The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Soccer Continues NCAA Tournament Play at Sixth-Seeded SMU
November 19 | Men's Soccer
NCAA Tournament Printable Bracket | NCAA Tournament Interactive Bracket
Akron at SMU Match Notes (PDF)
AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron men's soccer team will face sixth-seeded SMU on the road Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
NCAA Tournament Second Round
Akron Zips (14-3-4, 6-0 MAC) at No. 6 SMU Mustangs (13-6-1, 4-3-1 C-USA)
Date/Time: Nov. 20, 2011 • 8:00 p.m. (ET)
Venue: Westcott Field • Dallas, Texas
Radio: None • Television: None
Video Stream: SMUMustangs.com • Live Stats: NCAA.com
Sunday's Story lines
• Akron will continue its national championship title defense at sixth-seeded SMU Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
• The winner of the match will advance to meet the winner of 11th-seeded UAB and Charlotte next Sunday, Nov. 27, in the Round of 16.
• The Zips, who have advanced to the national championship game in each of the last two seasons, are attempting to become just the fifth school in NCAA history to win back-to-back titles.
Zips Reset
• UA turned in one of its most dominant performances of the year Thursday in handing Northwestern a 3-1 defeat in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Akron controlled the game with its possession and pressure, and disrupted the Wildcats' attack throughout the night, allowing just a penalty kick goal in the 63rd minute.
• Three different Zips found the net in the win, including Scott Caldwell (27'), Aodhan Quinn (55') and Darren Mattocks (77'). Luke Holmes also had a productive night, finishing with a pair of assists.
The Best Time of the Year
• Akron is unbeaten in its last 11 matches during the regular run of play in the NCAA Tournament, dating back to the 2009 season. In fact, its last true loss – excluding a 3-2 penalty kick defeat to Virginia in the 2009 national championship game – came at the hands of Northwestern in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Championships.
• In all, the Zips are 9-3-2 (.714) at the NCAA Tournament under Coach Porter and 8-1-2 (.818) since 2009.
• With a win Sunday, Akron will advance to the Round of 16 for the fourth-consecutive season.
Akron at the NCAA Tournament
• The Zips are making their 26th all-time appearance in the NCAA postseason. It is also the fifth consecutive season they have qualified for the 48-team playoff.
• Akron captured the school's first team national championship in any sport last December with a 1-0 victory over top-seeded Louisville in the NCAA College Cup final. It was UA's second consecutive appearance in the national championship game after falling in penalty kicks (3-2) to Virginia in 2009.
• Akron is unseeded at the NCAA Tournament for the first time under UA head coach Caleb Porter. The Zips were the No. 14 seed in 2007, No. 5 in 2008, No. 1 in 2009 and No. 3 in 2010.
• The Zips are attempting to become just the fifth school in NCAA Men's Soccer Division I history to win consecutive national championships. Indiana, with Coach Porter on staff as an assistant at the time, was the last to do it in 2003 and 2004. Virginia, San Francisco and St. Louis are the three others.
• Just two schools (Indiana and Virginia) have won back-to-back championships in the last 35 years of Division I men's soccer. The Hoosiers accomplished the feat three times (2003-'04, 1998-'99 and 1982-'83) while the Cavaliers won four straight titles from 1991-'94.
Representing the MAC
• Thanks to Northern Illinois' 3-0 win over Western Illinois Thursday, the Mid-American Conference has two schools in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in the history of the conference.
• The only other occurrence came in 2003 when Kentucky, which competed in the MAC from 1995-2004, went on the road to face Indiana and Akron hosted Rutgers in the Round of 32.
• UA, which leads the league with 11 NCAA Tournament wins since joining the conference in 1993 (Bowling Green is second with four), is the only MAC school to advance beyond the second round.
Mr. November?
• Midfielder Scott Caldwell is developing a reputation for being at his best at the most important time of the season.
• Caldwell has now found the net six times in his last nine postseason games (including six NCAA Tournament and three MAC Tournament matches), dating back to 2010.
• The junior, who netted the game-winner in the national championship game last year, scored the crucial first goal Thursday against Northwestern and has tallied six goals and a team-leading 11 assists overall this fall.
About SMU
• The Mustangs (13-6-1), who are ranked 19th in the NSCAA poll, are making their 28th appearance in the tournament and hold a 31-21-7 all-time record in NCAA postseason play. SMU advanced to the College Cup in both 2000 and 2005.
• SMU was awarded the No. 6 seed in the tournament after winning its first Conference USA Championship since 2006 by defeating No. 17 UAB, 2-0, Nov. 13.
• Defender Diogo de Almeida is the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year and was named First Team All-Conference USA along with midfielder Arthur Ivo, who leads the team with nine goals and 10 assists.
• SMU is 2-3 this season against nationally-ranked foes, posting wins over then-ranked No. 18 UCLA (2-1) and No. 14 UCF (4-2).
• The Mustangs, who are 4-3 at home this season, advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals a year ago where they were defeated by North Carolina in penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 draw.
SMU Series Notes
• Akron and SMU will be meeting for just the third time in their all-time series Sunday.
• The Zips earned a 1-0 victory in the schools' last meeting at the Golden Hurricane Classic in Tulsa, Okla., in the first game of the 2009 season. The shutout represented the collegiate debut for UA defender Chad Barson, who earned the start as a true freshman.
• The Mustangs came out on top in the only other previous meeting; another 1-0 result during the 1979 season in Bloomington, Ind.
Postseason Experience
• Although UA lost a Major League Soccer-record seven starters to the SuperDraft last January (including just two seniors), its four returners – Chad Barson, Scott Caldwell, Darren Mattocks and David Meves – have compiled a wealth of NCAA postseason experience in a short amount of time.
• On top of that, all four have played key roles in Akron's deep tournament runs.
• Juniors Barson, Caldwell and Meves have each appeared in all 11 NCAA Tournament games over the past three seasons, posting a record of 8-1-2.
• In those 11 games – against the best competition – Barson and Meves have helped the Zips record six shutouts while holding teams to one or fewer goals nine times. Furthermore, both players came up with huge defensive stops in the final seconds of the 2010 national championship win against Louisville to preserve UA's win.
• Caldwell, who was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the 2010 College Cup, scored three goals during the Zips' march through the NCAA Tournament a year ago and found the net again Thursday against Northwestern. None was greater, however, than the game-winner in the 79th minute of the national championship game against the Cardinals.
• Mattocks, a sophomore, has started all six NCAA Tournament games since 2010 and netted the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win against Indiana in the third round. He scored his team-leading 19th goal of the season against the Wildcats Thursday.
