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Southern Methodist University Mustangs


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"SMU is a good team. Probably should have been seeded. They won the AAC (which had four teams in the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney) regular season, had a top 16 RPI, were eliminated in their conference tournament only on PKs and haven't lost since mid-September, when they fell to Stanford in OT.

Since then, they are 13-0-2.

Akron is probably the better team but SMU is not to be underestimated. Any team that can take Stanford to OT or beat UConn or tie South Florida and tie Tulsa can bite you in the ass, especially if you're looking past them.

Their best player is 6-3 F Mauro Cichero, a sophomore who has 10 goals and 9 assists and was named ACC offensive POY. Michael Nelson, a redshirt sophomore, is a two-time AAC GK of the Year.

I wouldn't bet against Akron in this matchup but I wouldn't bet a lot on them, either. (Which is why I'm not much of a gambler.) Should be a good game."

-Sandon Mibut-

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Great win on Sunday!!

Here is their most valuable asset, rising star and learned under Schellas Hyndman Very bright guy that probably gets more from his players than most could. Played fairly well to take a win at tough Denver home field in OT. Note they also play pretty tall, so expect high crosses. Most dangerous player is 6-3 Cichero, noted in above posting. Zips play relatively short in favor of quickness except Radjen and to an extent Dambrot, and most taller players on the roster tend to sit (Machione, Weidt, Kahsay, Rubio). SMU could produce another low scoring affair, and looking ahead to UNC/Creighton would be a serious mistake after a heady win against a tired Rutgers team that ran thru deep puddles in a double OT game in a monsoon a few nights earlier. No more easy games, SMU will be well prepared and rested.

Hudson was a standout student-athlete with the Mustangs from 2000-03 and was a member of SMU's 2000 College Cup team. In 2003, Hudson was an NSCAA/adidas All-Midwest Region First Team selection, as well as an All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team honoree. During his senior season, he was named to CollegeSoccerNews.com's National Team of the Week on two occasions, and he was also selected as the MVC Tournament MVP that same season. Hudson was selected as the 44th pick by DC United in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft.

For his efforts in the classroom, Hudson received CoSIDA Academic All-America First-Team honors, and was twice named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete squad. He also earned the MVC President's Academic Excellence award in 2001.

Hudson graduated magna cum laude from SMU with a bachelor's degree in business administration (finance) and a bachelor's degree in psychology in May, 2004. Upon graduation, Hudson worked for Ernst & Young, LLP, as a senior auditor and transaction advisory specialist. Hudson graduated from University of Notre Dame magna cum laude with a master's degree in the science of accountancy (MSA) in August, 2005.

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Predictions from J.R. Eskilson at Top Drawer soccer. He predicts a rough weekend for the ACC with Notre Dame, North Carolina and Wake not reaching the elite 8.

Astute observation on his part about how important that Victor Souto is to the zips (I know that I should let sleeping dogs lie...but it is unconscionable that Victor was not chosen as one of the top11 players in the MAC).

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From a poster at the bigsoccer forum:

Akron 2 - 1 final. The 2nd half was an absolute clinic by Akron. Could of been 4 or 5. Only great goalkeeping and the crossbar got in the way of a similar score to the Rutgers game. This team is very dangerous and one that can be lifting the trophy in 2 weeks. It's amazing how well a team plays when they get the proper seed by the NCAA committee #respect

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I have not looked at any of the press conferences....but I thought that Goncalo Soares was phenomenal in the first half. Adam, Stuart and Richie really took charge in the 2nd half but I thought that Goncalo was the man of the match in the first half. He made several very confident runs, and he passed well and intercepted well.

His confidence has really grown over the season. Victor is such a super holding midfielder that the other HMF was probably overshadowed at the beginning of the season. Goncalo really has a very high soccer IQ and it is great to see him contribute so much.

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Video on gozips.com does not show Sepe's nullified goal.

Pity!

I was standing on the west side of the field just to the north of the goal so I had a pretty good look at Sepe's 'goal.' I thought the yellow card was a good call as, IMHO, Sepe did seem to intentionally attempt to 'influence' the ball with his arm. ;) but :nono:

Second-half pressure was awesome. SMU began to look a little weary while our guys looked to be very-well conditioned and continued to make strong runs.

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I just hope the crowd is better next week. As a former student, I am embarrassed that there hasn't been a march AT ALL this season. The leadership of the Rowdies need to step up. I've been promoting it all over the place so far. Hoping that gets at least a few more people in the seats there. I even went onto a Portland East Coast fan page on facebook for anyone driving into the MLS Cup match on Sunday, that if they come earleir they can watch an NCAA Elite Eight game in Akron for $10 if they can't wait for soccer until Sunday. If only Akron athletic department came out with a pump-up video like they did for 2010...

Edited by mes102
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it is not just the students....

my row in section 203 yesterday.....24 seats in the row.....there were 6 seats filled and 18 open

weather forecast for Saturday....is sunny...high of 51 ....low of 30

This team is so exciting to watch....great, hard working young men.....

and coach Embick and his staff deserve a ton of credit for the personnel changes and player positioning changes that they have made during the season.

At the beginning of the season, I would have never expected Danilo Radjen to be such a key contributor. This coaching staff has really "coached" this year.

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Sweet Sixteen attendance ...

3149 #16 Indiana @ #1 Wake Forest

2280 SMU @ #4 Akron

1634 #9 tosu @ #8 Stanford (weather looked to be perfect in Stanford, CA)

1432 #12 Creighton @ #5 UNC (again, weather looked to be ideal in NC)

1134 #11 Seattle @ #6 Syracuse

1015 #15 UCSB @ #2 Clemson (off and on rain with steady rain at times in the second half)

913 Boston College @ #3 Georgetown

331 #10 Maryland @ #7 Notre Dame

Average - 1486

Assuming the ticket counting formula is roughly the same everywhere, Akron's attendance was pretty good.

Caleb did a great job of coaching AND marketing. I'm more than OK with Embick and staff focusing on coaching, conditioning, strategy, scouting, etc.. The University has a golden opportunity to garner another National Championship. The Administration and Athletics are the ones who should be out there promoting the story - internally (incenting the Rowdies and other students) and externally (Joe Akron soccer fans). Too bad we're already 2/3rds of the way through a 3-game home stretch of "March Madness" soccer style. Like soccer or not, This Is AKRON! Go Zips!

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it is not just the students....

my row in section 203 yesterday.....24 seats in the row.....there were 6 seats filled and 18 open

weather forecast for Saturday....is sunny...high of 51 ....low of 30

This team is so exciting to watch....great, hard working young men.....

and coach Embick and his staff deserve a ton of credit for the personnel changes and player positioning changes that they have made during the season.

At the beginning of the season, I would have never expected Danilo Radjen to be such a key contributor. This coaching staff has really "coached" this year.

Absolutely this team is exciting to watch and they work darn hard. They deserve HUGE crowds. I can't understand how people in Akron and NE Ohio don't take notice. One thing that UA Marketing seems to have right ... "Are you out there?"

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Complete domination! Corners? 17-3? Stuart could have had two or three breakaway goals -- but the result is a 'W'. Great overall team effort, now to see the Timbers & Crew on to the finals! :)

90:00
SHOTS 1 2 TOTAL SMU 8 5 13 Akron 17 23 40
SAVES 1 2 TOTAL SMU 2 7 9 Akron 2 3 5
CORNER KICKS 1 2 TOTAL SMU 3 0 3 Akron 9 10 19
FOULS 1 2 TOTAL SMU 6 9 15 Akron 6 2 8
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