P.J.'s Picks - Week 8 Men's Soccer
After the completion of the first week of October, as we predicted, the rankings changed, as did the undefeated. Cornell beat Harvard 3-1 last week to stay on top of the Ivy League but was unable to make it into the top 25. Meanwhile Xavier beat St. Louis 3-2 and Butler 2-1 moving them from the #15 to the #13 spot. But the biggest series came from the Big East love triangle between UConn, Georgetown and Marquette with Notre Dame trying to get in on the action.
It started with UConn winning over Georgetown 2-1. Forwards Mamadou Diouf and Allando Matheson scored for UConn while keeper Andre Blake only allowed one goal and finished with seven saves. Midfielder Andy Riemer scored the Hoyas only goal in the second half while keeper Keon Parsa allowed the two goals to slip by from UConn. Georgetown moved on to Notre Dame without success, losing to the Fighting Irish 3-0. Ryan Finley, a Hermann Trophy hopeful, was able to put two in the net while forward Alex Priede contributed another goal for the Notre Dame victory.
UConn met up with Marquette at the Huskies home pitch for a match of the ages. The Golden Eagles set the pace first by scoring a pair of goals less than nine minutes apart late in the first half thanks to Andy Huftalin and Adam Lysak. UConn came out after halftime with their heads high and fought for a goal by Jossimar Sanchez but Marquette was quick to answer back with another goal by Andy Huftalin. UConn, down but not out, was on a comeback rampage with an unassisted goal by Adria Beso who beat out the Golden Eagles keeper, Charlie Lyon, from the middle of the box. Both keepers had a hard day of work. Lyon allowed only the two goals and tallied five saves while UConn’s Andre Blake allowed the three goals and seven saves. After the smoke settled UConn was just unable to get the last goal they needed for the tie and Marquette went home with the win and remains undefeated.
But the triangle doesn’t end there. Marquette, fresh off the big win against UConn, takes on Georgetown who is looking to get back on top after the two losses. Notre Dame, gunning for the top as well, was beaten by UConn earlier in the season. After their win over Georgetown, they look to take on Marquette with back-to-back matches three days apart at the end of the regular season before the Big East tournament. Marquette sits at the #1 spot for the Big East on the Blue side while #16 Louisville tops the Red side of the Big East.
The top ten rankings did see a change this week after all the conference battles. Maryland moved to #1 after a win over Virginia and UConn’s loss to Marquette that dropped the Huskies to #4. North Carolina and UCLA fill in the #2 and #3 spots, both coming off wins this past week. Marquette moved up to #6 while Akron stayed at #5. New Mexico fell to #8 and Indiana crept into the #7 spot with a pair of wins over Kentucky and Wisconsin. Notre Dame slides into #9 after their big win over now #10 Georgetown.
Not much of a pick this week, more of a recap. Conference play still goes on though and there will be changes as we head into the late season and get closer to the conference tournaments. Expect to see Maryland and UConn continue to fight back and forth for the number one spot in the rankings but UCLA, North Carolina, and the rest of the top ten are looking to elbow their way to the top as well.
