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UC Faces Key Road Test at Rutgers

UC Faces Key Road Test at RutgersUC Faces Key Road Test at Rutgers

Oct. 17, 2009

STORY LINES

  • The University of Cincinnati men's soccer team will travel to Piscataway, N.J., for a key BIG EAST tilt at Rutgers on Saturday, Oct. 17. The Bearcats and Scarlet Knights are tied for sixth in the Red Division, the final qualifying spot for the BIG EAST Championship. UC has four league contests remaining.
  • UC's 2-0 loss at No. 6/7 USF on Oct. 3 was its second against a Top 10 ranked team this season. UC also dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 1/1 Akron on Sept. 13 in the finale of the adidas Bearcat Classic.
  • UC's 1-0 win vs. Notre Dame on Sept. 27 was televised live on CBS College Sports Network. UC's last televised match came at St. John's on Halloween night in 2008. The Bearcats fell, 2-0, to the Red Storm.
  • Head coach Hylton Dayes is in his ninth season at Cincinnati and 19th season as a head coach overall. Dayes is 176-154-41 overall and 80-69-21 at UC. With the win against Dayton in the 2009 season opener, Dayes moved past Jim McDowell into sole possession of second place in coaching wins in program history. Bob Muro is the program's winningest head coach at 114-111-13.
  • After a 5-2 victory over No. 18 Dayton on Sept. 1, UC defeated Canisius 5-0. It marked the first time the Bearcats have scored five or more goals in back-to-back matches since the 1983 season. UC defeated Virginia Tech, 10-2, before falling at Bellarmine by a 7-6 count.
  • A 3-0 win over Western Illinois pushed the Bearcats' record to 4-0-0 for the first time since 1989, when UC finished with a school-record 14 wins (14-4-1). UC has scored 22 goals in the first 14 matches of the season after tallying just 13 scores in 19 matches in 2008.
  • Junior forward Branden Stelmak (Broadview Heights, Ohio/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) took home two awards in the season's opening week, being named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll on Monday, Sept. 7, and being named to the Collegesoccernews.com National Team of the Week. Stelmak scored three goals in the first three matches and is tied for the team lead with three goals, four assists, and 10 points.
  • Redshirt freshman defender Kit North (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) was named BIG EAST Rookie of the Week on Sept. 7. North, who scored his first career goal in his first career appearance against Dayton on Sept. 1, helped lead the defense to consecutive shutouts.
  • Miguel Rosales (Aurora, Colo./Smoky Hill) posted three shutouts in his first four appearances of the season. He moved ahead of teammate Matt Williams (Portland, Maine/Cheverus) and into a tie for seventh in school annals with his 11th career shutout against Pittsburgh. Williams pulled even with his 11th career shutout at Notre Dame.
  • The Bearcats return 10 starters from last year's squad, including leading scorer Branden Stelmak and goalkeeper Matt Williams, who posted nine shutouts a season ago.
  • The Bearcats have experience in goal as Williams - the 2008 starter - and Miguel Rosales, who started all but one match in 2007, return this season.
  • Williams posted his second career assist from his goalkeeper position against Dayton. He cleared a Dayton crossing pass out of his own end and onto the foot of Nick Weightman (Lanark, Scotland/Webber International), who scored his second career goal on the breakaway.
  • UC is looking for its fifth consecutive trip to the BIG EAST Tournament. The Bearcats have qualified for the conference tourney in each of the first four years of affiliation with the powerful soccer league. UC won the school's first BIG EAST regular season title in 2006.

WEIGHT OF THE WORLD

  • Junior Nick Weightman tallied a goal and three assists in UC's season-opening 5-2 win at No. 18 Dayton on Sept. 1. The Scotland native surpassed his 2008 production in one game (2008: 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 points).
  • Weightman became the first Bearcat to record three assists in a match since current MLS star Omar Cummings posted three helpers against Louisville on Sept. 26, 2006.
  • Weightman is No. 1 in the NCAA in single-game assists with three vs. Dayton on Sept. 1.

LAST TIME OUT

  • UC dropped its 2009 non-conference finale, 2-0, against Michigan on Oct. 14 in Gettler Stadium, falling to 8-6-0 overall. The Wolverines moved to 9-3-1.
  • Michigan jumped on top early, finding the net in the ninth minute when a throw-in was knocked around in the Bearcats box before being headed in by Hamoody Saad.
  • Saad was involved in Michigan's second goal as well, making an attacking run up the right flank and finding Jeff Quijano inside the penalty area. Quijano finished into the upper right corner past UC goalkeeper Matt Williams for the final tally.
  • The Bearcats outshot the Wolverines, 25-10, but were unable to dent the scoreboard.
  • This marked the first all-time meeting between the Bearcats and Wolverines.

UP NEXT

  • The Bearcats return to Gettler Stadium for the 2009 home finale against St. John's on Saturday, Oct. 24. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.