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Huskies Head to Maryland for 'Elite Eight' Round
 STORRS, CT
(December 2) – The No. 8 University of Connecticut men’s soccer team will travel
to College Park, Maryland to face No. 2 University of Maryland on Saturday,
December 7 at 1:00 pm at Ludwig Field in an ‘Elite Eight’ game of the 2002 Men’s
College Cup. The winner of Saturday’s game will advance to the Men’s College Cup
Championship on December 13 & 15 at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
Connecticut, the No. 7 seed in the tournament, holds a 17-5
overall record and ended play at home (Morrone Stadium) with a perfect 11-0
record. UConn advanced to the ‘Elite Eight’ after defeating Indiana (1-0) on
Sunday afternoon for the team’s 11 th
shutout of the season. The Huskies are led by the duo of Damani Ralph and Cesar
Cuellar, combining for 34 of UConn’s 51 goals and 14 of 17
game-winners this season. Ralph, the 2002 BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year
and a M.A.C. Hermann trophy finalist, has scored 18 goals and five assists for a
team-leading 41 points, while Cuellar has recorded 16 goals and three assists
for 35 points. Sixth-year head coach Ray Reid will be leading the Huskies to
their seventh overall quarterfinal round game in soccer program history.
The No. 2 seed in the tournament, Maryland used a golden goal
by Domenic Mediate to defeat St. Louis, 1-0, and advance to the quarterfinals on
Sunday afternoon. The Terrapins hold a 19-4-0 overall record, and are also a
perfect 12-0 at home this season. Abe Thompson, who has notched 14 goals and
eight assists for 36 points, leads the team in scoring. The Terrapins are
looking to advance to the final four for the seventh time in school history, and
leading the team is tenth-year head coach Sasho Cirovski.
The all-time series between UConn and Maryland is in favor of
the Terps, the 4-3 advantage. Most recently, Connecticut blanked Maryland, 2-0
on October 12, 2002 in Storrs. Goals from Ralph and Leandro de Oliveira helped
the No. 7 Huskies upset No. 6 Maryland before a crowd of 4,500 home fans. The
last time the teams faced each other in NCAA action was during the 1960 season,
when Maryland handed the Huskies a 4-0 loss, the first time UConn played in the
NCAA post-season tournament.
Photos by: Mohit Chadha |
