Men?s Soccer Hosts No. 1 Maryland
9/28/2012 8:37:00 PM | Men's Soccer
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The College of Charleston men's soccer team will host No. 1 Maryland on Saturday, Sept. 29 at Patriots Point. The Cougars and nationally top-ranked Terrapins are slated to kickoff at 7 p.m.
OPENING THOUGHTS…
CofC head coach Ralph Lundy:
“This is a great opportunity. They're a great program; they're ranked number
one and they won the national championship a few years ago. Actually, the year
after they won it we went up there and played them and they beat us 2-1, but we
were ahead for most of the match so we feel real good about competing with them
or anyone in the top 10. That's what we have to do to keep getting better.
“We're looking for consistency. When we went to Coastal the other night we did not have consistency. In the first half, they had run of play and we made some mistakes. Second half, we attacked pretty well and it was about an even match. We're really looking for a consistency of quality. In that 20 minutes against Winthrop, when we just played through them and got to goal so many times, that's what we're looking for; and we're looking to eliminate defensive mistakes. In college soccer, mistakes win more games than anything.”
GLANCING AT THE COUGARS…
CofC comes into the match with a 4-5-0 record having played five teams either
ranked or receiving votes in the NSCAA / Continental Tire Coaches Poll.
Last time out, the Cougars stalled against No. 17 Coastal Carolina and suffered a 3-1 loss after surrendering three first-half goals to the Chanticleers. The Cougars would take one back before halftime when Sam Redmond (Asheville, N.C.) played a through ball to Luke Huggett (Brighton, England) who scored from five yards away to cut the score to 3-1.
The Cougars played a much-improved second half but didn't yield any goals and ultimately took the loss. CofC was outshot for only the third time in the contest.
In its previous match, CofC dominated Winthrop and produced its finest offensive output of the season in a 4-2 win at Patriots Point. In the 20-mintue window Lundy referenced, the Cougars scored three goals in 4:32 to build a 4-0 lead. Tony Kattreh (Neptune Beach, Fla.), Shawn Ferguson (Rock Hill, S.C.), and Sean de Silva (Port of Spain, Trinidad) were the Cougar goal scorers, all accounting for their firsts of the season.
Troy Peterson (Federal Way, Wash.), Huggett, Francis Twohig (St. Simon's Island, Ga.) and Daan Brinkman (Amerstam, Netherlands) have also all scored one goal this season.
Ralphie Lundy (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) is the only Cougar with two goals and he shares the shot-attempt lead with de Silva at 23 attempts.
Senior Shawn Ferguson (Rock Hill, S.C.), a Senior CLASS Award candidate and fixture in CofC's defense, was forced off the pitch for the first time since his freshman season in the Coastal match when he took an elbow which drew a bloody nose. CCU's Jhamie Hyde was shown a red card for the exchange but Ferguson was back on the field in under four minutes.
The importance of scoring first has been highlighted in CofC matches this season as the team to score first has gone on to win every match this season. Furthermore, only one equalizer has been tallied all season.
SCOUTING THE TERRAPINS…
No. 1 Maryland retained the top ranking nationally for the second week this
week and has since downed Virginia Tech and Georgia State by an aggregate 6-0
score. The Terrapins denied both squads a single shot on goal in the matches.
The Terrapins are off to a 7-0-1 start and have downed four nationally-ranked opponents. A total of 16 players have notched a goal and/or an assist through this season. Ten of the players have scored at least one goal.
Captain Patrick Mullins has excelled as both a distributor and a target this season and leads the team in assists with six and goals with five.
The Terps draw their success from their high-octane offense and rank fourth nationally in total goals (27) and second in goals per game (3.29).
Maryland has dominated its opponents in the shot category with 132 attempts against the competition's 52.
Keith Cardona has shouldered the majority of the net-minding responsibilities but Jordan Tatum has gotten the nod in two of the Terps' last three contests. The pair combines for a 0.61 goals-against average and .762 save percentage on 16 saves.
GET TO THE POINT…
The best way to catch Cougar soccer is in person at Patriots Point, a facility rapidly
becoming known for being imposing to Cougar opposition and a first-class venue
for the spectators. A capacity and record-breaking crowd is expected on
Saturday night, so fans are advised to arrive early.
Over 1,750 tickets have already been sold in advance. Adult tickets are available for purchase for $10 and youth tickets for $3 for fans under the age of 18.
Admission is free to all current CofC students and free-ride buses will be leaving from the Stern Center beginning at 6 p.m. and cycling back-and-forth throughout the match.
MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE FOR THE MATCHES...
Fans unable to make it to Patriots Point for live and in-person soccer action
will be able keep up with the plays on their computers and mobile devices.
CofCSports.com will provide both a live webstream and live stats with animated
play-by-play.
The webstream requires a subscription but offers a multiple-camera broadcast with play-by-play commentary and analysis. The live stats are available at no charge.
FOLLOW THE COUGARS…
Another great way of keeping up with the CofC men's soccer team is through the
team's own Twitter account (@CofCSoccer).
The account provides pictures, team activities, statuses when the team is on
the road as well as in-game thoughts and updates.
