You should know that I’m a little biased.
I was raised a Duke basketball fan and went to middle school and high school in Maryland during the height of the Duke-Maryland basketball rivalry. Those were good years for us Duke fans, but I quickly grew tired of hearing about the likes of Steve Blake and Lonny Baxter at school every day. The Maryland fans bothered me so much that even in my relative youth I decided, then and there, I would never cheer for Maryland in any sport, ever.
So here we are. Go Georgetown.
The sad fact of the matter, though, is the Terps are the favorites to win this game, if not the whole tournament. They boast the highest goals-per-game average in the NCAA. They’re led by eleven(!) players in the TopDrawerSoccer Top 100. Their coach, Sasho Cirovski, is perhaps the only coach in America who’s earned more success than Elmar Bolowich.
Looking at this game on paper, you might ask yourself: Maryland is probably about to win by a ton and potentially even play their walk-ons in the first half. They’re just that good. Why don’t both schools save themselves the trouble and just find a suitable and convenient venue in the DC area, say, the National Mall?
I’m glad you asked. There are two answers here.
The first reason is because Maryland and Georgetown have been involved in some sort of scheduling dispute since 1993 or 1789 or something. It revolves around basketball. Depending on which side you ask, somebody, at some time, refused to return a game and, as a result, both athletic directors refuse to schedule the other school in any sport. Sadly, this is all true. To suggest that these two athletic departments might sit down and cooperate is simply unrealistic.
The real answer, of course, is because Alabama is just where the tournament is. They can’t play anywhere else, duh. I’m trying to illustrate a point that Georgetown is about to get stomped and it would save everyone some money if they didn’t go.
I feel bad saying it. After all, I want our fellow Catholic school to win. (Fun Fact: The last time two Catholic schools played in the College Cup was 1969, when Saint Louis beat San Francisco, both Jesuit schools, 4-0.) I love Georgetown’s head coach, Brian Wiese. In fact, when I was in high school, Wiese recruited me for a short time to play at Georgetown. I feel comfortable mentioning this because (1) Georgetown quickly told me they were no longer interested, (2) I ultimately didn’t get in to Georgetown, and (3) I never would have seen playing time even if the first two things didn’t happen. So although it was more of a fluke than anything else, I still respect for Coach Wiese for remembering my name in a few e-mails when I was sixteen.
Anyway, this is all a long way of saying that I predict Maryland to roll, 4-0. Consider this: Georgetown, Indiana, and Creighton all scored 39 goals this season. That’s a good number any team would be proud of. Maryland scored 60. Like Creighton-Akron last year, it’s hard for me to even break this game down because Maryland is just that good everywhere on the field. Three players to watch: Senior midfielder John Stertzer, senior center back London Woodberry and junior midfielder Patrick Mullins. Mullins is the frontrunner for the MAC-Hermann Trophy this season (vote for Choco Gomez here) and will be a top pick in the MLS Draft whether he goes this season or next.
But, you say, this is soccer. College soccer. Literally anything could happen. Could Georgetown win? And how? The Hoyas will need to rely on the duo of goalscorer Brandon Allen and maestro Steve Neumann. Count on the Terps to shut this combo down, so the Hoyas will need to spread the field with solid wing play. CollegeSoccerNews names midfielder Ian Christianson (of Cedar Rapids) as the “Don’t Underestimate” player for this game, so the defensive midfielder (and Chicago Fire teammate of several Creighton players) will have to slow down the Terps’ attack and break up their game — a tall task for anybody. In short, the Hoyas’ midfield will have to have the game of their lives and dominate play in the midfield to have any chance at this one. Maryland is just too good, but I wish it weren’t so. 🙁
What are your College Cup predictions? Leave a comment below!