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Soccer Notebook: UNC's Haggerty came out on top in 'grudge' match
AP Photo
Brooks Haggerty of UNC blocks a shot by Cody Arnoux.
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Published: December 13, 2008
■ Goalie Brooks Haggerty hasn't had the best of times in his career at North Carolina.
Injuries have plagued him throughout his three years with the Tar Heels. He missed a big chunk of action after suffering a concussion earlier this year, but he returned in the last regular-season game.
Last night he stopped the highest-scoring team in the nation at every turn. The Deacons, who had scored 81 goals, had 20 shots but Haggerty made seven big saves.
"I've battled injuries my whole college career," Haggerty said. "Personally, this is huge."
Haggerty, who is from Cary, has known Zack Schilawski of the Deacons since they were 4-years-old. Schilawski is also from Cary.
"I grew up with all those guys playing and I have a personal grudge against them every time we play them," Haggerty said. "But off the field they are genuine guys."
■ The College Cup will be played back in Cary next year, but after that no site has been selected.
In 2010 the Women's College Cup is scheduled for Cary so the men's version won't be in Cary that year.
According to Kristen Jacob of the NCAA, there haven't been any bids by prospective cities for the 2010 College Cup.
"We'll have a sub-committee start working on that," Jacob said. "But as of right now there are no bids for the 2010 tournament."
When yesterday's first semifinal game began, there were around 2,000 fans in the stands for the 4:30 p.m. local start.
■ Sam Cronin, who started his 98th career game for the Deacons, said that for whatever reasons he thought the Deacons were tight when the game started.
They certainly didn't play like the defending national champions the first 10 minutes of the game. They finally got their offense going in the second half, but couldn't score.
"I sensed a little nervousness by us but that was kind of strange because this was our third straight final four," Cronin said. "Carolina, on the other hand, came out pretty fast."
■ The NCAA, as part of its 50th anniversary of the men's soccer tournament, has announced a 50th anniversary team.
A list of around 100 players and 10 coaches were narrowed down in voting done by an NCAA subcommittee.
The 11 players who make up the team include three from Virginia. The players on the team are: Jeff Agoos (Virginia), Armando Betancourt (Indiana), Paul Caligiuri (UCLA), Richard Chinapoo (Long Island), Angelo DiBernardo (Indiana), Brad Friedel (UCLA), John Harkes (Virginia), Glenn Myernick (Hartwick), Farrukh Quraishi (SUNY-Oneonta), Claudia Reyna (Virginia) and Al Trost (Saint Louis).
The coach of the anniversary team is Indiana's Jerry Yeagley, who coached the Hoosiers from 1973 through 2003 and won six NCAA titles.
■ Marcus Tracy of the Deacons, who had plenty of chances to score in the second half, didn't touch the ball much in the first half. Tracy, another of the Deacons' seniors, also said that they were tight early in the game.
"I think the team overall was out of rhythm," Tracy said. "As a result we weren't getting the ball up to the forwards and playing at the speed that we are used to playing. It was a combination of us being a little nervous at the beginning and Carolina throwing us off our game."
■ The National Soccer Coaches Association of America yesterday named six finalists for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy, and three are from ACC programs.
Sam Cronin and Marcus Tracy of Wake Forest and Steve Zakuani of Akron are the men's finalists, and Casey Nogueira of North Carolina, Christina DiMartino of UCLA and Kerri Hanks of Notre Dame are the women's finalists. The awards recognize college soccer's top male and female players, and the winners will be announced on Jan. 9.
Cronin went into the College Cup semifinals with 10 goals and four assists this season, Tracy had 13 goals and 10 assists, and Zakuani led the nation in goals and points per game (2.14)
DiMartino led UCLA to an unbeaten regular season, Hanks finished with 20 goals and 15 assists, and Nogueira scored both goals in UNC's NCAA championship-game win against Notre Dame and finished with 25 goals and eight assists.
■ Wake Forest dominated the voting for the National Soccer Coaches Association's Division I men's All-America team, with midfielders Sam Cronin and Corben Bone and forward Marcus Tracy making the first team, Ike Opara making the second team, and Cody Arnoux making the third team.
Cronin and Arnoux were All-America selections for the second time, as were nine others, including Alejandro Bedoya of Boston College, Omar Gonzalez of Maryland and Mike Grella of Duke. Gonzalez and Grella made the first team, and Bedoya was a second-team pick.
Other ACC and area players on the second team were Michael Callahan of UNC, Richard Jata of Campbell and Chris Salvaggione of UNC Charlotte.
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