Fourth-ranked Saint Louis men's soccer team travels to second-ranked Maryland on Saturday for NCAA Tournament match at 1 p.m. (ET). This second consecutive year that the Billikens have faced Terappins in College Park in the quarterfinal round. Maryland ousted from SLU last year's tournament with a 1-0 overtime victory. Read about this and more in the latest Conference USA Men's Soccer Notebook.

NEWS AND NOTES

SAINT LOUIS ADVANCES TO NCAA TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS – Fourth-ranked Saint Louis advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament, where it will meet second-ranked Maryland. SLU made it to the quarterfinals with a pair of overtime victories last week.

After garnering a first-round bye, the Billikens defeated Binghamton, 1-0, in overtime at Robert R. Hermann Stadium on Nov. 26. VEDAD IBISEVIC provided the game-winning goal in the 96th minute of the second-round contest.

In third round action, Ibisevic scored his second straight overtime game winner to lead SLU to a 3-2 victory over No. 13 Washington at home last Sunday. It was his second goal of the afternoon after giving the Billikens an early 1-0 lead in the 14th minute. COOPER McKEE also had a tally in the Saint Louis victory.

DÉJÀ VU: TERPS AND BILLIKENS MEET AGAIN – For the second straight year, No. 4 Saint Louis will meet No. 2 Maryland in the NCAA Tournament. This season, the Billikens and Terappins will play in the quarterfinal-round on Saturday at 1 p.m. (ET) at Maryland’s Ludwig Field.

Last year, Maryland ousted SLU from tournament with a 1-0 overtime win.

The Terps opened this season’s tournament with a 2-1 second-round victory over Old Dominion. Maryland moved into the quarterfinals with a third-round 1-0 win over Akron.

Saint Louis leads the all-time series with the Terppins 3-2-1.

POSTSEASON FIRE – VEDAD IBISEVIC, the 2003 Conference USA Player of the Year, has been hot since the postseason began at the C-USA Tournament in Memphis.

Ibisevic scored four goals and added an assist in the semifinals against UAB. He then scored two more goals in the championship game versus Charlotte.

In two NCAA Tournament contests, Ibisevic has three goals, including two game winners.

He has shattered Brian McBride’s former SLU freshman records for points (40) and goals (18). McBride tallied 29 points and 12 goals in 1990.

SLU CAPTURES C-USA MEN’S SOCCER TOURNAMENT - The 2003 Conference USA Men’s Soccer Championship was decided on penalty kicks, making it consecutive weeks that the league crown was decided by a shootout. 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


CONFERENCE USA MEN’S SOCCER NOTES

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