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Men's Soccer NCAA Recaps
NCAA Recaps

	Arthur Ivo, SMU

Nov. 20, 2011

IRVING, Texas -

The Conference USA men’s soccer season came to an end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday night. UCF dropped a double-overtime decision to USF, SMU fell by a goal against defending national champion Akron and UAB fell to Charlotte. 2011 was the second consecutive season that C-USA sent four teams to the NCAA Tournament.

Akron 3, SMU 2

DALLAS -- The SMU men's soccer team was defeated, 3-2, by No. 10 Akron in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday night at Westcott Field. Redshirt freshman Tyler Engel and senior Arthur Ivo scored for the Mustangs. SMU finishes the season with a 13-7-1 record.

Akron opened the scoring with a goal from leading scorer Darren Mattocks in the 22nd minute when he headed in a cross from DeAndre Yedlin. The Zips made it 2-0 in the 63rd minute when Luke Holmes scored on a free kick from 28 yards out. Mattocks added another goal in the 76th minute when he slipped the ball inside of the far post for a 3-0 Akron lead.

Engel put the Mustangs on the board with his goal in the 83rd minute. The ball was headed on to him and Engel tucked the ball inside of the right post from four yards out. The goal was Engel's fourth of the season.

Thirty-four seconds later, Engel was maneuvering through the box when he was taken down by an Akron defender, giving SMU a penalty kick. Ivo converted the opportunity, netting his team-leading 10th goal of the year. The senior finished the season with a team-high 30 points (10 goals, 10 assists) on the season. He finishes his career with 68 points in 71 career games.

SMU pressed and had several chances late, but the Mustangs were unable to complete the comeback.

USF 2, UCF 1 (OT)

TAMPA, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) – Playing in the NCAA Championship second round for the second-straight year, the UCF men’s soccer team fell in heartbreaking fashion, 2-1 in overtime, to No. 7 seed USF Sunday at Corbett Soccer Stadium. Wesley Chapie scored in the 95th minute to give the Bulls the victory.

The Knights, who played valiantly all evening in front of a stadium-record 3,029 fans, end the year at 12-6-3 overall. On Sunday, the Knights finished with a 12-5 edge in shots, and had seven corner kicks, compared to two for USF.

Chapie sent the Bulls (13-3-3) to the third round when he headed in a score inside the box past Sebastian Evers off a feed from Sebastien Thuriere. USF will face either New Mexico or Duke next week in Tampa.

The Knights had three corner kicks during the last minute of regulation, and Eduardo Jimenez had a shot inside the box that was blocked with less than 10 seconds on the clock.

The Bulls scored thanks to an own goal in the 69th minute, but the Knights responded two minutes later when Ben Hunt recorded a goal off of a Nik Robson corner kick. Robson landed the ball inside the box, and Hunt turned and fired to even the match.

With six minutes remaining in the second half, UCF was whistled for a foul in the box, but USF’s Leston Paul was unable to capitalize as his penalty kick hit the post.

The hosts threatened to score two minutes into the second half, but Evers knocked away a few shots after a corner from Morten Benestad.

UCF was playing without All-Conference USA First Team midfielder Warren Creavalle, who was unable to take the field due to an injury the senior suffered during the Knights’ 1-0 double overtime first-round win over Florida Gulf Coast Thursday.

The Knights had several scoring opportunities during the scoreless, yet entertaining first half, including one 10 minutes into the match, but USF goalkeeper Chris Blais made a diving save of a Jimenez free kick. McKauly Tulloch took a pair of shots in the first half, and had a one-on-one with Blais after securing a pass from A.J. Nelson, but the goalkeeper made the stop.

Blais finished with five saves in the winning effort. Last year, he played at Michigan and picked up the victory when the Wolverines held off the Knights in the second round of the championship.

Charlotte 3, UAB 1

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The No. 11 UAB men’s soccer team dropped a 3-1 decision to Charlotte in the 2011 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship second round, which was played in front of 2,214 fans at West Campus Field in Birmingham, Ala. on Sunday night. With the loss, the Blazers finish an outstanding season with a final record of 13-5-3 overall.

Charlotte wasted no time getting on the board first when senior forward Evan James scored his fifth goal of the season just 43 seconds into the contest. James’ goal was set up by a low cross from Giuseppe Gentile that found the streaking James right in front of goal. James calmly deposited the ball past UAB goalkeeper Carl Woszczynski and into the back of the net for the early 1-0 lead.

It was the same exact scenario for the 49ers to begin the second half. This time, the goal was scored only 1:16 into the second half. Charlotte’s T.J. Beaulieu sent a through ball to the feet of Jennings Rex, who then slipped the ball past Woszczynski and into the lower right corner for a 2-0 Charlotte advantage.

Just over three minutes later, at the 49:24 mark, the 49ers extended their lead to a three-goal advantage when Beaulieu took a pass from Isaac Caughran and drilled a shot past Woszczynski for an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

But the Blazers would not go down without a fight. UAB answered just under a minute later, at the 50:36 mark, when junior Kofi Gyawu sent a long cross to the back post that found a wide open Chase Wickham. The Vancouver, B.C. native then snapped a header into the right side of the net to cut the Charlotte lead to 3-1.

UAB had another couple solid scoring opportunities in the 64^th minute and the 70^th minute. However, two different Charlotte defenders each made a team save with its goalkeeper out of position in both instances, keeping the 49er lead at two goals.

The Blazers end the 2011 campaign with a final record of 13-5-3. The 13 victories are the most for a UAB team since winning 15 matches in 2001.

More information about these matches and your favorite team can be found on the school web sites:

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