S.M.U. 3 – Kentucky 1 -  Maddog Soccer’s #4 ranked S.M.U. Mustangs defeated the Kentucky Wildcats Saturday night in Dallas, Texas to advance to the elite eight of NCAA Tournament play.  A crowd of around 1,000 fans were on hand on a cold Texas evening to witness a very hard fought college soccer game.  With the win S.M.U. stands at 19-4-0 overall and Kentucky finishes the 2000 season with a record of 11-9-2.  Mohamed Fahim scored on a breakaway during the 21st minute of the match to give S.M.U. the crucial early lead that helped them to control the pace of the game.  Credit Matt Whiteley with the assist on the first goal.  Kentucky stayed in it though and even the score at 1-1 during the 71st minute when Ilkka Jantti scored off a free kick with J.D. Stephenson getting the assist. As the best teams always do, S.M.U. countered a little over two minutes later with Fahim again getting the goal that put the Mustangs back on top 2-1. Luchi Gonzalez and Ryan Kenyon got the double assist on the second goal. Kentucky went on the attack trying to get the equalizer but instead Fahim got his third goal of the night with time running out to seal the victory.  It was a very physical contest but the strength of the S.M.U. attack enabled them to prevail.  Mustang keeper Byron Foss had two saves for the evening.  Kentucky net minder Brian O’Leary had a total of 8 saves. After the match S.M.U. head coach Schellas Hyndman commented “The physical play of the Missouri Valley Conference prepared us for this game.  If we would have stayed in the Western Athletic Conference, we would have struggled.  Because of the MVC, we were more accustomed to the physical play of Kentucky.”  Kentucky head coach Ian Collins stated “S.M.U. is a very dangerous and very potent offensive team.  Carl Bussey is the heart and soul of that (S.M.U.) team.  He’s the best player I’ve seen all year.”  It was a good win for the S.M.U. Mustangs who have made it to the final eight 9 times in the last 15 years but have never advanced beyond that round to make it into the final four. 

 

Stanford 6 -  Illinois-Chicago 0 - What a difference a half makes.  This one ended 0-0 at the end of the first stanza of play but Stanford, Maddog Soccer’s #3 ranked team in the nation, came out to take control in the second half and that they did scoring 6 unanswered goals.  Stanford now stands at 18-4-2 for the year and the Flames from Illinois-Chicago close out what has been a very successful 2000 season with an overall record of 18-4-2.  Stanford now advances to the third round of NCAA Tournament play to face Southern Methodist University.  Stanford controlled the action in this one from the outset with the Flames finding themselves trying to contain the Cardinal attack and having difficulty piercing the Cardinal defense.  Corey Woolfolk got the first Stanford goal three minutes into the second half of play.  Five minutes later talented defender Lee Morrison made a nice run that concluded in the second Cardinal goal and a 2-0 lead.  The floodgates opened at that point with Woolfolk getting his second goal of the evening in the 66th minute to make it 3-0.  Roger Levesque made it a 4-0 game about a  minute later.  Mike Murphy and Ryan Nelson scored the 5th and 6th goals respectively.  Illinois-Chicago head coach Sasha Begovic graciously stated after the match “The best team won out there tonight.  Stanford has a very strong bench and I think those fresh legs were the difference between the first half and the second half.  Stanford certainly deserved the win.”

 

Creighton 3 -  San Diego 0 -  The Bluejays, Maddog Soccer’s #9 ranked team, defeated the Toreros, Maddog Soccer’s #8 ranked team, before 4,000 plus fans at Torero Stadium in San Diego.  The win improved Creighton’s record to 20-3-0 and set a Creighton record for number of wins in a season. The loss ended an outstanding season of play for San Diego in which they had the schools best ever winning percentage (.825) with a final record of 16-2-2.  The game was played under foggy conditions during the first half of play which may have contributed to the 0-0 halftime score.  The fog cleared in the second half and Creighton’s attack appeared with Keith Sawarynski getting a goal six minutes into the second stanza after receiving a well played cross from teammate Mike Tranchilla.  Tranchilla’s assist raised his 2000 season point total to a very impressive 42 points.  Creighton’s Matt Jewett got the second Bluejay goal when he received a pass from Brian Mullan and drove a shot into the back of the net from 15 yards out.  Creighton’s talented Mullan added the third goal six minutes later on an assist from Ishmaei Mintah.  The goal was Mullan’s fifteenth of the 2000 campaign and shut the door on any hope for a San Diego comeback.  Creighton advances to the third round of play with their last appearance in the elite eight coming in 1998.  Creighton head coach Bret Simon stated after the match “As the first half wore on, the game opened up and was anyone’s to potentially win.  Early in the second half, we withstood some pressure and then our three forwards really opened up and we put them away.  Despite the fact that our attacking players have played very well and are being recognized by everyone, special recognition should go to our defense.”  In that regard, credit Creighton keeper Mike Gabb with the shutout and his 19th win of the season in goal.  It was a great win for Creighton as few teams have traveled to Torero Stadium in the past two years and come away with a win.

 

Indiana 2 -  Washington 1 -  Maddog Soccer’s #10 ranked Hoosiers traveled to Seattle, Washington to face Maddog Soccer’s #15 ranked Washington Huskies.  For the Washington Huskies, this was an opportunity to avenge a second round loss at the hands of Indiana in Bloomington in last year’s NCAA Tourney.  It looked like that just might happen as the Huskies junior midfielder Ben Somoza went lower left to score out of a free kick just six minutes into the match to give Washington the early advantage.  As was to be expected, Indiana kept their composure and responded to knot the score 5 minutes later when Marcus Chorvat controlled a shot that Washington keeper Chad Olsen had deflected.  Chorvat drove the ball into the back of the net with the assist going to teammate Pat Noonan who had taken the initial shot that Olsen had deflected.  The half ended tied 1-1 and everyone present knew that this one was going to be close.  Indiana’s Matt Fundenberger, who has a history of rising to the occasion in NCAA Tourney play, headed a pass from teammate Ryan Mack into the goal seven minutes into the second half for a 2-1 Hoosier lead that held for the remainder of play.  After the match Indiana coach Jerry Yeagley commented “I think it was very important that we got a goal right after Washington’s.  It was a big, big factor.  On the road, down a goal, six minutes in, it was a big swing in momentum.  We feel very fortunate to travel to the West Coast two weeks in a row and come back with victories against two excellent teams.”  Washington head coach Dean Wurzberger stated “There was a lapse there in the second half and Indiana went ahead 2-1. We just did not seem to be sharp in terms of closing down the cross and then when the cross came over, a guy ran unmarked, that cost us.”  It was a difficult loss for the young Huskies but they have had a very good season and the future certainly looks bright for Washington.  Indiana and Coach Yeagley advance now to the third round of play as they continue to play with confidence and composure.   

 

North Carolina 3 - Rhode Island 1– The Tarheels get the win in this second round NCAA Tournament game to advance to the third round to face two time defending national champion Indiana.  Carolina is now 21-2-0 for the season.  Rhode Island ends the year with an impressive record of  17-6-1.  Rhode Island had won six straight going into this match at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill.  Neither team scored during the first half of play but Carolina came out on fire in the second half as Chris Carrieri got the first goal of the match eight minutes into the second half.  Carrieri’s goal came when he attempted to cross the ball into the middle and it ricocheted off a Rhode Island defender into the net.  The goal seemed to unleash the Tarheel offense as  Caleb Norkus scored just two minutes later with the double assist coming on some nice give and go teamwork from Logan Pause and Noz Yamauchi.  Rhode Island made it a game when Nicholas McCreath, who is an excellent finisher, took advantage of a miscue in the Tarheel backline to score and close the gap to 2-1.  The Heels rejected the Rhode Island comeback when Ryan Kneipper scored just a little over a minute later with the assist coming from Sean McGinty.  It was a very good college soccer match between two very good teams.  Number 1 seed North Carolina now faces the task of handling a very focused and talented Indiana Hoosier squad. 

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