#6 Georgetown / #11 Michigan State Regional Breakdown
Two former Big East Conference rivals highlight this six-team breakdown, as Louisville and Georgetown used to be Big East foes before Louisville left for the American Athletic Conference… well, for this season anyway. Georgetown earned the sixth overall seed and a first-round bye in the tournament, while Michigan State has the 11th seed overall.
The Hoyas lost to Providence in the Big East tournament semifinals, but that was enough for them to earn the highest seed in this six-team bracket.
#6 Georgetown vs. Old Dominion/Drexel
A pair of East Coast programs vie for the right to take on Georgetown in the second round. Old Dominion (10-5-1) makes its fourth straight NCAA appearance under Coach Alan Dawson and its 10th trip in the last 12 seasons. Old Dominion is one of three teams to make the tournament out of Conference USA, the others being New Mexico and Charlotte. C-USA Offensive Player of the Year Tim Hopkinson has 10 goals and four assists for 24 total points. Old Dominion lost to UMBC on penalty kicks in first-round action last year; its farthest trips were third-round losses in 2006 and 2007. Drexel (9-7-4) won the Colonial Athletic Association title over the weekend over William and Mary. Drexel and Old Dominion were C-USA co-members from 2002 to last year. Drexel scored a 4-1 win over Old Dominion in the teams’ last meeting to open the 2012 campaign.
Georgetown has not seen either program this season. The Hoyas won the Big East regular season championship for the third time in four seasons. Whichever team gets the Hoyas will have to face a team that has 13 shutouts this year alone. Junior keeper Tomas Gomez has 11 of those shutouts and 25 overall, both of which are records.
#11 Michigan State vs. Louisville/Denver
Louisville (11-4-3 overall) stays in friendly Cardinal Park to take on Denver in a first-round matchup. The Cardinals are 6-3-2 in home games played at Louisville, with the only losses coming to Butler, UC Irvine and Rutgers. That 1-0 loss to Rutgers, in the American Athletic Conference quarterfinals, likely cost the Cardinals a higher spot in the tournament. This is Louisville’s seventh straight trip to the NCAA tournament. Denver won the Summit League championship, the first earned by a Denver sports program in that conference, and it qualified the Pioneers for their third NCAA trip since 2008. Denver (13-3-3) beat Western Illinois 1-0 in the Summit League finals. Zach Bolden has 10 goals for the Pioneers, who are 5-2-2 in road games.
Neither Louisville nor Denver have played Michigan State this season. The Spartans are paced by Tim Creutz’s eight goals and 20 points. Michigan State is 6-3-1 in games played at East Lansing. Michigan State (12-5-3) lost 1-0 to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game.
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