Norwich, Castleton State and Middlebury to play in NCAA soccer tournament
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Norwich's Rob Harlow dribbles the ball toward Mount Ida's goal during last week's Great Northeast Athletic Conference semifinal game at Norwich. Harlow and the Cadets will face Clark in Saturday's NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament game in Middlebury at 1:30 p.m. Stefan Hard/Times Argus |
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By James Biggam Times Argus Staff - Published: November 11, 2008
Diehard skiers are already hitting the slopes, but there's still plenty of soccer left to be played in Vermont.
A trio of men's college soccer teams will represent the Green Mountain State in the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship, which kicks off this week.
Norwich, Castleton State and defending national champion Middlebury all earned berths in the NCAA tourney, with all three teams set to play their first-round games on Saturday. The Cadets and Spartans received automatic bids to the tournament and the Panthers received an at-large bid into the 58-team field.
Norwich won the Great Northeast Athletic Conference crown with Saturday's 2-1 victory over St. Joseph's (Maine), while Castleton State qualified by upsetting Husson on penalty kicks in the North Atlantic Conference title game.
Middlebury suffered a 2-0 loss to Amherst in the New England Small College Athletic Conference Championship, but the Panthers' 13-2-2 record was good enough to earn a spot in the national tournament.
Both the Panthers and the 17-2-1 Cadets will play in Middlebury on Saturday, with Middlebury hosting Framingham State (16-3-1) at 11 a.m. and Norwich facing Clark (11-4-2) at 1:30 p.m. Castleton State (11-8-1) will hit the road to face 13-2-2 University of Rochester on Saturday at 5 p.m.
The Panthers are the highest-ranked Vermont team in the tournament, boasting the top rating in New England in polls by the NCAA and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Middlebury won last year's NCAA title game on penalty kicks, 4-3, and currently features four Vermonters: Taylor Wilkins of South Burlington, Nolan Lincoln of East Thetford, Tyler Macnee of Williston and Carson Cornbrooks of Williston.
Middlebury, which suffered its only regular-season loss to Bates, posted a 2-1 victory over Castleton State and defeated Norwich 2-1 in overtime.
The Cadets also earned a one-goal victory over Castleton State and suffered their only other loss to Lyndon State in another overtime game. Three Northfield natives play for the Cadets (Kyle Przekaza, Jon Amell and Ryan Robertson) in addition to two other homegrown talents: Jason Bliss of St. Albans and Bret Manning of Island Pond. If Norwich defeats Clark, the Cadets would face either Middlebury or Framingham State on Sunday.
Castleton State has a considerably longer bus ride for its first-round game against the 10th-ranked team in the country. The Spartans will travel nearly 300 miles for a chance to upset Rochester, which is ranked second in the Northeast region.
The Spartans are loaded with local players, including former Spaulding standouts Corey Robbins and Nick D'Agostino. Also playing for Castleton State are Gerrit Marino of Waitsfield, Jeff Morse of Bennington, Jason Porter of Ludlow, Ryan Hahn of Benson, Cass Lyons of Derby, Cody McWilliams of Swanton, Colin Alfred of Monkton and Andy LaCroix of Jamaica.
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