Conference USA Men's Soccer Weekly Notebook - November 20

POLLING PLACE
Here is a look at this week's national polls.
NSCAA (Nov. 12)
1. SMU
2. Virginia
3. Stanford
4. Saint Louis
5. Indiana
6. North Carolina
7. Connecticut
8. St. John's
9. Clemson
10. Loyola-Maryland
11. Washington
12. Princeton
13. Wake Forest
14. Rutgers
15. Wisconsin-Milwaukee
16. San Diego
17. Harvard
18. Penn State
19. South Carolina
20. Notre Dame
21. Cornell
22. Portland
23. James Madison
24. UAB
25. UCLA

Soccer America (Nov. 19)
1. SMU
2. Saint Louis
3. Stanford
4. Clemson
5. Virginia
6. St. John's
7. Indiana
8. Connecticut
9. North Carolina
10. Wake Forest
11. Penn State
12. South Carolina
13. Rutgers
14. Loyola-Md.
15. Princeton
16. Washington
17. Furman
18. Notre Dame
19. Portland
20. UCLA

THREE C-USA TEAMS
ADVANCE TO NCAAs
For the third time in its seven-year history, Conference USA has advanced three men's soccer teams to the NCAA Tournament. This year's tournament has been expanded from 32 to 48 teams, all of whom are vying for a spot in the NCAA Men's College Cup, Dec. 14 and 16 at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Conference USA was one of six leagues nationally to have at least three teams qualify for the tournament.

No. 3 Saint Louis, the tournament's sixth overall seed, earned a first round bye and will meet the winner of the Missouri-Kansas City-Wisconsin-Milwaukee match on Sunday at Hermann Stadium in St. Louis. The Billikens are making their fifth straight tournament appearance and 15th in the last 16 seasons. SLU is led by a pair of Missouri Athletic Club National Player of the Year candidates - senior DIPSY SELOLWANE and sophomore BRAD DAVIS. The duo was named Most Valuable Forward and Most Valuable Midfielder, respectively, after leading Saint Louis to its second straight Conference USA Tournament title last weekend in Tampa. Selolwane leads the nation with 24 goals, including the last six game-winners. Davis leads C-USA with 12 assists. This is the Billikens' 40th NCAA Tournament appearance, where they are 58-28-4 with 10 national titles and 16 Final Four appearances.

UAB is making its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and its fourth since 1994. The 13-5 Blazers face Furman (17-4-0) on Friday in Columbia, S.C., with the winner set to face the host Gamecocks on Sunday. UAB defeated then-No. 13 Furman, 2-1 on Oct. 14, which was the Blazers' sixth straight win at that point in the season. Four of those six matches was decided by one goal. UAB has been slowed by injuries this season, as at least four starters missed each of the final three regular season matches. Freshman goalkeeper CLINT BAUMSTARK (0.84 GAA), the league's Freshman of the Year, directs the UAB defense.

This is the fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last six years for South Florida (14-6-0), who meets Akron (10-6-1) Friday in University Park, Pa. The winner moves on to face host Penn State on Sunday. The Bulls jumped to an 8-0-0 start, their best since 1983. USF went undefeated (4-0) in overtime matches and won nine of its 11 one-goal contests. South Florida had five players named to the three C-USA all-league teams - JASON CUDJOE and JEFF THWAITES (first team), JARED VOCK (second-team and all-freshman) and TROY PERKINS and GABRIEL SALGADO (third-team).

The three bids to this year's championship gives Conference USA a seven-year total of 17 NCAA bids. Twice, C-USA has advanced a team to the College Cup (Charlotte in 1996 and Saint Louis in 1997).

SLU WINS SECOND STRAIGHT C-USA TOURNEY TITLE

DIPSY SELOLWANE, the nation's leading goal scorer, scored just 33 seconds into the Nov. 18 Conference USA Tournament championship match, and Saint Louis rode that momentum to a 2-0 victory over sixth-seeded Marquette at USF Soccer Stadium. This is the second straight tournament title for the 16-1 Billikens, and their third in the last five years. Marquette, which upended the second seed (UAB) and third seed (South Florida) to advance to its first title match since 1996, drops to 12-8-1.

"That won the game for us, getting that early goal," Saint Louis coach Dan Donigan said. "Dipsy is one of the most dangerous players in the country, but Marquette is an excellent team. To their credit, they played a great game."

Despite the outcome, Marquette posted a 13-12 shot advantage and a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks.

"Apart from the first 33 seconds, when we were asleep and we froze when Dipsy's shot hit the post, we played well," Marquette coach Steve Adlard said. The Golden Eagles are the first sixth seed to advance to the C-USA title match since the tournament format went to six teams in 1999. "It was just a mental letdown. And Saint Louis has so many good seniors that it knows how to defend a one goal lead."

Selolwane had his second straight two goal match and sixth consecutive game-winning goal when he took an assist from Mike Hill at the 73:51 mark.

The Billikens swept the all-tournament awards. Selolwane was the Most Valuable Forward, BRAD DAVIS was Most Valuable Midfielder, MARTY TAPPEL was Most Valuable Defender, and goalkeeper JOHN POLITIS (four saves) was Most Valuable Goalkeeper.

DID YOU KNOW?
Marquette's SEAN RETI is the first Conference USA player since South Florida's Jeff Cunningham (1995-97) to earn first-team all-league honors three straight years.
CONFERENCE USA MEN'S SOCCER NOTES


C-USA AWARDS

First-Team All-Conference USA
F: Jason Cudjoe, South Florida
F: Sean Fraser, Memphis
F: Dipsy Selolwane, Saint Louis
MF: Brad Davis, Saint Louis
MF: Mike Hill, Saint Louis
MF: Sean Reti, Marquette
MF: Jeff Thwaites, South Florida
D: Adrian Cann, Louisville
D: Jason Cole, Saint Louis
D: Marty Tappel, Saint Louis
GK: John Politis, Saint Louis

Second-Team All-Conference USA
F: Jack Jewsbury, Saint Louis
F: Flavio Monteiro, UAB
F: Martin Rey, UAB
MF: David Beck, Saint Louis
MF: Nelson Mata, UAB
MF: Marin Pusek, UAB
MF: Justin Stralka, Memphis
D: Steve Lawrence, Marquette
D: Brantley Spellman, UAB
D: Jared Vock, South Florida
GK: Lucas Mackanos, Charlotte

Third-Team All-Conference USA
F: Simon Bird, Louisville
F: Juan Munoz-Airey, Charlotte
F: Lars Thorstensen, Memphis
MF: Nick Baker, TCU
MF: Mike Kirchoff, Saint Louis
MF: Bryan Godfrey, Marquette
MF: Gabriel Salgado, South Florida
D: Shane Carew, Charlotte
D: Stephen Lewis, Memphis
D: Bubba Garcia, UAB
GK: Clint Baumstark, UAB
GK: Troy Perkins, South Florida

All-Freshman
(No position restriction)
Clint Baumstark, UAB
Chris Lee, Marquette
John Liersemann, Cincinnati
Devin Matthews, Louisville
Mira Mupier, Charlotte
Rogerio Oliviera, UAB
Wiremu Patrick, Cincinnati
Luke Rojo, DePaul
Brandon Streicher, South Florida
George Sheppard, Charlotte
Jared Vock, South Florida

Freshman of the Year
Clint Baumstark, UAB

Defensive Player of the Year
Marty Tappel, Saint Louis

Player of the Year
Dipsy Selolwane, Saint Louis

Coach of the Year
Dan Donigan, Saint Louis

C-USA AGAINST NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD
Not only has Conference USA advanced at least three teams to the NCAA Tournament in the last seven years, but C-USA teams faced 16 eventual NCAA Tournament teams during the 2001 regular season. C-USA won eight of these matchups, with two ending in ties and one more in a double overtime loss. Here is a breakdown of the other NCAA Tournament teams that Conference USA faced.

Florida International - lost to USF
SMU-defeated TCU and MEM
Akron- lost to LOU
Creighton-MEM tied
Kentucky-lost to LOU and CIN
Furman- lost to UAB
Rutgers- lost to SLU, beat CIN
Santa Clara- lost to MAR
Virginia- defeated ECU
South Carolina- defeated CHA (2OT)
Indiana- defeated LOU
Wake Forest-defeated CHA
Coastal Carolina-lost to UAB
North Carolina-defeated CHA, CIN,ECU,
lost to SLU.
Wisconsin- tied MAR
Wisconsin-Milwaukee-defeated MAR

CONFERENCE USA MEN'S SOCCER NOTES


AROUND C-USA...

CHARLOTTE
Charlotte closed its season with a 2-2 tie against Cincinnati and a 4-1 loss to Saint Louis at the Conference USA Tournament. Freshman MIRA MUPIER was the team's leading scorer with nine goals on the season. Sophomore goalkeeper LUCAS MACKANOS earned second team All-Conference USA honors. Juniors forward JUAN MUNOZ-AIREY and defender SHANE CAREW earned third team All-Conference USA honors. Mupier and midfielder GEORGE SHEPPARD earned All-Conference USA freshman team honors.

CINCINNATI
Fifth-seeded Cincinnati battled fourth-seeded Charlotte to a 2-2 tie in the first match of the Conference USA Tournament on Nov. 15. However, the 49ers advanced via penalty kicks. Cincinnati is just the third team in league history to record four ties in a season. Freshman JOHN LIERSEMANN finished fifth in the league with six assists.

DE PAUL
DePaul ended its season with a 4-1 loss at Memphis on Nov. 10. PATRICK VYNKE had the Blue Demons' goal, while JASH CHAVERO had eight saves.

EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina defeated No. 15 UAB, 2-0 in the Nov. 9 regular season finale for both teams. This marks the first time since 1997 that East Carolina has defeated a Top 15 team. BRIAN DEUTSCH had both goals, while R.J. MARVINNEY recorded six saves in the shutout.

LOUISVILLE
Louisville and TCU battled through two rain delays before the Horned Frogs prevailed, 2-1, on Nov. 11. TCU posted a 23-9 shot advantage, as GEORGE ZABANEH had the Cardinals' lone goal. SIMON BIRD is third in the league in goals (11) and fifth in points (23).

MARQUETTE
Marquette became the first No. 6 seed to advance to the Conference USA Tournament final (under the six-team format). The Golden Eagles lost to top-seed Saint Louis, 1-0. MU ended the season by defeating three of the top five teams in the league (Cincinnati, South Florida and UAB). SEAN RETI is just the second player in league history to earn first-team all-league honors three years in a row.

MEMPHIS
Memphis closed its season with a 4-1 win over DePaul on Nov. 10. LARS THORSTENSEN had two goals and an assist. SEAN FRASER added a goal and two assists and broke several school records in the process, including the single-season records for points (42) and goals (18) and the Tigers' all-time points total with 109, a record that had stood untouched for 11 years. The Edmonton, Alberta, native will go down as the school's second all-time leading scorer with 45 goals and finished his four-year career credited with 19 assists.

SAINT LOUIS
Saint Louis captured its second straight Conference USA Tournament title with a 2-0 victory over Marquette on Nov. 18. DIPSY SELOLWANE had two goals against MU, including the game-winner 33 seconds into the match. He has tallied the decisive score in each of the Billikens' last six wins. He now has 24 goals on the season, which is one shy of the Conference USA single-season mark and ninth on the league's career list. SLU placed a Conference USA record six players on the all-league first team and swept the all-tournament awards with Selolwane, MARTY TAPPEL (Most Valuable Defender), BRAD DAVIS (Most Valuable Midfielder) and JOHN POLITIS (Most Valuable Goalkeeper).

SOUTH FLORIDA
This is the fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last six years for South Florida (14-6-0), who meets Akron (10-6-1) Friday in University Park, Pa. The winner moves on to face host Penn State on Sunday. The Bulls jumped to an 8-0-0 start, their best since 1983. USF went undefeated (4-0) in overtime matches and won nine of its 11 one-goal contests. South Florida had five players named to the three C-USA all-league teams - JASON CUDJOE and JEFF THWAITES (first team), JARED VOCK (second-team and all-freshman) and TROY PERKINS and GABRIEL SALGADO (third-team).

TCU
TCU and Louisville endured two rain delays before the Horned Frogs prevailed with a 2-1 victory in the Nov. 11 season finale for both teams. DUSTIN SITAR had the game-winning goal for TCU, while Horned Frogs' two-sport star NICK BROWNE finished the season as the team's points leader (13). Browne is also TCU's football placekicker and leads the football team in scoring with 57 points.

UAB
UAB is making its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and its fourth since 1994. The 13-5 Blazers face Furman (17-4-0) on Friday in Columbia, S.C., with the winner set to face the host Gamecocks on Sunday. UAB defeated then-No. 13 Furman, 2-1 on Oct. 14, which was the Blazers' sixth straight win at that point in the season. Four of those six matches was decided by one goal. UAB has been slowed by injuries this season, as at least four starters missed each of the final three regular season matches. Freshman goalkeeper CLINT BAUMSTARK (0.84 GAA), the league's Freshman of the Year, directs the UAB defense.

C-USA ON THE WEB
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