Saint Louis, ranked fourth nationally, opens NCAA play on Wednesday when it hosts Binghampton at Robert R. Hermann Stadium at 8 p.m. (ET). The Billikens are the No. 7 seed in tournament and received a first-round bye. Cincinnati was eliminated from the NCAA Championship this past Saturday. The Bearcats played Kentucky to a scoreless tie, but the Wildcats advanced by winning a penalty-kick shootout, 4-2. Read about this and more in the latest Conference USA Men's Soccer Notebook.

NEWS AND NOTES

SAINT LOUIS TO OPEN NCAA TOURNAMENT PLAY – Conference USA men's soccer regular-season co-champion Saint Louis, a No. 7 seed, received a first-round bye and will host Binghampton, who defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, 1-0, in first-round play, at Robert R. Hermann Stadium on Wednesday, at 7 p.m. (CST).

The Billikens, currently ranked fourth in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Poll, earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA College Cup by claiming the 2003 C-USA Tournament crown on Nov. 16 in Memphis. SLU (13-3-3) won a penalty-kick shootout, 5-4, with Charlotte after playing to a 2-2 double-overtime tie. It's the Billikens' fourth straight and sixth overall league tournament championship. This will be Saint Louis' 42nd NCAA appearance. SLU is 63-30-4 in the NCAAs with 10 national championships.

CINCINNATI BOUNCED FROM NCAA TOURNAMENT – Cincinnati, the winner of its first-ever share of the C-USA crown this season, played to a scoreless tie at Kentucky on Saturday night with the host Wildcats advancing, 4-2, on penalty kicks. Cincinnati (10-4-6) is now 0-1-1 in its only two NCAA matches, falling to Butler, 1-0, in 1998.

SLU CAPTURES C-USA MEN’S SOCCER TOURNAMENT - For the second consecutive week the 2003 Conference USA Soccer Championship was decided on penalty kicks and this time it was the men’s crown up for grabs. Second-seeded Saint Louis (13-3-3) and fourth-seeded Charlotte (7-9-4) played to a 2-2 double-overtime tie with the match decided 5-4 on penalty kicks in favor of the Billikens at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex. This is SLU’s fourth straight tournament title and sixth overall. Saint Louis receives the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

“We’ve overcome all kinds of adversity on the road this season,” Billiken head coach DAN DONIGAN said. “Winning the conference tournament on penalty kicks is another incredible experience. We gave a huge amount of credit to Charlotte because their season was on the line and they played their hearts out.”

Charlotte’s JOE LAMPERT opened the scoring column early with a tally in the first two minutes of the contest. SEAN ZUBICK put the ball in play on a corner kick, finding Lampert for the header from four yards out.

VEDAD IBISEVIC scored the first of his two goals on the day when he dribbled through the defense and fired into the net in the 38th minute to tie the game at 1-1. In second half, he would score his sixth goal of the tournament in the 73rd minute, again threading his way through a pair of Charlotte defenders and launching a volley to the right post from 20-yards out.

The 49ers response came in the 75th minute on a 20-yard free kick by FLOYD FRANKS, which split the Billiken wall and curved into the goal.

After regulation and two overtime frames, the resolution would be the penalty-kick format. The first round of penalty kicks also resulted in a 3-3 tie, sending the match
to a sudden-victory second round. Charlotte’s EVAN HARDING and ALEX MATTESON of Saint Louis each converted their attempts forcing two more shooters. The 49ers’ JUAN MUNOZ-AIREY had his try sail high over the crossbar opening the door for SLU’s BRIAN


GRAZIER, who sealed the title with a successful conversion.

Ibisevic, who also had an assist in the tournament, headlined the all-tournament team, which featured fellow Billikens ANDY PUSATERI, NICK GANNON and MARTIN HUTTON. Also earning tournament accolades were Charlotte’s LUCAS MACKANOS, Franks, and Lampert and from the other semifinal teams JOSH GARDNER and TIM BROWN of Cincinnati and JASON McLAUGHLIN and LENANDRO de OLIVEIRA of UAB.
2003 Conference USA All-Tournament Team
Vedad Ibisevic – Saint Louis
Nick Gannon – Saint Louis
Martin Hutton – Saint Louis
Andy Pusateri – Saint Louis
Floyd Franks - Charlotte
Joe Lampert - Charlotte
Lucas Macknos – Charlotte
Tim Brown – Cincinnati
Josh Gardner – Cincinnati
Leandro de Oliveira – UAB
Jason McLaughlin - UAB

C-USA TOURNAMENT RECAP – Here is a match-by-match recap of the 2003 Conference USA Men’s Soccer Tournament to the semifinal round.

In the tournament’s first contest, Charlotte, the No. 4 seed, squared off with USF, the No. 5 seed. The 49ers and Bulls played 79 minutes of scoreless soccer before Charlotte’s MIRA MUPIER scored the first of two 49er goals in a two-minute span. MICHAEL ROSE would add an unassisted insurance goal to seal the Charlotte victory. USF’s only goal of the evening came when CD HARRIS successfully converted an 18-yard free kick in the 85th minute. The 49ers would advance to meet top-seed Cincinnati in Friday’s first semifinal.

The day’s second match featured third-seeded Louisville taking on sixth-seeded UAB. The Cardinals took an early 1-0 advantage when MATT ROSE slid the ball into the net in the 62nd minute. The Blazers countered with a tally of their own in the 76th minute when JASON McLAUGHLIN found the goal to tie the match at 1-1. In overtime, he would factor into UAB’s game-winning score, providing an assist on NNAMDI NGWE’s tally to send the Blazers to the nightcap semifinal against second-seeded Saint Louis.

The upstart 49ers would only need one goal to oust Cincinnati. EVAN HARDING provided the winning margin in the 70th minute when his volley from 10-yards out found the left side of the net.

Friday’s second match would see an offensive explosion by 2003 C-USA Freshman of the Year VEDAD IBISEVIC. Ibisevic had four first-half goals and had an assist on WILL JOHN’s goal in the second half to lead sixth-ranked SLU to a 5-1 victory. No. 24 UAB’s only

goal of the match came in the 60th minute when Ngwe scored his second goal of the tournament.

RECORD SETTING DAY – VEDAD IBISEVIC of Saint Louis showed C-USA soccer fans why he was the league’s Freshman of the Year, a first-team all-conference selection and a member of the all-freshman squad by scoring four first-half goals in the Billikens’ 5-1 semifinal win over UAB.

Ibisevic’s four goals and nine points are the most ever by an individual player in a tournament contest. SLU’s five goals are a single-team high in tourney action and the combined six goals between the Billikens and Blazers tied a league tournament mark.

He finished the tournament with six goals and an assist ,earning him the College Soccer News Player of the Week honors.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Conference USA named an Offensive and Defensive Player of the week each week during the 2003 season.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
S2 David Peplinski, Fr., M, SLU
S8 Will John, Fr. F, SLU
Jerson Monteiro, Fr., F, UAB
S15 Matt Kowaleski, Jr., Forward, ECU
S22 Leandro de Oliveira, So. MF, UAB
S29 Simon Bird, Sr., F, LOU
O6 Josh Gardner, Jr., MF, CIN
Luke Rojo, Jr., MF/F, DPU
O13 Will John, Fr., MF, SLU
O20 Justin Lewis, So., F, CIN
Andy Metcalf, So. F, MEM
O27 Marco Terminesi, Fr., F, LOU
N3 John DiRaimondo, Fr., F, SLU
Jerson Monteiro, Fr., F, UAB

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
S2 Tony McManus, Sr., D, UAB
S8 Andy Pusateri, Sr., D, SLU
S15 Adam Ubert, Sr, GK, MAR
Martin Hutton, Jr., GK, SLU
S22 Brad Solokowski, Sr., GK, LOU
S29 Adrian Cann, Sr., B, LOU
O6 Jeff Klitzke, Sr., GK, DPU
O13 Nick Gannon, Sr., D, SLU
O20 Mike Timlin, So., GK, DPU
O27 Tony McManus, Sr., D, UAB
N3 Jeremy Drake, Fr., GK, UAB

C-USA POST-SEASON AWARDS
Conference USA announced its 2003 all-league teams and postseason award winners prior to the start of the ninth annual C-USA Men’s Soccer Tournament in Memphis. Four different schools produced the winners of the four major individual awards and five different schools are represented on the All-Conference first team.

2003 C-USA P0ST-SEASON AWARDS
Freshman of the Year
Vedad Ibisevic, Saint Louis

Co-Defensive Player of the Year
Adrian Cann, Louisville
Tony McManus, UAB

Player of the Year
Simon Bird, Louisville

Coach of the Year
Hylton Dayes, Cincinnati

First-Team All-Conference USA
F: Simon Bird, Louisville
F: Chris Lee, Marquette
F: Vedad Ibisevic, Saint Louis
MF: Tim Brown, Cincinnati
MF: Josh Gardner, Cincinnati
MF: Leandro de Oliveira, UAB
MF: Marin Pusek, UAB
D: Adrian Cann, Louisville
D: Nick Gannon, Saint Louis
D: Tony McManus, UAB
GK: Brad Sokolowski, Louisville

Second-Team All-Conference USA
F: Will John, Saint Louis
F: Andy Metcalf, Memphis
F: Mira Mupier, Charlotte
MF: John DiRaimondo, Saint Louis
MF: Brian Grazier, Saint Louis
MF: Floyd Franks, Charlotte
MF: Dayton O’Brien, Memphis
D: Brandon Dobbs, Cincinnati
D: Anders Cedergren, Cincinnati
D: Andy Pusateri, Saint Louis
GK: Martin Hutton, Saint Louis

Third-Team All-Conference USA
F: Jerson Monteiro, UAB
F: Hunter West, USF
F: Derek Guiterrez, Marquette
MF: Clyde Simms, East Carolina
MF: Keeron Benito, USF
MF: Cooper McKee, Saint Louis
MF: Nnamdi Ngwe, UAB
D: Graham Gibbs, Memphis
D: Joe Lampert, Charlotte
D: Matt Neely, Louisville
GK: John Adams, Cincinnati

All-Freshman (No position restriction)
Vedad Ibisevic, Saint Louis
John DiRaimondo, Saint Louis
Will John, Saint Louis
Brian Grazier, Saint Louis
Marco Terminesi, Louisville
Sam Miller, Cincinnati
Chris Arnold, Charlotte
Jerson Monteiro, UAB
Keeron Benito, USF
Nathan Sabich, Marquette
Kareem Smith, USF