TicketsNov. 10, 2010
By Dave Malaska
GoBEARCATS.com
Fresh off knocking off one nationally ranked team to advance to the BIG EAST men's soccer championship semifinals, Cincinnati will set its sights on another, squaring off against No. 25 Providence on Friday for a berth in the tournament final. The Bearcats (7-4-7) and Friars kick off at 5 p.m. in Harrison, N.J.
While the Bearcats have been using the past few days to cram for their next test -- UC and Providence didn't face each other during the regular season -- late Monday night was all about celebrating. Cincinnati had just beaten No. 9 UConn on penalty kicks, 4-1, to keep their season alive.
"It's pure joy," said UC Hylton Dayes after goalkeeper Matt Williams stymied two UConn attempts to propel Cincinnati to it's first-ever tournament final four. "They're all big, but this is one of those firsts that you're going to look back on and appreciate."
After a nine-day layoff, UC's coaching staff feared the Bearcats might be a little rusty, but Nick Weightman got his team on the board early in the game's 12th minute. Fielding a pass from fellow senior Mark Konitsch, Weightman collected the ball, spun and lofted a shot past Huskies goalkeeper Josh Ford. UC was able to bottle up the nation's top-scoring offense until 15 minutes later, when Stephane Diop evened it up. From there, the squads battled to a scoreless second half, though UC had a goal waved off 65 minutes in following a corner kick.
"Honestly, I couldn't tell you who it was on," Dayes said following the game. "Those calls have gone against us all year, so our guys weren't fazed by it. They just kept going."
The teams remained scoreless through two overtimes to set up the penalty kick face-off.
While Cincinnati connected on its first three their kicks, Williams stopped UConn's second to put the odds in UC's favor, then stonewalled the Huskies third attempt, trapping the ball both times on the right pipe. Sophomore Roger Thompson connected on UC's fourth penalty kick, and the celebration started.
Afterwards, Williams said the layoff and extra time studying UConn's tendencies, helped.
"We knew where (UConn's third kicker, Juho Karppinen) was going to go, at least where he's gone in the past," said Williams. "The first two guys, it was just trying to read body language and figure out which way they were leaning. It was a 50-50 guess, and I just lucked out."
It also helped that the Bearcats, having played to six ties already this season, suspected another was likely. Dayes had his team practice penalty kicks for three days leading up to the game.
"I'm usually awful in practice. I'd thought they'd pull me for the penalty kicks," joked Williams.
Through the euphoria, the team was already thinking about Providence, however. The Friars (11-5-2) have been a longtime tournament foil for Cincinnati, having eliminated them from the BIG EAST Championships in 2005 and 2006, when UC entered as the No. 1 seed. The Bearcats did get a little revenge, though, knocking the Friars out of the 2007 tournament, 2-0, on their home field. Since then, they've only met once, a scoreless draw in September 2008. So, few of the current Bearcats have direct experience playing the Friars.
Williams, however, grew up three hours away from Providence, and has kept pretty close tabs on the Friars.
His read: "They're a very good team. They're very, very well-coached; they always bring a good mentality and always battle. They're also very physical, which I think it going to suit our game perfectly."
The Friars opened with season with a 4-1-1 record before a midseason swoon, losing four of their next five. Since then, they've been on a hot streak, though, winning their last six matches including last weekend's upset over No. 20 Georgetown on the road to advance to the semifinals for the second year in a row.
"Their season got off to a rocky start, but they're playing very well now," said Dayes. "We know they're going to be ready. We'll be ready. At this stage, it's a one-off game."
Friday's game, at 5 p.m., will be televised live on CBS College Sports.