Maryland / Wake Forest Region 1st and 2nd Round Breakdowns
This is another one of those very tough and balanced groups. Certainly Maryland is the team to beat, but just earlier in November they lost to Wake Forest. In fact, that was their only loss of the season. Terp fans should not be happy with that draw. And looking at the first round teams there is a lot of talent there. Drexel and Brown are both very tough defensively and Coastal Carolina and Elon have some of the best individual scorers in the country. There will be some great games here no matter how things shape up in the second round and beyond.
Drexel and Brown will be a battle of defenses. The Dragons keeper, senior Tim Washam, allowed just .72 goals per game. That is very impressive, but the Bears can do one better. Sam Kernan-Schloss allowed just .56 goals per contest during the regular season. If anybody can score, that should be enough to advance. And that puts the pressure on Bears striker Ben Maurey and Drexel’s striker Fabio Machado and midfielder Nathan Page.
Maryland will have their hands full with either Drexel or Brown’s defense. But the Terps can score a lot of goals. They averaged 2.6 goals per game, which ranks among the best in the country. Neither Brown nor Drexel have seen much of an offense as good as Maryland’s this year. Patrick Mullins, John Stertzer and Schillo Tshuma should be too much for either team to handle.
#15 Wake Forest vs. Coastal Carolina/Elon
When Coastal Carolina and Elon met earlier this season the Chanticleers came away with a 2-1 win. CCU has two great scorers in senior Ashton Bennett, who netted 15 goals on the year, and sophomore Ricky Garbanzo, who added 13. Containing those two is tough. Elon has a superstar themselves. Chris Thomas scored an amazing 23 goals during the regular season. Some teams did not score as many goals as Thomas did on his own. On paper this game should be very high scoring and very exciting. Keep an eye on the keepers, because they should make all the difference.
The winner of the high scoring affair will not get any rest against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons know how to find the back of the net too. Sean Okoli has had a great sophomore season and midfielders Michael Gamble and Luca Gimenez are proven scorers as well. The difference for Wake Forest is their defense and experience playing in the tough ACC. That will be too much for either Coastal Carolina or Elon to overcome.
See all Men’s Soccer Breakdowns
