second round. And that, in a 626x328 frame, is The Tournament. In that picture we see the compressed feelings of chance and determination, of hope and fear, of the explosive borderline between success and failure -- between, as far as seasons are concerned, life and death. Taylor's was a look and a burst felt by 16 teams in yesterday's D-I Tournament First Round, one that featured six overtime games -- two of which went into double-OT, with two more going into PKs -- and only two games decided by more than one goal. We saw seasons of unprecedented success keep going: Monmouth defeated UConn in PK's to win its first-ever Tourney game in a season in which the Hawks earned the highest-ever ranking for any Monmouth sport; UNC Wilmington, CAA regular season and first-time tournament champs, also used PK's to end Charlotte's season and clinch its 14th straight game without a loss; MPSF champ Sacramento State took its first NCAA win by a 2-1 margin over Loyola Marymount. We saw equally possessed seasons finally fade away: Wofford, springing out of six straight years in the SoCon basement, fell to UCSB with a late goal; Green Bay, in its first Tourney since 1983, dropped to Notre Dame; Missouri St. won the MVC regular season but lost to Saint Louis, 2-1. We saw hyper-regional clashes: In that UNC Wilmington-Charlotte game, UNCW coach Aidan Heaney matched up against his alma mater, where he started in goal from 1989-92 and had his number retried in 2003. A little up the Atlantic Coast Maryland downed Loyola (Md.), 2-1, in a battle of Beltway teams about a half hour's drive from each other. Partly because far too much went on yesterday to put in a single reaction piece, and partly because we're staying with the picture metaphor, we now take a look at some of the best moments from yesterday -- the single slices of time that define seasons, feed our hope and remind us just how much championship season can evoke out of us.
...The day's first result might have been its most thrilling.
Courtesy of Monmouth
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After Monmouth and Connecticut battled through 110 minutes of scoreless soccer -- despite a 15-4 shot advantage by the Huskies -- the game went into PK's. Through its five shots UConn went up 3-2, pushing Monmouth into a must-make situation with freshman Ryan Clark kicking. Clark didn't hesitate, burying a shot to even the PK sequence. Then, with Connecticut's always-dangerous Mike Pezza kicking, Monmouth keeper Bryan Meredith leapt for the top-left corner, picking off Pezza's shot just before it snuck under the left 90. One shot later, Cesar Blacido drove a shot home to send Monmouth to its first-ever NCAA win with a 4-3 margin in PKs, and into a second-round date with 10th-seeded Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. ...After UCSB was given a first-round game, many complained that the Gauchos -- ranked
Tony Mastres/UCSB
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as high as fourth before falling hard to UC Irvine in the Big West championship game -- deserved a seed and first-round bye. Until the second half, UCSB didn't do a whole lot to support its argument, limping through a lifeless first half with Wofford.
"I was massively disappointed in our energy, our work rate, our
commitment," said head coach Tim Vom Steeg in the UCSB release. "We played a
first half like we didn't care. And that's one thing that's never going
to happen while I'm here. We're always going to care. I like our group
and know we're capable of winning every night; sometimes it's just a
matter of fighting through it."
The Gauchos ended up out-shooting Wofford, 15-4, in the second half. But until the 84th minute, the closest either team got to scoring was a Wofford centering pass that UCSB's Tim Pontius attempted to head clear but missed, sending the shot just barely off the Gauchos' crossbar into safety. Then, with under six minutes left in regulation, David Walker rocketed in a shot from eight yards out to send UCSB to a second-round date with San Diego. ...Just three minutes into overtime with New Mexico, Portland's all-conference goalie Austin Guerrero was shown a red card, bringing in freshman Justin Baarts, who hadn't seen a minute all year, and sending the Pilots down a man for the remainder of the game. UNM couldn't score on the ensuing corner kick, and five minutes later, Portland's Logan Emory hit Collen Warner streaking down the middle of the field with a perfect lob. A few strides later, Warner slipped a shot in past New Mexico goalie Justin Holmes for his second goal of the game, sending the Pilots to a 2-1 OT win. ...Against a Stony Brook team that came into the Tournament with a losing record,
Courtesy of Brown
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qualifying via an America East championship, Brown looked perfectly matched-up. For 103 minutes, the Bears and Seawolves went back and forth, playing tight and scoreless soccer. Fatigue had begun to dig in, and the game looked destined for PK's. But with seven minutes left in the second OT, Jon Okafor curved a pass across from left to right across the Stony Brook goal mouth, right onto Sean Rosa's foot. Rosa did what he'd done only four other times on the year -- hammered it home, scoring the biggest goal of his career to send Brown to the second round. "I saw the post was empty, and immediately took off for it,"
said Rosa in the Brown post-game release. "Jon [Okafor] saw me there and did what he does
best, and gave the ball back to me in the perfect spot for the
goal."
Courtesy of UNC Wilmington
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...In Charlotte, the host 49ers opened up to a 1-0 lead in their first Tournament game since 1997 and hung onto it through the first 80 minutes of the contest. But with just nine minutes left in the match, UNC Wilmington -- a team that hasn't lost since a 2-OT loss to Duke on Sept. 22 -- evened it up with a slicing free kick off the foot of Daniel Roberts that danced inside the left post from 22 yards out. Then, after two OT periods couldn't settle the game, Wilmington dominated in PK's, rolling out to a 4-1 mark with sophomore Shaun Utterson sealing the win for the Seahawks and delivering them to the second round. ...In Los Angeles, Sacramento State got an OT goal off the head of Brian Baker to take down Loyola Marymount, 2-1, and extend its unbeaten streak to 10 games -- and earn the right to stay in L.A. for another game, drawing UCLA in the second round. The goal came after Loyola Marymount ripped the game's momentum back with a goal that tied the game at 1-1 in the 74th minute. Then, after Sacramento State goalie Brian Oliver stoned a shot from LMU's Brock Smith six minutes into overtime, the Hornets earned a free kick from 25 yards out. That was all Fernando Cabadas needed, serving a ball right above Baker, who headed it home. ...There's much, much more, and any other moments are very welcome in the comments section. Thanks for reading, and stay with us through Cary, N.C.
- Boston College,
- Brown,
- D-I Tournament,
- First Round,
- Maryland,
- Moments,
- Monmouth,
- Portland,
- Sacramento State,
- UCSB,
- Wilmington
Tidbits from around the country, teed up just for you every Thursday.Three conference tournaments start this week, with 16 more (sixteen...more) kicking off between now and Friday the 13th. For more, check out our always-evolving Conference Tournament Hub.
Photo Courtesy of Akron |
We'll start with The Akron Watch this time around, after the Zips barely escaped a surging Michigan State team with a 2-1 win on Wednesday night. Despite Teal Bunbury's 15th goal of the season less than four minutes into the game, Akron couldn't score again until the 75th minute, when Blair Gavin sunk a penalty kick. But the Spartans, who have been scorching lately, put up one of the best fights the Zips have seen this year, tallying the first first-half goal Akron's allowed all season in this one. Said Akron coach Caleb Porter: "'We haven't been through much adversity and I think you can tell a lot
about a championship-level team in the moments of adversity." Another dominating fun fact about Akron this year: the Zips have outscored their Big Ten opponents, 14-2 on the season. A week after being profiled by NCAA.com, Monmouth set an all-time program record for wins with a 2-0 win over former NEC leaders Quinnipiac on Sunday. With a 15-1-1 record on the season, the Hawks broke the record of 14 wins set by the 2006 team. The win came after another victory on Friday, over CCSU, which followed Monmouths' first loss of the season two Sundays ago -- a loss that some expected to jolt the Hawks. But, a record-setting season for Monmouth looks very much back on the right track. Michigan earned its 100th all-time win as a varsity program with a 2-1, double-overtime win over No. 12 Northwestern on Sunday. The Wolverines now close up their regular season with a game in Columbus against an Ohio State team that just took down Indiana, playing live on the Big Ten Network. After tallying North Carolina's first hat trick in four years, the Tar Heels' Alex Dixon was named to the College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer Teams of the Week. It's impressive enough to notch a hat trick, especially for a power like North Carolina; it's a whole other thing to do it like Dixon did, with all three goals coming in a seven-minute stretch. Going into the Tar Heels' final two regular season games this week, it'll be interesting to see if the sophomore can keep it going. Connecticut, a team that fell out of the top-25 after opening at 2-2-2, clinched the Big East Blue Division title with a 3-0 win over Marquette on Monday. The win gave the Huskies their 18th Big East title in 27 years in the league, along with a first-round bye in the conference tournament -- they'll open with a quarterfinal match against Providence in Storrs on Nov. 7. UMBC's all-everything duo of Andrew Bulls and Levi Houapeu, the No. 1 and No. 2 scorers in the nation in terms of points-per-game, were named the America East Striker and Midfielder of the Year, respectively. The Retrievers, who have trailed off ever since reaching the top-25 midway through the year, scratched out a No. 5 seed in the America East Tournament, where they'll play at Binghamton in a quarterfinal match on Saturday. With a 1-0 win over Navy on Tuesday night, Maryland snapped a two-game scoreless drought. After being shut out in a loss to Wake Forest and a tie with Virginia, the Terps got back to their winning ways with a 10th-minute goal from Kaoru Forbess. Maryland closes up its regular season on Friday with a 7:30 p.m. match against The College of Charleston at Ludwig Field.
- Akron,
- Alex Dixon,
- Andrew Bulls,
- Big East,
- Big Ten,
- Connecticut,
- Levi Houapeu,
- Maryland,
- Michigan,
- Monmouth,
- North Carolina,
- Teal Bunbury,
- UMBC
Only one undefeated team remains in the NSCAA top-25, in Akron, after No. 7 Monmouth went deep into Western Pennsylvania and came out with a 2-0 loss to St. Francis (Pa.) on Sunday. In a game pushed back three hours and moved to the Red Flash's artificial-turf football field because of a deluge in Loretto, Penn., the Hawks' school-record 14-match unbeaten streak hit the wall. But theirs was not the only streak to come to an end this weekend, as No. 2 UCLA's 10-game unbeaten run ended at the hands of Stanford on Sunday, just two days after UCLA shut out California for the second straight week and the Cardinal took a bruising overtime loss to San Diego State. The loss was the Pac-10-leading Bruins' first in the conference, after jumping out to a 4-0-2 record to start league play, while Stanford climbed back to .500 in the league at 3-3-1. In the Game of the Weekend, No. 3 Wake Forest got on the board just over five minutes into the game and held the lead the rest of the way, downing No. 5 Maryland, 1-0, in Winston-Salem. The win sent the Deacons, who came into the game trailing Maryland in the ACC race, into a two-way tie for first in the conference. For more from the weekend, click on any of the games below! Friday
No. 1 Akron def. Buffalo, 1-0
No. 2 UCLA def. No. 20 California, 1-0
No. 7 Monmouth def. Robert Morris, 1-0
No. 9 Charlotte def. La Salle, 3-0
No. 19 Duke def. Clemson, 2-1
No. 21 Stanford lost to San Diego State, 2-1 (OT)
No. 24 Drake lost to Evansville, 1-0
Saturday
No. 3 Wake Forest def. No. 5 Maryland, 1-0
No. 5 North Carolina def. Virginia Tech, 1-0
No. 6 UC Santa Barbara def. Cal State Fullerton, 2-0
No. 8 Louisville def. Rutgers, 2-0
No. 10 Connecticut def. Seton Hall, 3-1
No. 11 Harvard lost to Princeton, 2-1 (2 OT)
No. 13 South Florida def. Villanova, 3-1
No. 15 Dartmouth lost to Columbia, 2-0
No. 18 Brown def. Cornell, 1-0 No. 22 UC Irvine def. UC Davis, 2-1
No. 23 Butler vs. Detroit, Postponed until Oct. 27
Sunday
No. 2 UCLA lost to No. 21 Stanford, 2-0
No. 7 Monmouth lost to St. Francis, 2-0
No. 9 Charlotte tied Fordham, 2-2
No. 12 Virginia def. Boston College, 2-0
No. 16 Tulsa def. Marshall, 2-1
No. 17 Northwestern def. Indiana, 2-0
No. 20 California lost to San Diego State, 2-0
No. 25 Ohio State lost to Wisconsin, 2-0
No. 3 Wake Forest (10-2-2, 3-1-1 ACC) vs. No. 5 Maryland (10-3-1, 4-1-1)Saturday, 7 p.m. | Winston-Salem, N.C.
Live Stats
The biggest game of the weekend -- and doubtless one of the biggest games of the 2009 regular season -- kicks off in Winston-Salem on Friday night when the top two teams in the nation's top conference do battle. Here, we have a matchup of the last two national champs (Maryland last year, Wake in 2007). A matchup of two longtime rivals who have split their all-time series down the middle, at 14-14-1. Not to mention a rematch of a game last Sept. 26 that pitted the No. 1 team in the country (then the Demon Deacons) against the No. 2 team (the Terps), a game that Wake Forest won, 2-1. And most of all, it's a game that would either give the Terrapins -- now sitting atop the ACC with 13 points -- a six-point lead over the Deacons in the league standings, or one that would pull Wake Forest into a tie for first. Had Wake not fallen at home to Virginia on Sept. 18, ending the nation's longest home unbeaten streak, the Deacons would have had to have the advantage going into this one. But the mystique around Wake Forest soccer games at Spry Stadium has begun to thin, leaving us with just the bare essentials of this match: a chance to watch two of the finest teams in collegiate soccer battle for supremacy right as they hit their peaks. No. 2 UCLA (8-1-2, 3-0-2 Pac-10) @ No. 20 California (8-5-0, 2-3-0)
Friday, 7 p.m. | Berkeley, Calif.
Live Stats
Last weekend was a rough one for California. So tough that the Bears fell from No. 10 to No. 20 in the country after falling first to UCLA and then to San Diego State -- the latter of which having become a master of meddling in the Pac-10. But, on the bright side, Cal gets two chances at revenge, not to mention six conference points, this weekend when it hosts the same two teams in Berkeley. But to get those points, they'll have to do something no team (including Cal) has done since Sept. 6: beat UCLA. The Bruins head into the game on Friday riding a nine-game unbeaten streak, one that's seen them outscore their opponents 20-6 and take the No. 2 spot in the country in the NSCAA Top-25. We talked last week about UCLA's scoring offense, led by Kyle Nakazawa and his now-defunct eight-game points streak, but this time, we look at the Bruins' defense. Or, more specifically, at the man standing in front of their net. Brian Perk comes into the game as the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Week, an award he notched for a record-tying fourth time in his career, after shutting out Cal and Stanford last weekend. Oh yeah -- the shutouts came just a week after getting kicked in the face and having to be hospitalied for an eye injury sustained during the Bruins' match with San Diego State. The U-20 National Team member will have his hands full, however, against the nation's 14th-best offense, led by Andrew Weideman and his 10 goals and 23 points. Other Games To Watch
No. 9 Charlotte (8-1-3, 2-0-1 A-10) vs. La Salle (4-7-3, 0-2-2), Friday, 7 p.m. - Live Stats | Watch Online
No. 9 Charlotte (8-1-3, 2-0-1 A-10) vs. Fordham (7-5-1, 4-0-0), Sunday, 1 p.m. - Live Stats | Watch Online
Charlotte, profiled earlier this week by NCAA.com, is now a marked team, and the 49ers know it. And with every game they win (the 9ers are currently riding an 11-game unbeaten streak), the target just grows bigger. Against two teams that'll scrap and grind for wins, they'll have to work to get six points in the always-chaotic Atlantic-10 standings in their final home games of the regular season. First, it'll be La Salle, a team that's struggled this year and hasn't yet recorded a win in four conference games. Then, on Sunday, the 49ers take on relatively unlikely conference leader Fordham, who has a perfect 4-0-0 mark in the league -- although only one of those wins has come against a team in the top half of the A-10 standings. When we spoke on Wednesday, coach Jeremy Gunn talked about the adjustments his team has to make every year, going from playing a style of soccer conducive to the fields of the South -- those of trimmed, brushed bluegrass -- to the tougher, sloppier Northern pitches and the kind of game that comes with that. So, before the 49ers finish with four games on the road, look for them to try to dictate the style of play early in this pair, before it gets much more difficult next weekend. No. 7 Monmouth (12-0-1, 4-0-1 NEC) @ Robert Morris (2-11-2, 2-2-2), Friday, 3 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 7 Monmouth (12-0-1, 4-0-1 NEC) @ St. Francis (Pa.) (5-9-1, 1-4-1), Sunday, 1 p.m. Monmouth, after playing just one game last weekend, is back to double-dipping. And as the undefeated Hawks continue to win, the question keeps looming: When will they lose? Or will they? They've been dominant in NEC play, but seem to struggle when they split the cornfields of Western Pennsylvania. And even though both opponents have records way under .500 this year -- RMU didn't have a single win or tie until NEC play began -- could one of these low-lying teams be a snake in the grass for the Hawks? Said head coach Robert McCourt in the Monmouth release: "Our last two meetings with Saint Francis (Pa.) have been overtime
games and with RMU we have a tie and a loss. It will be a difficult
trip, but the guys are excited about the challenge."
Tidbits from around the country, teed-up just for you, every Thursday.
Photo Courtesy of Northwestern
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The first D-I RPI was released this week, and not without a whole lot of surprises (at least to this guy) -- most notably in the No. 1 spot. Akron's dominated this year, roaring out to a 12-0-0 start, but the Zips took No. 2 in the RPI, behind a somewhat shocking No. 1 Northwestern. But, the Wildcats are playing some fantastic soccer and, as they say, the numbers don't lie. Maryland players wore a white arm bands with "A.L. #18" written on them in Wednesday night's 2-1 win over Georgetown, in honor of teammate Alex Lee, who was hit by a car in Washington this weekend and was just released from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. Three teams remain undefeated in the NSCAA Top-25, and they've all taken very different routes to get there. For top-ranked Akron, the Zips have rarely been tested this year, blowing out to a team-record 12-0-0 start and posting a 35-2 scoring margin. That's 35 goals in 12 games. And only two goals allowed. Moving down to No. 8 Monmouth, the Hawks -- now at their highest ranking ever, in any sport -- are just a little less perfect, at 11-0-1, with only three goals allowed on the year. Brown, the highest-rated team in the Ivy League, has battled out to a 6-0-4 record, including a stretch of three straight ties between Sept. 25 and Sept. 30. In her weekly notebook, ESPNU's Maria-Burns Ortiz writes about the ACC's continued position as Nation's Premier Conference, and who stands tallest in the league. Always a great read, Burns-Ortiz still isn't convinced that any team's risen above the rest in the conference. Staying with the Atlantic Coast Conferece, coaches often talk about the ACC Tournament being almost as intense (and tough) as the NCAA Tourney, if a lot shorter. Well, it'll be even easier this year to draw similarities, as the conference tournament returns to Cary's WakeMed Soccer Park for the second straight year, as it was announced on Wednesday. N.C. State's Ronnie Bouemboue scored both goals in the Wolfpack's upset of Duke in Durham last year, then came back to score the game's lone goal with just 49 seconds remaining in N.C. State's win last weekend. For his efforts, the man who currently leads the ACC in goals (6) and points (17) was named conference Co-Player of the Week.
- ACC,
- Akron,
- Alex Lee,
- Brown,
- ESPNU,
- Maryland,
- Monmouth,
- NC State,
- Northwestern,
- Ronnie Bouemboue,
- RPI,
- Set PIeces,
- Wake Forest
N.C. State's Ronnie Bouemboue
Photo Courtesy N.C. State |
In our weekend preview, we told you to watch out for San Diego State as an upset-seeker against No. 4 UCLA on Sunday. But before the Aztecs even got a chance to show themselves, the cross-town University of San Diego picked up one of two big West Coast surprises on Friday night, knocking off No. 17 Portland, 2-1, on the road. The loss was the Pilots' first since the season-opener.
Down the coast, the Pacific Northwest got revenge, as Washington followed up a 1-1 tie with UCLA last Sunday with a 2-0 win over No. 5 Cal in Berkeley on Friday night. The Huskies, who got goals from Matt Van Houten and Brad Keller, defeated the Golden Bears for the first time since 2005 and extended their unbeaten streak to five games. In the ACC, where both top-25 matchups took place, No. 2 UNC and No. 6 Wake Forest played to a 2-2 draw, while No. 18 N.C. State picked up an upset over No. 9 Duke for the second straight year, winning, 1-0, on a goal from Ronnie Bouemboue with just 49 seconds left in double-OT. For Bouemboue, it was his second-straight game-winner in the Wolfpack-Blue Devils series, after he scored both goals in N.C. State's in Durham last year.
- Cal,
- Charlotte,
- Duke,
- Friday Results,
- Maryland,
- Monmouth,
- NC State,
- North Carolina,
- Portland,
- Stanford,
- Top-25,
- Wake Forest,
- Washington
Two Fridays ago, Maryland looked to be ready to set the pace in the ACC, with the then-No. 4 Terps dropping No. 2 North Carolina, 1-0. Today, the Terps find themselves out of the top-10, coming in at No. 11 as the recipients of two tough losses last week -- the first to unranked George Mason on Tuesday, then another to No. 14 Duke on Friday night. But, after a poll last week that looked like a tornado hit it, this week's looks relatively tame. Only two teams exited the top-25, with two more -- Drake and previously ranked Dartmouth -- taking their spots at No. 22 and 24, respectively. Two more left the top-10, with Indiana also falling after a 3-0 loss at UCSB on Friday night. In their places climb those Gauchos (up to No. 7 after taking No. 11 last week) and Duke, with the not-so-surprising-anymore Blue Devils firing five spots up to No. 9.
Photo Courtesy of Duke |
Meanwhile, Akron maintained its hold on the top spot, despite scoring only six goals and posting two shutouts in two wins last week against Ohio State and Florida Atlantic. In doing so, Michael Nanchoff, who -- along with his legendary Akron family -- was profiled by NCAA.com last week, earned a spot on his third straight Team of the Week, this time on the College Soccer News squad, after two straight weeks on the Soccer America team. The Zips earned a total of 575 points, including all 23 first-place votes. Just below the Zips sits North Carolina, who rose up from No. 5 after a huge ACC win over Virginia, which the Tar Heels took, 1-0 in OT. South Florida's in third now, up from No. 6 last week, thanks to a shutout win over Cincinnati. UCLA stood firm in the No. 4 spot, after a weekend that saw the Bruins go 1-0-1, downing Oregon State and tying Washington. The win marked Kyle Nakazawa's sixth straight game with a goal and pushed UCLA's unbeaten streak to six games. Into the fifth spot slides Pac-10 rival Cal, whose conference win over then-No. 20 (and now No. 23) Stanford moved the Golden Bears up one spot in the polls. A 5-1 win over Virginia Tech couldn't offset Wake Forest's loss earlier in the week to Charlotte, as the Demon Deacons fell to No. 6 after standing at No. 3 last week. For Charlotte, who snapped Wake Forest's nation-leading non-conference win streak and tacked on a win over Furman on Saturday, the 49ers made the biggest jump up, now finding themselves at No. 15, up seven spots from No. 22. Rounding out the top-10 are No. 8 Harvard and No. 10 Monmouth, who both hung onto their spots from a week prior with wins over Yale and Fairleigh Dickinson, respectively. In the second stratus, the big risers included N.C. State (up six spots to No. 18), Portland (up four to No. 17) and Northwestern (who dropped Ohio State in its Big Ten opener to shoot up to No. 21). UMBC led teams taking the biggest hits, as the Retrievers plummeted seven spots to No. 25 after taking its first loss of the year in its first game in America East play, falling 3-1 at Vermont. Higher up the poll, but falling five spots, was Indiana, whose loss in Santa Barbara trumped a 3-0 win over then-No. 20 Kentucky earlier in the week.
- Akron,
- Cal,
- Charlotte,
- Duke,
- Harvard,
- Indiana,
- Maryland,
- Monmouth,
- N.C. State,
- North Carolina,
- Northwestern,
- NSCAA Poll,
- South Florida,
- Top-25,
- UCLA,
- UCSB,
- UMBC,
- Wake Forest
FRIDAYNo. 2 Maryland lost to No. 14 Duke, 2-0 No. 3 Wake Forest def. Virginia Tech, 5-1 No. 4 UCLA def. Oregon State, 3-1 No. 5 North Carolina def. No. 12 Virginia, 1-0 (2 OT) No. 7 Cal def. No. 20 Stanford, 1-0No. 9 Indiana lost to No. 11 UCSB, 3-0 No. 10 Monmouth tied Sacred Heart, 0-0 No. 21 Portland def. Santa Clara, 1-0 No. 24 North Carolina State def. Boston College, 2-1 (OT)
- Boston College,
- Cal,
- Duke,
- Indiana,
- Maryland,
- Monmouth,
- North Carolina,
- North Carolina State,
- Oregon State,
- Portland,
- Sacred Heart,
- Santa Clara,
- Stanford,
- UCLA,
- UCSB,
- Virginia,
- Virginia Tech,
- Wake Forest
No. 11 UCSB went into Friday's game with No. 9 Indiana hoping to set the all-time NCAA regular season attendance record. While the ticket sales fell just a little short of expectation -- the 10,114 in the bleachers did set a school record -- very little else did on Friday for the Gauchos, who celebrated the five-year anniversary of its legendary 2004 team with a 3-0 win over Indiana at Harder Stadium.
Just up the coast, No. 20 Stanford's six-game win streak came to an end in its Pac-10 opener with No. 7 Cal, as Golden Bear leading scorer Andrew Wiedeman tallied the game's lone goal to send Cal to a 1-0 win over the Cardinal.
Heading East to the ACC, two wild results capped off a day that saw four top-25 matchups.
In Chapel Hill, North Carolina got a goal from Cameron Brown in the 109th minute to break a 0-0 tie and send No. 5 UNC to a 1-0 double-OT win over No. 12 Virginia, who just two weeks ago upset No. 2 Wake Forest. With the win, the Tar Heels start their ACC season at 3-1 and take the top spot in the conference.
Just down Tobacco Road, No. 14 Duke handed No. 2 Maryland a 2-0 loss in Durham. The win gave the Blue Devils their first win in the ACC since knocking off then-No. 16 Virginia on Sept. 11. For Maryland, the loss came after the Terps fell to unranked George Mason on Tuesday.
Check back on Saturday for more from Friday!
Friday night brings us four top-25 matchups as the season begins to pick up speed, with two big ACC clashes and two more on the West Coast - including one that could feature the largest crowd in NCAA Men's Soccer history. No. 9 Indiana @ No. 11 UC Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, Calif. | 11 p.m. (ET)TV: Fox Soccer Channel | Live Stats | Audio Five years ago, soccer claimed Santa Barbara. In the fall of 2004, a Gaucho team that played in a town with a friendly, if fleeting, relationship with soccer converted the seaside city into a soccer circus. While a UCSB team that, after winning its first-ever NCAA Tournament game two years prior, blasted to the College Cup final, the crowds got bigger. And bigger. And bigger. By the time the Gauchos took on VCU in the national quarterfinals, 11,214 fans showed up at Harder Stadium, amounting to one of the largest crowds in the history of D-I Men's soccer. On Friday, the No. 11 Gauchos commemorate that 2004 team, the one that lost in PK's to Indiana, on a night when the ninth-ranked Hoosiers come to town for a nationally televised affair. Fourteen players from that team are expected to be in attendance on a night when the place looks to be packed. UCSB officials are predicting a crowd at Harder that could break the NCAA all-time regular season attendance record of 12,224, set in 1987. And what they'll see is a battle between one of the premier teams in the history of college soccer and one that's begun to settle into the elite. Indiana, the owner of seven national championships, has been a fixture on the NCAA scene for decades. UCSB, who won its first and only title in 2006, hasn't left the spotlight since that '04 season. Last weekend, the Gauchos recovered from a 4-2 loss to San Diego State on Friday with a win over then-No. 23 UC Irvine on Sunday. The nation's 18th-ranked offense (2.22 goals per game) is led offensively by freshman Michael Nonni, whose four goals, five assists and 13 points are all tops on the team. For Indiana, who re-entered the top-10 after a one-week hiatus, hasn't lost since the Hoosiers fell to top-ranked Akron on Sept. 18, rattling off wins over FIU, Wisconsin and No. 13 Kentucky. Will Bruin (5 goals, 11 points) and Andy Adlard (two goals against Kentucky) lead the way for the Hoosiers. Read more about it here (or here or here). No. 2 Maryland @ No. 14 Duke | Durham, N.C. | 7 p.m. (ET)Live Stats Last Friday, Maryland couldn't have gotten much higher, with captain Kevin Tangney - profiled on NCAA.com last week - scoring the game-winning goal in the 89th minute to send the Terps (then No. 4) over ACC nemesis and then-second-ranked North Carolina at Ludwig Field with a 1-0 win. On Tuesday, the Terps fell. Hard. On the road at George Mason, Maryland couldn't find the net, taking a 2-0 loss to the unranked Patriots. "It was a very un-Maryland like performance tonight and I take full responsibility for not having us ready today," head coach Sasho Cirovski said in the Maryland released. "We just weren't very connected today." It's a safe bet that a coach of the caliber of Cirovski will make sure the defending champs are ready for Friday's 7 p.m. test in Durham. They'll be facing a Duke team that rode through its first five games undefeated, parading into the Top-25 with an OT win over Maryland on Sept. 12 ( listen to the NCAA.com podcast with Duke's twin walk-ons, Dan and Chris Tweed-Kent, the former of whom scored the game-winner against Virginia) but one that's fallen off a bit lately. Though the Blue Devils did pick up a win over Elon on Tuesday, the win came after two losses in three games - although, to be fair, one was a 2-1 loss to UNC. The other came at the hands of a red-hot Boston College team, which picked up its fourth straight win in the process - a streak that ended on Tuesday with a loss to Siena. But every game in the ACC matters, and in a series that's split, 5-5, over the last 10 games, expect a thriller here. No. 12 Virginia @ No. 5 North Carolina | Chapel Hill, N.C. | 7 p.m. (ET)Live Stats The ACC's top two defensive teams square off in yet another battle between ranked teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference, six of whose teams are in the top-25, with another (Boston College) sitting just outside. The Cavs, the top-ranked defense in the conference, have posted a 0.47 GAA this year, with the Tar Heels putting up a 0.60 clip. But the disparity here lies on offense, with the Tar Heels scoring at a rate of 2.25 per game and Virginia at just 1.25. And playing in front of a hostile Fetzer Field crowd won't help Virginia. UNC's Michael Farfan's four goals lead the team, while Billy Schuler and Cameron Brown's three apiece pace the attack. For Virginia, Neil Barlow and Toni Tchani have scored three each. No. 20 Stanford @ No. 7 Cal | Berkeley, Calif. | 7 p.m (ET)Live Stats Last year, the Cardinal scored 14 times. In 17 games. They've hit that number in seven games this year, en route to six straight wins and their first ranking in the NSCAA poll this year, at No. 20 this week. On Friday night, they open Pac-10 play with by far their toughest opponent of the year, in the archrival Golden Bears. For Cal, 2009's gone off with only one hiccup - a 2-1 loss to New Mexico in the Stanford Nike Classic last Friday, followed up with a 3-0 win over Air Force on Sunday. The goals have come in bunches, with Andrew Wiedeman leading the way with 19 points on eight goals and three assists (fourth in goals- and fifth in points-per-game in the NCAA). As a team, the Bears sit at 11th nationally in scoring offense, at 2.5 goals per game. But they'll be taking on a Stanford team that, as the scoring's gone up, hasn't wavered defensively, giving up only six goals in 14 games.
All Times EasternLive stats/video where available
*Top-25 matchups in bold*
FRIDAYNo. 2 Maryland @ No. 14 Duke, 7 p.m. - Live StatsNo. 3 Wake Forest @ Virginia Tech, 7 p.m. - VideoNo. 4 UCLA @ Oregon State, 10 p.m. - Live StatsNo. 5 North Carolina vs. No. 12 Virginia, 7 p.m. - Live StatsNo. 7 Cal vs. No. 20 Stanford, 7 p.m. - Live StatsNo. 9 Indiana @ No. 11 UCSB, 11 p.m. - Live Stats | Audio | TV: Fox Soccer Channel No. 10 Monmouth @ Sacred Heart, 4 p.m. - Live Stats | VideoNo. 13 Kentucky vs. UAB, 4:30 p.m. - Live StatsNo. 21 Portland @ Santa Clara, 10 p.m. - Live StatsNo. 24 North Carolina State vs. Boston College, 7 p.m. - Live Stats
SATURDAYNo. 1 Akron @ Florida Atlantic, 7 p.m. - Live StatsNo. 6 South Florida vs. Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m. - Live Stats | VideoNo. 8 Harvard @ Yale, 7 p.m. - Live StatsNo. 16 BU vs. Stony Brook, 7 p.m. - Live Stats | Audio | VideoNo. 17 Louisville @ DePaul, 1 p.m. - VideoNo. 18 UMBC @ Vermont, 1 p.m. - VideoNo. 19 Old Dominion vs. UNC-Wilmington, 7 p.m. - Live StatsNo. 22 Charlotte @ Furman, 7 p.m. No. 23 Brown @ Columbia, 7 p.m. SUNDAYNo. 4 UCLA @ Washington, 5 p.m. - Live StatsNo. 10 Monmouth @ Fairleigh Dickinson, 1 p.m. No. 15 Ohio State vs. No. 25 Northwestern, 2 p.m. - Live Stats | VideoNo. 21 Portland @ St. Mary's (Calif.), 5 p.m. - Live Stats
- Cal,
- Duke,
- Indiana,
- Maryland,
- North Carolina,
- Northwestern,
- Ohio State,
- Stanford,
- Top-25 Schedule,
- UCSB,
- Virginia
The string of upsets didn't stop when the weekend did, with the second- and third-ranked teams in the country falling hard. Elsewhere, in a big non-conference matchup, No. 9 Indiana got two goals from Andy Adlard to send the Hoosiers past No. 13 Kentucky, 3-0. In Fairfax, Va. No. 2 Maryland fell to George Mason, 2-0, on the road, despite playing up a man for more than half the game. It was the Patriots' first win over the Terps since 2001. "It was a very un-Maryland like performance tonight and I take full responsibility for not having us ready today," head coach Sasho Cirovski said after the game. "We just weren't very connected today." In Winston-Salem, the nation's longest non-conference winning streak came to an end, as No. 22 Charlotte upset No. 3 Wake Forest, 3-1. The win was the 49ers' first over a top-5 team since 1994. "This was a tremendous result," Charlotte coach Jeremy Gunn
said after the win. "We played great soccer tonight and we showed people what we are
capable of as a soccer program. Wake Forest has been one of the bench
mark programs in college soccer. We expected Wake Forest to attack us
since they pass the ball better than any team in the country. I am just
so proud of how our players fought and battled tonight."
Staying in the ACC, Boston College lost to Siena, 1-0, giving the Saints their first-ever win over an ACC team. On the schedule for Wednesday night are two big regional clashes between top-25 teams, as newly ranked No. 15 Ohio State hits the road to take on No. 1 Akron (Click here for live stats or here to watch the game, live online [with subscription]) and No. 16 BU takes on No. 23 Brown, with the Terriers looking to win their fourth straight and Brown looking to stay unbeaten ( Watch Live or Listen).
After a weekend that spared only a handful of teams in the top-25 from upsets and saw just five teams in the top-10 emerge without a loss, the NSCAA poll looked understandably... altered on Monday. Akron, who destroyed Bowling Green, 6-0, hung onto first. Only one other team in the country held its position. Two teams fell out of the top-10, seven dropped out of the top-25 and seven more replaced them - led by now-undefeated Ohio State in the 15th spot.  In the top-10, No. 2 Maryland was rewarded for knocking off then-No. 2 North Carolina with a late goal on Friday night, jumping up two spots, while UNC fell to fifth. UCLA, who took two wins over unranked teams, bounded up from No. 10 to No. 5. Heading back to the ACC, Wake Forest used a win over No. 8 Harvard (still at No. 8) to make its way up to No. 3. South Florida and Cal fell to No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, after weekend losses, while UCSB's win over UC Irvine on Sunday wasn't enough to offset a loss to San Diego State, as the Gauchos sunk from No. 7 to No. 11. The other team to fall out of the top-10, Louisville, plummeted from No. 9 to No. 17 after a weekend that saw the Cardinals fall, 4-0, to Notre Dame on Friday and tie Marquette, 2-2, on Sunday. The two top-10 evacuees created room for Indiana to make its way from No. 13 to No. 9 after a win over Wisconsin and for Monmouth to continue its meteoric rise to new heights, surging to No. 10 - the program's highest-ever ranking - after starting the year at 8-0-0. Other interesting movers & shakers start with the Buckeyes, who downed defending Big Ten champs and No. 21 Michigan State on Sunday to blow out to the program's best-ever start. Look for them to be tested on Wednesday when OSU heads to Akron. Virginia and Duke didn't suffer too much for losses to Clemson and BC, respectively, falling from No. 11 to No. 12 and No. 12 to No. 14, in that order. But Dartmouth, who fell to Hartwick, and Creighton, who fell to Portland, did, as both the Big Green and Blue Jays dropped from No. 15 and No. 17 to the Others-Receiving-Votes section. And finally, UMBC cracks the top-25. The owner of two of the nation's top three scorers, in Andrew Bulls (first) and Levi Houapeu (third), the Retrievers are playing great soccer. And oh yeah - they're still undefeated, at 9-0-0.
- Akron,
- Cal,
- Creighton,
- Dartmouth,
- Duke,
- Harvard,
- Indiana,
- Louisville,
- Marquette,
- Maryland,
- Michigan State,
- Monmouth,
- North Carolina,
- Notre Dame,
- NSCAA Poll,
- Ohio State,
- Portland,
- San Diego State,
- South Florida,
- UC Irvine,
- UCLA,
- UCSC,
- UMBC,
- Virginia,
- Wake Forest,
- Wisconsin
Top-25 Results from Friday, Sept. 25A wild Friday saw only two teams in the top-10 win, and one came by default, as No. 4 Maryland beat No. 2 North Carolina with an 89th-minute goal in a big ACC clash between top-5 teams. Meanwhile, four top-10 teams in action took losses to teams outside the top-25. No. 2 North Carolina lost to No. 4 Maryland, 1-0 No. 3 South Florida lost to West Virginia, 1-0 in OT No. 4 Maryland beat No. 2 North Carolina, 1-0 No. 5 California lost to New Mexico, 2-1 No. 7 UCSB lost to San Diego State, 4-2 No. 9 Louisville lost to Notre Dame, 4-0 No. 10 UCLA beat San Diego, 2-1 No. 12 Duke lost to Boston College, 2-0 No. 13 Indiana beat Wisconsin, 1-0 No. 17 Creighton beat Washington, 1-0No. 18 St. John's (N.Y.) lost to Connecticut, 1-0 No. 23 UC Irvine beat Princeton, 2-1 No. 24 Cal St. Northridge tied Denver, 0-0 No. 25 Brown tied Santa Clara, 1-1
- Boston College,
- Brown,
- Cal State Northridge,
- California,
- Connecticut,
- Creighton,
- Denver,
- Duke,
- Indiana,
- Louisville,
- Maryland,
- New Mexico,
- North Carolina,
- Notre Dame,
- Princeton,
- San Diego,
- San Diego State,
- Santa Clara,
- South Florida,
- St. John's,
- UC Irvine,
- UCLA,
- UCSB,
- Washington,
- West Virginia,
- Wisconsin
 |
| Maryland's Kevin Tangney celebrates his goal while UNC players look on during Maryland's 1-0 win over the Tar Heels on Friday night. |
Friday wasn't supposed to be a big night outside of College Park, Maryland, where Maryland took on North Carolina. It was, with four wins by unranked teams over clubs in the top-10 and big finishes all across the country, massive. In front of a Maryland-record crowd of 6,946 at College Park, the hosts took down No. 2 UNC, 1-0, in a rematch of last year's national championship pairing. The lone goal came off the foot of Maryland captain and defender Kevin Tangney, profiled this week by NCAA.com. Meanwhile, No. 9 Louisville was blown out by Big EAST rival Notre Dame, 4-0. The Irish, after plummeting out of the top-25, struck back with four second-half goals to drop the Cardinals. Third-ranked South Florida took its first loss of the season, falling 1-0 to West Virginia in Morgantown.
A faulty clear by USF gave the ball to West Virginia's Alex Silva, who
delivered a pass to Abel Sebele, who in turn slid a shot past Jeff
Attinella to send the Mountaineers to the win. But there's more. A lot more. On the West Coast, the opening game of the Stanford Nike Classic wasn't
kind to fellow Bay Area team California, as the fifth-ranked Bears took a 2-1 loss to New Mexico. Just down the coast, No. 7 UCSB stumbled against SoCal rival San Diego State, falling, 4-2. SDSU junior Raymundo Reza led the way with two goals and an assist in the win. Back in the East, Connecticut made a big statement in the Big EAST, knocking off No. 18 St. John's (N.Y.), 1-0. Kwame Watson-Siriboe tallied the game-winner in the 40th minute to lead UConn. Stay tuned for more on Saturday!
- California,
- Connecticut,
- Louisville,
- Maryland,
- New Mexico,
- North Carolina,
- Notre Dame,
- San Diego State,
- Soccer,
- South Florida,
- St. John's,
- UC Santa Barbara,
- UCSB,
- West Virginia
No. 2 North Carolina (5-0-1, 2-0-0 ACC) vs. No. 4 Maryland (4-1-1, 1-0-1 ACC)
Friday, 8 p.m. (ET) - College Park, Md. | Fox Soccer Channel
In a rematch of last year's national championship combatants, the stakes are high. Both teams currently occupy the top two spots in an ACC that doesn't forgive any losses. For Maryland, the Terps are a team looking to find a way to re-ignite its offense, while for UNC, the Tar Heels are looking to avenge three losses to Maryland last year and earn its first win over the Terps since 2003.
Maryland started slow last year. The Terps haven't crawled this year, per se, but they've had trouble lighting up the scoreboard. Only once in Maryland's six games have the Terps scored more than two goals, when they plastered 7 on Duquesne on Sept. 15. They've put up only two, total, in the last two games, tying N.C. State last Saturday and just clipping St. Peter's, 1-0, on Tuesday.
For North Carolina, a win on Friday would give the Tar Heels their first 3-0 ACC start since 1968. But it hasn't been all smooth sailing for North Carolina, who just escaped a matchup with unranked ETSU with a 2-1 OT win on Tuesday after two straight 2-1 wins over N.C. State and Duke, respectively.
Ludwig Field set a Maryland men's soccer attendance record when the Terps opened with UCLA at home. Expect this crowd to make that one look like it was cheering for a chem lecture.
No. 8 Harvard (6-0) @ No. 6 Wake Forest (4-1-1)
Saturday, 7 p.m. - Winston-Salem, N.C.
Segueing from chem lectures...Harvard is undefeated. That's right. The Crimson started the year among the unranked, but wins over in-town rivals Boston College and Boston University, among others, have vaulted the Crimson to their highest ranking ever (No. 6 in the Soccer America poll), tied with the 2007 team.
And it's not just the wins that have gotten them there. This team can score. A lot. Andre Akpan hasn't slowed at all from his record-setting pace through three years in Cambridge, racking up a team-best six goals and four assists for 16 points (second in the nation in ppg, at 3.2), and Brian Rogers (11 points) has followed close behind. Plus, Austin Harms is pretty good in net, posting three shutouts, a .35 GAA and a .913 save percentage.
They'll be taking on a Wake Forest team that's hungry, after a loss to Virginia last weekend, but one that will be without arguably its top player, with reigning ACC Defender of the Year Ike Opara playing for the U-20 National Team in the FIFA U-20 World Cup. [LINK http://wakeforestsports.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/092409aaa.html]
The Deacons, who roared through the regular season last year, still look to be a good way away from clicking, but the talent is certainly there. Look for a team playing a little shorthanded to rise up and defend its home against a Harvard club that will be looking to exploit a defense without its central cog.
No. 23 UC Irvine (5-2) @ No. 7 UC Santa Barbara (5-1-1)
Sunday, 9:30 p.m. - Santa Barbara, Calif.
Both of these Southern California powers open up Big West play on Sunday, when the Anteaters travel to Santa Barbara to clash with the Gauchos. And while Irvine's looking to stay ranked, UCSB's looking to dig into the top-10 after a week that saw the Gauchos down Milwaukee, then come back late to tie Wisonsin, 1-1, at the Milwaukee Panther Classic.
For UCI, look to Amani Walker (4g, 2a - 10 pts) to lead the way for the offense, while goalkeeper Andrew Fontein's brandishing an 0.95 GAA and four shutouts. Meanwhile, UCSB, the 13th-ranked offense in the country at 2.43 goals per game, have gotten 112 points from Michael Nonni, while Sam Hayden's posted an 0.95 GA and three shutsouts in net.
But to get there, Irvine has to get past Princeton on Friday, with UCSB matching up with San Diego State on the same night - both tough, tough draws.
UNDEFEATEDS
- Akron looks to keep its perfect 6-0-0 record alive against Bowling Green on Saturday.
- For as-yet-unranked UMBC, the Retrievers bring their 7-0-0 record to La Salle on Saturday.
- Monmouth and its 6-0-0 mark meet up with Loyola (Md.) on Saturday.
- Finally, 6-0-0 Stetson brings its perfect ledger to the Jacksonville/Nike Invitational, where it'll play the College of Charleston - just five votes out of the top-25 - on Friday and Alabama A&M on Sunday.
O ne of the two captains on the Maryland men's soccer team had only three college starts to his name coming into this year. Yet, after two devastating injuries, Kevin Tangney's become the inspiration for a Maryland team out to defend its second national championship in four years.On Aug. 8, 2007, a group of Maryland men's soccer players got together for a 7-on-7 pickup game in the days leading up to the official start of preseason. Two years removed from the 2005 national championship run but primed with talent groomed through 2006, a feeling of optimism blew through College Park.  In their midst was a redshirt sophomore, Kevin Tangney, who had found his way onto the field after an entire season off of it. Tangney had missed all of 2006 with an ACL tear, suffered while in France for a regional team competition. But he'd rehabbed and thought, in some ways, he was better than before. Stronger. Faster. He was the second generation of Terps in his family, after his mom, Joanne, came before him -- he was a kid, who, in the words of coach Sasho Cirovski, "breathes Maryland." When Tangney first visited College Park in 2004, he committed on the spot. And now he ran on a field just 20 yards from his mom's old dorm with a dozen of his best friends, feeling the grass buckle beneath his feet and moving, circling, gliding along the pitch in a way he hadn't since before his leg first failed him in June of 2006. Then, just four days before his first preseason since shredding the central fibers in his left knee, he planted to make a cut in open space and fell to the ground.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin Scheitrum
Kevin grew up a football and baseball player in Pennsylvania who learned to love The Beautiful Game overseas. Now, he’s committed to bringing you the top stories and most compelling personalities across the country all the way through the College Cup in December. Stay with us, and, as always, stay in touch.
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