William and Mary (15-7-1) vs. Penn. State (15-7-0) - This round of 16 match pairs up the two remaining teams with the largest number of losses.  You can forget that now though as both played well enough to get an invite to the tourney and both are just one win away from advancing to the Elite Eight. 

 

Both teams defeated Atlantic Coast Conference teams to reach the round of 16.   

 

William and Mary took to the road to defeat Duke 2-1 in first round play and then upset Virginia in Charlottesville in a second round match that required penalty kicks to determine a winner.  The Tribe and the Cavaliers were tied 1-1 at the end of regulation and two overtime periods. 

 

Penn State was one of 16 teams to receive a first round bye.  The Nittany Lions defeated the University of North Carolina 1-0 in a match that required double overtime to determine a winner. 

 

College Soccer News ranked William and Mary as the number 20 team in the nation in their preseason poll.  The Tribe returned the top 11 scorers from the 2001 season but had some rebuilding to do in their backline. 

 

Despite high pre-season expectations, William and Mary quickly exited from the polls as they lost three out of their first four matches and concluded the month of September with a disappointing 4-4-0 record.  They bounced back in October going 4-1-1 and then went 5-2-0 in November before entering NCAA Tourney play.  The Tribe was ranked as the number 29 team in the nation in the final regular season ending College Soccer News Top 30 National poll.  William and Mary is undefeated in 12 of their last fourteen matches.

 

College Soccer News listed Penn State as the number 16 team in their pre-season poll.  Eight starters also returned for the Nittany Lions but noticeably absent were departed All-Americans Ricardo Villar and Derek Potteiger. 

 

Penn State began the season with an overtime loss to Richmond and at the conclusion of their sixth match of the year were a disappointing 3-3-0.  At the end of September they were 6-4-0 and dropped out of the College Soccer News Top 30 poll at the conclusion of the second week of play in October after consecutive losses to Seton Hall and Wisconsin.  Penn State was 4-3-0 for the month of October. 

 

Things began to fall into place in November and the Nittany Lions went 4-0-0 during the month prior to beginning play in the NCAA Tournament.  College Soccer News ranked Penn State as the number 22 team in the nation in their final regular season poll.  Penn State's four wins in November included a big 2-1 overtime victory over the Indiana Hoosiers in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament and a 2-1 win over Michigan in the Big Ten Tourney final. 

 

This game will feature some interesting match ups.  William and Mary is lead up top by senior  senior Carlos Garcia (9g, 11a) who has produced four game-winners.  Red shirt freshman Andreas Nydal (8g, 0a) adds balance to the William and Mary attack. 

 

Penn State is lead up top by sophomore Chad Severs (16g, 2a) who has recorded six game-winners.   Although the Penn State attack centers on Severs, he has had help up top from Joe Zewe (4g, 5a) and Pasi Karpinnen (4g, 5a).  The William and Mary attack has tallied a total of 45 goals so far this year while Penn State has put a total of 35 into the back of the net.   Both Garcia and Severs are capable of breaking a game wide open but give Penn State and Severs the edge up top. 

 

Midfielder Ralph Bean (11g, 11a) is creative, explosive and quick.  Bean has recorded 5 game-winners this year.  Junior Phillip Hucles (5g, 1a) is very effective out wide and is the type of player who will take his man on to create scoring opportunities.  Senior Doug Henry (3g, 7a) and Junior Graham Albert (4g, 2a) are among those who round out a William and Mary midfield that is among the best in the country.

 

Brent Jacquette (2g, 3a), David Walters (1g, 5a) and Gabe Bernstein (2g, 2a) and Brett Forbich are among a solid core of Penn State linkmen.  The play of Jacquette and Bernstein in particular will be a key to the success of Penn State in this contest.  Both midfields are talented but give the edge in the middle third of the field to William and Mary due to their quickness and depth. 

 

William and Mary has allowed opponents to score a total of 21 goals this year.  Penn State has allowed opponents to place 24 in the back of the net.  Since Penn State lost 3-2 to Seton Hall on October 9 they have not allowed an opponent to score more than one goal.  During their last nine games they have given up only 4 goals.   Give Penn State the edge along the backline. 

 

Senior Trevor Upton who has a goals against average of 1.20 has played well for the Tribe in route to recording six shutouts.  Senior Ryan Sickman has a goals against average of 0.81 for Penn State and has notched seven shutouts.   Call it even in the goal but expect the play of Upton and Sickman to have a big impact on the outcome of the contest. 

 

William and Mary has played two consecutive games on the road and that may make them a leg weary team that Penn State will exploit.  The Virginia match was a tough one for William and Mary.   

 

This one could easily go either way.  However William and Mary has a more balanced attack so if they can hold Chad Severs up top they have an excellent chance of pulling off the upset and moving to the next round.

 

Furman (19-2-1) vs. Stanford (14-4-2) - This match will be played at Stanford's Maloney Field.  Furman advanced to the contest with a 2-0 win over Loyola (Md) and a shoot out win over Virginia Commonwealth University after the match was tied at 0-0 at the end of regulation and two overtime periods. 

 

Stanford defeated Portland in a penalty kick shootout also to advance.  That contest also was scoreless at the end of regulation and after two extra periods of play. 

 

Furman under head coach Doug Allison has now had eleven shutouts in a row to set a new NCAA Division I record.  Furman has scored a total of 52 goals this year while allowing only 14.  Stanford has scored 39 while allowing only 13.