Three Bobcats Earn All-CAC Honors

Ryan Russell

Frostburg State men's soccer standout Ryan Russell grabbed the league's highest honor as the Player of the Year for the second-straight season as the 2012 All-Capital Athletic Conference teams were released Thursday.
Russell, who was named the 2011 Capital Athletic Conference Player of the Year after leading the league in points (34) and goals (16), earned the honor again this season after finishing first in the league in goals (14), points (39), and assists (11).

The senior forward from Waldorf, Md., is just the third player in conference history to earn the award in consecutive seasons, as Mary Washington's Tony Trepal won it in 1991 and 1992 while Jon Ports of York won in the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Joining Russell on the All-CAC first-team are senior midfielder Shawn Baker and junior defender Chris Jones.  Baker joins the first team as a repeat selection from the 2011 All-CAC squad. Baker, a three-year starter for the Bobcats, was second in the conference in points with 21 and third in goals with eight.

Shawn Baker

The Baker and Russell connection posted the league's highest scoring numbers for a team duo combining for an impressive 50 points on the year. The tandem also combined to notch eight game winning goals this season.

Jones was selected to the first team after helping Frostburg post a 1.30 goals against average. The Bobcat defense posted five shutouts of their 12 victories during the season. Jones also contributed on the offensive end this year as he posted four goals and was fourth on the team in points.

Chris Jones

York (Pa.), Mary Washington and Salisbury all joined Frostburg with having three members named to the first team. York took home the Rookie of the Year with freshman defender Matty Martinez while Mary Washington's Jason Kilby was named the 2012 Coach of the Year.


http://www.cacsports.com/sports/msoc/2012-13/releases/2012_All_CAC_MSoc.pdf

FSU Downed by Marywood

Our season came to an end last Wednesday night as we lost to Marywood College 4-1 in the first round of the ECAC Tournament.

Going into the game I wasn't sure how the boys would respond coming off the heartbreaking loss to York. I was hoping we could put the loss behind us and focus on Marywood, but we just came out very flat and didn’t look like the team that gave it everything they had in the CAC semi-finals. We were controlling the ball fairly well in the beginning of the game, but we just never had that look in our eyes and after Marywood scored on their first shot of the game in the 17th minute we knew it was not going to be our night. Marywood would score again towards to end of the half and we would have to try and dig out of a 2-0 hole.

We made a few substitutions at the half to try and instill some life into the boys, but it was more of the same in the second period. With just seven minutes gone Marywood would score two more goals. One on a bad give away off a back pass to the keeper and then a penalty kick one minute later. We finally showed some signs of life after the goals, but it was too little too late. Shawn Baker would get one back for us in the 62^nd minute, but that would be our only tally of the game.

It was not the way we wanted the season to end, but the boys had put so much into the York game that there just wasn't much left for the ECAC's. The disappointment of not advancing to the CAC title game was still weighing on them and their hearts and heads were just not where they needed to be to compete in the ECAC’s. It's a disappointing way to wrap things up, but I am very proud of this team and the season they had. We didn't reach our goal of advancing to the CAC Championship, but we made some great strides towards being a nationally and regionally competitive team and a team that should always be in the talk come CAC playoff time. 

Our season concludes with a 12-3-4 record and ranked #5 by the NSCAA in the South Atlantic Region.

Bobcats Awarded #2 Seed in ECAC South Tournament

After finishing the regular-season with a 12-1-4 record FSU was selected as the No. 2 seed in the 2012 ECAC Division III Men’s South Soccer Championship.  The tournament is an eight-team field with quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds.  Former AMCC rival was selected as the No. 1 seed for the tournament.  Frostburg finished the season 12-2-4 after their CAC semi-final loss and ranked 4th in the South Atlantic Region.

In the first-round contests on Wednesday, November 5^th, Penn State Behrend (16-3-0) will host La Roche College at 1:30 p.m. while the second seed Frostburg State (12-2-4) will host No. 7 Marywood University (10-6-3) at 6:00 p.m. in Maryland.  No. 3 Lebanon Valley College (13-5-2) plays Neumann University at 2:00 PM. at Lebanon Valley and Penn State Abington (12-4-0) will take on Alvernia University (11-7-3) at 7:30 p.m. in the No. 4/No. 5 match-up at Alvernia.

The first-round winners will advance to the semifinals on Saturday, November 10^th at the site of the highest remaining seed.  The winner of Penn State Behrend/La Roche will face the winner of Penn State Abington/Alvernia in one semifinal, and the winner of Frostburg State/Marywood will play the winner of Lebanon Valley/Neumann in the other semifinal.  The semifinal winners will play Sunday, November 11^th for the championship.

2012 ECAC Division III South Men’s Soccer Championship

First Round – Wednesday, November 5^th

No. 8 La Roche College (8-8-0) at No. 1 Penn State Behrend (16-3-0), 1:30 p.m.

No. 7 Marywood University (12-6-3) at No. 2 Frostburg State Univ. (12-2-4), 6:00 p.m.

No. 6 Neumann University (12-8) at No. 3 Lebanon Valley College (13-5-2), 2:00 p.m.

No. 4 Penn State Abington (12-4-0) at No. 5 Alvernia University (11-7-3), 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals – Saturday November 10^th at highest remaining seed

PSU Behrend/La Roche winner vs. PSU Abington/Alvernia winner, 11:00 a.m.

Frostburg State/Marywood winner vs. Lebanon Valley/Neumann winner, 1:30 p.m.

Championship – Sunday, November 11^th

Two Semifinal Winners, 1:00 p.m.

Bobcats Eliminated from Playoffs

Thursday night saw our hopes of competing for the CAC Championship come to an end. In a wild semi-final match-up against York College we lost 4-3 in double overtime.

The game started out with some very physical play as Ryan Russell was taken down the first five times he touched the ball. York would pick up 3 yellow cards on 3 successive fouls on Russell. Michael Cronauer scored what we thought was the first goal of the game when he headed in a short corner from Russell. To everyone except the official and the linesman it looked like the ball had crossed the line and had hit the back part of the net before the goalie was able to reach back and throw the ball back out of the goal. The game tape would show what we had initially thought and that the ball had crossed the line, but unfortunately we would have to live with the referee's decision and try and get our heads back into the game.

We would fall behind 2-0 before Chris Jones would re-direct a free kick past the York keeper with just minutes remaining in the half. York would open up a 3-1 lead, but after Pablo Torrano was thrown to the ground during a fight for the ball on a free kick, a penalty kick was awarded. Shawn Baker would step up an convert his 4th penalty kick of the season. With under a minute to go we were awarded another free kick and with everyone pushed forward including the goalkeeper, Pablo Torrano found a way to get his head on it and directed it into the side of the goal for a dramatic come from behind last second tie.

The referee once again was unsure of the goal and would have to ask the linesman for help again, but this time the goal was awarded. York would score the heartbreaking game winner three minutes into the second overtime. The heart and resiliency that the boys showed in coming back in a game of this nature goes a long way towards describing the character of this team. I was very proud of the way that they kept fighting and never quit despite being down or feeling like the referee was against them.

We will now have to wait and see where we get seeded for the ECAC Tournament as we do not expect to receive an at-large-bid to the NCAA Tournament.

FSU Closes out Season by Defeating Goucher

On Tuesday night the boys finished up the regular season with a 3-1 victory over Goucher College.  We end the regular season with only one loss on the year for an impressive 12-1-4 record.

With the playoff picture already set and having a non-conference game to end the season we went into the game with a winning mindset, but also wanted to play a lot of guys and keep some other guys healthy.  Junior Drew Hock got his first collegiate start in goal and Andrew Adami and Collin Sainz also picked up their first starts on the season.

Ryan Russell scored his team leading 14th goal of the season just five minutes into the game after he juked a player in the corner of the box and powered a shot past the keeper into the left corner of the goal.  Alex Brainard followed up his first collegiate goal last game with a great volley in the box off of a Ryan Russell cross.  Just when the game seem secured we would suffer an own goal and let Goucher back into the game at 2-1.

Junior Kunle Akinfeleye scored his first collegiate goal midway through the second half when he followed up his own miss and buried the rebound into the side netting.  Every healthy player got in the game and we were able to sit four players who will hopefully be near full strength come our playoff game next Wednesday.

Sunday afternooon York College will face off agaisnt St. Mary's College to determine our semi-final matchup on Wednesday.  Game time is still TBA at this point.  We finished the regular season ranked 4th in the South Atlantic Region by the NSCAA and Junior Chris Jones picked up Defender of the Week honors for the CAC last week.

Bobcats Roll to Win on Senior Day

Seniors: Cody Butts, Scott Wasser, Yacob Kahsai, Abiye Jack, Godwin Amuzie,
Ryan Russell, Shawn Baker

On Saturday afternoon the boys finished off conference play with a 3-1 win over Marymount and a 3-1-2 record in the CAC.

The game started on a positive note after Ryan Russell was fouled in the box and Shawn Baker converted the penalty kick just five minutes into the game. Unfortunately, Marymount responded with a penalty kick of their own six minutes later and the game would be tied 1-1. We struggled the remainder of the half and really didn't do much to threaten the Marymount goal. It was one of our more sloppy halves of soccer that we had played all season.

We made some adjustments for the second half and came out with a much better focus and began to dictate the play. Shawn Baker would score his sixth goal of the season when he tapped home a corner kick off of a Godwin Amuzie flick with just under three minutes gone in the half. We held Marymount in check and out shot them 14 -2 for the half. Junior Alex Brainard would score his first collegiate goal to put the game away in the 85th minute off an assist from Baker.

We said goodbye to seven seniors; Shawn Baker, Abiye Jack, Yacob Kahsai, Godwin Amuzie, Cody Butts, Scott Wasser, and Ryan Russell. In the last two seasons this class has recorded a 22-4-9 record and has helped the team advance to the CAC semi-finals.

With the win we are now 11-1-4 and will be the #2 seed in the CAC Playoffs. We will have a bye for the first round and will be home on Wednesday Oct 31st for the semi-finals.

Bobcats Battle #11 Ranked Spartans to Draw

On Wednesday afternoon the boys fought hard to draw with the nationally ranked York Spartans 1-1. Dealing with a few injuries still we knew we would have to stay very organized and absorb the York attack for a while and wait for our chances to counter.  We almost got through the first half unscathed, but York was able to get on the board in the 41st minute when after a deflection outside the box a York player was first to the ball and was able to find a teammate at the back post who beat the keeper to the side. We definitely hung on during the first half and just tried to weather the storm.

The second half we came out with a bit more of an attacking mindset and were able to make it a more even game. The shots for the second half were 6-4 in favor of York. Ryan Russell did what he does best when given an opportunity in front of the goal and after goalkeeper Abiye Jack sent a long punt into the York end, Russell out raced two defenders to the ball and hit a one-time chip shot over the keeper who was playing off his line on the punt.

We kept our shape in the overtimes and were able to keep York of the board while having two good opportunities of our own. Unfortunately we probably needed the win against York to get a first round bye. Now it looks like we will be home for a first round game as long as we can take care of Marymount on Saturday at Homecoming.

I want to say thanks to the Alumni who made it out to support us in our away match. Russ, Benny, JT, and Mark - myself and the boys appreciate the support.

Saturday is Homecoming and senior day. We will play Marymount at 5pm after the football game and will be saying thank you to seven seniors for their efforts over the last few years and for helping make FSU and regionally ranked soccer program once again.