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NCAA Tournament First Round Recap

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By JOHN BOSCHINI

One round down in the NCAA Tournament and most of the heavy hitters relegated to the first round are still alive, with one notable exception.

2009 champions Virginia were shocked 1-0 at home by Colonial Athletic Champions Delaware in an overtime upset. John Dineen headed home a golden goal with less than five minutes left in the second overtime to punch Delaware's ticket into the second round where a date with #13 UCLA awaits. The loss caps off an inconsistent season for the former champions, who finished the year with eight losses.

Another former champion, Akron, began their title defense more successfully with a comfortable 3-1 win over Big 10 Champion Northwestern. Darren Mattocks, Aodhan Quinn and Scott Caldwell were on the scoresheet for Caleb Porter's side while Luke Holmes added a couple of assists. Peter O'Neill scored just after the hour mark to pull Northwestern within striking difference but Mattocks and Holmes combined beautifully to put the result to rest in the 77th minute. Akron moves on to face #6 SMU in one of the more appetizing matchups of the second round.

A couple of ACC contenders did just enough to book a place in the next round as Duke and Wake Forest dispatched their opposition. Christopher Tweed-Kent provided the only score in Duke's narrow 1-0 victory over Georgia State. The Blue Devils dominated Georgia State in every statistical category but were unable to come up with an insurance goal. Goalkeeper James Belshaw stoned Ayokunle Lumpkin with five minutes left to preserve his clean sheet.

The Demon Deacons were forced into penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw with South Carolina but advanced with a 4-3 penalty-kick shootout victory. Ross Tomaselli opened the scoring for visiting Wake Forest with a curling shot in the 10th minute but the Conference USA Champions were level early in the second half with a penalty kick. Chipper Root sent Michael Lisch the wrong way and converted the spot kick. Lisch had the final say, however, with three saves in a nail-biting shootout.

Here is a look at all the other results in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Coastal Carolina 4, Elon 3: Ashton Bennett scored with eight minutes left on the clock to cap a wild, shootout win for Coastal Carolina. Elon equalized three times in the match but the SoCon champions were unable to find the lead.

Old Dominion 0, Liberty 0 (ODU advances on PKs): Victor Francoz came up with the only save of a 5-4 penalty kick shootout as Old Dominion advances to face #16 Indiana in Sunday's second round    

Brown 3, Fairfield 2: Sean Rosa, Austin Mandel and Aidan Leonard scored in the final 11 minutes to give Brown a thrilling comeback victory over Fairfield. Jake Zuniga and Daniel Shaw scored in the first-half to give Fairfield what seemed like an insurmountable lead.

Charlotte 3, Furman 1: Martin Ontiveros put Furman up early in the first half but goals from Giuseppe Gentile, T.J. Beaulieu and Jennings Rex gave the 49ers the comeback victory.

Northern Illinois 3, Western Illinois 0: Northern Illinois made quick work of their in-state rivals with goals from Sean Totsch, Issac Kannah and Mike Mascitti. Western Illinois offered little in the way of offense, managing just one shot on target.

Monmouth 0, Stony Brook 0 (Monmouth advances on PKs): All five Monmouth players converted their spot kicks while Antonio Crespi skied his kick to doom Stony Brook.

Providence 1, Dartmouth 0: John Raley scored his second goal of the season just 11 minutes in and Providence held on against a toothless Dartmouth attack.

Rutgers 4, Colgate 2: Rutgers is in to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003 with an offensive explosion against Colgate. The Scarlet Knights saw goals from Bryant Knibbs,  Nate Bourdeau and Juan Pablo Correa and an own goal courtesy of Colgate.

Central Florida 1, Florida Gulf Coast 0 (2OT): Kevan George tapped in Matthew Gaskin's pass for a golden goal in the second overtime. The teams combined for 31 shots before George finally found the breakthrough with three minutes left before a shootout.

West Virginia 2, Xavier 1 (OT): Eric Schonele's golden goal in the 99th minute was enough to book the Mountaineers into the second round.

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What did you think of last night's results? Surprised with Virginia's early exit? Do you think Akron have a shot of going deep in the tournament? Are there any upsets in the cards once the seeded teams enter the fray?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. We’ll see, Why is UCLA the only team from Pac-12 in the Top 40 NCAA Ranking, Is that Conference that bad?????????? The Irish Boys will destroy your English Kid captain with the OZ accent in midfield. Peace Out, Blue hens all the way.

    Reply
  2. ALL the other results- really? St Marys beat CSU Bakersfield 1-0, and get UC Irvine next. First WCC title, first NCAA tourney win. Go Gaels!

    Reply
  3. The Stony Brook game was a good one to watch. Many chances by the Seawolves but Monmouth absorbed the pressure and didn’t let any in.

    Reply

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