College soccer week nine recap and awards

Week nine was not a kind one for teams from the Philadelphia region as Temple conceded four times in the second half in Cincinnati, Villanova had a to settle for a draw against Xavier and Saint Joseph’s handle on the Atlantic 10 standings took another hit. 

Drexel found the back of the net for the first time in a month, but lost 4-1 to Hofstra and were shut out for the ninth time this season in a 2-0 loss to Elon. Penn, meanwhile, was on the wrong side of a 4-1 scoreline against defending Ivy League champs Dartmouth and La Salle were shut out by VCU and Fordham.

Nationally, Maryland held on to the top spot with a dramatic overtime win over Wisconsin to clinch the Big 10 regular season title thanks in part to the heroics of senior center back Alex Crognale and picked up another win over local rival American with sophomore midfielder Amar Sejdic leading the offense.

Behind the Terps, the ACC continues to jockey for position with Wake Forest and North Carolina on the climb after Clemson, Notre Dame and Louisville losses while Virginia has quietly put together a fine season that could see them positioning themselves for another late run in the NCAA Tournament.

Teams like Denver and UMass Lowell, meanwhile, continue to win without the spotlight deserving of two programs who remain unbeaten more than halfway through the month of October.

Goal of the Week

Amar Sejdic is having a heckuva sophomore season for top-ranked Maryland. That continued Tuesday night with this strike from long distance.

Players of the Week

Philadelphia Union Academy Player of the Week: Connor Maloney, Sr., Penn State
The senior forward scored an equalizer in the 66th minute and momentarily put the Nittany Lions in the lead on Akron in a game that eventually ended in a 2-2 draw after two overtimes. The goals gave him six for the season and 25 for his career.

Regional Player of the Week: Andreas Bartosinski, Jr., Villanova
Not known for his offense, the junior from Germany pitched a goal in a hard fought 2-2 draw for the Wildcats and as he has all season was a catalyst on both sides of the field.

National Player of the Week: Amar Sejdic, So., Maryland
The midfielder out of the Real Salt Lake Academy had another fine week for the unbeaten Terps, chipping in a pair of assists in a 3-2 overtime win over Wisconsin that clinched the regular season Big 10 title and adding a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win over American on Tuesday.

Teams of the Week

Regional/Philadelphia Union Academy Team of the Week

GK: Kees Schipper, So., Yale (Wayne, Pa.)
Made three saves to record his second clean sheet of the season in a 3-0 win over Cornell.

D: Thomas de Villardi, Sr., Delaware
Scored the game-winning goal and helped the defense pitch a shutout in a 3-0 win over College of Charleston.

D: Colton Storm, Sr., North Carolina (Mechanicsburg, Pa.)**
Had an assist in a 7-0 win over UNC Asheville.

D: Matt Mahoney, Sr., Temple
Scored the game-winner to beat Delaware 2-1.

D: Robert Campbell, Fr., Clemson (Wallingford, Pa.)*
Picked up his first career assist on the Andrew Burnikel’s game-winning goal to beat Brown.

MF: Matt Greer, So., Dartmouth (Chadds Ford, Pa.)*
Had a pair of assists in Dartmouth’s 4-1 win over Penn.

MF: Kevin Carvalho, So., Northeastern (Richboro, Pa.)*
Set up the game-winning goal in overtime to beat James Madison 1-0.

MF: Andreas Bartosinski, Jr., Villanova
Not known for his offense, Bartosinski scored his first of the season in a 2-2 draw with Xavier.

F: Doyle Tuvesson, So., Lehigh (Kennett Square, Pa.)
Scored the game-winner in the 84th minute to beat Fordham.

F: Padraic McCullaugh, Sr., Villanova
Had two assists in Villanova’s 2-2 draw on the road at Xavier.

F: Connor Maloney, Sr., Penn State (Harrisburg, Pa.)**
Maloney registered a brace to help the Nittany Lions tie Akron at home on Tuesday.

* Philadelphia Union Academy alum from 2013-15
** Participated in the Philadelphia Union Academy as a member of a youth club affiliate

National Team of the Week

GK: Jeff Caldwell, Jr., Virginia
Caldwell turned in another fine performance with seven saves in a 1-0 win over Notre Dame.

D: Walker Hume, Sr., North Carolina
Had two assists in a 7-0 win over UNC Asheville and added another assist in 2-1 win over Duke.

D: Alex Crognale, Sr., Maryland
Scored a pair of goals, including a late equalizer to force overtime against Wisconsin

D: Robby Sagel, Sr., Penn State
The big center back scored the lone goal in a critical double overtime win over Michigan State on Saturday.

D: Tomas Hilliard-Arce, Jr., Stanford
Anchored a defense that shut out the potent UCLA attack and then scored off a set piece from Corey Baird in a 3-1 win over San Diego State.

MF: Amar Sejdic, So., Maryland
Had a goal and three assists in a pair of wins for the top-ranked Terps.

MF: Adam Wilson, So., Cincinnati
The Scot was a big reason for Cincinnati’s four-goal second half in a 4-0 win over Temple. He scored a goal and recorded four assists in the victory for the Bearcats.

MF: Garrett Heine, Sr., George Washington
Heine had a pair of goals and an assist in a 3-0 win over George Mason and then registered another brace in a 3-0 win over Saint Joseph’s.

MF: Ian Harkes, Sr., Wake Forest
While Harkes is known for his playmaking ability, it was his accuracy from the penalty spot that led the Demon Deacons to a pair of wins over Marshall and Louisville.

F: Siggi Benonysson, Fr., High Point
The first-year player from Iceland continued his stellar season with four goals in wins over in-state rivals NC State and UNC Asheville. He now has nine goals on the season.

F: Stuart Holthusen, Jr., Akron
Had an assist in a 7-0 rout over Northern Illinois and scored both goals in a 2-2 road draw at Penn State.