[COLLEGE MEN] Five Big Ten representatives — none seeded higher than No. 10 — are still alive in the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament — no other conferencehas more than two teams in the final 16 — thanks to a perfect weekend. Here’s how they did it …
MICHIGAN. The Wolverines won the Big Ten Tournamentwith an emphatic 4-1 victory at Penn State, but the No. 10 seeds needed overtime to get past UCF, 2-1, before 2,724 fans at the U-M Soccer Stadium, Sunday’s third largest crowd.
Michigan’s big three of Soony Saad, Hamoody Saad and Justin Meram have combinedfor 37 goals, but it was freshman Latif Alashe who won the game with only his second goal of the season when he tipped Hamoody Saad’s free kick just behind UCFgoalkeeper Shawn Doyle to give the Wolverines their program-best 15th win of the season.
UCF led after nine minutes, but Michigan waged a furiousattack — firing 31 shots in the game — and was rewarded with Meram’s equalizer in the 50th minute.
Next up: Sunday at South Carolina.
INDIANA. In his first year as the IU head coach, Todd Yeagley led the No. 14seed Hoosiers to the Big Ten regular-season title and now into round of 16 with an impressive 5-1 win over Tulsa in Bloomington. Indiana got goals by AndyAdlard and freshman Nikita Kotlov put the game away with two late goals by Will Bruin — his 17th and 18th of theseason.
“We had a very good midfield and back line performance tonight,” said Yeagley. “A lot of players of the game tonight, but certainly [CameronJordan and Will Bruin] were two of the best on both sides of the field.”
Next up: Sunday at Akron.
PENN STATE. The record-setting duo of Corey Hertzog and
Hertzog, a junior from Reading, Pa., had three goals and an assist to take over the nation’s lead nine goals (20) and points (46),while Braga, a senior midfielder from Brazil, added two assists, increasing his program-record total to 17 for theseason and putting him in a first place-tie nationally with High Point’s Scott Rojo.
Hertzog and Bragahave combined to score 73 points, believed to be the most by a pair of Nittany Lions in the 100-year history of the program.
OHIO STATE. After playing into a fierce wind inthe first half, the No. 16 seed got goals from Konrad Warzycha, son of Columbus Crew coach Robert Warzycha and Omar Vallejo in the second half and held off a late bid by Providence to beat the Friars, 2-1, in Columbus. Warzycha’s goalwas his eighth of the season — and fourth from the penalty spot — while Vallejo had his first career goal.
The big play of the game, though, was Matt Lampson‘s save on Providence’s Matt Marcin in the 24thminute.
“For us to get to halftime 0-0 was big,” said Buckeye coach John Bluem after his team managed just one shot. “We talkedin the locker room at halftime about what we needed to do in the second half to get that goal that would put us ahead. It was a tough, physical game though. Everyone got tired today.”
Next up: Sunday at Louisville.
MICHIGAN STATE. The Spartans advanced to the third round for the first time since 1968 — when they reached the championship game — with a 1-0 victory over unbeaten Butler.
The hero was senior midfielder Jeff Ricondo, returning from a month-long injury layoff and to score the lone goal in the 85th minute. Ricondo, who wassidelined with injury since the Wisconsin game on Oct. 17, entered the game with just over 10 minutes remaining and buried a shot from about 25 yards out.
Butler held a 15-6 advantage inshots, but both teams struggled to find the target.
Next up: Sunday at North Carolina.