Nova Southeastern men’s soccer team advances to Division II final four
The Nova Southeastern University men’s soccer program has reached new heights — literally and figuratively.
On Thursday night at 9, the underdog and unranked NSU Sharks (17-3-2) will challenge sixth-ranked and top-seeded Cal State Los Angeles (17-2-2) in an NCAA Division II national semifinal in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
With a win, the Sharks — the lowest seed at the Final Four — would go for the national championship on Saturday night against the winner between Indianapolis (18-1-2) and West Virginia power Charleston (16-5-0). Charleston has won two of the past three national titles.
Prior to this season, NSU had never previously qualified for an NCAA tournament, meaning that a final four run is obviously new heights in that regard.
But it’s also literally higher ground because the site of the game — Switchbacks Training Stadium — sits at an altitude of 6,035 feet.
“It should be a great experience for our boys,” NSU coach Matt Watts said. “Some of the parents of our players are coming to the game from as far away as Norway or England. We’ll be well supported.”
Weidner Field, site of the game, is an 8,000-seat stadium located in downtown Colorado Springs and situated at the highest elevation of any facility used by an American pro soccer team.
That shouldn’t bother NSU, though. After all, the Sharks have no losses on the road this season (8-0-0).
“Our boys are extremely confident,” Watts said. “They don’t believe the rankings are accurate.”
Indeed, last Thursday in Young Harris, Georgia, reserve Michael Lawrence scored as the Sharks beat Chowan 1-0 while playing one man short for the final 62 minutes.
On Saturday, again in Georgia, NSU beat Auburn-Montgomery 3-1 on goals by Alberto Rentero, Manu Schwarz and Lawrence. Aleks Berg added two assists, helping the Sharks advance to the final four.
The Sharks outshot Auburn-Montgomery 23-6 in a dominating performance.
Thursday’s win, though, was much more dramatic as the score was tied 0-0 when the ejection call was made following a second yellow card on NSU forward Milos Christoforou.
Watts reacted by taking out midfielder Henrik Bergin in the 39th minute and inserting Lawrence, a forward.
“I wanted to put pressure on [Chowan’s] back line,” Watts reasoned. “We put in a player [Lawrence] we though could be dangerous due to his quickness.”
Once the Sharks got the lead in the 51st minute, they held on tight.
With three seconds left, Auburn-Montgomery took their goalie, Alexander Kraus, out of the nets and put him into the action. After a long throw-in, the ball landed at Kraus’ feet in the box.
“[Kraus] shot a side-volley, almost like a bicycle kick,” Watts said.
“Our goalie [Alberto Ciroi] moved to his right and pushed the ball off the right post, where it was cleared off the line by Manuel Cukaj.”
FIU HOOPS STREAK
▪ FIU’s men’s basketball team (8-1) is off to the best nine-game start in program history.
After a 58-51 loss at the Georgia Bulldogs on opening night, FIU has won eight straight games. That matches the longest win streak in program history, tying the 1985-1986 team.
The Panthers are second in Conference USA in three-point-shooting percentage (36.0 percent) and second in three-pointers made per game (10.0).
Defensively, FIU is first in the league in lowest three-point percentage allowed (26.1 percent) and lowest field-goal percentage allowed (38.0 percent).
FIU guard Tevin Brewer ranks second in the league in assists (5.7) and tied for sixth in scoring (16.7)
THIS AND THAT
▪ NSU’s women’s volleyball team lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament this past weekend at the South Regional in Pensacola, finishing its season with a 25-6 record.
NSU beat Alabama-Huntsville in three sets in the first round before getting eliminated by Tampa, 3-1. Still, this was the most wins by an NSU volleyball team since 2007, and best finish since 2008.