Nov. 2, 2001
Norfolk, VA-The Old Dominion University men's soccer team will be bringing their home schedule to a close on Saturday, November 3 when they host the Penn State Nittany Lions (#18 SoccerTimes/ #23 NSCAA).
The Monarchs, currently 7-5-2 and the frontrunner in the CAA, will be looking to pick up another win in just their second ever meeting with Penn State. ODU won the first match back in 1989, 1-0. The Monarchs will be led by sophomore forward Attila Vendegh (Bratislava, Slovakia), who is ranked fifth nationally in points per game and sixth in goals per game.
Penn State enters the contest with an 11-3-1 mark and has one of the premier players in the country in senior Ricardo Villar, who has six goals and 12 assists. Villar, who ranks second in the nation for assists, is also nominated for the Hermann Trophy, which is given each year to the best collegiate soccer player in the country.
In addition to dealing with Villar, ODU head coach Alan Dawson will be seeing a familiar face on the Penn State sideline tomorrow night. PSU head coach Barry Gorman was Dawson's high school physical education teacher in Belfast, Ireland.
Saturday night will also be the final home game for two Old Dominion seniors, defender Adam Colborne (Greensboro, NC) and Carlos Mendes (Mineola, NY). Colborne earned second-team All-CAA honors last year and should pick up more post-season awards in 2001. Mendes took home first-team All-CAA, All-State and All-South Atlantic Region honors in 2000.