First Round of 2009 NCAA Soccer Tourney in the Books

The first round of the 2009 NCAA mens soccer tournament is in the books after 16 matches were played on Thursday around the country.  Several upsets dotted the brackets and some juicy second round games are scheduled for the weekend.

The marquee matchup of the opening round pitted Big East powers UConn and cinderella Monmouth who arrived with an impressive 18-1-2 record and looking for respect.  Well consider respect earned as Monmouth advanced winning a penalty kick shootout after a scoreless regulation and overtime.   Next up for Monmouth is a trip to face Harvard.

6th ranked Louisville were upset falling 2-0 to Indiana.  A disappointing result for a Louisville side expecting to make a long run in the tourney.  Indiana will travel to #18 Butler next.

Mountain Pacific champs #27 Sacramento State took out Loyola Marymount 2-1 and will face a trip to #7 UCLA this weekend.    The ACC participation is in tact as Boston College beat Dartmouth 2-1, Maryland won and Duke defeated Winthrop leaving seven ACC teams in the final 32.  Portland pulled an upset travelling to New Mexico and pulling out a 2-1 victory.  Portland will stay on the road and travel cross country to North Carolina State this weekend. 

Some wonderful games are set for the round of 32 this weekend.  Most notably #11South Florida at #1 Akron.   Others include Notre Dame at Northwestern and Boston College at St Johns.  An interesting matchup pits Duke travelling to Michigan State of the Big Ten.  Maryland hits the road trying to defend their national title against Penn State.