Men's Soccer Release #15: Sweet 16 Preview
Nov. 30, 2007 2007 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Pairings
Complete Release in PDF Format 
NCAA Championship -- Third-Round Capsule
UIC (12-5-6, Horizon League champion) at (#8 seed) Creighton (12-2-5)
(Saturday, 7 p.m. CT / 8 p.m. ET, CU's Morrison Stadium - Omaha, Neb.)
UIC continues its strong late-season run, facing eighth-seeded Creighton for a spot in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship's quarterfinals. The teams meet Saturday night at Morrison Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
The Flames (12-5-6) dispatched local rival and ninth-seeded #16/16 Northwestern 2-0 in Wednesday's second-round action, using second-half goals by freshman forward Kevin Stoll and sophomore midfielder Ian Sarachan. UIC opened tournament play last Friday by eliminating #11/12 Saint Louis in penalty kicks (6-5) following a scoreless draw.
The Flames led the nation in goals-against average (0.38) last fall and are riding that defense during another late-season charge in 2007. UIC is unbeaten (7-0-1) in its last seven contests, allowing only one goal during that span. A penalty kick in the Horizon League championship match is the only blemish on sophomore netminder Jovan Bubonja's record during that time, as the Flames netminder boasts a 0.13 GAA since Oct. 31. For the season, he ranks seventh in the nation with a 0.52 mark. Bubonja eclipsed his own single-season UIC record with his 11th shutout of the year on Wednesday.
Bubonja has been nearly perfect in postseason play during his two seasons at UIC, owning a 0.24 GAA in four NCAA tournament matches (one goal allowed in 368:38). Including play in the last two Horizon League Championships, his career post-season mark is 0.21.
Senior forward Cesar Zambrano was the Most Valuable Player at the Horizon League Championship, setting up match-winners in the Flames' semifinal- and championship-round victories. Zambrano ranks third in the circuit with 19 points (six goals and a League-best seven assists).
Senior midfielder Pavle Dundjer is the League's first four-time First-Team All-League selection and is tied for second place on the team scoring charts with five goals and 13 points. Freshman forward Matt Spiess has identical numbers and provided the heroics with the deciding PK against his hometown team in St. Louis.
Fellow freshman Charlie Trout boasts four goals and three assists for 11 points, with sophomore midfielder Baggio Husidic---one of four Flames on the All-League First Team, along with Zambrano, Dundjer and Bubonja
---adding three goals and seven points. Stoll has four postseason goals---hitting the net in all three League Championship matches and again versus Northwestern---after going without a point during the regular season.
Creighton is in the NCAA Tournament for the 16th consecutive year and brings a 12-2-5 record into Saturday's match. The eighth-seeded Bluejays, ranked seventh in the nation by the NSCAA and 12th by Soccer America, opened play in this year's summit with a 3-0 victory over SMU on Wednesday behind goals by senior forward Tim Bohnenkamp, junior forward Andrei Gotsmanov and sophomore forward Mo Travis.
The Bluejays won the Missouri Valley Conference's regular-season title but lost the circuit's championship match to Bradley, 1-0, on a goal with 1:26 remaining in regulation. That snapped an 11-match unbeaten streak for CU, whose only other loss came Sept. 22 in a 3-1, home-field setback to Tulsa.
Creighton senior goalkeeper Matt Allen won his second MVC Defensive Player of the Year honor in 2007 and added to his own school records with his 26th career shutout versus SMU. He has seven clean sheets this year while compiling a 0.78 goals-against average with 73 saves. Sophomore defender Chris Schuler's work on the back line earned First-Team all-conference recognition, as well.
Gotsmanov leads the Bluejay attack with six goals and five assists for 17 points, but Creighton's balance is evident with five players boasting double-digit point totals, including sophomore defender Thomas Gjoesund's six-goal, 13-point campaign. Senior midfielder Tony Schmitz was a First-Team All-MVC pick and has four goals with five assists, while junior forward Jim Walters owns four goals and four helpers. Bohnenkamp's goal was his second of the year to go with a team-best six assists.
UIC split its two matches against teams from the MVC this season, losting 2-1 to Missouri State on Sept. 28 but defeating Bradley 1-0 in overtime the next night. Creighton posted a 3-0 victory over Green Bay on Sept. 2, the only time the Bluejays have faced a Horizon League opponent in 2007. Indiana and Western Illinois are the only other common foes the teams have faced this fall, with CU defeating the Hoosiers 2-1 on Sept. 13 and UIC dropping a 1-0 decision in Bloomington, Ind., on Oct. 3. The Flames defeated WIU 2-0 on Oct. 18, while Creighton and Western Ililnois played to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 5.
UIC won the only previous meeting between the schools, posting a 2-1 victory at Morrison Stadium on Oct. 5, 2005. Creighton, which entered the match ranked 25th in the nation, out-shot the Flames 26-6 but UIC netminder Jeff Engelbrecht turned aside seven shots to post the victory. Tonci Skroce put the visitors ahead in the 59th minute with a 35-yard blast, but Vince Odorisio answered 14 minutes later off a pass from Byron Dacy. Eric Cervantes then provided the match-winner for UIC, driving past three defenders to hit the net with 9:51 remaining in regulation.
Dundjer and Zambrano and junior Pat McMahon were in the Flames' starting line-up for that contest, with Dundjer taking two of the team's six shots.
The winner of Saturday's match advances to meet either Massachusetts or Central Connecticut State next weekend (Friday-Sunday, Dec. 7-9). UMass posted the biggest surprise of the tournament so far, ousting top seed Boston College 1-0 on Wednesday, while CCSU went on the road to record a 3-2 victory at 16th seed Tulsa.
Six of the 16 teams were eliminated in their first competition of this year's tournament, leaving second seed Wake Forest and third seed Connecticut as the only survivors among the top-four-ranked teams heading into this weekend's action.
Third-Round Matches (Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 1-2) (NOTE: All times Eastern)
Central Connecticut State (10-8-3) at Massachusetts (15-7-1) - Sunday, 12 p.m.
UIC (12-5-6) at (#8 seed) Creighton (12-2-5) - Saturday, 8 p.m.
(#12 seed) UC Santa Barbara (13-3-4) at (#5 seed) Ohio State (14-3-5) - Sunday, 1 p.m.
Bradley (15-5-4) at (#13 seed) Maryland (10-5-5) - Saturday, 6 p.m.
South Florida (14-5-2) at (#3 seed) Connecticut (19-2-1) - Sunday, 1 p.m.
Old Dominion (14-6-3) at (#11 seed) Virginia Tech (12-3-5) - Sunday, 1 p.m.
(#10 seed) Notre Dame (13-4-5) at (#7 seed) Santa Clara (16-1-4) - Saturday, 10 p.m.
(#15 seed) West Virginia (14-5-2) at (#2 seed) Wake Forest (18-2-2) - Sunday, 1 p.m.
Quarterfinals: Friday-Sunday, Dec. 7-9 at campus sites
Semifinals: Friday, Dec. 14 at Cary, N.C. (SAS Soccer Park)
Championship: Sunday, Dec. 16 at Cary, N.C. (SAS Soccer Park)
UIC Moves Into Sweet 16 With 2-0 Victory at Northwestern
Evanston, Ill. - UIC earned a spot in the NCAA Championship's Sweet 16 with a 2-0 victory over local rival and ninth seed Northwestern before crowd of 1,023 at Lakeside Field on Wednesday.
Freshman forward Kevin Stoll headed in what proved to be the match-winning goal in the 72nd minute off a corner kick. Sophomore midfielder Ian Sarachan then iced the victory by scoring on an empty net with eight seconds remaining.
"I have the utmost respect for the Northwestern program. They are a heck of a soccer team," UIC head coach John Trask said after the match. "Hat's off to my team. They are a feisty bunch. They don't like to lose.
"Some people might have thought early in the season that we weren't a special team," Trask continued. "I always knew we were a special team and I think that is coming to the forefront now."
The Flames (12-5-6) make their second all-time appearance in the Sweet 16 on Saturday night when they travel to take on eighth-seeded Creighton at 7 p.m. (Central time / 8 p.m. Eastern). The Bluejays advanced on Wednesday with a 3-0 win over SMU.
Northwestern, a quarterfinalist in last year's national tournament, finished its season with a ledger of 12-5-3. The Wildcats became the second consecutive top-25 team eliminated by UIC, which ousted perennial national power Saint Louis in penalty kicks following a scoreless draw in the first round.
The Flames' and Wildcats' first-ever postseason derby was a battle of possession in the midfield for the first 45 minutes with UIC senior Pavle Dundjer's free kick from 30 yards out that deflected off the wall just wide of the goal the only real scoring threat mounted by either side.
Four minutes into the second half Flames defender Pat McMahon outraced Northwestern's Piero Bellizi and saved what look like to be a sure Northwestern marker when he cleared a misplayed ball off the goal line that had skipped past keeper Jovan Bubonja.
UIC would make the most of its next opportunity in the 72nd minute when a trio of rookies turned a corner kick into a 1-0 lead. Freshman midfielder Charlie Trout took the corner and bent the ball into the box where it found the head of defender Robert Younger, who redirected the ball toward the goal. Stoll stood his ground in traffic near the goal mouth and flicked the ball to the back post past NU keeper Misha Rosenthal.
For Stoll, the marker continued what has been a magical postseason run. He has now scored four goals on the year, all coming in the last five matches.
Northwestern pressed hard over the final 15 minutes to level the score, but was unable to break through past Bubonja, who totaled a pair of saves en route to his 11th clean sheet of the season.
The Wildcats' last gasp came with under a minute remaining when NU sent its entire eleven forward on a free kick attempt. The Flames quickly cleared the attempt to Sarachan, who broke free from the pack. The sophomore dribbled the ball down the field and tucked it into an empty net as the clock winded down for his first collegiate goal.
UIC is now 6-0-1 in its last seven matches, allowing just one goal during the stretch.
UIC's third-round appearance marks the best showing by a Horizon League team in 17 years. Evansville represented the Midwestern Collegiate Conference when the Purple Aces reached the semifinals in 1990. The MCC was renamed the Horizon League in 2001.
UIC 0 2 -- 2
Northwestern 0 0 -- 0
UIC -- Kevin Stoll (Charlie Trout, Robert Younger,), 71:43
UIC -- Ian Sarachan (unassisted), 89:52
Shots: UIC 9, NU 8
Saves: UIC (Bubonja 2, team 1) 3, NU (Rosenthal) 1
Corner Kicks: UIC 5, NU 2
Fouls: UIC 17, NU 10
Offsides: UIC 1, NU 1
SMU 0 0 -- 0
Creighton 2 1 -- 3
CU -- Tim Bohnenkamp (Tony Schmitz), 5:13
CU -- Andrei Gotsmanov (eff Thayer), 36:52
CU -- Mo Travis (Sam Eid, Tucker Sindlinger), 86:06
Shots: SMU 17, CU 16
Saves: SMU (Sandbo) 3, CU (Allen) 6
Corner Kicks: SMU 2, CU 5
Fouls: SMU 20, CU 24
Offsides: SMU 1, CU 1
