Sept. 17, 2012
NORFOLK, VA--The unbeaten ODU Soccer Monarchs (6-0) hosts Maryland (5-0-1) Tuesday night at the ODU Soccer Complex. All tickets for the 7 p.m. contest are $3.
"All of our focus is on Maryland. Depending on what poll you look at they're either No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation," head coach Alan Dawson said. "More importantly for us they are No. 1 in our region. We trail them at No. 2 in the region. This is a great opportunity for us to see where we're at in terms of the national scene and to make a statement at home. We're very much looking forward to playing in front of our own fans on our own pitch." Dawson has led the Monarchs to the second round of the NCAA College Cup eight of the last 10 years and has 306 career collegiate wins.
ODU, fresh off its win at No.2 Creighton over the weekend ranks fourth nationally by College Soccer news and 13th by TopdrawerSoccer.com while the Terps are No. 1 by TopDrawersoccer and No. 2 by College soccer News. The NSCAA/Coaches and Soccer America polls come out Tuesday afternoon. Maryland was No. 3 and No. 1 respectively last week in those two polls.
The Terps are led in scoring by junior forward Patrick Mullins with two goals, six assists for 10 points, followed by freshman midfielder Shillo Tshuma and senior John Stertzer with four goals each, and junior forward Jake Pace with three goals and two assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Keith Cardona has allowed only four goals and has a 0.77 goals against average.
The Terps Head Coach Sasho Cirovski has been at Maryland since 1993, leading the Terps to the 2008 and 2005 NCAA titles, six College Cup appearances, and four ACC titles. He was the 2005 NSCAA National Coach of the Year. Thus far this season, Maryland has beaten nationally ranked Louisville, California, Boston College, and N.C. State along with a tie against UCLA.
Leading ODU in scoring is Tim Hopkinson with seven goals, four assists for 18 total points, followed by senior co-captain Chris Harmon with four goals, four assists for 12 points and Jordan LeBlanc with four goals, two assists for 10 points. Senior Goalkeeper Victor Francoz has allowed only four goals and has a 0.68 goals against average. ODU has beaten two nationally ranked teams, Creighton and CentralFlorida, both on the road.
Maryland leads the series, 10-4-1. The two last met in 2007 with the Terps winning, 1-0. Maryland last played at ODU on Aug. 25, 2006 as the then No. 1 ranked Terps defeated No. 18 ODU, 2-0 in front of 3,331. The Monarchs last defeated the Terps in 1993, 2-1.
The last top five nationally ranked teams to visit the ODU Soccer Complex were: No. 2 North Carolina on Sept. 28 of 2010 (ODU won 2-1); No. 1 Maryland on Aug. 25, 2006 (No. 20 ODU lost 2-0); No. 4 Virginia (No. 18 ODU wins, 3-0); No. 5 Wake Forest on Sept. 21, 2003 (No. 7 ODU wins, 2-0); No. 5 JMU on Oct. 7, 1995 (ODU wins, 1-0), No. 2 UCLA on Sept. 28, 1992 ODU Metlife Classic (ODU loses, 1-0) and No. 2 Virginia in 1984 (ODU loses 1-0) at Foreman Field.
The match will also be video streamed by Monarch Media on www.odusports.com with Director of Broadcasting Ted Alexander providing the play-by-play and former Monarch Greg Mottinger ('06) providing the color.