Bearcats Wrap Up 2009 with Halloween Date vs. Syracuse

Oct. 30, 2009

Game Notes | Live Stats

STORY LINES

• The University of Cincinnati men's soccer team will wrap up its 2009 season with a trip to Syracuse on Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 31. The Bearcats and Orange will kick off at 7 p.m. in the SU Soccer Stadium.
• The Bearcats were eliminated from BIG EAST Tournament competition with the loss against No. 5/9 Louisville on Oct. 28. UC had earned a berth in the last four conference tournaments.
• 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 176-157-41 overall and 80-72-21 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 24 goals in the first 17 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 leads the team with four goals, four assists, and 12 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.

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 tied for fourth in the NCAA in single-game assists with three vs. Dayton on Sept. 1.

LAST TIME OUT

• UC fell behind 2-0 and couldn't catch up, falling 3-1 at No. 5/9 Louisville on Oct. 28 at Cardinal Park.
• The Bearcats (8-9-0 overall, 3-7-0 BIG EAST) were eliminated from BIG EAST Conference Tournament consideration and have lost four straight.
• UC had made four consecutive BIG EAST Tournaments, earning a berth each season since joining the league in 2005.
• UC fell behind early with a pair of Louisville goals coming in the first 14 minutes of action, both off restarts.
• Branden Stelmak scored his fourth goal of the season in the 29th minute off a service from redshirt freshman defender Kit North.
• The goal tied Stelmak with Mark Konitsch for the team lead.
• Louisville put the match away on a Matt Beverin header off a free kick in the 67th minute.