RReview/Opponentseview/Opponents 2006 Season Review 36 2006 Statistics 37 2006 Game-by-Game 37-38 2007 Opponents 39 All-Time Series Records 35 40 uuc_mens_soccer.inddc_mens_soccer.indd 3535 88/16/2007/16/2007 1:44:241:44:24 PPMM 2007 UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI SOCCER 2006 IN REVIEW BIG EAST Title, NCAA Bid Highlight 2006 Season he University of Cincinnati men’s soccer team made Tits mark on school history in 2006. The Bearcats won the schnool’s fi rst team BIG EAST Championship by capturing the league’s Red Division crown and made its third appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Omar Cummings was named to the NSCAA/adidas all-America fi rst team, the fi rst men’s soccer player in school history to earn such honors. Cummings joined Kenny Anaba and Amir Ikner as all-region and all-BIG EAST honorees. Mike Vessells, who fi nished his career second in school history with 15 shutouts, was named to the NSCAA/adidas Scholar Athlete team. A Hot Start The men’s soccer team captured UC’s fi rst BIG EAST team championship with a The season began with a road match at crosstown rival 2-1, overtime win at Villanova on Oct. 21. Xavier. Cummings provided the theatrics, scoring the played well in spurts, but gave up too many chances in however, as Cummings tallied his fi fth goal in the 78th game winner on a breakaway in overtime to give UC falling at No. 10 West Virginia, 2-0. Two days later, UC minute to knot the match. Just moments later, Anaba its second straight 1-0 victory against the Musketeers. found itself heading into double-overtime against a feisty won it for the Bearcats with his fi fth goal of the season. Cummings again notched the game-winner four days Pittsburgh squad playing on its home turf. A restart goal It was UC’s sixth straight victory, a school record, and later in UC’s home opener against defending Missouri for the Panthers gave them a 2-1 victory and sent the marked just the 12th loss at home (108-12-21) for the Valley Conference champion Bradley. The Bearcats Bearcats home with a 2-3-1 record and a lot of questions. Red Storm since 1991. UC now controlled its destiny dominated the Braves, outshooting the visitors by a 14-5 in the race for the Red Division crown with a 5-2-0 count, and won, 2-0. With 2005’s leading scorers, Cummings and Anaba, conference mark. Sophomore Brad Simpson was named returning for 2006, the Bearcats seemed to have plenty BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week and earned a A Rough Stretch of offensive fi repower. But the squad had scored just spot on the Soccer America National Team of the Week, With optimism high after a 2-0 start to the season, once in four matches and just fi ve times through its fi rst while Cummings and goalkeeper Mike Vessells earned the Bearcats headed to Dallas for the SMU Radisson six contests of the season. spots on the BIG EAST Honor Roll. Invitational. In the fi rst match of the mini-tournament, the Bearcats ran into a buzzsaw as No. 2 SMU breezed Getting Back on Track After the win against St. John’s, the Bearcats made a to a 6-0 win. The Mustangs spent the majority of Maybe all they needed was some home cooking. UC splash in the national polls, being ranked as high as No. the season as the consensus No. 1 team in the nation returned to the friendly confi nes of Gettler Stadium 15 by Soccer America. and were undefeated until very late in the regular for a BIG EAST weekend against Marquette and No. season. The next day, UC outplayed a talented Florida 12 Notre Dame. UC cruised to a 3-1 win against a Leading the Red Division by four points with four BIG International side, but were unable to crack the rebuilding Marquette squad, setting up a Sunday EAST matches to play, the Bearcats welcomed USF to scoreboard and settled for a 0-0 tie. afternoon matchup against Notre Dame. The Irish took Gettler Stadium on Oct. 7. UC outplayed the visiting an early lead, but Anaba equalized and then set up Noah Bulls, fi ring 21 shots to USF’s nine, but settled for a 0-0 BIG EAST play opened the following weekend and the Davidson’s header for the game-winner, giving UC a win draw, sustaining the four-point lead in the standings. Bearcats were on the road for two more contests. UC against the highly-ranked Irish for the second straight season. Anaba was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week for his performance and also earned College Soccer News National Team of the Week honors. UC then handled Cleveland State (3-1), Syracuse (3-0) and Louisville (3-0) at Gettler Stadium, to improve to 7-3-1 and match a school record with fi ve straight wins. With preseason favorites St. John’s and USF looming, the Bearcats were in a position to take charge of the BIG 36 EAST Red Division. A Historic Win UC headed to Queens, N.Y., to take on No. 17 St. John’s at Belson Stadium, a venue in which the Red Storm had lost just fi ve times since it opened in 2002. Again, OOmarmar CCummingsummings the Bearcats found themselves down early as St. MMikeike VessellsVessells John’s scored in the 28th minute. UC would fi ght back, uuc_mens_soccer.inddc_mens_soccer.indd 3636 88/16/2007/16/2007 1:44:261:44:26 PPMM 11, Dayes reached a coaching milestone by picking up NCAA Bound his 150th career victory. A 17th-year head coach, Dayes After dropping a tough 2-0 decision against Providence spent 11 seasons at his alma mater, Wright State, where in the quarterfi nals of the BIG EAST Tournament, he split time with the men’s and women’s programs. He the Bearcats earned an at-large bid to the 48-team has posted nine winning seasons during his 17 years as a NCAA Tournament. UC played at Northwestern on a head coach and ended 2006 with a 152-129-37 record. cold and blustery Nov. 10, falling 3-0 to the Big Ten representative. BIG EAST Champs! Following a loss to Rutgers, which snapped an eight- A Program on the Rise match unbeaten streak, the Bearcats controlled their UC met a pair of its goals in 2006-win the BIG EAST Red destiny with only road wins against DePaul and Villanova Division and make the NCAA Tournament. With two standing in the way of a BIG EAST Championship. successful seasons in the BIG EAST in the books, the Winning on the road in the BIG EAST is no easy task, and Bearcats are building toward the future. Competing the Bearcats found that despite their records, the Blue on the national stage is just around the corner for the Demons and Wildcats would not be pushovers. squad, as evidenced by the No. 15 national ranking and SSamam MMilleriller highly ranked recruiting class. Cummings scored a brilliant goal at DePaul to give UC a Milestone for Dayes hard-fought 1-0 win and the Villanova match headed With the BIG EAST affi liation, the new facilities around Head coach Hylton Dayes, in his sixth season at UC, to overtime at 1-1 despite a 20-8 advantage in shots for campus and the emergence of UC as a legitimate player has built the Bearcats into a BIG EAST power and a the Bearcats. Anaba scored the game-winner in double on the national scene, Dayes and his staff look forward contender on the national level. Against Oakland on Oct. overtime and the celebration began. to continued success in the years to come. 2006 Statistics 2006 Results 2006 Game-by-Game Name GP-GS G A Pts. Sh. SOG GW 11-6-2 Overall; 7-3-1 BIG EAST Cincinnati Omar Cummings 19-19 6 9 21 78 27 4 6-2-1 Home; 5-3-0 Away; 0-1-1 Neutral at Xavier Kenny Anaba 19-18 7 5 19 69 40 5 Cincinnati (1-0-0) vs. Xavier (0-1-0) AUGUST Aug. 25, 2006 XU Soccer Complex Cincinnati, Ohio Noah Davidson 19-19 3 2 8 28 11 2 Mon. 14 at IUPUI (Ex.) .............................W, 1-0 Goals By Period 1 2 OT Total Kwame Sarkodie 16-12 2 2 6 38 17 0 Thur. 17 vs. Michigan State (Ex.)! .............W, 1-0 UC 1 0 1 2 Sun. 20 MICHIGAN (Ex.) ...........................T, 4-4 XU 0 1 0 1 Mike Dwyer 15-6 1 3 5 9 2 0 Fri. 25 at Xavier .............................W, 2-1 (ot) Scoring Summary: Sam Miller 19-19 2 0 4 29 9 0 29:07 UC Kwame Sarkodie (1) (Judson McKinney) Tue. 29 BRADLEY ...................................W, 2-0 59:23 XU Jon Enders (Tommy Clines, Toni Skudrzik) Patrick Baxter 19-18 1 2 4 20 11 0 93:58 UC Omar Cummings (1) (unassisted) Kieron Gradwell 14-2 1 1 3 9 4 0 SEPTEMBER Shots: Cincinnati 15, Xavier 9 Fri. 1 at SMU^ .....................................L, 0-6 Saves: UC-3 (Mike Vessells, 3); XU-3 (Liam Curran, 3) Brad Simpson 16-15 0 0 0 7 3 0 Sat. 2 vs. Florida International^ ...T, 0-0 (2ot) Lionel Jackson 16-15 0 3 3 4 2 0 Fri. 8 at West Virginia*.........................L, 0-2 Bradley vs.