The NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament moves into full swing Wednesday with second-round action. The top 16 seeds make their first appearance in this year’s tournament after receiving first-round byes. There are several intriguing matchups.
MARYLAND-ST. JOHN’S. This is the big one. Two seasoned NCAA Tournament teams meet for the fourth straight year in the postseason. The Terps won in 2004 and 2005 (en route to the NCAA title), and the Red Storm won in the 2003 Men’s College Cup semifinals. Both teams are young this year, however. Maryland features ACC Freshman of the Year Jeremy Hall. Ryan Soroka, Hall’s former U-17 teammate and one of five St. John’s freshman starters, has the game-winning goal in five of the Red Storm’s last six games, all shutout wins. The game is also a battle of two of the nation’s best goalies: Maryland sophomore Chris Seitz is one of the best U.S. goalie prospects to emerge in recent years; St. John’s Jason Landers is a monster at 6-foot-7.
UCLA-HARVARD. Former U.S. national team players John Kerr (Harvard) and Jorge Salcedo (UCLA) square off as coaches in Westwood. The Bruins earned a No. 8 seed even though they didn’t win the Pac-10. They did play one of the toughest schedules in the country: 12 of their 19 opponents made the NCAA Tournament. Kerr has built one of the most exciting teams in the country. The Crimson, which is currently riding a nine-game winning streak, boasts the top-scoring offense in the nation, averaging 2.5 goals per game. Harvard is led by Andre Apkan, a candidate for the Soccer America Freshman of the Year. The former Dallas Texans star has scored 34 points (11 goals, 12 assists). Two-time Ivy League Player of the Year Charles Altchek leads the team in goals with 12. The third Harvard player to be a unanimous pick on the All-Ivy team is Michael Fucito (9 goals, 9 assists), the 2004 Ivy Rookie of the Year who sat out last season.
SMU-UC SANTA BARBARA. The Mustangs were No. 1 most of the season but struggled to put away teams. With renewed speculation about a possible move by Coach Schellas Hyndman to FC Dallas, the pressure will be on SMU to finally win a national championship. Striker Scott Geppert is out for the year, and Brazilian Paulo da Silva has been in and out of the lineup suffering from strained abdominal muscles. The midfield is solid, however, with Chase Wileman, Adrian Chevannes and Bruno Guarda, the SMU’s other Brazilian-born, Texas-educated star. UCSB has been one of the most inconsistent teams in the country. It opened with a 5-0 win over Akron, the top-ranked team at the end of last year’s regular season, but bottomed out with a 5-0 loss to Big West foe Cal State Northridge in late September. The Gauchos are 8-3-0 since the Northridge debacle and have the kind of team that could lasso the Mustangs. Senior Kyle Reynish was the Big West’s Co-Goalkeeper of the Year, while giant Englishman Andy Iro was once again the conference’s Defender of the Year.