|
Just For Kicks Al Chase |
7 Hawaii players
in NCAA tourney
Seven Hawaii players are on teams participating in the 48-team NCAA men's soccer tournament that started with first-round matches last Friday.Satoshi Mitsuda (Boston College), Andrew Brown (Creighton), David Gualdarama (New Mexico) and Kenji Treschuk (Penn State) play for teams that received first-round byes and don't see action until today.
Mitsuda played an important role for BC (12-4-2). The 15th seeded Eagles host the Marist-Connecticut winner today.
"We didn't know much about Satoshi when he showed up. He has been a good addition for us," said BC coach Ed Kelly.
"He brings a lot of energy to the field, to the locker room, a wonderful kid to have around. We've worked hard on containing his speed. He only has one speed and needs to learn to use all his gears. When he learns to disguise his dribble, vary his approach, use deception, he is going to be a handful. He causes problems when he comes into the game."
The freshman midfielder from Punahou has played in 17 matches, starting three. Mitsuda scored two goals, both game winners, the last coming Oct. 27 at 98:11 in a 1-0 win over Northeastern. He put a header away off a pass from senior co-captain Pat Haggerty.
Gualdarama, a freshman midfielder from Kamehameha, has averaged 36 minutes a match in 17 appearances for the 13th-seeded Lobos (16-1-1) who won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title for the second consecutive season.
UNM hosts the Portland-Washington winner today.
Brown, a senior goalkeeper missed several matches with a groin injury. He has a 1.23 goals against average. The senior from Mililani is 7-3-1 in matches in which he was the goalie of record.
The 14th seeded Bluejays (13-4-1) play the Northwestern-Western Illinois winner today.
Treschuk, a senior defender, played in 19 matches for the 10th seeded Nittany Lions (10-4-7). The Moanalua graduate scored once, a game winner, and has three assists.
PSU plays the Tulsa-Michigan State winner today.
J.P. Barbosa, Dartmouth, and Keith DeVey, Santa Clara, had their seasons end in Friday matches. Boston University ousted Dartmouth 4-3 on penalty kicks and California dropped SCU 2-1.
Loyola Marymount defender Stephen Carlson had a match vs. CSU Northridge yesterday.
Barbosa made a comeback after not playing for two seasons. The senior midfielder from Punahou started nine of 16 matches for the Big Green (7-3-6), took two shots but did not find the net. He missed the 2002 season after suffering a concussion in 2001. Last year he had two internships, one with the CIA in Washington, D.C., and the other with the state department at the U.S. embassy in Athens, Greece.
Carlson (Punahou), who started four of the 13 matches he appeared in, has a bright future with the Lions (10-7-3).
"He is coming along and will be a starter next year," said LMU coach Paul Krumpe.
DeVey, a sophomore midfielder from St. Anthony, had five goals and an assist in 20 matches for the 15-6 Broncos.
Just for Kicks runs every other Sunday in the Star-Bulletin.
Al Chase can be reached at achase@starbulletin.com