No. 7 Terps and No. 9 St. John's Collide In NCAA Second Round
11/14/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 14, 2006
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The No. 7 men's soccer team will take on No. 9 St. John's on Wednesday, November 15 at 7:00 p.m. at Ludwig Field. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students/seniors/children. This is the fourth-straight season that the two sides will meet in the NCAA Tournament.
Fifth-Seeded Terps Open NCAA Tournament Against BIG EAST Champ St. John's
• The No. 7 Maryland men's soccer team opens the 2006 NCAA Tournament on Wednesday, November 15 against No. 9 St. John's at 7:00 p.m. at Ludwig Field.
• The Terrapins (15-4-1) enter the tournament as the fifth seed, making this the fifth-consecutive season Maryland has earned a top-five seed. The overall record is also identical to the one the Terps had entering the tournament last year.
• The Terps have advanced to four consecutive College Cups and won the national championship last year. It was the second in program history as Maryland shared the title back in 1968.
• Over the past four seasons, Maryland is 10-0-2 at home in the NCAA Tournament. In both draws, the Terps have advanced on penalty kicks.
• This is the fourth-straight season that the Terps and Red Storm will meet in the NCAA Tournament and the fifth time in the past eight years. Those meetings are tied 2-2, with Maryland taking the last two games in 2004 and 2005. The lone meeting in the regular season came in 1995.
• Much like last season, the Terps lost in the ACC Tournament to eventual champion Duke, 1-0, in the semifinals on November 3. The Blue Devils beat top-seeded Wake Forest, 1-0, in overtime.
• St. John's is probably the hottest team in the country with seven-consecutive shutouts. The Red Storm captured the BIG EAST Championship by upsetting No. 2 West Virginia in the title game, 1-0. SJU beat three ranked teams in the tournament and did not allow a goal.
More NCAA Tournament Notes
• Maryland is making its 26th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Terps are 32-23-4 all-time in the tournament and has two national championships to its name in 1968 and 2005.
• This is the 12th trip to the NCAA Tournament in 14 seasons for head coach Sasho Cirovski. He is 20-10-2 in the tournament and has led the Terps to five College Cup appearances and a national championship.
• Despite having a young squad, the Terps are very experienced in the NCAA Tournament. Current Maryland players have combined to play in 55 tournament matches. Seniors A.J. Godbolt and David Glaudemans and juniors Maurice Edu and Stephen King have the most experience, all playing in nine games.
• The Terps have faced 10 of the 48 teams in the NCAA Tournament, identical to last season. Maryland is 7-3-1 against those teams (faced Duke twice).
• The ACC and the BIG EAST were the conferences with the most teams in the tournament this season with seven. Four of the top five seeds are from the ACC.
Six Terps Earn ACC Honors
• Sophomore keeper Chris Seitz was named the 2006 Defensive Player of the Year and Jeremy Hall was tabbed the Freshman of the Year as the ACC announced its all-conference teams. Seitz and junior Maurice Edu were both placed on the All-ACC first team and junior Stephen King was put on the second team. The Terps also had three players named to the All-Freshman team, more than any other school.
• Hall is the first player in Maryland history to earn Freshman of the Year accolades since the award began in 1990. Hall and classmates Omar Gonzalez and Jason Herrick were all placed on the All-Freshman team. Maryland is the only team that has three rookies on the squad. Wake Forest is the only other team to earn multiple bids with two.
Closing In On The All-Time Attendance Record
• So far this season, Maryland has broken its own season attendance record as 36,470 fans have flowed through the gates at Ludwig Field. That tops last year's mark of 33,121 in 13 total games including the NCAA Tournament.
• Connecticut holds the record for total attendance in a season with 38,804 fans in 2000. With possibly more games at Ludwig Field in the NCAA Tournament, Maryland looks to break that record this season. Note: NCAA records for attendance only go back to 1998. Maryland is believed to be the nation's leader in attendance so far this season.
• The Maryland soccer community came out in full force on Friday, September 29 as a record crowd of 6,489 fans watched their Terps take down No. 14 Duke, 1-0, at Ludwig Field. The fans sparked an electric atmosphere for the match shown on Fox Soccer Channel. Maryland entered the field under a cloud of smoke and fireworks lit the sky during the national anthem and prior to player introductions.
• 6,214 fans came out to watch the Terps battle Boston College for the first time ever at Ludwig Field on October 14, which is the second-largest crowd.
• Against NC State, 4,565 fans came out to watch the Terps win 3-0, which currently stands as the fifth-largest crowd at Maryland.
• On September 2, 4,020 fans came to Ludwig Field to watch the Terps defeat No. 10 UCLA, 4-1. Despite poor weather and the postponement of the match from the night before, it was then the fifth-largest crowd in Ludwig history.
• In three of its four away matches this year, attendance records have been set at the opponents' respective fields.
• At No. 23 Old Dominion on August 27, 3,331 spectators came out to watch the Monarchs battle the Terps. Maryland came out on top, 2-0. That was the largest crowd to ever see a collegiate soccer match at the ODU Soccer Stadium.
• At No. 4 Clemson on Friday night, 6,821 people flocked to Historic Riggs Field for the ACC showdown that the Tigers won, 2-1. That was the largest crowd to ever see a regular season match at Riggs.
• At No. 7 Wake Forest, 4,413 people showed as the Terps knocked off the Deacons, 2-1, in come-from-behind fashion. That set the all-time Spry Stadium record.
Edu, King Named Hermann Semifinalists
• Junior midfielders Maurice Edu and Stephen King are among 15 semifinalists for the Men's 2006 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy, given to the nation's top collegiate player. Jason Garey was the first Terrapin to win the award in 2005.
• Edu has recorded five goals and four assists for 14 points this season and was an All-ACC first team honoree.
• King has yet to miss a match in his collegiate career and has started all 70 of them. This season, his six goals are tied for second on the team and his seven assists are tied for first. King was named to the All-ACC second team this season.
• The winner of the Hermann Trophy, awarded by the Missouri Athletic Club, is determined by a vote from the NSCAA Division I member coaches. Three finalists will be selected on Monday, November 27 and the winner will be announced in St. Louis on December 2.
The Next Chapter
• Maryland and St. John's are no strangers when it comes to the postseason. This is the fourth-straight season that the Terps and Red Storm will meet in the NCAA Tournament and the fifth time in the past eight years. Those meetings are tied 2-2, with Maryland taking the last two games in 2004 and 2005.
• Following are the results for all five meetings between the Terps and Red Storm all-time:
October 6, 1995: St. John's 2, Maryland 0
November 22, 1999: St. John's 1, Maryland 0 (NCAA First Round)
December 12, 2003: St. John's 1, Maryland 0 (NCAA Semifinals)
December 4, 2004: Maryland 1, St. John's 0 (NCAA Third Round)
November 27, 2005: Maryland 3, St. John's 1 (NCAA Third Round)
Scouting The Red Storm
• No. 9 St. John's (14-5-2) is one of the hottest teams in the country with a seven-game win streak in which it has not allowed a goal. Five of those wins have come against ranked teams.
• The Red Storm captured the BIG EAST title with a stunning 1-0 win in overtime against No. 2 West Virginia. The goal came off the foot of Ryan Sororka with four seconds left in the first extra session.
• Sororka is SJU's leading scorer with nine goals and eight assists. He was the Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the tournament and had a hand in all five of St. John's goals in the tournament, including three game-winning goals. Sororka scored the only goal of the match in the Red Storm's opening round win on Friday against Monmouth.
• Billy Hole was named the BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Defensive Player after St. John's did not allow a goal in four games. Jason Landers, who stands at 6-7, has started all 21 games for SJU in goal and has allowed just 14 goals, a 0.66 average. His save percentage is .839.
Royal Company
• Head coach Sasho Cirovski entered some outstanding company when it comes to Maryland soccer.
• With his 200th win against Bucknell on October 24, Cirovski became just the second coach in program history to reach that plateau. The only other head coach to accomplish that feat was the program's first coach, Doyle Royal.
• Royal had a 217-58-18 record with Maryland in 28 years at the helm.
• Cirovski already matched Royal in one department, and that is the national championship. Royal coached the Terps to a perfect 1968 season at 14-0-1, earning a share of the national title.
Where It's At...
• Maryland played 13 home matches this regular season, the most in program history. The Terps played 12 matches at home in 1982.
• Home is where the Terps like to play. Over the past four-plus seasons, Maryland is 59-4-3 at Ludwig Field, including an unbeaten mark of 11-0-2 in 2005. In 2002, the Terps went a perfect 13-0.
• Included in that impressive record is the Terps' 10-0-2 mark in the postseason at Ludwig which has helped UM reach four consecutive College Cups. The Terps are the eighth team in NCAA history to participate in four straight College Cups.
• For the second-straight season, Maryland averaged over 2,000 fans per match in 2005. An average of 2,548 fans rocked Ludwig Field when the Terps took the pitch. 2004 was the first season since 1995 which Maryland averaged over 2,000 fans.
• So far this season, Maryland is 12-1 at home and is averaging 2,805 fans a game.
Non-Conference Dominance
• The Terps have been impressive against non-league foes since the 2001 season, compiling a 76-17-4 record. Five of those losses came in a 10-5 2001 campaign.
• Maryland was a perfect 10-0 this season. The last time it went perfect out of the conference was in 1986 when it went 11-0.
Once, Twice, Three Times... Against Bucknell
• Three of Maryland's players recorded their first career goals against Bucknell on October 24. Junior Spencer Allen, freshman Omar Gonzalez, and senior Pat Wilson all notched their first tallies of their Terrapin careers.
• Allen's came early in the second minute on a blast from 25 yards out. Gonzalez sent in a rebound after a team save in the ninth minute, and Wilson got his in the 61st on a header off a corner kick.
Edu It To Me One More Time
• Junior Maurice Edu has poured it on as of late, scoring nine of his 14 points this season in the last six matches.
• Edu contributed the game-winning assist in the 104th minute against Boston College in the ACC Tournament. He sent a cross that sophomore forward Graham Zusi redirected for the 1-0 win.
• Four of Edu's five goals this season have started with sophomore Graham Zusi delivering a cross and four of his goals have been game-winners in one-goal affairs.
Edu Featured In Sports Illustrated
• Junior Maurice Edu is featured in the October 23 edition of Sports Illustrated, appearing in the publication's "Faces in the Crowd" section. SI recognized Edu for his two game-winning goals against Loyola and Duke on September 26 and 29, respectively.
Zusi Named To ACC All-Tournament Team
• Sophomore Graham Zusi, who scored five goals and added two assists in 2005, is having a break out season for the Terps.
• Zusi leads the team with 10 goals, seven assists, and 27 points.
• Zusi was named to the 2006 ACC Men's Soccer Championship All-Tournament team for his game-winning goal against Boston College. Junior Maurice Edu sent a cross and Zusi redirected it with his thighs for the goal.
Zusi And Edu: Quite A Pair
• Junior Maurice Edu and sophomore Graham Zusi have hooked up a few times this season for the Terps. The two have found each other for a goal five times this season.
• Four of Edu's five goals this season have began with crosses from Zusi. The duo combined for both goals on Edu headers in 1-0 wins against Loyola and Duke in the same week.
• Their last combo advanced the Terps into the semifinals of the ACC Tournament as Edu sent a blast into the box that Zusi redirected in the 104th minute against BC.
Hall's Way
• Freshman Jeremy Hall has also picked up at the right time, scoring in three of the last five matches after not recording a point in the previous six matches.
• In the win against Albany on October 22, Hall snuck a shot under the Great Danes goalkeeper to put the Terps up 2-0 in the first half and then added another goal in the 4-1 win against Bucknell.
• Hall also picked up he game-winning goal in the 4-1 win against Bucknell on October 24 and then he sent a cross that led to Edu's game-winner against Virginia Tech on October 27.
• Hall is second on the team with six goals and third with 15 points.
King Of College Park
• Junior Stephen King played a crucial role for the Terps in their 2-1 win against Virginia Tech as he scored the first goal and assisted on the game-winner.
• King is second on the team with six goals and is tied for the team lead with seven assists. His 19 points is second on the squad.
• His most impressive performance of the season came against UCLA on September 2 as he notched a goal and assisted on two others in a 4-1 triumph.
• King has been named ACC Player of the Week, College Soccer News National Player of the Week, and has been placed on the Soccer America Team of the Week twice this season.
Near Perfect Seitz
• Sophomore goalkeeper Chris Seitz has compiled an impressive 27-4-3 record for the Terps since last season.
• Seitz stopped a career-high eight shots against Virginia Tech while facing 19 shots, the most the Terps had allowed in the regular season. He saved eight again against Boston College in the ACC Tournament when faced with 20 shots.
A Little Help From Godbolt
• Senior A.J. Godbolt has played a key role not only this season, but for his entire career. Regarded as the best crosser on the team, Godbolt has three assists and a game winning goal that he notched against NC State.
• His 22 career assists ranks sixth all-time, tied with Jason Sardis and A.J. Herrera. Scott Buete stands in fifth with 24 career helpers.
• Last season, Godbolt was one assist away from tying the single-season record of 14 held by Gino Ferrin (1985).
• Godbolt recorded his first-ever game-winning goal when he put back a Stephen King penalty kick that had been saved against NC State.
Herr-o-ick
• With some doubts about where scoring would come from prior to the season, freshman Jason Herrick has provided part of the answer. His five goals is fourth on the team and his 12 points is fifth.
• Herrick has been a part of two game winning goals, assisting the one against UCLA and scoring it against Mount St. Mary's. He also scored the first goal of the match against UCLA.
• Against NC State, Herrick scored his fourth goal in amazing fashion when he launched a shot into the top left corner from about 30 yards out. The keeper had no chance at stopping the perfectly placed shot.
• Herrick saw action for the first time in the ACC Tournament since October 11 at Virginia after suffering a head injury against North Carolina in the game prior. He came off the bench against BC and started against the Tar Heels.
Newcomers Making An Impact
• With a relatively young squad, Terps newcomers are making a major impact as two of the top five scorers are new to College Park.
• Freshman Jason Herrick has been stellar for Maryland with five goals and two assists.
• Sophomore Rich Costanzo, a transfer from Penn State, has an assist to go with his game winning goal against Binghamton.
• Freshman Jeremy Hall has recorded six goals and three assists.
• Freshmen Omar Gonzalez has one goal and two assists and Drew Yates has racked up five assists.
• Newcomers have accounted for 39 of the Terps' 113 points, which comes out to 35 percent.
