NCAA QF: Creighton @ Maryland

College Park, MD – On a crisp cloudy afternoon, Maryland beat Creighton 1-o in the NCAA quarterfinals.  It was a dominating victory for MD that Creighton coach Bob Warming conceded that his team “was outplayed more than by any other team in the last decade”.

MD attacked and pressed the entire game until the waning minutes.  With a healthy balanced team, MD is a dangerous opponent that seems to be hitting it’s stride.  Saint John’s will need to play better than they did against Indiana if they want a chance to win.

Starting Lineups:

Creighton 4-4-2 with Gotsmanov playing a withdrawn forward.
G: Brian Holt

D: Akin Akininade, Kyle Deremer, Chris Schuler, Seth Sinovic

M: Ethan Finley, Sergio Castillo, Greg Jordan, Tim Walters

F: Andrei Gotsmanov, Jeff Thayer

MD: 4-4-2

G: Zac MacMath

D: Rich Costanzo, Omar Gonzalez, A. J. Delagarza, Rodney Wallace

M: Doug Rodkey, Michael Marchiano, Graham Zusi, Jeremy Hall

F: Casey Townsend, Jason Herrick

Creighton observations:

Warming stated, “Creighton is used to maintaining possession, but his midfield was not used to the pressure and needed more time on the ball to maintain possession.”  MD took that away and Creighton had no response.

In the 41st minute, Creighton changed his formation back to his normal 4-4-2 with senior Andrei Gotsmanov in an attacking midfield role.  This gave him more touches to end the first half.  In the second half, they returned to the 4-4-1-1 but never sufficiently challenged.

The best chance for Creighton occurred from a MD corner kick in the 52nd minute.  Creighton caught MD exposed with junior Byron Dacy attacking with freshman midfielder Ethan Finlay providing support on the wing against MD senior A. J. Delagarza.  With Dacy attacking into the box and Delagarza cutting his shooting and passing angle, Dacy let fly a shot that was wide and that MacMath had covered.

Red shirt freshman goal keeper Brian Holt made several key saves in the first half that kept the game close at half time.  He continued to make several more saves in the second.  He did have some unforced errors dropping the ball giving up corner kicks.  Holt was over-confident on the ball taking unnecessary risks with the ball at his feet.

Junior Chris Schuler is delivering on the promise that I expected.  He reminds me of former UVA’s #4 – Bakary Soumare.  He has long legs that lets him close on defenders quickly.  Because of this, he has the ability to force bad shots from attackers because of that closing threat.

Freshman midfielder Greg Jordan is a pretty heady player for a freshman.  He anticipates well and he maintains good balance on his tackles.

Senior Tim Walters was moved into the central midfield in the second half and he continuously lost possession; creating havoc for the Creighton defense.

Gotsmanov like MD’s AM Graham Zusi is the best technical player on the field but eventually may not be the best professional.  The more that I see Gotsmanov the more that I admire his touch.  However, I can’t throw the comparison of DC United’s Rod Dyachenko.  Nice touch, in college having a little more time and space, but eventually lacking the athleticism and the professional touch and without a position that he is able to play in the next level.  Another guy to compare him to is Xavier Balc (without Balc’s powerful shot).

Senior left back Seth Sinovic is a good defender but I am not sure if he has sufficient ball skills for MLS.

Nevertheless, Warming said that both Sinovic and Gotsmanov will be at the MLS combine.

MD observations:

MD scored on a 30 yard free kick in the 30th minute from senior Mike Marchiano that found sophomore left back Rodney Wallace 8 yards from goal.  Wallace flicked the ball into the far post at the goal line (can’t blame Holt’s height for that one).

MD attacked, attacked, attacked and attacked the entire game.  Even stay-at-home center back Delagarza took a foray into the Creighton box to earn a MD corner kick.

Red-shirt sophomore Jason Herrick had one of his best games.  He was active, strong on the ball and created numerous opportunities.  Herrick is timing his recovery perfectly.

Junior Jeremy Hall continues to be active and quick on the ball.  He had a diving header that Holt needed to deflect to keep the 1 goal deficit.

Senior AM Graham Zusi stole the ball from Walters before driving into the box, freezing defenders with feints and moves, before unleashing a shot that Holt was able to deflect for a MD corner kick.  Zusi was very composed on the ball.

While I’ve been praising Zac MacMath’s goaltending for the last several games, he essentially didn’t need to make “the big save” to keep MD in the game today.

All in all, a pretty convincing team victory for MD.

 

NCAA R3: Cal @ Maryland

College Park, MD – On a seasonal afternoon, Maryland beat Cal 2-1 in the 3rd round of the NCAA tournament.

MD has only been held scoreless once this year against Cal 3 months ago.  But today, MD came out quickly to score first.  Cal has been eliminated the last three years by ACC opponents (UVA 2006, Virginia Tech 2007, MD 2008).

Starting Lineups:

Cal 4-4-1-1.
G: Stefan Frei

D: Ted Jones, A. J. Soares, Jacob Wilson, Evan Sassano

M: Pat Marion, Anthony Avalos, Servando Carrasco, Chris Deal

W/D F: Davis Paul

F: Andrew Wiedeman

MD: 4-4-2

G: Zac MacMath

D: Rich Costanzo, Omar Gonzalez, A. J. Delagarza, Rodney Wallace

M: Doug Rodkey, Michael Marchiano, Graham Zusi, Jeremy Hall

F: Casey Townsend, Jason Herrick

Cal observations:

Lacking any sustained attack in first half, Cal relied on transition to generate their best opportunities.  In the second half, they were better.  In the last 20 minutes, Cal was attacking with numbers and had several opportunities.  Cal feels that the second MD goal was the turning point for them while MD argues that the big save by Frei woke the sleeping giant.

Cal coach Kevin Grimes stated, “MD was the better team today and deserved to win.”

Freshman Ted Jones stepped up to disrupt a MD cross in the box in the first half (this may have been the highlight for Cal in the half).

Red shirt junior goal keeper Stefan Frei has a powerful punt and is a large GK. He made a huge save in the 63rd minute on a creative heel from MD left back Rodney Wallace in the box to Jason Herrick that he struck with authority toward the far post.  Frei dove to get the ball cradling the ball with his massive hands.  (This is the play that MD coach Cirovski feels was the turning point).

After being stymied for most of the game, Cal’s leading scorer Andrew Wiedeman opened the scoring in the 68th minute.  A long ball from Jacob Wilson bounced outside of the box and with MacMath coming out – Wiedeman was able to flick into the unguarded goal.

Senior Pat Marion hit an open shot wide with just a minute remaining that should have tied the score.  Sloppy defense at the end to leave anyone unguarded in the box.

MD observations:

I’ll only comment on extraordinary things for Maryland since I see them often.

Remarkably, Drew Yates ran back hard on transition.

This was the first goal that MD has surrendered since before the ACC tournament (UNC on November 7).

Maryland scored the first goal in the 19th minute off a senior Graham Zusi corner kick to Omar Gonzalez’s head from 6 yards.  Cal’s Jacob Wilson didn’t mark Gonzalez well on the goal nor on the subsequent corners in the first half.  Gonzalez stated, “he felt that he was being marked similarly to how he’s been marked but that he used his body more to get open.”  I disagree.  Wilson didn’t show sufficient fortitude on his marking.  Getting good service – yes.

Freshman goal keeper Zac MacMath continues to shine.  He has claimed ownership of the position for as long as he remains healthy at Maryland.  He made a critical save on a Wiedeman break-away minutes after the goal.  Big save.  Big win.

Junior midfielder Jeremy Hall continues to make a statement for a GA contract with his 14th goal in the 53rd minute.  On the goal, he received service from Casey Townsend that he shot (Frei claims he had it covered) and was deflected (which Frei couldn’t adjust to) into the goal for the winning goal.

Big News:  Matt Kassel battling a foot injury was able to play 12 minutes.

 

NCAA 2R: George Mason @ Maryland

College Park, MD – On a blustery day, cross-town “rivals”, Maryland beat George Mason 2-0 in a game that was significantly slanted to the #2 ranked Terps.  GM played better in the second half, but were not able to generate any consistent attack.

Starting Lineups:

GM 4-2-2-1-1.  The two DM will move up in the attack.  The two midfielders stay wide and attack down the wings.
G: Sean Kelley

D: Jonathan Borrajo, Michael Vallie, Richard Edgar, Huge Fike

DM: Irvin Martinez

M: Lucas Pardew, Axel Levry

W/D F: Ryan Gracia

F: Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe

MD: 4-4-2

G: Zac MacMath

D: Rich Costanzo, Omar Gonzalez, A. J. Delagarza, Rodney Wallace

M: Doug Rodkey, Michael Marchiano, Graham Zusi, Jeremy Hall

F: Casey Townsend, Jason Herrick

GM observations:

GM came out quickly pressing the attack from the opening whistle.  They could not continue the pressure and MD began to assert their dominance after the first five minutes.

Luke Pardew was taking the space on the MD left side that sophomore left bac Rodney Wallace evacuated to aid in the attack.  Mike Marchiano was unable to slow Pardew down creating problems for the MD defense.  Pardew transitioned quickly and was demonstrating his speed.

The speed of play and the passing precision was too much for GM.

Richard Edgar and Hugh Fike did well to keep the game as close as it was.

MD observations:

The first goal was scored after considerable offensive pressure from MD.  Senior playmaker Graham Zusi delivered a Zusi-like perfectly weighted pass that freshman Casey Townsend was able to assess the goalie’s position for shootin on the first shot past junior goalkeeper Sean Kelley.

The second goal was scored, again, after considerable offensive pressure from MD by Zusi.  MD controlled the ball in and around the box.  Yates sent in a square ball that Townsend dummied allowing the ball to continue to Jeremy Hall who crossed it to Zusi who headed it in from 2 yards.

Zusi was impressive.  MD can not win the national championship if freshman Matt Kassel does not return from his foot injury that he suffered in the ACC tournament.  Supposedly, he could have played today, but given the score and the technical superiority – he wasn’t necessary.  MD fans are hoping that turkey will be the remedy that Kassel needs.  Marchiano just isn’t good enough.  I don’t think MD has many alternatives at DM – Kevin Tangney, perhaps.  Moving Rodney Wallace to DM would be a vast improvement in the middle, but at the detriment of the defense.  I might slide Zusi to DM and start Drew Yates to AM.

Rich Costanzo continues to play confidently.  Can he maintain this against better opponents?

Doug Rodkey is not playing up to his normal standard of play.  If he doesn’t improve, I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds his way to the subs bench.

MD plays at 1pm on Saturday.

 

NCAA 1R: Winthrop @ William & Mary

Williamsburg, VA – The NCAA tournament opened on a blustery cold evening with William & Mary dominating Winthrop 3-1 advancing to challenge Wake Forest on Tuesday evening.

Game was over early, but Winthrop hung around for the rest of the evening.

Starting Lineups:

Winthrop 4-4-2.
G: Patrick Mitrovich

D: Ben Kieffner, Otto Loewy, Cameron Alksnis, Henry Kalungi

M: Michael Luk, Matt Lacey, Rafael Araujo, Miguel Casajuana

F: Daniel Revivo, Matthew Skonicki

William & Mary (WM) 4-4-2.
G: Andrew McAdams

D: Roger Bothe, Michael DiNuzzo, Nick Orozco, Jeremy Harris

M: Ian Stowe, Nathaniel Baako, Doug McBride, Price Thomas

F: Andrew Hoxie, Alan Koger

Winthrop observations:

One of the Winthrop’s player exclaimed after taking a bad touch in the second half, “F-ing shit”.  I couldn’t characterize the Winthrop play any better.

What a defensive disaster.  WM came out and scored in the first minute and Winthrop allowed another goal in the 10th minute.  Not only was the defense dreadful, but the passing was lacking, keeping them defending for large portions of the game.  I have seen Winthrop play and this was a terrible representation of themselves in the NCAA tournament.  In Winthrop’s 3rd NCAA game, they still have not tallied a goal.

I came to see 3 senior players.

Senior Daniel Revivo was unable to generate a shot.  He credits the solid defense of DeNuzzo and Orozco.  But, I worry that he is unable to create his own shot.  According to Revivo, he’ll be at the MLS combine.  It will be interested to see how he fits in with quality defenders.  I expect some MLS coaches will drool on his size and shot.  I have mixed feelings.

Senior left back Henry Kalungi had a terrible game.  His touch was off.  His passing was pathetic and his ability to identify and cover late deep runs was a source of concern that was never solved.  Kalungi was suspended for 2 Big South tournament games.  So, I missed seeing him this fall – though he was much better in the spring.

Senior central back Otto Loewy was on crutches by half time.  He severely bruised his ankle early in the first half and limped around until half time.  Loewy’s speed and his jumping ability caught my eye last week.  So, I wanted a second look.  I wouldn’t mind taking a look at this tape to see Loewy’s positioning on the first 2 goals.  While Loewy was a 1st team Big South player, he doesn’t get the respect and the notice that other players on Winthrop get.  For example, they spelled Loewy’s name wrong on the cover of the Winthrop media guide.  I wonder if Loewy will get an invite to the MLS combine – I don’t think he will, but he might be that player that comes out of nowhere.

Junior forward Matthew Skonicki came up with another injury in the first half which hurt the Winthrop attack.  Staying on the field has been Skonicki’s biggest challenge.

Grad Student AM Rafael Araujo scored the sole goal in the 77th minute which sparked the Winthrop attack for the next 10 minutes.  Araujo with his Brazilian flair, drove toward the defenders, faking shots to freeze the defenders before taking a shot at the top of the box.

The next best chance for Winthrop happened two minutes prior to the goal.  Junior Michael Luk served in a long ball to the far post and Revivo chested the ball square to sophomore Miguel Casajuana.  Casajuana was wide open from 15 yards and hit the ball with authority.  Sophomore goal keeper Andrew McAdams made a terrific save that kept Winthrop off the board.  McAdams made the big plays – Winthrop GK Patrick Mitrovich did not.

Junior sensation Stephen Nsereko has not recovered from a knee injury and did not make the trip.

Freshman Matt Horn and junior Cameron Alksnis were turn-over machines.

Winthrop wasted set pieces around the box in the first half.

WM observations:

The first goal was scored in 34 seconds.  Price Thomas drove the ball down the left wing crossing toward WM target forward junior Andrew Hoxie.  The cross was blocked but was not cleared.  Sophomore Nathanial Baako shot the loose ball from the top of the box, but it was blocked by Ben Kieffner.  The rebound fell to Hoxie and he shot the ball from 15 yards in the middle of the box.

The second goal was scored by Hoxie, as well. Sophomore Alan Koger went around senior left back Henry Kalungi before delivering a through ball to Hoxie with Cameron Alksnis on his back.  Hoxie buried the open shot.

Right before the half, WM scored again.  Kalungi picked up a yellow on a hand ball to stop a WM breakaway near midfield.  Normally, a good idea.  However, tonight, junior Roger Bothe sent the free kick into the box.  With the wind holding it up, Winthrop GK Parkick Mitrovich called for the ball and came out but did not get to it.  Instead, Koger heard Mitrovich call for it and knew he’d be off his line and flicked it on and into the goal from the penalty mark.

Hoxie isn’t fast but seems to get in good positions.  His shot is hard and accurate.

Price Thomas is fast and caused problems for the Winthrop left side all night.

WM is going to have problems with WF – but who isn’t.

 

CAA: George Mason vs Northeastern

Wilmington, NC – On a breezy, sunny day #3 seed George Mason beat #5 seed Northeastern 1-0 to win the CAA championship and secured the NCAA automated bid.

Starting Lineups:

GM 4-2-2-1-1.  The two DM will move up in the attack.  The two midfielders stay wide and attack down the wings.
G: Sean Kelley

D: Jonathan Borrajo, Michael Vallie, Richard Edgar, Huge Fike

DM: Irvin Martinez

M: Lucas Pardew, Axel Levry

W/D F: Ryan Gracia

F: Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe

Northeastern 3-5-2 with 1 DM and they expect their wide midfielders to defend the corners.
G: Scott Partridge

D: Brendan Enis, Lars Okland, Jonathan Batista,

DM: Brian Thomsen

WM: Nick Lueders, Santiago Bedoya

AM: Alexander Volk, Ryan Burnham

F: Mike Kennedy, Matthew Laning

GM observations:

GM is too physical and too fast for NE.

Lucas Pardew was toasting the left side of the NE defense with explosive dribbling in the first half.  At half-time NE made an adjustment to solve this problem.  Pardew set up the first goal by beating Jonathan Batista before driving the ball to the touch line and crossing it to Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe who heeled it in the goal in th 38th minute from 4 yards.

In the last 7 games, Adjeman-Pamboe has scored 8 goals and contributed 4 assists.  He has been instrumental in the GM recent success.

The momentum changed when freshman AM Ryan Garcia picked up his second yellow in the 65th minute. The ref was pretty good, but I wouldn’t have given the second yellow on that tackle. Now, Garcia will miss the NCAA game.

NE observations:

NE is too slow to defend the speed of GM.  Their defensive technique is under-developed permitting GM to unbalance their defense with their dribbling. One of the half time adjustments was playing Brian Thomsen in the left back in place of Batista to reduce the inevitable whip lash to him.

I was informed to look at NE’s freshman forward Mike Kennedy, but he didn’t get any service and he didn’t do very much.

Sophomore Petur Vidarsson was suspended for today’s game after receiving a yellow card in the CAA semi-final. NE is also missing senior Lewis Ehrlich because he’s had to return to Australia for a family emergency.

The NE GK lacks confidence to catch the ball.  On numerous times, he punched the ball including a shot that would have hit him in the chest.

All-in-all a pretty lackluster performance by NE.

 

Atlantic Sun: Jacksonville @ Campbell

Buies Creek, NC – #2 seed Jacksonville overcame a two goal deficit in the second half to beat #1 seed Campbell 4-3 in the Atlantic Sun tournament championship.  Campbell played a terrific first half on the way to a disasterous second half that may have ended their season except if they receive an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament.  With a 14-6 record and a RPI of 38, Campbell put the bub in bubble.

Simplistically, Jacksonville won because while they played the entire game, Campbell played just a superlative first half.

After torrential down pours for several days, the field was very muddy for a 10 by 40 yard swath down the near side line.   Additionally, it was slippery throughout but it didn’t impact the score.

Starting Lineups:

Jacksonville 4-4-2.
G: Joey Sanchez

D: Eddie Munnelly, Oliver Klingenstein, Nurdin Hrustic, Philipp Meyner

M: Jonathon Jackson, Kristian Lassen, Stefan Runeman, Patrick Rundio

F: Ramak Niakin Safi, Sebastian Lindholm

Campbell 4-2-2-2

G: Aaron Johnson

D: Austin Skakle, Stephen Oyuga, Kevin Orozco, Ryan Freeborn

DM: Justin Madrid, Patrick Danford

M: Josue Soto, Richard Jata

F: Jason Keever, Vince Petrasso

Jax observations:

Senior Sebastian Lindholm holds and distributes the ball to his wide midfielders well.  Lindholm and senior Ramak Niakan Safi  combined well slicing the Campbell defense to shreads.  It was a problem that was occurring throughout the game that Campbell never solved.

These two combined for the first goal of the game in the 12th minute by a Lindholm surgical through ball that Safi shot from behind the Campbell defense with a hard accurate low shot.

Sophomore forward Tony Taylor was the difference maker.  When he was introduced into the game in the 30th minute, he changed the game.  He was dominating in the second half.  He drove into the box and was tough for Campbell to knock off the ball.  Taylor has speed, strength and technical skill.  He’s someone that should be watched next year.

Taylor contributed a goal and an assist in the second half.  In a replica of the first goal except with different players, sophomore Nedim Hrustic made a small pass to put Taylor behind the defense and Taylor slotted the ball past the GK in the 57th minute.  This was a critical goal, because it gave Jacksonville hope and it made Campbell even more tentative.  At this point, Campbell lost their confidence and were trying to hold on rather than playing their game.  Today, their game was victim – because that is how they played.

The tieing goal was scored in the 75th minute and the game was over at that point.  Some may have not admitted it, but it was just a matter of when.  When – the 89th minute.  The second half was similar to watching a sand castle at the beach.  The ocean starts knocking down the outer walls and streams up the sides before a large wave crashes onto the castle and destroying it.

Junior goal keeper Joey Sanchez did not make a save.  He lost confidence after allowing the 3rd Campbell goal on his misplay.  If Campbell applied more pressure, Sanchez would have crumbled.

Campbell observations:

Campbell had 3 goals on 3 shots.  They didn’t create enough and they kept stopping their attacks by being off side.  In the second half, panic was the word in the back.  Kicking the ball long to only have Jacksonville attack moments later.

In the 18th minute, Josue Soto tied the game on a PK that was earned by senior ASC player of the year Richard Jata being pushed by Oliver Klingenstein.

Jata scored the second goal in the 31st minute with a head flick from 8 yards from a 35 yard Soto free kick.

Jata crushed a 35 yard shot in the 40th minute that Sanchez had both hands on the ball before it bounced out of his hands and into the goal.  Nice shot.  Poor goal keeping.

While Jata may be the Campbell’s best player, he needs to take the responsibility to jump start the attack.  He didn’t do it and Campbell lost.  I’d like to see him in the NCAA.

I’m not crazy about about Soto’s set pieces.  They aren’t accurate.

The biggest problem that Campbell is going to have to solve is that their central defense and more importantly the defensive midfield is too soft.  They enable too much time and space in the middle and Jacksonville was feasting on this deficiency.

Junior Vince Petrasso was the main offender of being off side.  He was the 2007 ASC tourney MVP, but not this year.

Senior goal keeper Aaron Johnson didn’t make a mistake on the goals, but he didn’t make the big play to stop the goals either.

 

ACC: Wake Forest vs Virginia

Cary, NC – With periods of heavy showers, the two fastest teams in the ACC played the first 30 minutes in an entertaining style playing quickly, before the game denigrated in the last 15 minutes of the half.  WF wasn’t sharp in the first half.  This continued for the WF shooting in the second half – missing a bountiful of shots that should have ended the game early.

Instead, the game went to over-time where UVA won 3-2 in 2OT on a PK to give WF their first loss of the year.  It was the first time that a team other than BC has beaten WF since November of 2006.

Starting Lineups:

WF pretty standard 4-4-2 with flat central midfield

G: Akira Fitzgerald

D: Evan Brown, Ike Opara, Danny Wenzel, Lyle Adams

M: Jamie Franks, Sam Cronin, Michael Lahoud, Corben Bone

F: Marcus Tracy, Cody Arnoux

UVA 4-1-4-1.

G: Michael Giallombardo

D: Neil Barlow, Howard Turk, Shawn Barry, Karter Smith

DM: Matt Poole

M: Matt Mitchell, Ross LaBauex, Jonathan Villanueva, Brian Ownby

F: Jimmy Simpson

WF observations:

In the 53rd minute, Marcus Tracy opened the scoring with a blast from 15 yards.  Starting the play, Cody Arnoux got the ball to Zack Schilawski at the top of the box before Arnoux was hacked from the back by Ross LaBauex.  Schilawski dropped it to Corben Bone who sent it to Tracy near the top of the box leading to the goal after taking a settling touch.

In the 89th minute, freshman defender Danny Wenzel tied the game to send it to overtime from a Jamie Franks corner kick that Lyle Adams flicked from the near post to the far post onto Wenzel’s stomach and into the goal.

Without sophomore Ike Opara in the middle to solidify the defense, WF can be exposed in the middle.  On Wednesday’s game, WF teamed Wenzel with Kyle Adams in the first half but ultimately went to junior Nick Courtney in the second.  Courtney again got the calling when Opara had to leave the game in the 60th minute from a chronic groin injury.  While the break may help Opara, Coach Jay Vidovich is concerned with the long lay-off with the expected 1st round bye in the NCAA tournament.

Opara is a terrific defender and huge target on set pieces with his vertical leap, but his passing was off.  At the end of the first half, He gave up a corner kick because of a offline 45 yard back pass to the GK and followed that minutes later with a free kick that went harmlessly out of bounds.

A trusted frequent observer of WF told me that Wenzel is not a showy player (like Opara) but is steady and doesn’t make very many mistakes.  However, I have never been impressed, because he keeps making mistakes.

WF trio of forwards (Tracy, Schilawski, Arnoux) are very dangerous with varying degrees of speed, guile and skill amongst them.  Tracy is the best athlete.  I like Arnoux skill and his patience.  Schilawski plays honestly and is always a threat to score.

Sophomore Corben Bone was spectacular.  At the end of last year, his play had slowed down from minor injuries – he’s back.  His quick feet stole the ball from the sure feet of senior Matt Poole.

UVA observations:

In the 105th minute, Freshman Brian Ownby was tripped in the box by junior Nick Courtney.  Matt Poole buried his third PK of the tournament setting up a MD rematch of a brutal regular season game involving 3 red cards from both of the teams.

The first goal started with Ownby turning near midfield and driving with power toward the box and junior Jonathan Villanueva.  Villanueva took the ball from Ownby dribbling it into the box and chipping the WF GK in the 69th minute.  Up to that point, Villanueva was having a quiet game.

In the 82nd minute, the second goal was initiated by a long pass from midfield by junior left back Neil Barlow that struck the top of sophomore Chase Neinken’s head and looped into the goal.

Junior Ross LaBauex was injured in the first half smacking his head on the ground. [EDIT]and did not return. When he returned he did not have the same impact that he normally has for UVA.  In the OT, I commented that he must not have returned and my colleague agreed.  I checked real quickly and missed that he started in the second half.  He wasn’t subbed out until OT when he didn’t play. I rechecked my notes and I see my mistake.  Thanks for the correction![END OF EDIT]

 

ACC: Boston College vs Maryland

Cary, NC – With a steady rain throughout the day, the pitch was in terrific condition.  Maryland was able to outlast Boston College 1-0 in a game that was well played for long stretches of the game until the end of the second half when the legs of both teams were affected by playing 2 days prior.

Starting Lineups:

BC 4-4-1-1.
G: Chris Brown

D: Stephen Hepburn, Idan Shefler, Jamie Melas, Paul Gerstenberger

M: Greg O’Neil, Karl Reddick, Conor Fitzgerald, Mike Konicoff

AM: Mor Avi Hanan

F: Alejandro Bedoya

MD: 4-4-2

G: Zac MacMath

D: Rich Costanzo, Omar Gonzalez, A. J. Delagarza, Rodney Wallace

M: Doug Rodkey, Michael Marchiano, Graham Zusi, Jeremy Hall

F: Casey Townsend, Jason Herrick

BC observations:

In order to slow the MD dynamic left combination, senior defender Greg O’Neil was playing right midfield in place of Shawn Chin.

Sophomore midfielder Karl Reddick had the best chance in the first half.  He struck a 22 yard blast that MD GK Zac MacMath dove to knock the ball wide for a corner kick.

Senior goal keeper Chris Brown made several big stops to keep the game scoreless.  In the first half, Graham Zusi dribbled into the box followed with a shot to the far post that Brown deflected to a dangerous area in the middle of his box.  Jason Herrick picked up the rebound and cranked a shot that Brown had to make a huge stop that looked inevitable to be the first goal.

Senior left back Paul Gerstenberger did not start the second half, because of a leg injury.  MD didn’t capitalize on his absence.

BC is suffering from many niggling injuries and look forward to a week of rest before they begin the NCAA tournament.  Bedoya is recovering from a hamstring and is looking for a little break.

MD observations:

Matt Kassel is out for today’s match with a foot injury.  Not only does this hurt on the DM coverage, because senior Michael Marchiano is not as good on defensive coverage and distribution, but more importantly, Kassel takes many of the set pieces.  Kassel has a dangerous hooking service.

Both Casey Townsend and Jason Herrick had many chances but were unable to get the ball past Brown.

After threatening for most of the game, MD finally got on the board from a BC own goal in the 78th minute.  Herrick drove into the box, faked a shot that got his defender off-balance and fired a shot low and hard that Brown made a good save to block.  On the deflection it hit Chin who was retreating to cover and it rolled in the goal.

Senior Graham Zusi settles the game and is the safety valve for the MD attack.

Junior defender Omar Gonzalez was a mountain in the back and almost scored a goal from a Marchiano free kick in the second half.

 

Big South: Winthrop vs VMI

Conway, SC – In the second game of the Big South tournament, #1 seed Winthrop beat VMI 7-1 in a match that may have been a bigger mismatch than Harvard-Columbia.  With a half-time lead at 3 that was quickly increased by 2 in the first 5 minutes of the second, the game was over early and Winthrop rested some of their starters to prepare for Liberty tomorrow.

Starting Lineups:

Winthrop 4-4-2.
G: Patrick Mitrovich

D: Ben Kieffner, Otto Loewy, Cameron Alksnis, Magnus Leung

M: Michael Luk, Matt Lacey, Rafael Araujo, Miguel Casajuana

F: Daniel Revivo, Matthew Skonicki

VMI 4-4-2.
G: Brian Sowell

D: Sonny Landry, Brandon Gary, Zaher Shihata, Ayao Sossou

DM: Will Quarles jr, Brian Harding

M: Andrew Self, Daniel Welsh, John Sisco

F: Stephen Anderson

Winthrop observations:

If this were a USA game, I would have pulled my ears out of my head from the redundant playing of “Goals, Goals, Goals” ringing in my head.

These two teams are playing at different levels.

It’s difficult to believe that Winthrop was missing several players.  Henry Kalungi picked up his second red card of the season and will miss two games (this one and Liberty).  According to a Winthrop fan, it was a bad call and that the elbow was not swung but more just the arm in front of the player.

Stephen Nsereko is battling a knee injury and is visiting a doctor now and may be back against Liberty.

Senior Daniel Revivo has a gash from a horrific tackle in a previous game.  I’ll try and find a picture.

Hard to assess the players because of the competition, but a few players stood out.

Junior Matt Lacey started the scoring in the 19th minute with a laser from 35 yards that found roof top of the goal.  He sits back and distributes well.  I’m not sure that he has enough bite on his tackles for a DM.

In the 33rd minute, Winthrop had a huge possession, building 10-15 passess before a header miscue by senior Grant Wise.  Wise battling a hamstring injury reconciled himself with his team with a huge goal in the last minute of the first half.  On the goal, he battled 3 “Key-dets” to prevent a goal kick and hold possession near the edge of the box and the end line.  Finally, he throws his foot around a defender plucking it into the far side netting for the third goal.

Senior central defender Otto Loewy has a good body but he has sick speed.  I’d like to see if he can play 1v1 defense against a talented forward.  He has potential especially with his speed.

Senior forward Daniel Revivo scored his goal when the GK just dropped the ball at his foot from 5 yards out.  I’ve seen Revivo play better.

Rafael Araujo is a typical small Brazilian player that can turn on a dime and has exceptional passing skills.  He is the engine.  He tallied 2 assists the first on the second goal off a corner kick to junior Cameron Alksnis in the 41st minute.  The second was on a steal before he distributed the ball to junior Matthew Skonicki that he shot past the keeper from 15 yards.  Skonicki chipped the keeper from 30 yards 3 minutes later for his second goal.

Skonicki is a player to watch.  I like the way that he shoots and his composure on the ball – then again against VMI, I’d have composure!

The final goal was scored by freshman Josh Goldstein from a deep pass by Michael Luk.

VMI observations:

Thank you men for serving our country.

The lone bright spot was a late goal in the 64th minute with the score 6-0,  John Sisco scored.  By this time, I had mentally checked out, because all the Winthrop subs were in except for the GK and he was coming in at the next break.

 

Big South: Liberty vs High Point

Conway, SC – On a warm sunny day with clouds and rain threatening at the Big South Tournament, 4 seed Liberty beat 5 seed High Point 2-1.

As the national anthem was playing, the High Point bus was pulling away.  Foreshadowing.

After watching the ACC tournament yesterday (even in a down year for the ACC), the first game in the Big South is a huge drop in speed of play and technical ability.  However, I’m hoping to find a gem.  If you recall, MLS NE Rev’s Kheli Dube graduated from Coastal Carolina.  What is particularly startling is the fitness levels of the teams.  Whereas Wake Forest or Maryland, may make one substitute in the first half, multiple players were asking to be taken out after 30 minutes.

The other noticeable difference is what constitutes a foul.  In my opinion, more soft fouls are whistled here than in the ACC tournament.

Starting Lineups:

Liberty 4-1-4-1.
G: Andrew Madero

D: Michael Ward, Mike Gelatt, Douglas Nyame, Chris Osborne,

DM: Daniel McGarry

M: Juan Guzman, Joshua Boateng, Juan Nino, Chris Phillips

F: Karol Chorak

High Point 4-3-3.
G: Michael Chesler

D: Justin Pruetz, Adam Hatem, Sam Roca, Michael Earman

M: Matt Tuttle, Hilaire Babou, Will Stewart

F: Scott Rojo, Chris Shrum, Karo Okiomah

Liberty observations:

Liberty tries to get the ball to their talented senior Joshua Boateng.  Boateng doesn’t check back far enough to demand the ball, so he takes himself away as an option.  This leads to other players having to take more responsibility and these players are not as talented.

Boateng served a free kick in the 14th minute that went to the far post but no other Liberty player was able to connect with it.  In the second half, Boateng was much more active and his dribbling was trecherous to High Point.

Boateng was credited with the winning goal in the 78th minute on a high cross from Chris Osborne that Boateng was flicking to his team mates to the far post, but freshman goal keeper Michael Chesler caught the ball in his own goal.

They lack sophistication to be able to sell fouls which will be to their detriment with other officials.

Liberty was able to tie the game in the 65th when freshman Karol Chorak served a long ball that senior Justin Willoughby was able to hit from the post with a diving header.  Nice goal.

Freshman wide midfielder Chris Philips served in what should have been an assist and Willoughby’s second goal.  But Willoughby whiffed on the shot for a goal kick.

High Point observations:

High Point scored the first goal in the 6th minute.  senior forward Chris Shrum battled with Liberty senior central back Mike Gelatt to get a high ball.  Shrum recovered the ball and tried to shoot but missed  the ball on his shot.  His next option was to poke the ball wide to junior Matt Tuttle.  Tuttle took a touch, assessed the goal and hooked the ball into the far side netting.  On the shot, the Liberty GK sophomore Andrew Madeiro was in poor position to adequately cover his goal.

Shrum is a battler, but I don’t think he has professional options.

Sophomore left back Justin Pruetz crushed a ball from 25 yards that was just high.

Sophomore defender Adam Hatem is a solid 1v1 defender with good tackling technique.

Junior Hillaire Babou is good on the ball, but his passing is inprecise.

 

ACC: Duke vs UVA

Cary, NC – In the last game of the best day of the year, #4 seed Virginia beat #5 Duke 4-2.  The high seed won every game in the 5 ACC tournament games to date.

Starting Lineups:

Duke: 4-1-4-1

GK: Brendan Fitzgerald

D: Matthew Thomas, Darrius Barnes, Pavelid Castaneda, Josh Bienenfeld

DM: Christian Ibeagha

M: Ryan McDaniel, Cole Grossman, Joseph Pak, Nick Sih,

F: Mike Grella

UVA 4-1-4-1.

G: Michael Giallombardo

D: Neil Barlow, Howard Turk, Shawn Barry, Hunter Jumper

DM: Matt Poole

M: Matt Mitchell, Ross LaBauex, Jonathan Villanueva, Brian Ownby

F: Jimmy Simpson

Duke observations:

Senior forward Mike Grella earned a free kick 20 yards from goal in the 30th minute (while Hunter Jumper earned a yellow) on a vicious tackle.  Grella hooked the free kick onto senior central defender Darrius Barnes’ head that he buried from 5 yards.

Grella added a goal in the 37th minute.  Sophomore Cole Grossman served a ball to Grella who took a quick touch that threw freshman defender Shawn Berry off balance.  Grella carried the ball into the box but more East-West.  For some reason UVA GK Michael Giallombardo came way out to cut the angle with defensive coverage.  Grella slotted the ball into the goal.

Grella is showcasing his talent in front of the annual unofficial MLS coaches convention at the ACC tournament.  He made an acrobatic shot after taking on 5 defenders and maintaining possession.

Matthew Thomas is struggling to contain Brian Ownby’s speed in the first half.  In the second half, senior Pavelid Castaneda had the same problem.

I like the way that Darrius Barnes plays defense – even though he was torched for the last goal. Junior Josh Bienenfeld has been playing left back for the last month.  He neutralized Matt Mitchell.

Grossman had a moment of glorious stupidity.  With 30 seconds left in the game, he picked up a needless red card.  He will be on the sidelines if Duke gets a NCAA game.  Dumb.

UVA observations:

In the 19th minute, junior Jonathan Villanueva earned a PK because junior Matthew Thomas pushed from behind in the box.  Senior DM Matt Poole crushed the PK.

In the 57th minute, UVA was awarded an awful PK on a Barnes tackle on Jimmy Simpson.  Horrible.  Matt Poole scored on this PK, too.

Finally after missing several break-aways, Brian Ownby finished on a perfect pass from Junior Ross LaBauex and Jimmy Simpson in the 80th minute.

Ownby scored again on a long break-away – this time beating Barnes with speed.  Hunter Jumper served the long ball.

Villanueva and LaBauex were playing quickly and combining well together.  Having both play central is effective.

I’m not crazy the way that GK Giallombardo plays goal.

 

ACC: Wake Forest vs North Carolina State

Cary, NC – In the third game of the best day of the year, #1 seed Wake Forest came back from a 0-1 deficit to beat NCSU 4-1.  Only 2 goals were scored in the first two games of the ACC quarter-finals, WF scored two in each half.

WF continues to demonstrate why they are the premier team in the nation.  They play fast, at a high level technically and are well balanced defensively.

Starting Lineups:

WF pretty standard 4-4-2 with flat central midfield

G: Akira Fitzgerald

D: Evan Brown, Kyle Adams, Danny Wenzel, Lyle Adams

M: Jamie Franks, Sam Cronin, Michael Lahoud, Corben Bone

F: Zack Schilawski, Cody Arnoux

NCSU 4-1-4-1
G: Christopher Widman

D: Lucas Carpenter, Romulo Manzano, Tyler Lassiter, Korede Aiyegbusi

DM: Chrystel Bakong

M: Federico Nachmann, Alan Sanchez, Chris Zuerner, Kris Byrd

F: Ronnie Bouemboue

WF observations:

WF has a senior ladened team and did not miss a beat even starting Marcus Tracy on the bench and with Ike Opara on the bench from an injury.

Senior midfielder Jamie Franks scored the first WF goal in the 23rd minute.  Junior Zack Schilawski squared the ball to Jamie Franks 30 yards from goal.  Franks sent the ball forwarded to senior Cody Arnoux who one touched it square to Franks who buried the shot.

The second goal was scored by senior right back Evan Brown on a crushing shot.  Brown picked up a poor clearance by Lucas Carpenter in the 40th minute.

Senior DM Sam Cronin scored via a PK in the 67th minute.  The PK was earned by a wonderful pass by senior forward Marcus Tracy to senior forward Cody Arnoux.  Arnoux was able to hold off Carpenter and Carpenter pushed him in the box. PK.  No question.

The final goal was endemic of the simplistic NCSU defense.  Freshman Luke Norman heeled a pass to senior Mike Lahoud and Norman immediately moved in anticipation of receiving the ball back.  At this same time, senior left back Lyle Adams overlapped and Lahoud delivered the ball to him into space without any NCSU defensive coverage.  Adams took the ball to the end line before putting it back to a waiting sophomore midfielder Corben Bone.  Bone hit the ball to the lower right corner to end the scoring for WF.

Freshman central defender Danny Wentzel hasn’t impressed me in the two games that I’ve seen him.  He makes too many mistakes.  Same opinion on WF GK Akira Fitzgerald.

Arnoux was stunning.  He’s fast, aggressive and he is very patient around the box awaiting for the right shot rather than hitting the first ball needlessly.

Tracy played the second half and he was fast and powerful.  But his passing is lacking at times.

NCSU observations:

WF is just too good for NCSU.  That is nothing to be ashamed about – they are better than every team that I’ve seen this year.  NCSU scored the first goal and for a few minutes believed that they could play with WF.  This misconception was corrected 10 minutes later.

In the 13th minute, junior Alan Sanchez delivered a pass to junior Ronnie Bouemboue at the top of the box.  Bouemboue megged Wentzel before shooting the ball into the far post.  Nice play by Bouemboue.  He’s comfortable running at the defense with many defenders around him.  However, in the 65th minute, Bouemboue broke away from the defense with a good chest touch to beat the defense before dribbling with Brown and Courtney pressuring.  He should have distributed to his attacking partner Sanchez he chose to take a shot that was weak.

Sanchez is a very good player that is much stronger than he was last year.

Sophomore defender Tyler Lassiter impressed me with his defense and his dribbling ability.  He still makes silly mistakes, like turning into the pressure rather than away from it.  He kept the game close by clearing a ball off the line in the 47th minute.  He body blocked Schilawski in the 79th minute and should have been booked.  All-in-all, he looks like a nice player, but still immature.

Carpenter had a terrible game.

 

ACC: Clemson vs Boston College

Cary, NC – In the second game of the best day of the year, 3rd seed Boston College slipped by 6th seed Clemson 1-0 in the second overtime.

The better team won, but Clemson displayed a lot of spirit to hang in there and could have justifiably won the game.

Starting Lineups:

BC 4-4-1-1.
G: Chris Brown

D: Stephen Hepburn, Idan Shefler, Jamie Melas, Paul Gerstenberger

M: Shawn Chin, Karl Reddick, Conor Fitzgerald, Mike Konicoff

AM: Edvin Worley

F: Alejandro Bedoya

Clemson 4-3-3.
G: Joseph Bendik

D: Greg Eckhardt, Francklin Blaise, David Newton, Bryson Moore

M: Tommy Drake, Eric Cava, Riley Sumpter

F: Connor Barbaree, Hassan Ibrahim, Nick Burton

BC observations:

Senior Alejandro Bedoya was neutralized by Clemson’s tactic to man mark him with Eric Cava.  This was highly effective for much of the game.  However, he was able to get some touches and he had a chance to end the game at the beginning of the first OT but his header from a long Gerstenberger free kick was stopped.

Freshman forward Edvin Worley is a very good player.  With Bedoya occupied, he was the man.  He didn’t convert though.

Senior left back Paul Gerstenberger whips in a good cross.  He has a big body and is a good fit for the next level.

In the 73rd minute, sophomore Shawn Chin received the ball with nothing between him and the goal except the keeper and 40 yards of grass.  Rather than making the keeper make a big play, he tried to chip the keeper but instead knocked a marshmallow that the GK easily handled.

The winning goal was because of two players off the bench.  Freshman Nate Bourdeau received the ball near the Clemson corner.  He made this sick (absolutely sick move that had the stadium buzzing) move that he drew the ball back with his right foot before angling it behind him and the defender toward the endline.  He was fouled on the play.  On the ensuing free kick, junior Mor Avi Hanan struck a beautiful free kick that went over the GK and hit side netting for the victory in the 105th minute.

BC was bothered with the Clemson style of play.  They believe that MD’s approach is a better fit than Clemson for them.  I’m glad that I get another game to watch BC when they play MD on Friday evening.

Clemson observations:

Clemson is much better than they were last year when I held them in utter contempt for their style and technique.  While they don’t have any player that is a “name” player like Bedoya or Worley.  Defensively, they play well and try and work the ball to find holes. They attack very direct.

Their game plan was to attack early and then absorb the pressure all day until the last 15 minutes of the second half.  On all set pieces, they are dangerous with their tall targets.

Freshman Francklin Blaise saved the game in the first OT when he was at first beaten with a long ball over the top.  But, he recovered and with Dan Lane in front of an open goal touched the ball away before it rolled in.  He’s a very good defender with speed.

Freshman Connor Barbaree serves good set pieces and these are some of the best opportunity.  One of these pieces was converted by senior Michael Brooks but the goal was disallowed by a pushing foul.

With the first OT in the final seconds, Hassan Ibrahim sent a through pass to Nathan Thorton that Thorton hit with power that hit the post.

 

ACC: North Carolina vs Maryland

Cary, NC – In the first game of the best day of the year for ACC soccer, 2 seed MD beat 7 seed UNC 1-0 in a game that MD should have piled on a lot more goals and ended the suspense early.

UNC entered this game with a 4 game losing streak (Clemson, Campbell, WF, MD).  While MD is on 8 game win streak since a Clemson upset in over a month ago.

Starting Lineups:

UNC: 4-4-2

G: Brooks Haggerty

D: Jordan Graye, Sheanon Williams, Ryan Adeleye, Eddie Ababio

M: Michael Callahan, Garry Lewis, Cameron Brown, Zach Loyd

F: Brian Shriver, Billy Schuler

MD: 4-4-2

G: Zac MacMath

D: Rich Costanzo, Omar Gonzalez, A. J. Delagarza, Rodney Wallace

M: Doug Rodkey, Matt Kassel, Graham Zusi, Jeremy Hall

F: Casey Townsend, Jason Herrick

UNC observations:

In a surprising move, sophomore Eddie Ababio is playing left back for the first time this year after playing there for much of last year.  Ababio is the second leading scorer for UNC with 7 goals and 4 assists).

After last weeks loss to MD, UNC coach Elmar Bolowich switched goal keepers from his normal starter senior Jacob Wescoe (16 starts) to junior Brooks Haggerty (2 starts – Liberty & BC).

This two changes seem like a panic move to me.  Why would you put speed in the back when MD doesn’t have speed up top.  Actually, MD can get beat with speedy forwards.  UNC actually helped cover up some of MD deficiencies.  Not a very good job from the UNC coaching staff.  To further worsen his original mistakes, he moves up freshman defender Sheanon Williams instead of Ababio in the waning moments.  Coach Bolowich stated that he was trying to Loyd into the midfield, but didn’t answer why when moving up a defender he chose Williams.

Junior right back Jordan Graye allowed Hall and Wallace space in the box on his side. I’ve seen him play better.

Cameron Brown was effective playing the AM.

Williams is a good defender and patient on the ball.

MD observations:

MD allows UNC too much space in their box.  It’s going to cause them problems in the long run.

The first goal was scored by Jeremy Hall in the 14th minute.  On the play, it started with senior right back Rich Costanzo taking the ball from midfield a quick pass to junior Doug Rodkey who gave it quickly back to the overlapping Costanzo.  Before Costanzo received the ball, he faked his first touch which froze Ababio.  Costanzo delivered an accurate cross to junior Jeremy Hall enjoying his solitude in the box on the far post.  Hall took the ball off his chest and simply crushed the ball.

Freshman goal keeper Zac MacMath made several key stops in the first half.  The first was when senior defender A. J. Delagarza slipped allowing freshman Billy Schuler to drive down the sideline.  Schuler made a terrific cross that was sure to be a goal except for MacMath’s ability to get out and deflect the cross wide.  The second critical play was when sophomore Cameron Brown dribbled the ball into the middle before firing a 30 yard dipping shot that MacMath touched enough to hit the post before picking up the loose ball.  In the second half, he continued his heroics, stopping a Zach Loyd break-away and a huge deflection on a Ababio blast.  This was the best game that I’ve seen MacMath play – Sasho said this one and the one against UNC last week were his two best.  MacMath MOTM.

Graham Zusi does many subtle things to enable MD to hold possession.  His ability to take a hard pass and quiet it so that he continue is vastly understated.

Sophomore Jason Herrick is very active and getting many touches to get freshman of the year candidate Casey Townsend in good scoring positions.  Herrick had an opportunity 4 yards from goal that he tried to spin into the goal becaues he was facing the wrong direction.  He was pulled down in the box after taking a long pass off his chest to get behind the defense.

Defender A.J. Delagarza had a good game doing what he does best.  Stopping passes from coming into the area before they become a problem.

Freshman Matt Kassel left the game in the first half from a foot contusion.  He’ll have it X-rayed, but Sasho expects him to be able to play on Friday.

 

Charlotte @ Massachusetts

Amherst, MA – UMass won the the regular season Atlantic 10 championship with a 1-0 victory over Charlotte.  With this loss Charlotte was knocked out of the A10 tournament.

Charlotte played physical while UMass played a more team-centric style that relies on all of the players playing both sides of the ball.  UMass gets more out of their players talent than any other team that I’ve seen this year.  Another nice job coach Sam Koch.

UMass is playing very well. They probably won’t surprise many teams this year in the NCAA tournament (if they make it).

Starting Lineups:

Charlotte 4-4-2.
G: David Martin

D: Josh Norwood, Isaac Cowles, Charles Rodriguez, Ryan Swaim

M: Evan James, Luke Exley, Adam Gross, Isaac Caughran

F: Andres Cuero, Chris Salvaggione

UMass 4-4-2.
G: Zack Simmons

D: Daniel Lepone, Chris Brown, Stuart Thomson, Andrew Henshaw

M: Tony Bassett, Mike DeSantis, Ben Arikian, Stuart Amick

F: Mark DeSantis, Prince Ofosu

Charlotte observations:

I was looking forward to watching senior forward Chris Salvaggione.  He has scored 15 goals and 8 assists.  He didn’t create much and wasn’t getting very good service.  At best, he’ll make a reserve team, but I don’t see much upside.

Sophomore forward Andres Cuero is coming back from injury and he wasn’t sharp.

Freshman midfield Evan James has good speed and is adventorous on the dribble.  He needs to clean up his technique to reduce the possession loss on poor passes and bad touches.

Junior central midfielder Luke Exley is a hard tackler and is the linchpin for the attack.  He’s a pretty good player, but his tackling can be ill-timed.

Freshman central defender Isaac Cowles is a big guy who plays physically.

Freshman Aaron Kepler had a chance to tie the game in the 89th minute dribbling past the central defense but was stopped by UMass GK Zack Simmons – big save.  Kepler was pushed by Stuart Thompson and should have earned a PK, but the ref would have no part of it.

UMass observations:

Ben Arikian.

Holy Crap!

Ben Arikian.

This guy was absolutely terrific. He was aptly named to the CollegeSoccerNews.com team of the week.  Arikian was all over the field including laying on it after being pummeled numerous times.  He had his head split open at the end of the first half on head to head contact.  After being bandaged up at half time, he continued his mayhem in the second half including scoring the lone goal in the 49th minute off his bandaged head.

Junior Daniel Lepone sent in a long pass from midfield that bounced outside of the box; while several UMass and Charlotte players fought for positioning, Arikian circled around them and headed in the ball from 8 yards.

Is Arikian too small for the next level?  Probably.

Senior Chris Brown clearances aren’t taken with confidence instead he was just kicking the ball away – unacceptable at the next level.

Junior Stuart Thomson is a poor passer with even minimal pressure.

I like freshman defender Andrew Henshaw.  He is a good defender against a fairly talented player.  Henshaw’s speed is noteable.  On a bad pass in the 21st minute, he instantly recovered and stopped the attack.  Good coaching; good effort; good player.

Freshman Chris Roswess didn’t have as much impact; perhaps he isn’t good coming off the bench.  He has talent.

Senior Zack Simmons saved this game and I expect that he’ll continue to save UMass in the tournament.

 

ACC: Virginia Tech vs North Carolina State

Cary, NC – In the first game of the ACC tournament (also known as the George Taratini Classic), 8 seed North Carolina State beat 9 seed Virginia Tech 3-1.

The last time that NCSU won a ACC tournament game was in 2006 in Germantown, MD against VT in a wild OT match with a 4-3 score.  Before that game, NCSU had not won an ACC game since 1993!

Beautiful day.  Pretty ugly soccer.

Starting Lineups:

VT 4-2-3-1
G: Thomas St. Germain

D: James Shupp, Taylor Walsh, Jan Hausfeld, Jeremy Williams

DM: Tobias Hotner, Damanya Dogbey

M: Craig Burnell, Emmanuel Akogyeram, Clarke Bentley

F: Hunter Cheatham

NCSU 4-1-4-1
G: Christopher Widman

D: Lucas Carpenter, Romulo Manzano, Tyler Lassiter, Korede Aiyegbusi

DM: Chrystel Bakong

M: Federico Nachmann, Alan Sanchez, Chris Zuerner, Kris Byrd

F: Ronnie Bouemboue

VT observations:

VT doesn’t effectively stop players on the ball; they give ground or dive in without results.

This team plays ugly soccer.  There are very few players that are even remotely fun to watch – and I love soccer. This team is barely a shadow of the team that went to the final 4 last year.

Their goal was scored by freshman forward Hunter Cheatham, but freshman Luiz Yamashita did all the hard work.  He dribbled into the box under extreme pressure from multiple players holding them off before driving a square ball to Cheatham who slid into the ball to power it into the goal from 8 yards in the 63rd minute.

Yamahshita is pretty good.  He dribbles well and has enough strength to play, but not enough to carry this team single-handedly.

Freshman Emmanuel Akogyeram is a slick dribbler and is able to get to good positions to make positive contributions.

Goal keeper Brendan Dunn is playing forward (fantasy for most goal keepers!) this year after starting 6 games in goal to try and help jump start the attack.  He’s ok technically, but his main advantage is his size as a target near the goal.

NCSU observations:

Junior Ronnie Bouemboue scored two goals to propel NCSU into the ACC sacrifice match against Wake Forest tomorrow.  The first goal was scored in the 33rd minute on a long cross from freshman Kris Byrd that found Bouemboue in the middle of the box who headed it low to the far post.

In the second half, Bouemboue tallied his second goal demonstrating his strength with 2 VT defenders trying in vain to knock him off the ball.  Junior Chrystel Bakong forwarded a pass to the Bouemboue in the box who turned watched the Vt players fall around him and then slotted the ball to the far side netting.

The last goal scored in the waning seconds with VT sending everyone forward to get the tying goal was started by Bouemboue heading the ball to  junior Alan Sanchez who dribbled from midfield to 35 yards from goal with all but the GK behind him.  He slotted a ball to the far side to junior Federico Nachmann.  With time dwindling, his shot was blocked by the closing keeper, but Nachmann was able to kick the rebound over the prone keeper into the open net with 48 seconds remaining in the VT season.

Sophomore Chris Zuerner is pretty good on the ball, making quick cuts that was difficult for VT to cover.

Sophomore defender Tyler Lassiter is technically proficient.  For example, in the first half, he spun on the ball to force the defender to forfeit space and then made a good pass to start the attack.  He seems comfortable dribbling out of the back.  Though, at times, he seems overconfident and willing to take unnecessary risks.

Sanchez is a good passer and he is good on the ball.  He looks for the pass first sometimes too much.

 

Columbia @ Harvard

Boston, MA – Harvard outclassed Columbia 6-1 on a cloudy overcast day with rain threatening.  I wrote this last night, but somehow the Internet ate my original post.  Arrggh!

BONUS Coverage.  Preceding this game, the Harvard women won the Ivy title on a PK with 8 seconds remaining in the second OT.  It’s a terrible way to lose, but the response of the Columbia parents losing their minds; needing security to be called is absolutely ridiculous and shameful behavior -regardless of whether the call was correct or not.

Starting Lineups:

Columbia 4-4-1-1.
G: Alex Aurrichio

D: Hayden Johns, James Pounder, Ryan Scully, Ronnie Shaban

M: Fredrik Kongsli, Pepe Carotenuto, Mike Mazzullo, Felipe Castrillon

F: Francois Anderson

F: Bayo Adafin

Harvard 4-4-2.
G: Austin Harms

D: Robert Millock, Luke Sager, Kwaku Nyamekye, Michael Giammanco

M: Walter Diaz, Brian Grimm, John Stamatis, Adam Rousmaniere

F: Andre Akpan, Marcel Perl

Columbia observations:

Columbia just is playing at a different level.  I was stunned when Columbia was able to take a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute after being man-handled up to that point of the game. The defense and the central defense are a liability.  Because Columbia has to make heroic efforts to stop Harvard, they don’t have the athletic ability to be in good position to maintain possession in transition.

On the goal, senior Scott Strickland received a long pass and squared the ball to sophomore Bayo Adafin.  Adafin let the ball through his legs before touching it past the Harvard defense with his right foot.  He followed with his left foot slotting the ball to the far post.

Adafin dribbles with his head down too much and his dribbling is sloppy.

Freshman Francois Anderson is amongst the best freshmen that I have seen this year.  He has power, size, speed and technical skills.  Anderson should be play DM to get more touches and to solidify the middle.  Because of Columbia’s record, I expect that many will over-look this talented freshman.

Junior central defender Ryan Scully doesn’t man mark well on corner kicks [I noted that in the 12th minute].  I wasn’t surprised that Harvard scored on an identical play in the 30th minute.

Harvard observations:

Senior All-American Michael Fucito did not play because of a minor knock and because Harvard expected to win without risking him.  They were correct.

Junior Andre Akpan set the Harvard record for most points and most assists with a goal and an assist.  For me, he was too static waiting for something to happen.  He didn’t beat anyone on the dribble to create his own shot.  He has very good weight to his passes.

Junior defender Kwaku Nyamekye is a mountain in the back with sure feet and a big head.  In the 23rd minute, he came over to stop a Columbia attack by Kongsli and Castrillion like a school yard bully taking their lunch money!

Junior Brian Grimm is composed on the ball and is a key to transitioning from defense to offense with his passes.

Senior John Stamatis dribbled 50 yards going by Columbia players spectators like they were admiring his skill.  When Columbia freshman defender Will Young finally stopped his run, Stamatis distributed it to freshman Ben Tsuda (I had #23 Dillon O’Neil – but he may have changed numbers) wide.  Tsuda (or whoever it was) dribbled to the GK before slotting it past him.  Nice goal.

Senior Marcel Perl discarded Johns and Young with his upper body strength near the Columbia box.  It was a perfect illustration of this game.  Young and eager pushed aside by a more powerful, older and wiser team.

 

Depaul @ Connecticut

Storrs, CT – On a rainy evening with occasional downpours, Depaul upset UConn 1-0.  Depaul is holding possession for much of the game, but like UConn, they have no one who can score [written at half time].

The two best UConn attacking options are missing from this game.  Senior O’Brian White is out with a knee injury and has missed the last several games.  Senior Akeem Priestley is out with a hamstring injury.  Priestley is dressed but with the cold and wet conditions, playing him would be inadvisable [he didn't play].

The field is slick, but no where near as bad when they lost to Virginia Tech in the 2007 NCAA quarters.

Starting Lineups:

Depaul 4-1-3-2.
G: Brian Visser

D: Nathan Feltz, Patrick Hopkins, Joe Sondag, Brent Zang

DM: Peter Sterbenz

M: Andre Gutierrez, John Kornfeld, Mark Plotkin

F: Willy Lara, Eric Hermosillo

UConn 4-4-1-1.
G: Josh Ford

D: Oscar Castillo, Robert Brickley, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Greg King

M: Mike Pezza, Toni Stahl, Dori Arad, Cruz Hernandez

F: Tony Cascio

F: Shawn Nicklaw

Depaul observations:

Junior right back Nathan Feltz gets forward often.  He has an amazing work rate.  He spent a lot of the first half straddling the end line – UConn’s not his own!

Senior central midfielder John Kornfeld is very good at anticipating where the ball is going to be and making sure tackles.  At the end of the game, he “celebrated” by taunting the UConn fans (and maybe the bench).  Why?  It’s not necessary.  Kornfeld is the team captain and should congratulate his players not worry about the other team’s fans.

The goal was started by a wicked corner kick from junior Mark Plotkin to senior forward Eric Hermosillo’s head in the 72nd minute.  Hermosillo put the ball back to sophomore Willy Lara who was open 5 yards from goal that he hit with authority.  Lara is very good in small spaces.

The MOTM was senior goal keeper Brian Visser.  He made several critical stops including a heel flick by Robert Brickey in the waning seconds of the game.

Sophomore midfield Andre Gutierrez has great touch.

UConn observations:

In the first half, the best goal scoring opportunity came from a senior right back Mike Pezza 30 yard free kick that found high flying junior central back Kwame Watson-Siriboe’s head 10 yards from goal.  Sure-handed Depaul goal keeper Brian Visser was able to scoop up the powerful header.

Freshman Tony Cascio wasn’t able to capitalize on a slip by junior defender Patrick Hopkins, because Hopkins was able to hold onto him until he was in position to delay Cascio’s run.  In the second half, he had another chance poking the ball away from Hopkins and with the goalie at his mercy, he shot too high.  He needs to finish that shot.

Siriboe is very good in the back, but he has been battling foot injuries all season.

Senior Dori Arad was active and trying to press his will but was unsuccessful.

 

Saint Louis @ Massachusetts

Amherst, MA – UMass won 2-1 over A10 rival SLU in 2OT.  SLU was able to force over-time with a goal with just 12 seconds remaining, but UMASS scored with just over a minute remaining in the 2OT on a contested off side goal.

The most talented person on the field had a big impact on this game.

I was surprised with the numerous SLU position changes since I last saw them less than a month ago!  UMass is playing much better than they were 2 months ago.  Their freshman are really starting to shine.

The key for UMass is their approach of team defense.  They keep their shape, helping each other to avoid gaps.  While not the most talented team, they play hard and honestly.

Starting Lineups:

SLU 4-4-2.
G: Pat Disbennett

D: James Jaramillo, Calum Angus, Rob Viviano, Tim Ream

M: Kyle Patterson, Josh Aranda, Brandon Barklage, Kyle Hayes

F: Jimmy Holmes, Dado Hamzagic

UMass 4-4-2.
G: Zack Simmons

D: Daniel Lepone, Chris Brown, Stuart Thomson, Andrew Henshaw

M: Bryant Craft, Mike DeSantis, Ben Arikian, Stuart Amick

F: Mark DeSantis, Chris Roswess

SLU observations:

By moving Jaramillo to right back, it aids in the attack and transition because of his superlative passes.  However, he isn’t a back (at least for now) and was beaten numerous with simple fakes.  For example, junior Mark DeSantis did a step-over that put Jaramillo on his heels before DeSantis went by and made a good cross that wasn’t converted.

By moving Barklage into the central midfield, he is getting more touches which bodes well for SLU.

Josh Aranda playing DM add more bite to the midfield and he’s a fierce tackler.  I contend that he gives SLU more defensive coverage than Eric Sweetin.  However, he was a liability at the end of the game with his passing and his touch that was causing problems for SLU.

Moving Kyle Patterson wide, gets him more involved to take on defenders and provides an option for distribution from the back.  Additionally, he was combining well with Dado Hamzagic.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he moved up top to be closer to Hamzagic’s silky through passes.

Kyle Hayes was turning the ball over too easily.  He needs to get more strength and back-bone.

Jimmy Holmes was having a forgettable day until he scored.  His touch was gruesome and his ability to time his runs was worse.  On the goal, Barklage took a 30 yard free kick that Angus headed but it was cleared.  Jaramillo was able to retrieve the ball, he was pushed wide but was allowed to turn.  He should have been pressured to face the sideline.  Jaramillo crossed the ball and it landed 4 yards from goal in a scrum of players.  Angus toe-poked it to Holmes who finished it to keep the game alive.

Tim Ream provides good service; his passing is extremely precise.  I can’t believe I “reamed” him against Duke last year.

Calum Angus only passes to Patterson or Ream, because he trusts them with the ball.  He won’t pass it to Aranda.  If Angus plays in MLS, I think that he may earn the unique distinction of being equally hated by his team mates and his opponents.  He whines about everything – the ref, the weather, his team mates, etc.  He’s very talented.  The only thing that exceeds his talent is his self-image of his talent which far surpasses reality.

The difference between the two teams is the GK.

UMass observations:

GK Zack Simmons kept UMass in the game with a reflex save from a 1v1 shot from Patterson.  On the build-up, SLU was able to  break down the defense with quick passes starting with Ream to Barlage toe poking the ball forward to Hamzagic who dribbled to unbalance the defense before laying the ball off for Patterson wide – but open.  Simmons makes good decisions and is a good shot blocker.

Freshman forward Chris Roswess has holey moley speed.  His acceleration is amazing.  His leaping ability surprised me and it appeared to surprise SLU because he kept outjumping taller players (Angus/Viviano) that normally win balls in the air.

Roswess combines well with fellow freshman Bryant Craft.  Craft has speed that he uses to burn up the sideline.

Freshman left back Andrew Henshaw has good speed and was able to contain Patterson – which surprised me.  Henshaw scored the first goal from a terrific power header off a slicing corner kick from sophomore midfielder Ben Arikian.  SLU GK Pat Disbennett called for the ball and came out and didn’t get it – although the SLU defender on the post could have bailed him out.

Senior defender Chris Brown made an acrobatic clearance to stop a through ball.  He reads the game quickly.  Brown is good in the air in defending corner kicks.

Senior forward Prince Ofosu didn’t look sharp.  I’m not sure why, but he seems tentative.

Free-kick specialist Ben Arikian drove in a free kick that deflected off Ofosu and Bryan Hogan heading toward the goal, but Viviano cleared the ball off the line.

The winning goal was set up by Arikian in the 109th minute..  He drove from midfield eluding a defender before making a killer move that put Angus on his butt 35 yards from goal.  Arikian got the ball wide to sophomore Stuart Amick out near the corner of the box.  With the SLU GK closing the angle, Amick shot the ball, it deflected (perhaps off the GK – I couldn’t tell) and senior Mike DeSantis finished from 5 yards into the open goal.

SLU contends that DeSantis had to be off-side because he couldn’t move that fast.  I’m not sure because I was watching the Amick and it’s possible that the deflection that I heard slowed the ball enough for DeSantis.  Nevertheless, the SLU coaching staff was incredulous that the AR stated the player was on side.  It was an impactful decision for this game.

The AR is former US national player, Fred Pereira. The most talented person on the field.

 

St John’s @ Rutgers, Preliminary

New Brunswick, NJ – Tonight was the first play-off game for Rutgers.  If they lose or tie to St. John’s, their season is over.  If they win, they play at Georgetown on Thursday at 2pm.  SJU has nothing to play for except to maintain momentum and maintain their RPI/ranking.  SJU won 1-0 and Rutger’s season is over.

SJU scored in the first ten minutes to put Rutgers under more pressure.  Then, Rutgers picked up a red card in the 24th minute making their task more formidable.

Starting Lineups:

SJU 4-4-2.
G: Neal Kitson

D: Connor Lade, Kyle Hoffer, Anthony Vazquez, David Reed

M: Ryan Soroka, Rory Quinn, Terra Tadeu, Ale Ivo

F: Sverre Wegge Gundhus, Cristian Gonzalez

Rutgers 4-1-4-1
G: Amir Haghshenas

D: Sal Fusari, Yannick Salmon, Josh Carroll, Paulie Calafiore

DM: Chris Edwards

M: Kevin McFadden, Aly Mazhar, Dilly Duka, Sam Archer

F: Gaetano Panuccio

SJU observations:

SJU is controlling the game, attacking with quickness and with tons of support.

The first goal was started by freshman left back Connor Lade.  Lade sent in a free kick from midfield that sophomore Sverre Wegge Gundhus chested the ball to freshman Cristian Gonzalez.  Gonzalez feinted his turn one way and spinning and shooting from the top of the box with his left foot with a low hard shot.

Rutgers observations:

In the 23rd minute, Josh Carroll picked up a straight red on a hard tackle that got all of Tadeu Terra’s ankle from behind.

The most talented player is sophomore withdrawn forward Dilly Duka.  He is good on the ball and his passing is very accurate.  He created the best opportunity crossing in a deep ball to senior midfielder Kevin McFadden’s head.  But his header was wide off the side netting.

Central defender sophomore Chris Edwards has a lot of speed.

 

Dayton @ St Joe’s

Philadephia, PA – On a windy sunny afternoon, Dayton came back from a 1-0 deficit to score 7 unanswered goals against St. Joe’s (SJU).  In the first half, SJU was surprising me (and everyone else) with the wind assisted domination of Dayton.  Dayton got 2 goals right before and 2 right after halftime to break the game open.

Starting Lineups:

Dayton 4-4-2.
G: Tyler Picard

D: Sonny Renner, Randy Dennis, Ryan Handbury, Tommy Watkins

M: Luke Baker, Ben Murray, Joe Olwig, Simeon Zapryanov

F: Florian DeCamps, Alex Torda

St Joe’s 4-4-2.
G: Bryan Benedict

D: Rocco Pozzessere, Tom Smart, Travis Garst, Nick Pozzessere

M: Alex Garst, Vito Smurro, Brendan Duddy, Nico Galati

F: Colin Baker, Michael McInaw

Dayton observations:

7 Goals. After being dominated through much of the first half, I was starting to plan my story around the movie, Philadelphia with Dayton’s team getting a new terminal illness called, WeSuckAtSoccerItis.  However, thumping SJU in the second half ended that idea.

Dayton has a bigger problem.  After Temple crushed them 4-2 on Friday, I expected that SJU would be on the bad side of the beat stick.  Dayton came out flat.  While the wind can be an excuse (SJU field sits in a small bowl and the wind was blowing hard 15 feet above the field!), their cohesive and drive to be champions is something that they’ll need to assess.  I heard from a Dayton observer that against Temple the entire team just played poorly.  This continued for much of the first half.

After Dayton started scoring, their confidence grew and they started playing very well.  Will this continue into the A10 tournament?  I doubt it.

When Jeff Popella came on, his speed added a lot to the attack.  He scored two goals, the second was because he just outpaced the entire SJU defense to get behind them from a free kick.

No surprise that freshman Jack Pearson is out for 5 yellow cards.

I was surprised that junior Isaac Kissi received a red card against Temple.  He would have helped stablize the midfield.

Junior Alex Torda scored the sixth goal, but was not involved in any assists.  He’s pretty good, but I think that he has marginal skills at the next level.  He’ll need to work over the next year to be more consistent and to take on players.

Dayton is going to be very successful in the NCAA – next year.  Sorry Flyers.

SJU observations:

In the first half with the wind at their back, they were able to mount many attacks, including opening the scoring in the 32nd minute.

Sophomore forward Colin Baker is a very talented player.  His dribbling and passing ability far surpasses his team mates skills.  Baker got credit for the goal, but on this play it was more of a poacher goal.  Senior forward Michael McInaw made a good pass that sophomore midfielder Alex Garst beat Dayton’s Ben Murray with his first touch into the box before Garst hit a shot to the far post.  Goal keeper Tyler Picard dove to push the ball wide, but Baker was there to bury the rebound.

The Pozzessere brothers anchor the outside backs. Anchor is an accurate description because they are both too slow.  Rocco was picked on all day long.

I am always amazed when I see new things that I never imagined.  Today, a soprano reject, junior Matteo Chiappini somehow avoided a red card (how – I’m not sure) even though he threw elbows, tripped players behind the play and spat on a Dayton player.  If St. Joe’s starts a hockey team, they have their goon.

 

Brown @ Penn

Philadelphia, PA – Penn destroyed Brown 4-0, but the true loser in this game was all the people that spent the time to see this travesty.  The ref put his stamp on the game, breaking the flow early then following that with an erroneous second yellow on a key Brown player in the first half.  Brown’s passing is simply dreadful.  If not for some entertaining relatives of Brown’s midfielder Nick Elenz-Martin, I may have poked my eyes out with my pen (or at least left at HT).  It was a miserable game.

Starting Lineups:

Brown 4-1-4-1.
G: Paul Granstrand

D: David Walls, Rhett Bernstein, Ian Smith, Stephen Sawyer

DM: Evan Coleman

M: Jon Okafor, Nick Elenz-Martin, Rob Medairos, Darren Howerton

F: T. J. Thompson

Penn 4-4-2.
G: Drew Healy

D: John Elicker, Jake Levin, Ryan Porch, Alex Fairman

M: Christian Barreiro, Jason Gorskie, Kevin Unger, Alex Grendi

F: Omid Shokoufandeh, Andrew Ferry

Brown observations:

Brown’s passing is horrendous.  For awhile, I would count the number of passes in their offensive half.  I only got to 4 once.  It was absolutely unacceptable – regardless if Brown was down a man.

Brown had 2 effective attacking tactics.  The first is to use the long flip-throw from senior Darren Howerton.  The second was sophomore right back David Walls dipping free kicks into dangerous positions.

1/2 of their attack was lost when Howerton was presented with his second yellow in the 20th minute.  Horrible call.  A foul – I don’t think so – it was a 50-50 ball.  Ugh.  This changed the entire game.

The gem of the side is senior central defender Rhett Berstein.  He has “good ups” and is the target of many of the set pieces.  His 1v1 defending tonight was very good.  He stopped an attack 1v1.  He doesn’t take many touches on the ball instead relying on 1 touches to his DM or AM.  I’m unsure of his ball skills.  I think he deserves a shot at the combine.  I think he’s got pro potential.

Penn observations:

Penn was too much for Brown.  Senior Andrew Ferry scored on a miscue by the goal keeper.  But his dribbling and passing before that, was causing problems for Brown.  He made a killer pass that freed Loukas Tasigianis for his goal (Penn’s 4th goal).

Given the mismatch, I didn’t learn a lot about either team.

 

Maryland @ Virginia

Charlottesville, VA – On an unseasonably warm Halloween night, MD beat UVA 2-1 in a crucial ACC battle for positioning in the ACC tournament that starts (for these teams) in 11 days.  With this victory, MD will avoid the dreaded 4 slot and an early match up with Wake.

UVA had the better run of play, but MD was able to score two goals and overcome losing a man in the first half before UVA lost two players in the second.  If I were MD, I would want to avoid UVA in the ACC tournament.

Both teams are battling injury problems, UVA has lost both freshman of the year candidates Chris Agorsor (earlier in the year) and Tony Tchani (recently) to season-ending ACL injuries.  MD’s super sophomore Rodney Wallace is out battling a foot injury.  He is expected to return this season.

MD freshman Casey Townsend left early in the first half from a possible ACL/knee injury.  He did not return.

MD had a difficult time containing UVA’s speed.  In the middle of the second half, Jeremy Hall was playing right back to neutralize Ross LaBauex from picking on Kwame Darko.

Starting Lineups:

MD Lineup: Playing a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield

G: Zac MacMath

D: Rich Costanzo, Omar Gonzalez, A. J. Delagarza, Kwame Darko

M: Doug Rodkey, Matt Kassel, Graham Zusi, Jeremy Hall

F: Casey Townsend, Jason Herrick

UVA 4-1-4-1.

G: Michael Giallombardo

D: Neil Barlow, Howard Turk, Shawn Barry, Hunter Jumper

DM: Matt Poole

M: Matt Mitchell, Ross LaBauex, Jonathan Villanueva, Brian Ownby

F: Jimmy Simpson

UVA observations:

UVA has the better speed and the better technical players and they controlled vast majority of the run of play and they still lost.  Picking up 2 red cards did them in at the end, but giving up two goals and the inability to capitalize on their numerous chances was the beginning of the end for UVA.

UVA tried attacking down the left and crossing to the middle in the first half.  In the second, they decided to attack down the ride side to unbalance the defense.

In the 52nd minute, UVA’s Matt Mitchell picked up a dumb red card.  After making a hard challenge on A. J. Delagarza, Mitchell pushed Kwame Darko.  Even 10v10, UVA’s speed puts MD at a disadvantage.

Brian Ownby picked up the second red card coming through Delagarza in the 69th minute.  Well, 10v9 gives MD the advantage, now.

Junior Ross LaBauex is playing like I expected at the beginning of the year.  His speed, his touch and his power makes a unique player.  If he plays like this during the ACC tournament with the MLS coaches watching him, he won’t be at UVA next year.  If he hides on the field like I’ve seen before, he’ll be back next year at UVA and a coach the year after.

LaBauex scored for UVA in the 74th minute.  He took a long pass near the midfield and the side line from junior Neil Barlow.  LaBauex controlled the ball off his chest to squeeze between Delagarza and Gonzalez in the middle of the box.

Junior Jonathan Villanueva is starting to play up to the level of the expectations when he started.  His strength and his passing are exemplary.  He had MD’s freshman Matt Kassel all over the place on convincing head and shoulder fakes.  He was very active.  While Villanueva likes to play in the middle, I believe that he’ll be better wide in the pros.

Villanueva and LaBauex combine very well in the central midfield.

Senior DM Matt Poole was extremely composed on the ball.  Disregarding all challengers.  He has professional potential.  I think he’ll play defense in the pros.  Speed – might be the only thing that holds him up.

MD observations:

In the first half, MD capitalized on one of their few chances with composure on the ball in the box by both Drew Yates and by Jeremy Hall.  Jason Herrick knocked the ball forward to Yates.  Yates blocked the UVA clearance retrieving the ball in the box.  He stepped over the ball making the UVA defender go by before pulling it back to Hall on the other side of the box.  Hall faked a shot to make the UVA defender commit before going around him and shooting the ball into the near post.

Jason Herrick picked up a straight red on a hard tackle on UVA’s Ross LaBauex in the 35th minute.  I thought yellow was justified, but the cleats were up and Andy Chapin had a pretty good look at it.

Graham Zusi dribbled the ball into the box and Matt Poole pulled him down for a PK (that Zusi took) in the 68th minute to give MD a 2-0 lead at that time.

Senior A. J. Delagarza was huge in this game.  His timing on his tackles is clinical.  He is such a smart player.  It’s too bad that he has been unable to play wide defender, because he is just too small to play central defender in the next level.

Freshman goal keeper Zack MacMath saved the game in the 66th minute.  A long pass found UVA speedster Brian Ownby 1v1 with MacMath in the box.  MacMath dove in to stop the ball before pouncing on it for the save to keep UVA off the board (at that time).

 

Indiana @ Ohio State University, Preliminary

Columbus, OH – In my 5th game from 5 different conferences in 3 days, today’s matchup is a Big Ten battle between the 2 teams (OSU and IU) that last battled in the Big Ten tournament final at MSU last November.  In that game, OSU won on PKs.  Today, IU avenged that loss with a 3-2 OT victory.

Starting Lineups:

IU 4-4-2.
G: Chay Cain

D: Lee Hagedorn, Rich Balchan, Ofori Sarkodie, Kevin Alston

M: John Mellencamp, Brad Ring, Andy Adlard, Eric Alexander

F: Will Bruin, Kevin Noschang

OSU 4-4-2.
G: Drew Czekanski

D: Patrick Roan, Dave Tiemstra, Doug Verhoff, Tim Gabel

M: Geoff Marsh, Matt Gold, Danny Irizarry, Sam Scales

Withdrawn F: Konrad Warzycha

Target F: Andrew Magill

IU observations:

Junior Ofori Sarkodie saved a ball off the goal line to keep the game scoreless in the first half.  On this play, a 40 yard free kick was sent in and sophomore Konrad Warzycha headed the ball from 10 yards in a  mass of IU defenders with the IU goal keeper, Chay Cain coming out and not getting enough on the ball.  The header was bouncing into the goal until Sarkodie arrived to save the day.

Early in the game, freshman forward Will Bruin was able to outpace senior right back Patrick Roan.  This surprised me.

Junior Lee Hagedorn opened the scoring; dribbling into the box before placing the ball into the lower corner in the 48th minute.

After having a poor game up to this play, senior Kevin Noschang increased the lead to 2-0 (at that time).  He received a well weighted through pass from junior Kevin Alston.  Noschang alluded the goal keeper and shot into the open goal in the 55th minute.

In the 2nd minute of the first OT period, a 26 yard free kick from Andy Adlard ended the game.  Key to this goal was that Will Bruin was sealing the wall and obstructing OSU GK Drew Czekanski’s view.

The IU defense was noticable different after Kevin Alston left with a minor leg injury midway through the second half.

OSU observations:

I wonder if OSU would do better with Warzycha as the target forward because he could hold the ball better than junior forward Andrew Magill but OSU would lose Magill’s speed and the ability to stretch the defense.

Senior Danny Irizarry scored the first OSU goal in the 55th minute (46 seconds after IU’s second goal).  Warzycha sent in a corner kick that was either flicked by OSU or IU and Irizarry crushed a side volley that went in just below the cross bar – unstoppable!

The second OSU goal was scored by senior Patrick Roan from a Tim Gabel long throw-in that Doug Verhoff flicked to the far side and the waiting Roan.  Roan hit it with power in the 77th minute.

More to follow —>

 

Syracuse @ Cincinnati

Cincinnati, OH – On a cool evening, in the metropolis known as the University of Cincinnati, Syracuse was defeated 1-0 in a Big East Conference battle.  After a fairly even 1st half, Cincinnati controlled the second half. On senior night, the lone goal was scored by the only senior on the Cincinnati roster.

Starting Lineups:

Syracuse 4-1-4-1
G: Robert Cavicchia

D: Pete Hill, Brien Chamney, Karol Wasielewski, Erik Kreider

DM: Kenny Caceros

M: Pete Rowley, Kyle Hall, Hansen Woodruff, Nick Olivetti

F: Spencer Schomaker

Cincinnati 4-4-1-1.
G: Matt Williams

D: Chris Mitchell, Francesco Furio, Brad Simpson, Luke Henke

M: Matt Bahner, Judson McKinney, Paul Hoste, Mark Konitsch

F: Nick Weightman

Target F: Branden Stelmak

Syr observations:

Syracuse came out quickly in the first half before spending the rest of the game absorbing the Cincinnati pressure and ultimately losing.

Senior back Karol Wasielewski is a battler in the back and is effective man marking.

Senior Kyle Hall has blazing speed and quickness.

Junior Hansen Woodruff moved up top to use his dribbling skill and quickness to challenge the Cincinnati central defense.  At the beginning of the game, he had several runs, but wasn’t able to convert.  Cincinnati was able to adapt and stop this as the game progressed.

Late in the game, senior Spencer Schomaker made a good run dribbling past the Cincinnati defense and crossing the ball Hall.  Hall’s first touch failed him and he lost possession in the box.  Hall is a lot like NYRB Dane Richards – huge speed, poor technical skills with the ability to come up with a surprising play.

Cin observations:

Center backs senior Brad Simpson and freshman Francesco Furio were unable to stop the quicker Syracuse dribblers early.  In the second half, it was all Cincinnati.

Good things happen when sophomore withdrawn forward/attacking midfield Nick Weightman is on the ball.  He’s an accurate passer that weighs his passes appropriately.

Freshman right midfielder Matt Bahner had the best chance in the first half when Simpson hit a long free kick to an open Bahner.  Bahner’s shot was powerful but too high.  Another chance was squandered when Weightman delivered a long diagonal to an open Bahner, but Bahner’s first touch was too hard and the goalie was able to come out and stop the attack.

In the 68th minute, Simpson scored from a laser 45 yard free kick from Weightman.  The free kick was earned by junior Summerville with a vicious, yellow card tackle by Syracuse’s Tom Perevegyencev in his first four minutes of action.

Sophomore Chris Mitchell is quick but he is too easy to knock off the ball.

Left midfielder sophomore Mark Konitsch is very active and in the second half was terrrorizing the right side of the Syracuse defense.  His crosses are accurate and he delivers them quickly.