This week, you better buckle up, because this is going to be a wild ride.

This article will include the NCAA Division I quarterfinal match between Saint Mary’s College at North Carolina. Joe's coverage of the NCAA division II semifinals will be in Part 2 tomorrow.

Just a reminder, this year, I’m concentrating on just a few players at each game.

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – On a beautiful Saturday evening, North Carolina beat Saint Mary’s 2-0 to advance to their fourth consecutive College Cup.

Saint Mary’s should be proud of the effort, because they hung in there against one of the best college teams in the nation with having far less individual talent.

While the result was just, Saint Mary’s deserved a goal from their efforts.

Starting Line-ups:

Saint Mary’s: 4-2-3-1

F: Conroy Cunningham
M: Julian Godinez, Agustin Cazarez, Emmanuel Sarabia
DM: Jose Cabeza, Justin Grider
D: Joel Fumia, Tom Mohoric, Malcolm Alugas, Patrick Watson
GK: Doug Herrick

North Carolina: 4-3-3

F: Ben Speas, Billy Schuler, Rob Lovejoy
M: Mikey Lopez, Enzo Martinez, Kirk Urso
D: Jordan McCrary, Matt Hedges, Boyd Okwuonu, Jordan Gafa
GK: Scott Goodwin

Saint Mary’s Observations:

Saint Mary’s is effective because they play cohesive defensive soccer. While North Carolina had many chances, these generally ended with a timely tackle by one of the Saint Mary’s center backs.

Scoring continues to be a challenge for Saint Mary’s.

In the previous game that I saw Saint Mary’s play, one of my comments was that senior goal keeper Doug Herrick was a “satisfactory shot blocker, but his distribution is weak especially his punts”. I was glad to see him play again, because his punts were long and straight. So, the problems that I saw with his distribution weren’t evident against North Carolina. 

After the game, I spoke with Coach Adam Cooper about Herrick. He commented that in previous years, distribution was a problem, but that Herrick had solved these problems for the most part.

Herrick is a tall, thin goalkeeper who positions himself well, getting his hands on balls that he should with potential to become a professional goalkeeper. He has perspective on his strengths and weaknesses for improvement.

Herrick had the best shot for Saint Mary’s in the first half with a 60 yard free kick that was just under the cross-bar in the 43^rd minute.

Senior Tom Mohoric is a solid defender that kept the game scoreless going into halftime by making a timely tackle on Kirk Urso in the 40^th minute. Mohoric moved up top to aid in the attack late in the second half.

Senior Malcolm Alugas is a touch taller and a thicker center back than Mohoric. Alugas sealed Schuler off the ball in the 21^st minute. Without Alugas and Mohoric in the back, Saint Mary’s is watching the NCAA tournament on their computers.

Sophomore Patrick Watson, coming back from injury, was abused by junior Ben Speas all evening. This was the best game that I’ve seen Speas play including at Akron.

Junior Trevor Newquist had a monster game winning more than his fair share of high balls in central midfield.

Last game, I was most impressed with senior Josh Grider playing a similar role as Newquist. In this game, Grider started wide (wasn’t too effective) and moved centrally under the forwards (and he was better). He is a scrappy player with a modicum of technical skills and less athletic ability. He might be good enough to play center back, but it’s not a sure thing.

Junior Nathan Arambula for most of the night held the quick winger sophomore Rob Lovejoy in check. 

North Carolina Observations:

A 53^rd minute goal by senior Matt Hedges heading opened the scoring for North Carolina on a Kirk Urso corner kick that found Hedges slicing through the box.

Ben Speas scored an insurance goal in the 65^th minute. On the play, junior Billy Schuler sent a pass through the middle past the backline. It looked like Speas grabbed the Saint Mary’s defender jerked him down and ran past him onto the open ball and finished the shot. But, no call was made.

Interestingly, two transfers scored the goals in this match.

In the 35^th minute Saint Mary’s was transitioning with numbers after a North Carolina set piece, I was amazed at the top speed that Hedges was able to achieve. With his long legs, he reminded me of Secretariat blazing through traffic. I didn’t realize that Hedges was that fast.

Watching this game, I reflected without Hedges, North Carolina is not in the final 8. With his dominance in the air in the back, he complemented the young talented smallish backline. 

Right now, Hedges is the best senior center back in college soccer, after much contemplation. I still like Berry and Meyer, but if I needed a center back, I take Hedges.

Weaknesses, I’d like to see him get stronger and not allow smaller players to worm him off the spot. I watched him working on his left foot in warm-ups. Lastly, I want every pass to be on the mark – against Saint Mary’s he wasn’t perfect.

Lastly, if Hedges wants to grow a MLS play-off beard, he needs to not shave his current tournament beard. I sometimes forget how young these players are until you’re talking to them face-to-face. At the post-game press conference, Speas, Urso and Hedges sat there with various tournament beards, Speas fully developed, Urso marginal growth, Hedges insubstantial growth.

Shuler is quick and dangerous. He’s quite strong for a medium sized forward. He can hold the ball with his back to the defense even doing so in the box in the second half. I’d like to see him check the defense before receiving the ball rather than relying on feel and hearing.

Junior Enzo Martinez is to model for inconsistency. In the last game, I came away impressed after not having such prior opinions. In this match, he’d make a sensational play followed by a horrific give-away. Not every play needs to be a highlight pass. Make the simple passes, the super when needed. But Martinez needs to prize possession more dearly.

Senior Kirk Urso is a battler. He almost scored the third goal in the 89^th minute on a near post shot that the goalkeeper Doug Herrick was able to parry out of bounds. Urso came back with a looping shot that forced Herrick to acrobatically tip over the cross-bar. Urso seems to only run as fast as he needs to. Perhaps, it’s because he relishes the physical contact.

This wasn’t sophomore Rob Lovejoy’s best game. In the 17^th minute, Schuler passed the ball to space that Lovejoy didn’t anticipate. Only Lovejoy’s exceptional acceleration allowed him to regain possession, but he needs to read his teammates better. In the 65^th minute, Lovejoy finally exploded around Arambula with 35 yards to go; Lovejoy mis-touched the ball over the end line. However, with Lovejoy’s acceleration, he has a bright future