College soccer week 11 recap & awards

When Maryland visited Talen Energy Stadium back in April for an exhibition game against the Philadelphia Union, it was part of head coach Sasho Cirovski’s plan to challenge his team ahead of the regular season.

The Terps lost 5-0 in the exhibition on a rainy day, but nearly seven months later they’ve completed the program’s first unbeaten regular season since 1968. With the Big 10 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament still to play, the No. 1 team in the nation will be the odds on favorites to do what that 1968 team did, win a national championship.

Denver head coach Jamie Franks (Medford, N.J.) and his Pioneers will look to make it two unbeaten Division 1 teams at the close of the regular season with their season finale at home to Portland tonight.

Temple completed a feat of their own at Temple Sports Complex over the weekend: topping UCF in overtime to finish their inaugural season at the new facility on North Broad Street unbeaten with an 8-0-2 record. The Owls close their regular season on the road against South Florida this weekend and despite a respectable 10-5-2 record will need to win and get help to advance to the postseason.

Drexel, meanwhile, ended their season to forget with a 1-0 loss on the road at College of Charleston on Tuesday, losing 1-0 to finish the season 0-8-0 in conference and 1-14-2 overall. Their only win was a 3-2 overtime thriller to beat Temple back in mid-September.

On a more positive note, Villanova and La Salle both booked berths into their conference tournaments, La Salle with a comeback win over Saint Joseph’s and Villanova despite a 3-2 loss on the road to Georgetown.

Players of the Week

Union Academy Player of the Week: Zach Zandi, So., Villanova (West Chester, Pa.)*
Had a pair of assists in a 2-1 win over St. John’s on Wednesday.

Regional Player of the Week: Sixtus Akinlosotu, Jr., La Salle
Scored the game-winning goal in the 87th minute to top Saint Joseph’s and clinch an Atlantic 10 tournament bid for the Explorers on Saturday.

National Player of the Week: Napo Matsoso, Sr., Kentucky
Matsoso had a pair of game-winning goals and two braces in wins for the Wildcats. The senior from Louisville has eight goals and four assists on the season.

Goal of the Week

Oregon State forward Timothy Mueller has had a relatively quiet season after a hat trick in his third game of the season back in September, but he captured plenty of attention with this goal against Cal.

.@BeaverMSoccer's Timmy Mueller's incredible goal scores the @OpusBank #12Best Moment!https://t.co/WQ3hAzR0sP

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) October 30, 2016

Philadelphia Union Academy/Regional Team of the Week

GK: Kyle Morton, Sr., James Madison (West Chester, Pa.)**
Made six saves to record a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over UNC Wilmington. He had three saves in a 2-1 win over Robert Morris on Tuesday.

D: Colman Kennedy, Sr., La Salle
Scored a late equalizer in a 1-1 tie with Hartwick and assisted on Matt Robinson’s equalizer in a 3-2 win over Saint Joseph’s.

D: Billy McConnell, Sr., Indiana (Richboro, Pa.)**
Had an assist on the second goal and helped the back line keep a clean sheet in a 5-0 win over Saint Louis.

MF: Zach Zandi, So., Villanova (West Chester, Pa.)*
Had a pair of assists in a 2-1 win over St. John’s on Wednesday.

MF: Conor Bradley, Fr., Villanova (Havertown, Pa.)*
Bradley scored his first career goal in a 3-2 loss to Georgetown.

MF: Sixtus Akinlosotu, Jr., La Salle
Scored the game-winning goal in the 87th minute to top Saint Joseph’s and clinch an Atlantic 10 tournament bid for the Explorers on Saturday.

MF: Dami Omitaomu, Fr., Penn
Scored both goals for Penn, including an overtime winner to beat Brown 2-1.

F: Alec Neumann, Sr., Penn (New Hope, Pa.)
Had a pair of assists, both on Omitaomu’s goals in a 2-1 win over Brown.

F: Mark Forrest, So., Lehigh (Douglassville, Pa.)
Had a brace in a 2-1 win over Bucknell on Saturday.

F: Evan Vare, Fr., Lafayette (Jamison, Pa.)
Had a goal and an assist in Lafayette’s 3-2 overtime loss to Navy on Saturday.

F: Jorge Gomez Sanchez, Sr., Temple
Scored in overtime to top UCF and give the Owls their 10th win of the season and keep intact their unbeaten record at home.

* Played for Philadelphia Union Academy between 2013-15
** Participated in the Philadelphia Union Academy as a member of a youth club affiliate

National Team of the Week

GK: Auden Schilder, R-Jr., Washington
Made eight saves to register a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over Stanford and had seven saves in a 2-1 overtime win over California.

D: Suli Dainkeh, Sr., Maryland
Scored the golden goal in overtime to lead Maryland to a 3-2 win over Michigan.

D: Francis de Vries, Sr., St. Francis PA
Had a pair of goals to lead St. Francis to a 3-0 win over Central Connecticut on Friday.

D: Nick Ulowetz, R-Jr., Gonzaga
Had a hat trick in a 3-2 comeback win over San Diego on Friday.

MF: Eddie Sanchez, Sr., Portland
Assisted the game-winner to beat Loyola Marymount on Saturday and had a pair of assists in a 4-0 win over San Diego.

MF: Napo Matsoso, Sr., Kentucky
Had four goals on the week in wins over Marshall and Florida Atlantic.

MF: Mamadou Guirassy, Jr., NJIT
Had a goal and three assists in a 4-1 win over St. Bonaventure on Saturday.

F: Kendan Anderson, Sr., Valparaiso
Had two goals in a 5-0 win over Northern Kentucky on Saturday and a hat trick in a 5-0 win over IUPUI on Monday.

F: Trevor Davock, So., Boston College
Had a hat trick in Boston College’s 5-4 win over NC State on Saturday.

F: Adrian Nunez, Fr., North Florida
Had a hat trick and added an assist in a 4-0 win over SC Upstate on Saturday.

F: Jason Wright, Jr., Rutgers
Had two goals and an assist in Rutgers’ first win of the season, a 3-2 victory over Bradley.