USL College Round-Up
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Creighton is on pace for a record-setting season defensively, and it may also be one that ends in a national championship because of that. While the No. 2-seed Bluejays saw their eight-game shutout streak come to an end on Sunday against UC Santa Barbara, they still advanced to the Elite Eight with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals by Andrew Ribeiro, who played for the Chicago Fire Premier this summer in the USL PDL, and Bruno Castro.
At the center of the Bluejays’ success, though, has been their defense and goalkeeper Brian Holt, an All-Eastern Conference selection in the PDL this summer for Reading United. Holt has only conceded five goals in 22 games, a goals-against average of 0.22. If that pace continues it would set a NCAA single-season record. In addition to Holt, the Bluejays defense is also manned by Chicago Fire Premier’s Tyler Polak, one of the top underclassmen prospects in the country, and with fellow Fire Premier standout Ethan Finlay leading the attack, Creighton could be in line to earn its first NCAA Championship.
To do so, it will need to get past former Washington Crossfire goalkeeper Chris Blais and No. 7-seed South Florida, which advanced 6-5 in a penalty shootout against New Mexico on Wednesday night after the two teams had played to a 0-0 draw through regulation and overtime.
After making a pair of big saves in overtime to keep his side alive, Blais made a pair of saves in the penalty shootout for the Bulls, denying Carson Baldinger in the seventh round to send South Florida through. Blais was honored for his performance by being named to the College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer Teams of the Week, and will be hoping for more of the same this Saturday against Creighton.
Elsewhere, other PDL alums made key differences to help their sides advance. Billy Schuler, who played this summer for Reading United, scored the overtime game-winner for No. 1-seed North Carolina to send the Tar Heels through against No. 16-seed Indiana, while UCLA’s Chandler Hoffman, a PDL All-League selection for Orange County Blue Star this summer, had a pair of goals as the No. 13-seed Bruins defeated Rutgers 3-0.
The Bruins will face No. 12-seed Louisville in an Elite Eight rematch after the Cardinals upset No. 5-seed Maryland 4-2 thanks to an outstanding display by Colin Rolfe. The senior, who trained with the Portland Timbers U23s this summer, had a hand in all four goals for Louisville, recording a goal and three assists.
Rolfe could need to be at his best again on Saturday, with the Bruins looking to get some revenge after falling to the Cardinals 5-4 last season at the same stage.