MSOC Report - Aug. 27
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Chris Harmon • Old Dominion
Sr., Midfielder, Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West
Harmon scored two goals and also had an assist as Old Dominion rolled past Navy 4-0 in its season opener last Saturday. The senior midfielder scored the game-winner in the 37th minute and added an insurance tally in the 79th minute. He also assisted on a Jordan LeBlanc goal.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Alex Vivanco • Georgia State
Sr., Forward, Cumming, Ga./South Forsyth
Vivanco was named the MVP of the Mike Gibbs Memorial Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. after contributing two goals and an assist in a pair of Georgia State road wins. The senior forward had the first two-goal game of his career in the Panthers' 3-1 victory at North Florida and assisted on Gimel Gordon's game-winning goal in a 1-0 triumph at Jacksonville.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
William Mellors-Blair • Georgia State
Fr., Forward, Nottingham, England/Nottingham Bluecoat School
Mellors-Blair assisted on both game-winning goals in Georgia State's road wins at Jacksonville (1-0) and North Florida (3-1) last week. The freshman played the initial cross that led to Gimel Gordon's game-winning goal in the 88th minute at JU and set up a goal by Caleb Kernan at UNF that gave GSU a 2-1 advantage in the 61st minute. He earned all-tournament honors.
CONFERENCE NOTES:
ODU PICKED TO WIN CAA TITLE: Old Dominion, which returns 10 starters from last year's 12-6-2 team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, was an overwhelming favorite to finish atop the CAA standings in 2012 according to a vote of the league's head coaches. The Monarchs received nine first-place votes and 99 total points in the poll. James Madison, which won the CAA regular-season title a year ago, got one first-place vote and was second with 81 points and defending conference champion Delaware was third with 72 points. William & Mary was picked fourth, Northeastern was fifth, George Mason, which got one first-place vote, was sixth and Georgia State was seventh. Rounding out the poll were Hofstra and UNCW (tied for 8th), Drexel and Towson.
ODU'S SMITH, JMU'S WYATT HEADLINE PRESEASON ALL-CAA TEAM: ODU senior forward Yannick Smith and JMU senior midfielder Paul Wyatt, who both earned All-America honors in 2011, were chosen as the CAA preseason Co-Players of the Year in voting by the league's head coaches. Smith led the CAA with 16 goals and 34 points to garner 3rd team All-America accolades, while Wyatt made the NSCAA All-America second team after contributing six goals and three assists. Joining Smith at forward on the preseason All-CAA squad were Towson's Olakunle Banjo, Delaware's Roberto Gimenez and ODU's Tim Hopkinson. Along with Wyatt in the midfield were ODU's Gideon Asante, Northeastern's Dante Marini and Delaware's Vincent Mediate. On defense were Hofstra's Shaun Foster, Georgia State's Chris Locandro and William & Mary's Will Smith. Making the squad at goalkeeper was ODU's Victor Francoz.
VARIETY OF CHAMPIONS: Six different schools have captured the CAA men's soccer championship over the past six years, showing the depth and quality of the conference. Hofstra won the league title in 2006, followed by Old Dominion in 2007, George Mason in 2008, UNCW in 2009, William & Mary in 2010 and Delaware in 2011.
FOUR PLAYERS ON HERMANN WATCH LIST: Four CAA men's soccer players were named to the Watch List for the MAC Hermann Trophy, which is awarded to the nation's top collegiate soccer player. Making the list were Hofstra junior defender Shaun Foster, ODU senior goalkeeper Victor Francoz, ODU senior forward Yannick Smith and JMU senior midfielder Paul Wyatt. In addition, Smith and Wyatt earned preseason All-America honors from Soccer America and Foster, Smith and Wyatt were selected to the College Soccer News preseason All-America squad.
Around The League:
CAA TEAMS IN NATIONAL POLLS: Preseason CAA favorite Old Dominion is ranked #13 nationally by College Soccer News and #26 by TopDrawer Soccer this week after opening the season with a 4-0 victory over Navy. Delaware was ranked #39 this week by TopDrawer. In the NSCAA/Continental Tire preseason poll, James Madison was #19, ODU was #23 and William & Mary received votes, while ODU was ranked #12 in Soccer America's preseason poll. Both the NSCAA and Soccer America will release new polls on Tuesday.
FOUR CAA TEAMS RANKED REGIONALLY: Four CAA teams are among the top 10 in this week's NSCAA/Continental Tire South Atlantic Region rankings. Old Dominion leads the group of CAA squads at #3, Northeastern is #5, Georgia State is #8 and Hofstra is #10.
NATIONAL HONORS FOR ODU DUO: Old Dominion had a pair of players chosen to TopDrawer Soccer's National Team of the Week. Senior midfielder Chris Harmon and senior midfielder Jordan LeBlanc each contributed two goals and an assist as the Monarchs topped Navy 4-0.
MVP HONORS FOR GSU'S VIVANCO: Georgia State senior forward Alex Vivanco was named the MVP of the Mike Gibbs Memorial Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. after tallying two goals and an assist in Georgia State's victories over Jacksonville (1-0) and North Florida (3-1). Vivanco turned in the first two-goal game of his career at UNF and assisted on the game-wining goal by Gimel Gordon in the 88th minute against Jacksonville. Freshman William Mellors-Blair assisted on both game-winning goals. Sophomore keeper CJ Cochran posted his fifth career shutout at JU and has only allowed two goals in his last six matches. Vivanco, Gordon and Mellors-Blair were joined on the all-tournament team by senior Peter Vania, who was named the Defensive MVP.
HOFSTRA OPENS WITH ROAD WIN: Hofstra opened the season with a 2-0 road win at Lehigh on Saturday. Junior midfielder Chris Griebsch assisted on a first-half goal by sophomore Maid Memic and then added a goal of his own on a penalty kick in the 61st minute. Junior goalkeeper Roberto Pellegrini made one save to record his ninth career shutout. Hofstra won its season opener for the first time since 2009 and ended Lehigh's 8-game home unbeaten streak that dated back to 2010.
NU'S BRAUDE NETS OVERTIME GAME-WINNER: Northeastern rallied for a dramatic 2-1 double-overtime victory over Providence last Friday. The Huskies trailed 1-0 before getting a game-tying goal from Conner Alexander in the 86th minute. With 30 seconds left in the second overtime, junior midfielder Laurence Braude recorded the third game-winning goal of his career. Northeastern has won eight straight home matches dating back to Nov. 6, 2010.
ODU CRUISES PAST NAVY: Nationally ranked Old Dominion downed Navy 4-0 in its home opener on Saturday. Senior Chris Harmon contributed two goals and an assist, including a score in the 37th minute that put the Monarchs on top for good. Senior Jordan LeBlanc also contributed two second-half goals and an assist and freshman Sidney Rivera had an assist. Goalkeeper Victor Francoz earned the shutout after making two saves.
MASON ROLLS IN OPENER: George Mason posted a convincing 3-0 victory over LIU-Brooklyn in its opening game on Sunday. Sophomore Timmy Mulgrew assisted on a first-half goal by Wesley Server and then scored one of his own in the 67th minute. Freshman Ghiles Harmouche also tallied a goal in his first collegiate contest. Senior goalkeeper Dustin Butcher stopped a pair of shots and recorded the shutout.
UNCW PLAYS TO DRAW WITH UNCG: Despite starting seven players with either freshman or sophomore status, UNCW fought to a 2-2 double-overtime draw with in-state rival UNCG. Sophomore Jacob VanCompernolle tied the match at 1-1 with a goal in the 35th minute and freshman Jamie Dell scored his first collegiate goal in the 49th minute to give the Seahawks a 2-1 advantage. Sophomore goalkeeper Brandon Bolen made six saves in his first career start.
W&M GOES 0-1-1 AT VCU TOURNEY: William & Mary battled to a 0-0 tie with Butler in the opening game of the VCU/Nike Classic before 2-0 to the host Rams on Sunday. Sophomore goalkeeper Bennett Jones made seven saves versus Butler to post the shutout and had four saves against VCU. Jones and Chris Perez were named to the all-tournament team.
HEARTBREAKING LOSS: Drexel suffered a tough 3-2 overtime loss at La Salle last Saturday. The Dragons took a 2-1 lead on sophomore Fabio Machado's goal in the 87th minute, but the Explorers got the equalizer with 36 seconds left in regulation and netted the game-winner just 45 seconds into the extra session. Senior Malcolm LeBourne also scored a goal for Drexel, while Machado put three of his five shots on net in his Dragons debut.
SOLID START IN GOAL: Sophomore Jay Lupas made his first collegiate start in goal for defending CAA champion Delaware and made six saves in a 1-0 setback at UMass last Friday. The Blue Hens, who face ACC foes N.C. State and Duke this weekend, were limited to two shots on goal in the contest.
PETERMANN STRONG IN DEBUT: Towson dropped a 1-0 decision to Monmouth in its home opener last Friday, but got a strong effort from freshman goalkeeper Felix Petermann. In his collegiate debut, he made four saves as the Hawks fired 17 shots. Junior Olakunle Banjo put two of his team-high three shots on goal for the Tigers.
JMU PLACES TWO ON ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: James Madison dropped 1-0 decisions to Richmond and SIU-Edwardsville at the Hokie Inviational last weekend. It's just the third time in 27 season under coach Tom Martin that the Dukes have opened 0-2. Earning all-tournament honors from JMU were defenders Bjarki Adalsteinsson and Dale Robins-Bailey.