Jan. 9, 2006
Old Dominion men's soccer continued to set program milestones during the 2005 season. ODU secured a #10 seed and a first round bye for the NCAA tournament, with that seed eclipsing the previous high of #12 set by the 2004 Monarchs. The Monarchs made their fourth straight appearance in the second round of the NCAA tourney, saw three team members win major conference end of the year awards, and upped their consecutive regular season home unbeaten streak to 32 matches before it was snapped. Head Coach Alan Dawson saw his team go 2-1-1 against ACC competition during regular season play, and achieve a #2 overall national ranking at one point during the season.
ODU got off to a fast start in 2005, only losing one match in their first 15 contests. The season opener saw Old Dominion come out on top 2-1 at the ODU Soccer Stadium. Freshman midfielder Trevor Banks made an impressive collegiate debut, scoring both Monarch goals in that match. The following weekend, ODU hosted the 30th annual Stihl Classic, and came in second due to tiebreakers following their 1-0 blanking of Rhode Island and a scoreless 0-0 tie to Clemson. A 4-3 victory over Elon would give the Monarchs a 3-0-1 record until they finally dropped their first decision of the year to then #2 North Carolina 2-1.
Soon after the Tarheel setback, the Monarchs ran off five consecutive shutout victories, including a 3-0 home victory over then #4 Virginia. During that streak, ODU won their first three conference matches over UNC-Wilmington, Georgia State, and Delaware. The winning streak was snapped in a regionally televised contest with Drexel that saw the Dragons earn a 1-1 stalemate. ODU would shut out their next three conference opponents, taking Northeastern 1-0, Hofstra 1-0, and Virginia Commonwealth 2-0. The VCU match would mark Old Dominion's 32nd consecutive home regular season unbeaten result. James Madison would snap that streak when they left Norfolk with a 2-1 overtime upset. Dawson's squad would regroup following the upset, and won their last three regular season conference contests, all on the road, over George Mason, Towson, and William & Mary.
Old Dominion finished the regular season with a sterling 14-2-2 (9-1-1 CAA) mark, and earned the privilege of being the top seed in the CAA tournament by finishing as regular season champions. ODU knocked off #5 seed UNC-Wilmington 2-1 when senior forward Brian Cvilikas scored the game-winner in the 79th minute of action. # 2 seed Hofstra was ODU's opponent in the CAA final for the second straight year, and the Monarchs would once again drop a 1-0 decision to the Pride.
The Monarchs earned their fourth straight at-large berth in the NCAA tournament, grabbing a program high #10 seed, and earned the right to host a second round contest. Perennial national power Wake Forest, who advanced on the strength of a 2-0 defeat of South Carolina, edged the Monarchs 2-1 in windy conditions. The Demon Deacons jumped out to a 2-0 lead, before junior forward Edson Elcock made things interesting with a late goal in the 83rd minute of play. Wake Forest would hold off several strong Monarch advances in the latter moments of the game to pull off the victory.
Many Monarchs earned individual accolades through the course of the season. Cvilikas was named CAA Player of the Year, Banks was named CAA Rookie of the Year, and Dawson earned CAA Coach of the Year honors for the fourth time. Elcock, senior goalkeeper John Connelly, and senior defender Trevor McEachron were all named to the All-CAA first team. For McEachron, who made a highly successful comeback in 2005 from seven knee operations, it was his third time being named to the First team. Sophomore defender David Horst was named to the All-CAA second team after being named to the All-Rookie team in 2004. Finally, Banks and sophomore defender Yomby William were named to the All-Rookie team.
Cvilikas was named College Soccer News and Soccer America National Player of the Week, along with CAA Player of the Week after scoring four goals in two games against Virginia and Davidson. Banks was named CAA Rookie of the Week after he scored both Monarch goals in their 2-1 win over N.C. State, William earned their same honor after shutting down Rhode Island and Clemson's top scorers during the Stihl Classic, and freshman midfielder Bobby Foglesong brought home Rookie of the Week accolades for scoring the game-winner against William & Mary in the regular season finale.
Cvilikas would lead the team and the conference in scoring with 30 points (15 goals) and ranks 4th all-time in school history with 32 career goals. Banks wound up with 15 points (6 goals, 3 assists) to finish 2nd on the team in that category. Elcock tied Banks for 2nd on team in goals scored with 6. Connelly finished first in the conference in goals against average (0.67), shutouts (11), and shutouts per game (0.52), only allowing 14 goals in 21 games.