Daily Word: Men's Soccer Semis By The Numbers

This past weekend in the men's soccer quarterfinals, we had two games that were about as different as possible. Stony Brook and Binghamton combined for nine goals when the Seawolves won in overtime, shattering the previous America East record of five goals in a tournament game. In the other matchup, Albany and New Hampshire played a defensive battle that held both teams scoreless throughout regulation and overtime. With such a stark difference in the style of play between the two games, who knows what we can expect to see tomorrow. That's why we took a look at the numbers and found some trends in the four remaining teams. The semifinal round should produce two games that are just as exciting and dramatic as the first round.

New Hampshire at Vermont

D.J. Edler is one of Vermont's leading scorers.

Vermont won the league's regular season title this year by going undefeated and winning a big time showdown against Stony Brook with first place on the line. A staple of its success all season long was goal prevention, led by Goalkeeper of the Year, Conor Leland. The Catamounts gave up just 16 goals all year. But tomorrow Vermont will run into a New Hampshire team that likes to play a very similar brand of soccer. New Hampshire was third in the conference, only allowing 21 goals this season. Plus, we've already seen what the Wildcats' goaltender, Travis Worra, can do in a big spot. Let's take a look at some other numbers from these two teams.

Shots Taken

Vermont was in the bottom half of the conference in shots taken with 185. Only Hartford and Albany took fewer attempts at the net. The Catamounts rely on Joe Losier and D.J. Edler, both of whom ranked in the top 10 in goals scored, to create their offense. Look for them to capitalize on chances, not necessarily have a ton of them.

Saves

New Hampshire is seventh in the conference in saves with 63, while its goals against average is third in the conference at 1.12. What can this tell us? The Wildcat defense has done a great job this season of limiting opponents' quality chances. Without an official stat for this, we can't tell you for sure, but this theory definitely rung true against Albany.

Travis Worra has been great for the Wildcats in net.

Fouls

Vermont racked up the most whistles in the league with 244 while New Hampshire had just 138, the lowest total in the league. One thing to watch right away when these two teams match up is the style of play. Will things get physical? Or will the two teams back off of each other at all? When the two teams played in the regular season (a 0-0 in two overtimes, by the way), Vermont had 16 fouls to New Hampshire's 11. Both teams were above their respective season averages.



Stony Brook at UMBC

Pete Caringi III finished the season on a tear.

Stony Brook was picked to win the league before the season started, but faltered just a bit down the stretch, losing tough games to both UMBC and Vermont. On the other hand, UMBC got red hot in the final leg, winning five consecutive matches to end the season. The Seawolves just showed what they can do in a playoff game, racking up five goals in a win, but what is going to happen when these two squads match up against one another? Let's go to the numbers.

Goals

This likely isn't a surprise, but these two squads are one and two in goals scored this season. UMBC has knocked in 34 to Stony Brook's 32. Additionally, the Retrievers and the Seawolves are both in the top three in shots taken and have all four of the highest single-game goal totals in the conference. UMBC racked up seven against Hartford (when Pete Caringi III had four) and five against Boston U. (when Caringi III had three) and Stony Brook pumped in five goals twice this season, with the most recent occasion coming in the quarterfinals.

Corner Kicks

UMBC has piled up 129 corner kicks this season, 32 more than the next highest total. If nothing else, this means that the Retrievers are consistently in the opponents' end of the field. It also seemed like every time you would turn on a UMBC highlight, there was a goal on a corner kick. Keep an eye on these chances tomorrow. Another related stat, UMBC is the conference leader in offsides with 37. Just another number that evidences the Retrievers' style of play: fast and aggressive.

Leonardo Fernandes leads a dangerous Stony Brook attack.

Scorers

Both of these teams have so many players that can do damage, but Stony Brook has a unique balance on its attack. The Seawolves are the only team in the conference with five players that have scored three or more goals. They are also the only team that has more than two players with five goals, as Leonardo Fernandes, Raphael Abreu and Alejandro Fritz all have more than five. UMBC also has multiple dangerous scorers, but Caringi III is the only one them with more than five scores.

Overall, we're looking at two incredibly exciting matchups in the semifinals. One way or another, when the finals roll around we will see a great offense take on a great defense.

Linked Up

Our thoughts are with the Boston U. athletic community, as former swimming and diving coach Reagh "Doc" Wetmore has passed away.

Junior guard Kelsey Hogan has been named captain of New Hampshire's women's basketball team.

Albany fans, check out the new DANEger Zone Rewards page on Facebook to see how you can get rewards for attending games.

Get an inside look at Stony Brook's women's basketball program.

While we're on Stony Brook, check out the NCAA women's soccer bracket, where Stony Brook will face off against Maryland in the first round.