Below is our updated NCAA DMV Soccer rankings through 9/25/2018. We took into account RPI, United Soccer Coaches, TDS, and CSN rankings, as well as a number of different factors such as record, quality wins/losses, head to head, etc. and below is what we came up with. We will try to update this as often as we can, feel free to comment or tweet us with any comments or questions.
It was an exciting college soccer season in 2017 here in the DMV, with plenty to be excited about heading into next year. We’ll also have a new Division I program, Mount Saint Mary’s, competing in the DMV in Fall of 2018.
University of Maryland was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament when they lost in PK’s to a tough University of Albany team, behind an outstanding performance by Albany goalkeeper Danny Vitiello.
There is little doubt that Coach Sasho Cirovski and his squad will be looking to come back stronger next season, and make a return to the College Cup. Graduating seniors include starters Jake Rozhansky and George Campbell, but the good news is that the Terps will be coming into next season with another year of experience under their belts, using the devastating tourney loss at home as motivation. The team is stacked with juniors like Eryk Williamson, Sebastian Elney, Amar Sejdic, Gordon Wild, the list goes on. Donovan Pines and Dayne St Clair will come back even stronger, and the Terps have a pretty decent recruiting class coming in which includes locals Justin Gielen (a dynamic forward from DeMatha who has professional ambitions), as well as defenders Nick Richardson who has been in the u-17 National Team mix and won last year’s Gatorade National Player of the Year…as only a junior…as well as defender Brett Saint Martin, who was voted All-State, All-American, All-Everything. All three players are on Coach Barry Stitz‘s Baltimore Celtic 2000 team, who compete at every level and are one of the best teams in the country.
Georgetown had another successful season under head coach Brian Wiese, winning the Big East Championship and earning a first-round NCAA Tournament bye. The Hoyas lost a heart-breaker at home to SMU in the NCAA tourney with only FOURTEEN seconds left in double overtime, but have an extremely young roster more than capable of returning to national prominence next season, highlighted by Junior standout goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, who was outstanding all season for the Hoyas and seems destined to be a big-time professional goalkeeper once his playing days are over with Georgetown.
VCU was this season’s DMV Cinderella story, beating Maryland at Maryland 3-0 in the regular season, beating Rhode Island twice, and earning a first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament. It was the third NCAA Tournament appearance under 8th-year head coach Dave Giffard, who continues to establish himself as one of the top NCAA Soccer coaches in the country, looking to continue to build the Rams into national contention again next season.
UVA finished the season in the Top 10 in National rankings and will likely come back strong next year like they always do, earning a first-round bye in this year’s NCAA Tournament and finishing the season with a 12-4-5 record in a very tough ACC Conference. The Cavaliers finished with a 12-3-5 record, losing only 3 games despite being ranked number 9 nationally in the NCAA RPI Rankings. The Cavaliers’ Head Coach George Gelnovatch will enter his 23rd season in 2018, and 2017 was his TWENTY SECOND straight NCAA Tournament appearance, an NCAA record.
ODU won Conference USA, won their first-round NCAA Tournament game against NC State, and have a young nucleus in place highlighted by freshman standout midfielder Brandon Purdue. The Monarchs finished with a 13-6-2 record, were ranked 28th in RPI Rankings, and will look to return to the NCAA Tournament for a seventh time in the past nine seasons under head coach Alan Dawson, who has served as ODU’s Head Coach for 21 seasons, making the NCAA Tournament 12 times since taking over in 1997.
William and Mary won the CAA Conference Title and also made the NCAA Tournament, led by Junior striking sensation Antonio Bustamante, who finished the season with 15 goals and 5 assists, and scored FOUR goals in William and Mary’s CAA Quarterfinal game vs Hofstra.
And Virginia Tech also made the NCAA Tournement after a successful season in a tough ACC conference, beating Air Force in the first round before eventually bowing out to Michigan State in the second round.
In total, SEVEN teams from the DC/MD/VA area made the NCAA tournament in 2017, but the prospect of even more teams from the area competing for a spot next season is just as exciting.
George Washington finished with a 9-7-2 record this season, competing in the Atlantic-10 conference. Freshmen Oscar Haynes Brown, Brady O’Connor, Simon Fitch, and Peirce Williams all got valuable minutes this season, and look to take the next step next year as head coach Craig Jones and his coaching staff continue recruiting efforts as they look to continue to build a competitive program in DC.
UMBC competed with a number of teams who made the tournament this season, beating Maryland at home, beating New Hampshire, and beating Albany in the regular season before losing to them in the conference tournament. The Retrievers graduate a few key seniors this year with starters Gregg Hauck, Cormac Noel, Tom Paul, and Sammy Kahsai all making way for younger players to step up next season. Matt Bailey and goalkeeper Ciaran O’Loughlin were both voted to America East All-Rookie team, and with U-17 National Team goalkeeper Quantrell Jones committed to UMBC for next season, the competition every day in training for Coach Pete Caringi’s Retrievers will start from the goal and hopefully work it’s way throughout the rest of the team, as UMBC look for players like Bailey, Tre Pulliam, Tre McCalla, Patrick Jean-Gilles, David Harris, and James Gielen looking to replace the goals that they’ll be losing with Kahsai moving on.
Loyola missed out on an NCAA Tournament spot despite playing an exciting brand of soccer all season. Steve Nichols‘ Greyhounds will come back even stronger next season, with a good young talented squad. Freshman Goalkeeper Chase Vosvick made First-Team Northeast Regional Team as a freshman, as well as Patriot League Rookie of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year. Sophomore Brian Saramago will look to stay healthy in 2018 after being voted First-Team All-Patriot League, and the amount of talent that Coach Nichols has at his disposal next season with guys like Barry Sharifi, Nico Brown, Sam Brown, Josh Fawole, as well as standout incoming center back Jake Dengler, who (last I heard) was set to transfer to Loyola from CCBC-Essex for next season, should see the Greyhounds be in the Nationally-ranked conversation next year.
George Mason, who were receiving votes for National Top 25 at the beginning of the season, will look to bounce back next year with a revamped squad after they graduate six seniors this season and 1 graduate student. One of the graduating seniors are leading scorer Henning Dirks, who scored 10 goals and added 7 assists this season. The Patriots finished with a 5-9-2 record but are very well coached under Head Coach Greg Andrulis, who will be looking to build on this season heading into 2018.
James Madison, who I thought looked very balanced at the beginning of the season, finished the season with a 9-7-3 record but earned some victories against quality opponents this season. They beat William and Mary 4-3 in regular season (before losing to them in Conference Championship Semifinal), beat 15th-ranked UNC Wilmington 2-0, and also defeated an FIU team in preseason who ended up going on to second round of NCAA Tournament before losing to Duke. JMU is only graduating one senior this season, and have a good core group of young players returning, including sophomore midfielder Manuel Ferriol who led the team in scoring with 7 goals, as well as midfielder Ben Dao.
Navy, for as much as we wrote about them in the offseason, were bound to have another difficult season ahead of them as Coach Tim O’Donohue and his coaching staff continue to revamp their squad.
The Midshipmen started four freshmen throughout most of the season, with a number of guys getting valuable minutes heading into next year.
Navy’s recruiting class is looking pretty impressive for next season, with TEN high school seniors currently committed to Navy, including local standout center back Tyler Collins from Mount St Joe’s (also a part of Baltimore Celtic 2000 team), Baltimore Armour U18/19 player Jacob Williams (one of the team’s leading scorers), two outstanding young goalkeepers in Tyler Fahning of Minnesota Thunder Academy, and Johan Penaranda who starts for a very talented NYCFC U18/19 USSDA team. A full list of Navy’s verbal commitments:
But what many don’t realize is that the DMV will have ANOTHER division one program competing in the area next season.
Mount Saint Mary’s, located in Emmitsburg, Maryland, has reinstated their Men’s Soccer program and are returning next season after a few years on hiatus. This is a program which had some success under former head coach Rob Ryerson in the early 2000’s, and will compete in the NEC Northeast Conference.
New head coach Bryan Cunningham, who was formerly the Head Coach at UCF, has a reputation for developing MLS-level talent, including three first-round MLS Draft selections in Romario Williams (2015/1st rd/3rd overall pick), Deshorn Brown (2013/1st rd/6thoverall pick) and Hadji Barry (2016/1st rd/13th overall pick), in addition to current US National Team and NYFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson (2010/4th rd).
We had a quick discussion with Coach Cunningham earlier today, and he is more than excited about the quality of players his program has been recruiting ever since this past January when he took over as head coach.
“We’re very lucky to have the full support of the University. The President and Administration are all very serious about athletics here at the Mount, and we’re very excited about the team we’re putting together. Between the incoming freshmen, JuCo transfers, and other guys coming in, we think we’ll not only be competitive next season, but could make a case to become a Top 25 program.”
Coach Cunningham named Trevor Singer as his assistant coach back in August. Coach Singer was formerly an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at George Mason, who also spent some time at Temple. He has Academy coaching experience with FC Delco, and also serves as a National Team scout within the Region 1 ODP Program.
I asked Coach Cunningham about what he and his coaching staff thought of the quality of talent here in the DMV area, as they continue their local recruiting efforts which have resulted in verbal commitments from players at clubs like DC United, Baltimore Celtic, SAC, Baltimore Armour, and a host of others.
“In Florida, there were tons of quality players in the area from a host of different backgrounds, so we were lucky to have a lot of quality to choose from. We didn’t really have to leave our home market a ton, and here in the DMV area it’s very similar. The quality of talent here in this area is outstanding.”
Coach Cunningham wasn’t able to shed too much light on next season’s team until National Signing Day, but from what we’ve heard and what he tells us off the record, the prospect of ANOTHER Division 1 program competing in the DMV can only help raise the level of play here in the area.
“In terms of non-Conference games, we’re lining some matches up with top local programs and having discussions with a few teams that should see us with a Top 50 schedule next season. We definitely plan on playing local DMV matches, and are excited to compete in an area with so much talent.”
In terms of what to expect from Mount St Mary’s in Coach Cunningham’s first season, don’t expect them to park the bus every match either.
“We’re going to to attack. We’re not going to stay defensive and grind away to get results. I’d rather go 0-18 and play the right way, then have a winning season sitting in all match. Obviously I don’t expect us to go 0-18 with the amount of speed and athleticism we’ll have next season, but look for us to knock the ball and look to attack from the start”.
Between the seven teams that made it to the NCAA Tournament this season (Virginia, Georgetown, VCU, Virginia Tech, Maryland, ODU, William and Mary), the teams who competed this past season and look to take the next step in 2018 (Loyola, GW, UMBC), and the teams rebuilding through youth who are looking to play an attacking style of soccer next season (Navy, Mount Saint Mary’s, American U), there is a lot to be excited about heading into Spring NCAA Soccer and leading into next Fall.
Be sure to keep following us on Twitter @dmvsoccerdotcom as we’ll keep you updated on recruiting efforts for all DMV NCAA programs.
With Week 3 of the NCAA College Soccer in the books, a number of local D1 programs put together impressive results. Here’s our weekly college soccer recap for week 3, and of course follow us on Twitter for more up-to-date announcements like conference players of the week, coaches’ poll updates, and more.
Loyola defeated Villanova on Saturday night in front of their home crowd, 1-0. Goal was scored by sophomore Barry Sharifi.
Take a bow, Barry Sharifi! The sophomore put @LoyolaMSOC on the board with a header off a Gabriel Carlsson corner! @PatriotLeagueTV pic.twitter.com/0IwUiTOEeF
— Loyola Greyhounds (@LoyolaHounds) September 10, 2017
Freshman goalkeeper Chase Vosvick earns his third clean-sheet of the season, as Loyola remains on top of the Patriot League standings.
Up next for Loyola: 3 straight away games against SMU (9/15), Colgate (9/22, a Patriot League match), and Cleveland State (9/25) before returning home to face Navy on 9/30.
Speaking of Patriot League….
In Navy’s prior match vs Campbell, Coach Tim O’Donohue’s side went up 1-0 in the first half but was unable to hold on, losing the match in double OT.
On Saturday at home against a quality JMU side, Navy took another first-half lead thanks to a goal from Daniel Zaremba. It looked like a possible case of deja vu for Navy as JMU equalized in the second half, Tim Estermann scoring the goal for JMU in the 55th minute. However, Coach O’Donohue’s young side which started 4 freshmen continued to battle, taking a 2-1 lead in the 85th minute thanks to a goal by senior Aubrey Jones, assisted by freshman playmaker Jarvian Wigfall. 3 minutes later, freshman Nicko West who provided a spark off of the bench tucked home a beautiful header from fellow freshman Toni Adewole to give the Midshipmen their first win of the season.
Navy will host George Washington on Wednesday night, 7:00pm at Navy with GW coming off of 8 days’ rest. Should be a good one.
JMU drop to 2-2-1 and will host Niagra on Friday night before taking on Radford at home next Wednesday.
Maryland played 4th-ranked Indiana on Friday night at home in College Park, with the Terps battling to a 0-0 tie. They take on Rutgers at home on Tuesday night before traveling to Penn State on Sunday to start a three-game road trip. Maryland is currently ranked #5 in the Nation and are undefeated.
Georgetown hosted UConn on Saturday, battling to a 2OT 1-1 draw. Senior Christopher Lema scoring the goal for the Hoyas, who remain undefeated heading into their away match at Xavier next Saturday at 7pm.
UMBC rebounded from a 5-2 Loss at Villanova by defeating Monmouth 2-1 in an overtime thriller on Saturday night. Monmouth took the lead early in the second half, but senior Cormac Noel was able to equalize for the Retrievers with DMV Freshman Matthew Bailey recording his first collegiate assist.
In overtime, senior Gregg Hauck scored the game winner after only 1:34 of overtime action to give Coach Caringi and squad an enjoyable bus ride home from New Jersey following the win.
Up Next for UMBC: They host undefeated WVU at home on Wednesday night, 7pm at Retrievers Park before taking on GW on Saturday in DC, 2:00pm.
George Mason improved to 3-1-1 this season following their entertaining 4-3 Overtime victory against Binghamnton Friday night in Fairfax, VA. Goalscorers for GMU: Henning Dirks, Ryan Mingachos, Noah Kemble, and Ryan Mingachos again, grabbing his brace and the game-winner in the 97th minute.
Up next for George Mason: They host WVY next Saturday, 7:00pm in Fairfax.
We are going to try our best to also cover some local D3 and Junior College programs moving forward as well. This is a guest post from Shobha Kondragunta, Ph.D, a local soccer enthusiast.
Graeme Millar, the newly-appointed head coach of the men’s soccer program, is not new to coaching. He successfully oversaw the women’s program at Stevenson for 10 years with multiple post-season tournament appearances, including two conference titles in 2010 and 2014. Millar was also a fixture in the Maryland Olympic Development Program in the 2000s, contributing to the growth of youth soccer in the state.
Millar takes over the losing men’s program (2-6 in Middle Atlantic Conference last year) with expectations to bring immediate success.
Stevenson Mustangs incoming freshmen class boasts high-caliber players who have begun to make an immediate impact, after former head coach Andrew Bordelon (currently an assistant at D1 program Northern Illinois) and staff hit the recruiting circuit hard last season.
The Mustangs are 1-2-1 in the season so far, following a draw against York on Sunday and a competitive 3-2 loss to Gettsyburg the day prior, but the number of goals the team is scoring is already progress from last season. DMV freshmen Tariq Lee (Baltimore Armour and Pipeline), Dylan Holly (Archbishop Curley),Jordan Fields (Pipeline) combined well to find the back of the net in a tough away match versus Gettysburg on Friday 9/8. While Lee’s goal was unassisted, Holly scored off a corner kick from Fields.
Fields’ first goal of the season came in a tough overtime 3-2 loss to Hampden-Sydney on September 3rd.
Mustangs started their season with a 2-1 win over Washington and are away at York on Saturday 9/9 which ended in a 0-0 draw despite two over time periods.
They play Randolph-Macon at home on Wednesday 9/13.
Goucher College Gophers are 3-2 so far this season, with Landmark Conference games yet to be played. Coached by Bryan Laut (in his 8th season), they are a program that relies heavily on the two senior center backs, Drew Philips (all conference second team last season) and Scott Mt. Pleasant (Clifton Park, New York), not only to defend but also be the attacking duo during set pieces.
Gophers started the season with a tough game against top-ranked cross-town rivals Johns Hopkins Blue Jays, losing 2-0. The following game against Mt. Aloysius (Allegheny Mountain College Conference) was a tough 2-1 loss in an overtime thriller. The Gophers mounted a comeback this week with a tough schedule of three games in four days. After beating Cairn (2-0) at home on Wednesday 9/6, they traveled to Gwynedd Valley, PA to play Gwynedd Mercy for a 1-0 win on Friday 9/8. On Saturday, the Gophers defeated Rosemont 3-0 with goals scored by Brandon Cohen, Luke Newsome, and Konrad Bulanowski.
DMV player Vinay Chandra (Baltimore Celtic and Baltimore Armour) got his first start of the season Friday 9/8, and was a nemesis for Gwynedd defense drawing fouls and free kick opportunities for Gophers.
Gophers travel to Reading, PA to play Alvernia on Wednesday 9/13. The first conference game for Gophers is at home vs Juanita on September 23rd. Key conference matches versus Catholic, Scranton, and Moravian will dictate if Gophers will be contenders for post season play or remain on the outside.
Frostburg soccer was very active for over a year hitting the recruitment circuit hard. Former assistant coach Kevin Mccarthy (now at D2 California State San Marcos) managed to recruit 13 players for this year’s incoming freshmen class, mostly from the DMV area. Notable recruits include Randy Putnam (Baltimore Celtic) and others who have not yet cut into the starting lineup or earned significant game minutes yet.
Coming off a 4-4-1 record in Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) in 2016, Frostburg started the season by hosting a tournament and participating in the Rutgers-Camden tournament in New Jersey. Bobcats fell to The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) 1-0, tied the game vs Mount St. Joseph 0-0, and lost to the Johns Hopkins 3-0. Bobcats traveled to New Jersey on Saturday 9/9 to play Rutgers-Camden to a 3-3 draw in double overtime; two goals from freshman Logan Imbraguglio (Westminister, MD) and sophomore Josh McRobie (Gambrils, MD). Unfortunately, in Sunday action, the Bobcats lost a 7-0 match against #17 Rowan, They’ll travel to Altoona, PA on Wednesday to take on Penn State Altoona.
Catholic University Cardinals opened the 2017 season with a 2-1 win (vs Caroll), a 5-2 loss (vs. York), and a 0-0 draw (vs. Mary Washington). DMV players Nick Battaglia (Pipeline) and Franco Caltabiano (Baltimore Celtic) are both freshmen who saw match minutes in the games with Battaglia making the starting lineup in all three games.
The Cardinals, coached by Travis Beauchamp (in his 11th season), struggled last year in their conference play (1-6) which included a 2-0 loss to local rival Goucher. It is unclear if the nine freshmen recruited will have an impact and boost performance. Freshmen Battaglia and Caltabiano are both defenders from top club programs who can fortify the defenses but do the Cardinals have the offensive power? Last season, Cardinals posted the least number of goals (19 compared to title winner Elizabethtown’s 46) in the Landmark conference.
Pre-season poll places Catholic in the 4th place in Landmark conference clearing the way for post season play but the early 5-2 loss to York doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season.
CCBC-Essex posted an impressive 5-2 win on Saturday night in a dominating performance against Nationally-ranked PG Community College. Goal scorers were Edwin Navas, Carols Guzman-Hernan, and Logan Funk in the first half. In the second-half, CB Jake Dengler pitched in for two more goals, including a belter of a free kick from distance:
On a mission 🏆👀 #pingszn pic.twitter.com/xzlkh0cEUy
— JD24 (@JakeDengler6) September 10, 2017
Other DMV Area Schools in D3 Conferences:
Johns Hopkins Blue Jays 4-0-0 and have yet to let up a goal this season. They take on York on Wednesday, 7:00pm at home.
Mary Washington 2-1-1
St. Mary’s College of Maryland 3-2, play Catolic at home on Thursday, 4:00pm
Hood College 3-2-0 take on Rowan on Wednesday, 6:00pm at home
We’ve reached the end of Week 2 of the 2017 NCAA Men’s College Soccer season, with two DMV-area teams (University of Maryland, #5 in the country in the most recent United Soccer Coaches’ Poll, and Georgetown, #18) remaining undefeated and nationally-ranked.
Also included in the most recent coaches’ poll is University of Virginia, with Loyola and Virginia Tech also receiving votes. Old Dominion dropped out of the Top 25 following Friday’s 5-3 home loss to Saint Francis (PA), and Sunday’s 1-1 Overtime draw against Iona.
Here’s a recap of some of last week’s DMV College Soccer results:
Terps Keep Rollin’
Since our first NCAA College Soccer recap last week, Sasho Cirovski’s #5 Nationally-ranked University of Maryland side have posted three straight home victories: a 2-0 win vs Hofstra on Monday 8/28, a 3-2 overtime-thriller against a UCLA side which came into College Park ranked #15 in the country, and on Monday a 1-0 victory against Cal Poly.
Terps’ junior striker Gordon Wild, who came into the season on the shortlist of Hermann Trophy candidates, scored in all three matches: a free kick against Hofstra, a penalty kick against UCLA, and another penalty on Monday night vs Cal Poly.
Also continuing his impressive season was senior Jake Rozhansky, who looks as creative in midfield as he does clinical when in front of goal. Rozhansky served up a picture-perfect assist for Maryland’s game-winning goal vs UCLA, scored by junior Sebastian Elney:
How About That One Time Ball From @Jroz12 Before @Sebastian_Elney Puts Away UCLA! #ThreadTheNeedle pic.twitter.com/A8x2g4vros
— DMV Soccer (@DMVsoccer96) September 2, 2017
And continued to pull the strings on Monday vs Cal Poly:
HT consideration: This gem of a pass from Jake Rozhansky. pic.twitter.com/z8rFDWaSMZ
— Shourjya Mookerjee (@shourjya_) September 5, 2017
Coach Cirovski was forced to test the depth of his team this past week, with the Terps playing 3 games in only 7 days. Three players: defenders Johannes Bergmann, George Campbell (Baltimore, MD, went to Mcdonogh), and Chase Gasper (Alexnadria, VA, played at Gonzaga and also played at Bethesda-Olney along with Jake Rozhansky) played all 188 minutes of the Terps’ first two games. In the overtime win against UCLA, Gordon Wild also played all 98 minutes, along with Jake Rozhansky and Gordon Wild. Maryland starting Goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair was in goal for the entirety of all three matches.
That being said, on Monday against Cal Poly, Coach Cirovski was forced to give some guys a rest. Freshman defender Ben Di Rosa (Bethesda Academy) got the start against Cal Poly, and sophomore defender Miles Stray (Real Salt Lake Academy player and former U17 USYNT residency program player) also stepped up, starting the match and playing 73 minutes.
Eryk Williamson also logged big minutes in all three matches, and assisted on the second goal vs UCLA which was scored by Eric Matzelevich.
The most impressive part of this University of Maryland side is the depth at the coaching staff’s disposal, with a handful of nationally-coveted former youth players still not seeing much time.
Up next for University of Maryland: a Friday night lights showdown with University of Indiana, currently undefeated and ranked number 4 in the country (one above Maryland). The two teams will battle for top spot in Big Ten standings.
Unbeaten Hoyas
Georgetown head coach Brian Wiese must be delighted with the way his team has started the season, posting an impressive 3-1 win versus Cal Poly on Friday before defeating nationally-ranked UCLA at Shaw Field on Monday.
Georgetown’s impressive 4-0-0 record to start the season sees them ranked #18 in the country, scoring 9 goals and only allowing 1 goal thus far. Junior standout goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski was named Big East Goalkeeper of the Week, with fellow junior Peter Schropp also named to the Big East team of the week as a defender.
Sophomore forward Ifunanyachi Achara, who is originally from Nigeria but has an impressive youth soccer background from his days in Massachusetts, sat out most of last season with an injury after being named preseason all-freshman team by TDS.
How’s this for a comeback season so far?
In Georgetown’s first match, against American (Georgetown win 2-0), he comes on as a sub in the first half and scores. In the Hoyas’ second match against #19-ranked Coastal Carolina at home, he gets the start and scores again, late in the second half in a 3-0 victory.
On Friday, against Cal Poly, he scores the first two goals in a 3-1 victory, before turning around three days later and registering six shots, five on goal, and scoring the lone goal in the Hoyas’ 1-0 victory against the Nationally-ranked Bruins.
Easy money for Achara scoring his 5th goal of the year. Hoyas up 1-0 early vs. #15 UCLA. pic.twitter.com/mcnJIMdLMF
— Georgetown Soccer (@GUHoyasMSoccer) September 4, 2017
Achara has scored in every game so far this season, and is currently tied for most goals in the country with 5. When you look at Georgetown’s stats, he consistently leads both teams in shots and shots on goal, and appears to be a force to be reckoned with for the Hoyas, who currently sit on top of the Big East standings.
Up Next for Georgetown: at Uconn on Saturday night, 7pm
Midshipmen Making Progress
When we were at Navy’s soccer camp this summer, I was impressed with the atmosphere that second-year Navy head coach Tim O’Donohue was building. With a summer coaching staff that included coaches from Everton, Genk, Rangers, and Philadelphia Union, along with an impressive young Navy coaching staff that includes Alex Yi, Paul Killian, and Zach Bowman, it’s obvious that the Navy program is making progress, but nothing happens overnight. O’Donohue’s coaching staff has hit the recruiting trail HARD since coming on board, making appearances at practically every major USSDA event.
As a result, Coach “OD” is attempting to re-build the Navy Soccer program from the ground up, starting 4 freshmen Thursday night when I went to Annapolis to watch them take on a Campbell side which is currently #1 in the Big South conference.
The Midshipmen got on the board early, freshman Phillip Gustafson with a quality finish in the 7th minute to put Navy up 1-0. However, they were unable to hold on in the second half, dropping to a Campbell team with a host of attacking options 2-1 in overtime.
Navy has been forced to make a number of adjustments early on in the season, with senior captain Brock Dudley being forced to play center back (versus his preferred CDM position) due to injury.
But what really stood out, to me, was that five freshmen were on the field at one time in the first half vs Campbell, with Coach OD starting 4 freshmen in a 4-4-2 diamond formation.
The freshman include:
These young freshmen, along with two nationally-ranked local recruits coming in next season, could make Navy an exciting young team to watch in coming seasons.
Up Next for Navy: A DMV Matchup against a tough JMU side on Saturday morning, 11am at Annapolis.
UMBC beat Howard 3-0 in front of a record crowd at Retriever park. Lost to Villanova away this past weekend, 5-2. Nova was 3-2 up until 80th minute when they got two late goals on the counter. UMBC will play Monmouth away on Saturday, 7pm.
Loyola tied William and Mary 0-0, lost to Pitt 1-0 in a hard-fought match at home. Currently 2nd in Patriot League standings, take on Villanova on Saturday at home, 7pm. In last week’s college recap, we may have singled out Loyola CB Mickey Watson after watching him play vs St John’s. Watson had an outstanding match against Pitt, looking much more composed on the ball and making a number of quality tackles and interceptions. Congrats to Watson for being named to Patriot League team of the week, along with Freshman goalkeeper Chase Vosvick. Congrats to both players.
GW lost to St Francis Brooklyn 3-1 on Friday night. It looked like they might have bounced back against a quality William and Mary side yesterday, going up 1-0 in the 69th minute (goal scored by Oscar Haynes Brown), but were unable to hold on in a 2-1 defeat. Will face off against Navy in Annapolis next Wednesday (9/13) at 7pm.
JMU and William and Mary are both in the hunt in the CAA. JMU has only lost one game this season (Sunday, 2-1 loss to Pacific). William and Mary’s only loss was a 1-0 away defeat to Michigan.
JMU takes on Navy (at Navy) Saturday at 11am, which should be a great match to go watch. JMU has looked very balanced when I’ve had the privilege of watching them this season.
W&M travel to Philadelphia on Saturday for their first taste of conference league action against Drexel, 7pm.
We’ve obviously been tweeting out results and updates from our DMVSoccer.com Twitter feed, but after watching so many local teams in action this past week (and in the preseason), we thought we would share a few things that we noticed while watching local college teams compete in what was the first week of action for many local D1 programs.
Defeated Bryant 1-0
Next Match: Monday at home vs Howard, 7pm
After defeating Bucknell and James Madison in preseason action, Head Coach Pete Caringi‘s UMBC squad opened their season on Friday night at home against a Bryant University side which finished with a 3-10-3 record last season, but was picked to finish fourth in NEC preseason coaches’ poll.
I was able to watch all three of UMBC’s matches so far. Against Bucknell, they won 2-0 but it could have been closer to 3 or 4. Former Archbishop Curley standout, sophomore Tre Pulliam, had a goal called back in that match, and in the second half especially, it seemed like the Retrievers were in on goal on a number of occasions.
Against tougher opponents like JMU and Bryant, scoring goals and creating chances weren’t as easy. Against JMU, a first-half penalty scored by senior Sammy Kahsai (from Hyattsville, played at Northwestern HS) was the difference, as Caringi’s side grinded out a 1-0 victory in the second half.
In Friday’s season-opener against Bryant, UMBC was off to a very sluggish start in the first half, not creating many chances and having a hard time stringing passes together. However, whatever adjustments or motivational “get your heads out of your @$$es” halftime talk that coach Caringi delivered at the break apparently worked, because UMBC came out firing in the second half. They had a number of corners kicks and set pieces which were nearly converted. Junior center back Kyle Saunderson converted a diving header in the 54′, but UMBC continued to push and dominate the second half.
They do have one weapon in particular which teams will likely struggle to defend throughout the season, a long throw from Saunderson which is on a frozen rope and headed to the far post from anywhere within 25 yards out.
Tre Pulliam provided some fireworks on Friday night, showing that he’s not just a speedy forward looking to get in behind every chance he gets. On two different occasions he turned and took on multiple Bryant defenders, megging them on a few occasions and getting the home crowd into the match. Sophomore Tre McCalla has also showed some skills on the ball in recent matches.
UMBC also has a goalkeeper battle on their hands. Redshirt-freshman Tomas Potts and fellow freshman Ciaran O’Loughlin (from Birkenhead Englandm just outside of Liverpool) were battling for the position, along with redshirt-freshman Hunter Trefny. O’Loughlin got the start on Friday, making 3 saves and earning the clean sheet.
After tonight’s match against Howard, UMBC has a pretty brutal 3-game stretch where they’re away to Villanova and Monmouth, before returning home to face WVU. Coach Caringi and his staff should know a lot more about his team over next few weeks, leading up to their much-anticipated home matchup vs Maryland on September 26th.
Speaking of Maryland…
Defeated Santa Clara 4-2
Next Match: Hofstra on Monday (home, 7pm), UCLA on Friday (home, 7pm)
Sasho Cirovski’s University of Maryland side, who won the Big Ten title last season, was picked to finish sixth in the country in the NCAA Preseason Coaches’ Poll, and it’s obvious why when you look at their roster. Junior forward Gordon Wild, who was a Hermann Trophy finalist last season, was placed on the Hermann Trophy Watch List this preseason. Former DC United Academy standout, Junior Eryk Williamson (from Alexandria, VA), comes off of an impressive performance at the Under-20 World Cup, and looks ready to anchor the Terps’ midfield this season.
On Friday night, the Terps defeated Santa Clara 4-2 in an away match. Senior Jake Rozhansky (Germantown, MD, transferred from University of Virginia) scored two goals, along with goals by Williamson and fellow former DC United Academy standout Freshman, forward Eric Matzelevich (Washington, DC).
It’s obviously a good sign to see so many attacking options for Coach Cirovski in early season action, with Wild, Rozhansky, and Matzelevich looking to impress. Senior midfielder George Campbell (Baltimore, MD, went to McDonogh HS) also played the majority of the match, along with junior midfielders Amar Sejdic, DJ Reeves (Ashton, MD, went to Sherwood HS), and Sebastian Elney.
The Terps have a difficult schedule this season, playing four teams (UCLA, Michigan State, Connecticut, and Indiana) in the Preseason Top 25. They have 5 straight home matches between now and September 17th when they hit the road against Penn State, but look for Coach Cirovski to see what kind of depth he has in his squad over the next few weeks.
Last Matches: Defeated La Salle 5-4 Friday night in Overtime, Defeated Saint John’s 1-0 on Sunday Night
This Week: At William and Mary, Sunday 7pm
Steve Nichols’ Loyola Greyhounds side won their first two games of the season this past week, defeating La Salle 5-4 away and St John’s 1-0 at home.
The five goal scorers on Friday night: Sophomore Barry Sharifi, Freshman Sam Brown, Sophomore Sam Carter, Junior Mickey Watson, and Sophomore Josh Fawole (Columbia,MD and Long Reach HS) all played a part in their second match, a 1-0 victory Sunday night vs St. John’s.
Sophomore forward and former DC United Academy player Nico Brown scored the lone goal on Sunday night, with some great link up play outside of the box with freshman Sam Brown. Loyola freshman goalkeeper Chase Vosvick (Phoenix, MD, Played for Baltimore Bays before attending Montverde Academy in Florida) let up four goals in the season opener vs La Salle, before bouncing back and having a strong performance on Sunday night, earning the clean sheet.
I was able to watch Loyola against St John’s, and thought they played a very entertaining brand of soccer. They try to stretch teams out and knock the ball, and have guys like Josh Fawole, Nico Brown, and Sam Brown who look to get at defenders with pace and attacking intent.
Sophomore forward Brian Saramago, last season’s Patriot League Rookie of the Year and who was picked as Patriot League offensive player of the year, didn’t play on Sunday and saw limited action against La Salle. However, it looks like they have plenty of attacking options to fill the void.
Local freshman midfielders Eddy Rodriguez, Collin Jouan, and TJ Walker will all compete for time at midfield, with Walker looking impressive thus far with his pace and eagerness to both defend and get forward. Sophomore midfielder Barry Sharifi also had impressive moments on the ball, and Loyola’s outside backs Ryan O’Connor and Jake Campbell both has very strong performances vs St. John’s. Center backs may be a cause for concern, Loyola let up 4 goals in their first match and on Sunday vs St John’s, Mickey Watson looks strong in the air, but left his feet and made a few risky slide tackles in Loyola’s own box. There was also a botched clearance from his CB partner which almost resulted in Saint John’s equalizing late in the second half, but Loyola was able to hold on to the result heading into their next matchup on Sunday vs William and Mary.
George Washington Colonials– Lost to Binghamton 4-0 on Friday night, but bounced back with a 1-0 victory against Lehigh yesterday. Baltimore Local and former Calvert Hall player, freshman Brady O’Connor, with the winning goal, a header in the second half. Fellow DMV local freshman Jordan Saint-Louis (Bethesda Academy) was impressive in the match, running at defenders and looking to cause problems. GW head coach Craig Jones is working on finding the right mixture of young guys and upper-classmen. Former DeMatha player, senior Koby Osei-Wusu, started at the 6 vs Lehigh and controlled the midfield for the Colonials, but he could use a more active partner in midfield at the 8. Once Coach Jones and his staff finds out more about his team over the next few matches, including their next contest vs St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday which will be the third straight away match, before returning home to face William and Mary next week.
James Madison- I was able to catch two of JMU’s preseason matches, versus UMBC and GW, and thought they were one of the more balanced teams that I watched. With lots of depth and guys who know how to play, head coach Tom Foley’s squad was able to earn two straight results to start their season, a draw against FIU on Friday night and a 1-0 home victory against Pitt on Sunday. Freshman GK TJ Bush (Herndon, VA), Junior Billy Metzler, and sophomore Niclas Mohr (from Germany) were all named to the Wolstein Classic All-Tournament Team for their performances in JMU’s first two matches.
CCBC-Essex- Bonus Community College coverage coming at ya! On Saturday I went to check out CCBC-Essex take on Louisburg College from North Carolina, with both programs having reputations for developing players who later transfer to D1 programs. CCBC-Essex went ahead 3-0 early, shocking a Louisburg team who just got off of a long bus ride from NC. Freshman Varmah Siryon from Dundalk high school scored two for the Knights, along with Clement Blamo Jr who also played at Dundalk High. Former Baltimore Armour standout center back Jake Dengler made his CCBC-Essex debut, along with fellow freshmen defenders John Assaro (played for Baltimore Armour and Pipeline) and Walter Avila (former Bethesda Academy and Pipeline player). For Louisburg, Fela Osifeso (former Baltimore Armour, Pipeline, and Baltimore Bays player) was excellent throughout the match, and his older brother Tobi Osifeso (also played for Baltimore Armour) scored a wonder goal in the second half, a strike from 20+ yards out.