Nov. 22, 2009

Terps Sweet Sixteen Bound
The Maryland men's soccer team captured its eighth-straight Sweet Sixteen berth Sunday as it upended No. 7 seed Penn State, 2-1, in the second round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship.

Jason Herrick netted the game-winner with 4:05 remaining to lift the Terps against a Nittany Lion squad that was undefeated at Jeffrey Field in 2009.

Penn State, who returned to the NCAA Tournament for this first time since 2005, came out firing in the first minute of the match. Corey Hertzog had a good look at goal after a cross from 2009 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Jason Yeisley, but his header went high in the first 45 seconds. 

Blue Devils Continue NCAA Run; Beat Spartans 2-1
The Duke University men's soccer team tallied a pair of first-half goals and held on to earn a 2-1 victory over 14th-seed Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 20th-ranked Blue Devils advance to the third round for the first time since 2006 and will play the winner of the Wake Forest and UNC Wilmington game to be played this evening.

Junior defender Christian Ibeagha and freshman defender Andrew Wenger tallied the goals for Duke as the Blue Devils had to hold off a charging Michigan State squad in the second half.

The game proved to be a tale of two halves with Duke dominating much of the possession in the opening 45 minutes and Michigan State controlling play in the second frame. In the end it was Duke's 2-0 initial lead that stood up and pushed the Blue Devils into the third round. 

Boston College Defeats St. John's 1-0, Advances To NCAA Tournament's Round Of 16
Junior co-captain Karl Reddick scored the decisive goal - the game's only score - in the eighth minute of play to lead Boston College to a 1-0 victory over No. 14 St. John's in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship before 2,128 fans at Belson Stadium.

BC (14-8-0) will face Drake in the tournament's round of 16 on Sunday, Nov. 29. Game site and time are to be announced. It marks the first time since 2002 that BC has advanced to the round of 16 teams.

Reddick one-timed a cross along the ground from freshman Kyle Bekker with his right foot at 7:43 for the gamewinner.

Bates’ Hat Trick Leads Virginia Past Bucknell
The No. 2 Virginia men’s soccer team opened play in the 2009 NCAA Tournament with a 5-0 second round victory over Bucknell in front of 2,279 fans Sunday afternoon at Klöckner Stadium. First-year Will Bates (Chester, Va.) had a hat trick in his NCAA debut and goalkeeper Diego Restrepo (West Palm Beach, Fla.) posted his ninth consecutive shutout to lead the Cavaliers into the round of 16.

The Cavaliers took an early lead in the eighth minute of play. Tony Tchani (Norfolk, Va.) slid a through ball to Bates, who one-timed in his ninth goal of the season. Later in the first half, Virginia tacked on three goals in a nine-minute span to take a 4-0 lead into the break. In the 28th minute, Hunter Jumper (Plano, Texas) took a pass from Tchani and fired home a shot from the top of the box for his first goal of the season. Two minutes later, Shawn Barry (Miramar, Fla.) was tripped in the area and Tchani converted the penalty kick for his seventh goal of the season. Bates closed out the first half scoring in the 37th minute when he put in the rebound of his own blocked shot from 10 yards out.

In the second half, Bates completed his hat trick in the 50th minute when Jumper sent him in on a breakaway and he chipped a shot over the charging goalkeeper. The five goals were a season-high for the Cavaliers.

No. 2 Wake Forest Advances to Round of 16 with 2-1 Win
Austin da Luz and Anthony Arena staked No. 2 Wake Forest to a 2-0 lead and the Demon Deacons held off a late rally by No. 18 UNC-Wilmington to claim a 2-1 win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday evening at Spry Stadium.

With the victory, Wake Forest improves to 15-3-3, while UNC-Wilmington closes its season with a 14-3-5 record.

The Demon Deacons advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament where they will face ACC-foe Duke. The Blue Devils won at Michigan State, 2-0, on Sunday. Wake and Duke will square off on Sunday, November 29, at 5 p.m. (ET) at Spry Stadium.

Tar Heels Blank Brown In NCAA Second Round, 2-0
Sophomore forward Billy Schuler found the back of the net to give No. 5 national seed North Carolina an early lead, and classmate Alex Dixon added a late goal to put the match away in the Tar Heels' 2-0 win over Brown in second round action of the 2009 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Sunday at Fetzer Field.

Sophomore midfielder Kirk Urso assisted on both goals for the Tar Heels (14-2-3), setting up a Schuler header on a free kick in the 20th minute and feeding Dixon near midfield in the 89th.

Senior goalkeeper Brooks Haggerty went the distance in net for his eighth shutout and Carolina's 10th in 19 outings. He made two saves, and UNC's smothering defense held Brown (11-3-5) without a shot over the first 57 minutes and to just five shots on the afternoon. 

No. 13 NC State Falls 2-1 in NCAAs
In the end, NC State's No. 13-ranked soccer team couldn't take advantage of its many opportunities to advance in the NCAA Tournament.

The Wolfpack, hosting a second-round game against unranked Portland at the Dail Soccer Field, out-shot the visiting Pilots 15-6 on the blustery afternoon, but only found the back of the net once and was eliminated 2-1.

Portland (12-5-5) advances to play Virginia next Sunday in the round of 16, while the Wolfpack ends its season with a 13-7-2 mark.