Nov. 19, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Old Dominion University men's soccer team continues action in the NCAA Tournament as they face 16th seeded Indiana in the second round on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Jerry Yeagley Field at Armstrong Stadium. Sunday’s game marks the first ever meeting between the two teams.
The Monarchs (12-5-2) are coming off a thrilling NCAA first round game on Thursday at the ODU Soccer Complex when they defeated Liberty in a penalty kick shootout, 5-4, to advance. Junior goalkeeper Victor Francoz, junior midfielder Chris Harmon, junior midfielder Jordan LeBlanc, sophomore forward Tim Hopkinson and junior forward Yannick Smith all converted their attempts. After the Flames were able to match each of ODU’s first four goals, Francoz was able to block Liberty’s fifth kick to advance the Monarchs.
ODU entered the week averaging 2.67 goals per contest, which is second in the NCAA this season. Smith leads the team with 16 goals and has added a pair of assists while Hopkinson has netted 10 goals and eight assists on the year with Gideon Asante also contributing seven goals and nine assists. Francoz has started all 19 matches in goal, allowing 25 goals in 1,736 minutes for a 1.30 goals against average.
Indiana (12-3-5) finished fourth in the Big Ten in the regular season and lost in penalty kicks in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals to Northwestern. The Hoosiers are 6-0-3 in their last nine games and have made the NCAA Tournament in 25 consecutive seasons. The seven-time national champions are led by Freshman Eriq Zavaleta who led the Big Ten in goals scored (10), points (25), points per game (1.25) and goals per game (0.50) heading into the Tournament. Sophomore Nikita Kotlov has had the hot foot for the Hoosiers with six goals in his last eight matches.
The game will feature live stats and a free live video feed at ODUSports.com. You can also get updates on Twitter and Facebook at twitter.com/odumenssoccer and facebook.com/odumenssoccer.
The winner of the contest will face the winner of top seeded North Carolina and Coastal Carolina on Sunday, Nov. 27. The 2011 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship will culminate with the College Cup, December 9 and 11, at Regions Stadium in Hoover, Ala.