Sept. 21, 2012
NORFOLK, VA--The ODU Soccer Monarchs (6-0) begin play in its final season in the CAA Saturday afternoon at Drexel (3-2-1). Game time is 4 p.m.at Vidas Field in Philadelphia, PA.
ODU, who has beaten two nationally ranked teams on the road ranks fourth nationally by Soccer America and College Soccer News, 8th by Soccer Times, and 11th by the NSCAA/Coaches. In the South Atlantic Region, ODU is second behind Maryland. The Maryland game was postponed due to a rain storm and wet grounds after getting only 22 minutes in the first half.
The Dragons are led by Fabio Marchado who has a team best four assists, while Matheus Goncalves leads a balanced scoring attack with two goals. In the net is Tim Washam with a 1.10 goals against average and two shutouts. Drexel has beaten Air Force, Lehigh, and Lafayette with losses to Virginia and La Salle, with a tie against Denver.
ODU leads the series with Drexel, 8-1-3. Last year, the two teams fought to a 1-1 tie. The Dragons lone win over ODU was a 2-1 overtime decision in the 2002 CAA Tournament.
The Soccer Monarchs are led in scoring by 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 has four goals, two assists for 10 total points.
All-American Yannick Smith is tied for The team lead with four assists and has one goal. ODU is averaging 3.5 goals per game with 21 thus far, while senior All-conference goalkeeper Victor Francoz has a 0.68 goals against average along with twoshutouts.
Nationally, Tim Hopkinson is tied with Alex Martinez of NC State for the nation's scoring lead with 18 total points. Harmon is tied for 14th. As a team, ODU is tied with Maryland for second nationally with 21 total goals. Harmon is 12th nationallywith four assists.
SOCCER AMERICA'S TOP 101.Maryland 5-0-12.Notre Dame 7-03.UConn 5-0-14.ODU 6-0-05.UC Santa Barbara 5-0-16.Charlotte 5-0-17.Akron 4-1-28.New Mexico 5-19.UCLA 4-1-110.Marquette 7-0
NSCAA/COACHES1.Maryland2.UConn3.UC Santa Barbara4.Notre Dame5.New Mexico6.Charlotte7.Creighton8.North Carolina9.Georgetown10.Akron11.ODU12.UCLA13.St. John's14.Marquette15.Indiana
COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS TOP 101.UConn2.Maryland3.Notre dame4.ODU5.Charlotte6.North Carolina7.New Mexico8.UCLA9.UC Santa Barbara10.Akron
SOCCER TIMES TOP 101.Maryland2.UConn3.UC Santa Barbara4.Notre Dame5.New Mexico6.North Carolina7.Creighton8.ODU9.St. John's10.Akron