University of Maryland Athletics

Terps, Red Storm Meet For College Cup Berth

Men's Soccer Maryland Athletics

Terps, Red Storm Meet For College Cup Berth

Dec. 2, 2004

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    COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The third-seeded Maryland Terrapins will meet 11th-seeded St. John's for the third time in two seasons for the right to advance to the national semifinals next weekend in Carson, Calif. Kickoff at Ludwig Field is slated for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4.

    After a bye in the first round, Maryland (16-5-2) defeated Hofstra, 4-0, in the second round and then played 14th-seeded Creighton to a 0-0 tie before coming away with a thrilling 5-4 edge in penalty kicks to advance to the quarterfinals.

    The Red Storm also earned a first-round bye, and then went on to defeat Boston 3-1 at home and defeated sixth-seeded UCLA on the road, 2-1, to move on to the quarterfinals.

    The two teams have become familiar with each other over the past 365 days. St. John's eliminated Maryland in the 2003 College Cup, 1-0, en route to a runner-up finish. The two teams met earlier this season at the Maryland/adidas Classic, with the Terps topping the Red Storm, 5-2, in front of the fourth-largest crowd in Ludwig Field history.

    This will mark the second consecutive year that St. John's will travel to College Park for its quarterfinal game. Last season, the Red Storm were forced to play Creighton at Ludwig Field because of a snow storm in New York. In that game, St. John's rallied after being a man down and went on to win 3-2 over the Blue Jays to play Maryland the next week in the College Cup.

    St. John's leads the all-time series with the Terps, 3-1. Two of the Red Storm's wins have come in the NCAA Tournament (1999 and 2003), while Maryland's lone win in the series came earlier this year.

    In last year's national semifinal game, Red Storm goalkeeper Bill Gaudette was key in keeping the Terps off the board. Gaudette made nine saves to shut out Maryland. Sebastian Alvarado-Ralph scored on a penalty kick to give St. John's the only score of the game.

    In the game earlier this season, Maryland jumped on the board early scoring a goal in just :58 seconds as the Terps went on to win 5-2. Jason Garey scored a hat trick and had an assist for a career-high seven points, and Abe Thompson had two goals and an assist for five points. A.J. Godbolt tallied three assists. Matt Groenwald and Andre Schmid scored goals for St. John's.

    The winner of Maryland-St. John's will face the winner of Indiana-Tulsa on Friday, Dec. 10, in the College Cup. The time of that game as not been determined.

    The Terps have an eight-game NCAA Tournament winning streak at Ludwig Field. The last time the Terps lost an NCAA Tournament game in College Park was Nov. 25, 2001 (a 1-0 loss to Loyola).

    Maryland vs. Creighton Postgame Notes

  • Maryland edged Creighton, 5-4 in penalty kicks, to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the third consecutive season.
  • The penalty kick shootout was just Maryland's second in NCAA Tournament action. Maryland lost the only other time it was in a shootout in 1995 when James Madison defeated the Terps 4-3 in PK's.
  • The Terps have gone to PK's two other times (both at the ACC Tournament), losing both times.
  • Sasho Cirovski is now 1-2 in penalty kick shootouts at Maryland.
  • Noah Palmer recorded his school-record 33rd career shutout (and seventh in NCAA Tournament action) against the Blue Jays stopping three shots in the action. Palmer also forced three misses in the penalty kick action to help the Terps move on. Palmer is 1-1 in PK shootouts (the loss coming in last year's ACC Finals against Virginia).
  • The shutout was Maryland's seventh in its last 10 games. During that span, opponents are averaging just 0.49 goals per game and just 10 shots per game.
  • The Terps were shut out for just the second time this season. It was Maryland's first scoreless tie since 1997 (against Virginia), and was just the third scoreless tie under coach Sasho Cirovski.
  • Converting PK's for Maryland were Abe Thompson, Domenic Mediate, Stephen King, Jason Arnold and Maurice Edu.

    More NCAA Tournament Notes

  • Maryland is making its 24th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Terps are 27-22-3 all-time and earned a co-national title with Michigan State in 1968.
  • Sasho Cirovski is making his 10th trip to the NCAA Tournament in 12 seasons as head coach of the Terps. Cirovski is 15-8-2 in the NCAA Tournament at Maryland and has led the Terps to three College Cup appearances.
  • Maryland has a 6-4-1 record against teams in the NCAA Tournament this year. Three of the eight remaining teams hail from the ACC (Duke, Virginia and Maryland), more than any other conference.
  • The Terps are a top-three seed for the third straight season.
  • In the second round against Hofstra, Domenic Mediate score two goals to help Maryland to the 4-0 win. Mediate has scored six NCAA Tourney goals in his career, four of which have been game-winners.
  • Junior defender Chris Lancos had two assists against Hofstra, running his total to 10 for the year, tying him for seventh all-time for a single season.
  • Jason Garey scored a goal for the fourth straight game against the Pride. Maryland is 12-1-1 in games in which he has scored. Garey, who has 51 points on the year, is just the second player in Maryland history to have 50 or more points in a season (Cliff Krug scored 52 in 1960).
  • Maryland midfielder Maurice Edu returned to the Maryland lineup against Hofstra for the first time since Oct. 10 against North Carolina.

    The "D" is the Difference

  • The Terp defense has returned to its stifling form. The back line of Michael Dello-Russo, Kenney Bertz, Chris Lancos, David Glaudemans, along with midfielder Ian Rodway and reserve Eric Brunner, has frustrated opposing offenses and given Maryland offensive chances by possessing the ball.
  • In the last 10 games, the Terps are giving up just 0.49 goals per game. Maryland is forcing its opponents to make great individual efforts in those game, allowing just three assists during that span and Palmer has seven shutouts during that span.

    Scouting St. John's

  • The Red Storm enter Saturday's contest with a 12-5-4 record after defeating UCLA 2-1 on the road last weekend.
  • Since Maryland defeated St. John's 5-2 in September, the Red Storm have only given up more than one goal in a game twice the rest of the season.
  • The stingy Red Storm defense is allowing just 0.78 goals per game. If the Maryland score is removed, St. John's is allowing just 0.57 goals per game. Dave Masur's club also has 10 shutouts on the season.
  • Bill Gaudette, who played a huge role in St. John's NCAA Semifinal win over the Terps making nine saves, has made 57 saves on the year and has posted a GAA of 0.70 with eight shutouts.
  • Offensively, the Red Storm are paced my Andrei Gotsmanov with nine goals and four assists (22 points). SJU also has potent scorers in Andre Schmid and Academic All-American of the Year Matt Groenwald.
  • St. John's is 6-1-2 at home this year, and 6-4-2 away from Belson Soccer Stadium.
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