Nova Southeastern rolls to Sweet 16 of NCAA Division II men’s soccer tournament
Shark ink might be in Matt Watts’ future.
In August, prior to the start of Nova Southeastern University’s 2021 men’s soccer season, Watts — the coach of the NSU Sharks — promised his players he would get a tattoo if they delivered a national championship.
Now, three months later, the Sharks (15-3-2) are swimming in unchartered waters. On Dec. 2, when the Sharks face Chowan University, it will be NSU’s first ever game in the Sweet 16 round of the Division II NCAA tournament.
In other words, the Sharks are four wins from rings for the team … and ink for the coach.
“If we win, I plan on following through,” Watts said. “A tattoo of a shark would be cool, but I’ll leave it up to a team vote.”
The Sharks are unbeaten in their past 10 matches, including seven consecutive victories. They won three in a row to earn the Sunshine State Conference championship. This past weekend, they fell behind 1-0 but rallied to beat Coker, 3-2, in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday.
On Sunday, they beat Palm Beach Atlantic — the nation’s second-ranked team — 1-0. It was NSU’s second win in 10 days over PBA.
“In the eyes of the NCAA tournament, we’re a Cinderella story,” Watts said of the Sharks, who are unranked and seeded seventh out of 10 teams in the South Region.
“But our boys have confidence. They believe they can beat anyone.”
Still, after playing five games in 13 days, the Sharks are enjoying a break from matches on Thanksgiving week.
After beating PBA on Sunday, Sharks players collapsed at the final whistle.
“They were exhausted,” Watts said.
Next up is a trip to Georgia on Dec. 2 to play Chowan, a team out of North Carolina that is 13-3-2. Chowan had a first-round bye and then advanced Sunday by winning a 14-round shootout against West Florida, 13-12.
Sixth-seeded Chowan is 7-3-1 away from home; NSU is 9-0-0 on the road.
If the Sharks were to defeat Chowan, they would play the winner between Young Harris — the nation’s top-ranked team at 18-0-1 — and fifth-seeded Auburn Montgomery (11-4-3).
That Elite Eight matchup is set for Dec. 4 at Young Harris’ home field in Georgia.
The Final Four is in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Dec. 9 (semifinals) and Dec. 11 (final).
NSU is led by goalie Alberto Ciroi, who has started all 20 of the Sharks’ games, allowing only 21 goals.
Matty Cornish leads NSU with 10 goals, and Milos Christoforou, who is second on the team with six tallies, got the game-winner against PBA this past Sunday.
Another hero for NSU this past weekend was Bryan Bakboord, normally a reserve. But when Manuel Cukaj was unable to go due to strep throat, Bakboord played 80 minutes of standout defense against PBA’s top scorer.
Two wins down, four more to go for those rings … and that tattoo.
“As long as it’s small,” Watts said of his potential tattoo. “Nothing crazy.”
THIS AND THAT
▪ NSU’s women’s volleyball team (24-5) has qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2009. The Sharks set program records for longest win streak (19), best win percentage since joining the NCAA (.828) and most conference wins (16-4). The third-seeded Sharks’ first playoff match in a field of 64 teams is set for Dec. 2 against sixth-seeded Alabama-Huntsville (21-9) in Pensacola.
▪ Miami Dade College’s women’s volleyball team (18-5) finished sixth at the national junior college championships in Hutchinson, Kansas.
▪ St. Thomas University’s men’s soccer team, ranked fifth in the nation in NAIA, lost 3-2 to 25th-ranked Ottawa in the opening round of the national tournament. STU finished the year 14-1-2.
▪ STU’s women’s soccer team also lost in the opening round of the national tournament, falling 2-1 to Warner. STU finished 12-6-2.