On the power of 2-0 shutouts Wednesday, both the Towson and Maryland men?s soccer teams advanced to the NCAA Division I tournament?s round of 16. But the similarities between the schools? respective paths stop there.
With Wednesday?s win over No. 23 Fairfield, No. 20 Towson (15-1-3) has already reached its furthest tournament point in program history. No. 7 Maryland (16-4-1), meanwhile, is defending its 2005 national championship.
Towson is currently on a 14-game unbeaten streak despiteenduring a 12-day layoff before Wednesday?s home game. That layoff, however, was not a concern for the Tigers.
“Our practices have been real intense,” said Nino Mangione, who scored Towson?s second goal. “I don?t think anybody thought about that as a distraction.”
The Tigers also picked up their 11th shutout of the season behind a strong performance by junior Billy Chiles, who has split time in goal with senior Greg Flaherty.
“We?re very fortunate to have two excellent goalkeepers,” Tigers coach Frank Olszewski said. “We thought that there would be quite a bit of action up in the air, and Billy handles that very well.”
Towson visits Wake Forest at the Demon Deacons? Spry Stadium Sunday at 2 p.m. While Towson tied a school record for wins in a season with the win over Fairfield, Wake Forest (16-3-3) set its own school record in a 5-1 victory over Hofstra.
The Demon Deacons won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title but lost to Duke, 1-0, in the ACC championship.
“Wake did excellent in the ACC this past year,” Olszewski said. “They?re young ? but they?re very talented.”
Maryland, meanwhile, shut out No. 9 St. John?s Wednesday night and will face a second Big East challenger when No. 12 Notre Dame (14-5-2) invades Ludwig Field Saturday at 6 p.m. The Fighting Irish defeated Illinois-Chicago, 1-0, in the second round.
HOPKINS ALIVE IN DIVISION III: The Johns Hopkins men (18-1-2) will square off with Western New England (16-5-2) in the NCAA Division III round of 16 after a 3-1 win over Christopher Newport. The Blue Jays and Golden Bears will clash today in Williamstown, Mass., a half-hour minutes after the completion of an 11 a.m. game between Williams College and Messiah. The winners will then advance to meet Saturday at 1 p.m.
