Men’s NCAA Tournament: Second Round recap

by Travis Clark

November 23, 2015

The Sweet 16 Field is set.

After the opening weekend of action in the men’s DI NCAA Tournament, Third Round matchups are primed and ready to go after Thanksgiving.

MORE: College Scoreboard | Men's Division I Bracket

Below is a recap of some of the games on Sunday.

Seeds survive

Only two of the 16 teams to secure progression to the Third Round of the NCAA Tournament are unseeded at this point of the season. SMU proved that perhaps it deserved to be in amongst the top 16, handing Denver its first loss of the season thanks to Stanton Garcia’s headed finish in overtime.

The other surviving unseeded team came from the nation’s top conference, as ACC side Boston College traveled to Tampa, Florida and came away with a narrow 2-1 win against South Florida. Swedish freshman Simon Enstrom bagged the winning goal in the 98th minute of overtime.

Elsewhere, the favorites did enough to advance. No. 1 seed Wake Forest faced a difficult task against North Carolina opponents Charlotte. Jon Bakero provided the late winner for the Demon Deacons, heading home Ian Harkes’ cross in the 83rd minute.

TJ Casner scored twice and setup another goal as No. 2 Clemson flexed its offensive muscles in a 5-2 win against Elon. Tiger defender Iman Mafi added a goal and three assists of his own, as Thales Moreno and Saul Chinchilla also found the back of the net for the ACC power.

Zips dominate Rutgers

Eighteen minutes into the second round clash between Akron and Rutgers, the Zips led 5-0. The 2010 national champions came out firing, scoring all five goals in a 13-minute span of the first half. Victor Souto tallied from the penalty spot, and Richie Laryea and Stuart Holthusen added a brace each.

Sean Sepe grabbed a goal in the second half, before Sugor Al Awwad nabbed a consolation strike for the Scarlet Knights to make it a 6-1 final score.

Maryland edges former ACC rival

Familiar foes squared off in College Park on Sunday, as Virginia and Maryland renewed their old ACC rivalry in the tournament’s second round.

It may have been close on the score sheet at the final whistle, as Eryk Williamson’s 38th minute goal was enough in Maryland’s 1-0 win, but the Terps did outshoot Virginia 23-8 on the way to a third round matchup with Notre Dame.

Check out highlights from last night's big win over the defending natty champs here! https://t.co/l9c7UHTzwd
— Maryland Soccer (@MarylandMSoccer) November 23, 2015