1. Northwestern rolls into Sweet 16

• by Soccer America , Nov 17, 2006

Northwestern has come a long way. When Coach Tim Lenahan took over in 2001, he inherited a program that went winless in 2000, and it was not until the final game of his opening season that he got his first victory. Five years later, the Wildcats are in the Sweet 16.

Northwestern upset 11th seed Saint Louis, 1-0, on Thursday in the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Tournament. Waiting an extra day to play -- the game was postponed because of unplayable field conditions -- did not bother the 'Cats one bit. St. Louis product David Roth scored the only goal, belting a strike from 30 yards that deflected off the crossbar and into the goal for his eighth goal of the season.

Goalie Justin Pines was brilliant in goal, making point-blank stops on Alex Matteson and Casey Spiess in the first half, denying star John DiRaimondo from less than 10 yards out and knocking a hard shot by Spiess wide late in the game.

"Five years ago we lost 35 games in a row," Lenahan said. "With the tradition of Saint Louis and to make the round of 16 here is just amazing. Guys like Dave [Roth] and Justin [Pines] made the decision to come here when we were nothing and this win is something special."

In the other makeup game, No. 9 seed Clemson converted two penalties -- the 11th goals of the season each for Jamaica international Dane Richards and Brazilian Frederico Moojen -- to beat Gardner-Webb, 3-1, Thursday afternoon and move into the round of 16 for the eighth time in Coach Trevor Adair's 12 years with the Tigers.

NCAA DIVISION I MEN
THIRD ROUND
Nov. 18
No. 5 Maryland (16-4-1) vs. No. 12 Notre Dame (14-5-2), 6 pm ET
No. 4 Virginia (15-3-1)  vs.  No. 13 California (13-5-1), 7 pm ET
No. 7 Indiana (15-4-2) vs.  No. 10 Santa Clara (13-4-4), 7 pm ET
Old Dominion (14-5-2) vs. UC Santa Barbara (14-7-0), 7 pm ET
Nov. 19
No. 1 Duke (17-3-1) vs. No. 16 Lehigh (15-1-3), 1 pm ET
Northwestern (13-7-0) vs. UNC Greensboro (16-7-0), 1 pm ET
No. 2 Wake Forest (16-3-3) vs.  No. 15 Towson (14-1-3), 2 pm ET
No. 8 UCLA (11-5-4) vs.  No. 9 Clemson (13-4-2), 5 pm PT