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San Diego 1 - U.C.L.A. 0 (OT) - The Bruins traveled to San Diego for this first round NCAA Tournament match. It was a great soccer match between two evenly matched teams. The match was tied 0-0 at the end of regulation play and overtime was required to determine a winner. The game winner was set up by a pass from freshman Matt McCausland who played a ball into the middle toward teammate Ryan Coiner. Coiner, who has been an offensive threat all season for San Diego, was marked by two U.C.L.A. defenders. The focus was on Coiner and the ball slid through the traffic around Coiner to Miguel Suazo who alertly controlled it and fired a shot into the back of the net. It was Suazo’s 5th but without a doubt biggest goal of the 2000 season. The game winner came during the tenth minute of the first overtime period. No matter how you look at it this was a big win for the Toreros. They now advance to the second round of play in the NCAA tourney and keep alive what has been a great season. U.C.L.A. outshot the Toreros 17-13 and had 10 corner kicks compared to only 3 for San Diego but the Toreros came out on top in the crucial statistic (goals scored). San Diego is now 16-1-2 for the year and are 21-1 when playing at home during the past two seasons. Coach Todd Saldana’s young Bruins ended the 2000 campaign with a record of 12-7. After the match Saldana commented “I felt we played excellent soccer. We had some great chances, but it was just typical of our season in that the ball hadn’t bounced for us, and the ball bounced well for San Diego today.” Bruin Senior midfielder Shaun Tsakiris, who has played well all year, added “The ball didn’t go our way. But you have to give credit to San Diego. They played well.” Both teams played solid team defense yet both attacked with passion giving the crowd of 4,000 plus an excellent college soccer match. Credit Torero keeper Justin Neerhof with making the saves that he needed to make to give his team the opportunity to eventually win it. U.C.L.A. freshman keeper D.J. Countess also played well in goal. San Diego Coach Seamus McFadden summed this one up after the match when he stated “This was a great soccer game, the fans got their money’s worth, but I got a few more gray hairs. This team’s been resilient all season.”
St. John’s 1 - James Madison 0 - The Big East squared off with the Colonial Athletic Association in this game which took place in Harrisonburg, Virginia. James Madison came out like a team on fire taking it to the Red Storm. The Red Storm survived the initial storm and the tide turned. Neither team could find the back of the net and they went into intermission knotted at 0-0. The game winner came with about fifteen minutes remaining in regulation play when St. John junior Shalrie Joseph drove a shot into the lower left side of the goal after receiving a cross from Jeff Matteo. Credit the Red Storm’s Rich Bradley with starting the chain of events that created the game winner. Bradley alertly spotted Matteo who had a little room to work in on the left side of the box and quickly got the ball to him. Matteo then found Joseph who finished it for his 14th goal of the season. St. John’s netminder Jeff Stoklosa had seven saves in the process of recording shutout number 8 this year.
North Carolina 3 - William and Mary 2 (OT) - William and Mary traveled to Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, North Carolina to meet the number one seed in the NCAA tourney. The Tribe showed no fear as they jumped out to a commanding 2-0 lead. Facing what appeared to be defeat squarely in the eyes, the Tarheels scored two goals in the final 26 minutes to come from behind to defeat a hot William and Mary squad on a snowy day in Chapel Hill. Ryan Kneipper got the game winner in the 95th minute of play to enable North Carolina to advance to the second round of NCAA tournament action against Rhode Island next Sunday. The reserves came through for the Tarheels with Junior Matt Laycock from Ellicott City, Maryland coming up very big for the Tarheels in this one. Laycock got the first goal Tarheel goal off a set piece with the assist going to Danny Jackson. Laycock got the second goal a few minutes later to knot the score at 2-2 with the double assist on that one coming from Matt Crawford and Chris Carrieri. Carrieri, who has had a great year for the Heels, assisted Kneipper on the goal that won it in overtime. UNC improves to 20-2-0 on the year and clearly dogged a big bullet delivered by a talented group of soccer players from William and Mary of the Colonial Athletic Association.
Rhode Island 3 - Boston College 0 - Atlantic 10 vs. the Big East and the Atlantic 10 prevailed much easier than anticipated. Boston College traveled to URI Soccer Complex in Kingston, Rhode Island for this match. A crowd of over 2,100 were on hand for it. The home town team didn’t disappoint them. Rhode Island now advances to play number one seed North Carolina. The Rhode Island Rams took the 1-0 lead during the 37th minute on a Sean Barrett goal with the assist coming from Dennis Richards. The 1-0 score held at half time and it was still either team’s game to win. Twenty-two minutes into the second half Nicholas McCreath took over and made it 2-0 on an unassisted score. With eleven minutes remaining in the contest McCreath scored his 20th goal of the season to put it out of reach. Credit Steven DeMoura with the assist on the final Rhode Island tally. Mark Bryant made six saves in the goal for the Rams on his way to the shutout. Rhode Island is now 17-5-1 for the year and they are playing well as a team. They have a very potent attack and are capable of playing very solid team defense. Boston College, the Big East Tournament Champions, concluded the 2000 season with a 12-7-1 record.
Connecticut 3 - Dartmouth 0 - Dartmouth, who finished in the number two spot in the Ivy League, traveled to Morrone Stadium to face the Huskies in this first round NCAA tourney game. A crowd of over 2,400 came out to see it. The Huskies controlled it from beginning to end with Sophomore Rui Fernandes making it a 1-0 game after a minute and half of play. Twenty three minutes later the gap widened to 2-0 when freshman Lindon Pecorelli found the back of the net from about 18 yards out after receiving a well played ball from teammate Cesar Cuellar. The first half ended 2-0 and you had the feeling that the Huskies had this one in the bag. That feeling was reinforced when two minutes into the second half senior Edwin Rivera made it a 3-0 game. Credit Darin Lewis and Cesar Cuellar for assisting with that one. Connecticut keeper Bryheem Hancock made five saves for the evening to notch his 12th shutout of the season.
Brown 2 - Vermont 0 - The Vermont Catamounts, America East Conference Champions, traveled to Providence, Rhode Island to face the Brown Bears at Stevenson Field. Christian Martinez got what turned out to be the winning goal in the 43rd minute of the game off a free kick situation. Scott Powers initiated the free kick serving a ball in that Martinez convincingly headed into the net. Brown’s Marcio got the insurance goal with less than five minutes remaining in regulation play when he created a turnover in his attacking third and took advantage of the opportunity that presented for a clear shot on goal. Matthew Cross got the shutout for the Bears. Credit Vermont netminder Chris Shaver with several big saves that helped to keep his team in the game. Brown is now 12-5-1 for the season overall and Vermont concluded a successful season with a 13-8-1 record. Look for Vermont to build upon the success that they achieved this season.
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