Michigan State – Not only did Doug DeMartin take home the Big Ten Regular Season MVP award but was also named Big Ten Tournament Offensive MVP following his goal in the Spartans 1-0 Championship win over Indiana on Sunday. The #1 seeded Spartans beat Northwestern 1-0 in the semi-finals of the tournament on Friday (11/14), relying on a DeMartin penalty kick in the 51st minute. To go along with DeMartin’s honors, fellow seniors midfielder Zac Scaffidi and defender Dave Hertel (Holland, MI) were also Big Ten First Team selections. The #16 ranked Spartans (13-5-1, 5-1-0 Big Ten) were given the #4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host the Dayton/Illinois-Chicago winner on November 25 at 1PM.
Oakland -- In addition to Steve Clark winning Summit League Defensive MVP, he, Ian Daniel (Troy) and Stefan St. Louis were named to the Summit League First Team. Midfielder Piotr Nowak (Sterling Heights) was named to the 2nd Team. Nowak tallied in the Grizzlies first match of the Summit League Tournament Thursday, a 4-0 win in Rochester. Unfortunately the Regular Season Champions couldn’t clinch the double, falling to UMKC Sunday 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 tie. Stefan St. Louis scored the Grizzlies goal in the 59th minute. Oakland finished with a 14-4-1 (5-1-0 Summit) and will open up the NCAA Tournament at home against Ohio State on Saturday, November 22 at 1PM.
Michigan – Senior defender Mike Holody (Clarkston) took top honors for the Wolverines being named to the Big Ten 1st Team and the Big Ten Tournament Team. Senior Jake Stacy (Grand Rapids) and Junior Mauro Fuzetti were also First Team selections. After finishing 2nd in the Big Ten to their in-state rivals, the Wolverines tripped up in the tournament, failing to score a goal in regulation over two matches. The Maize and Blue squeaked by hosts Wisconsin 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw Thursday in Madison. The following day, the Wolverines fell 1-0 to Indiana in the semi-finals. The #10 ranked Wolverines (12-5-3, 4-1-1 Big Ten) were given the #11 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host the Denver-UC Davis winner on Tuesday, November 22 at 2PM.
Coastal Carolina – Senior defender Kyle Russell helped lead the Chanticleers through a rough time at the beginning of the season to recover and finish 2nd in the Big South with a 5-2-1 record. For his efforts the Chicago native was a Big South First Team selection along with being named to the Big South All-Tournament team. The Chanticleers made it to the Conference Final Sunday following two consecutive 1-0 wins over Radford (11/13) and UNC Asheville (11/14) respectively. However, Coastal finished the same way they did in the regular season, falling 4-3 in double overtime to the top seed Winthrop Sunday in Conway, SC. The Chanticleers ended the season with a 9-10-1 record on the year.
Temple – Goalkeeper Bret Mollon (Washington Twp.) helped lead the Owls to a 2nd place finish in the Atlantic 10 following a 0-0 draw vs. Fordham (11/7) and 1-0 win vs. La Salle (11/9) respectively. Mollon made 7 saves combined in the two matches, earning his 8th and 9th shutouts for the year. Temple fell 2-1 to Dayton in the semifinals of the A-10 Tournament in Pittsburgh on Friday, finishing with an overall 10-5-4 record (6-1-2 conference).
Lindsey Wilson – Midfielder Nate Jafta came back from an injury-riddled season to score a hat trick in a 5-1 win over West Virginia Tech in the Mid-South Conference semifinals on November 12. The following day the Blue Raiders won the tournament title 3-2 over University of the Cumberlands. Currently 17-1-1 (5-0-1 Mid-South) and ranked #1 in the NAIA, Jafta and the Raiders will host King College (TN) in the first round of the NAIA Tournament on Saturday, November 22 at 3PM.
The Michigan Bucks will begin their fourteenth season in the United Soccer League’s (USL) Premier Development League (PDL) in May 2009 at Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac. For complete information on the upcoming Bucks season and youth soccer camps coming in February, please visit the Bucks web site at www.bucksssoccer.com.
