Nov. 9, 2010

2010 Championship Bracket in PDF Format | 2010 BIG EAST Championship Central

The Providence College men's soccer team will play the University of Cincinnati on Friday, November 12 at 5:00 p.m. in the BIG EAST Championship Semifinals at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. The championship field was set last night after the Bearcats tied No. 9/9 Connecticut, 1-1, in double overtime, but captured the penalty kick shootout (4-1). Louisville and Notre Dame will play in the other semifinal match at 7:30 p.m. The winners of each semifinal will meet in the championship match on Sunday, November 14 at noon.

Providence (11-5-2) will be making its eighth appearance in the BIG EAST Semifinals, including two consecutive trips under 11-year head coach Chaka Daley. The Friars have won six-consecutive games for the first time since 1984, including two games last week in the BIG EAST Tournament. On November 3, the Friars traveled to Villanova for a first round match and came away with a 3-0 victory. Freshman Greg Davis (Jamaica, N.Y.) scored late in the first half, while senior Matt Marcin (Wilmington, Del.) added two second half goals to seal the victory for the Friars. It marked the third-consecutive year that Providence defeated Villanova in the first round. Sophomore Marc Cintron (Piscataway, N.J.) had two assists, while red-shirt junior Jhojan Obando (Kissimmee, Fla.) made five saves to earn his sixth shutout of the season.

The Friars continued their impressive late-season run on November 6, as they upset top seed and No. 25/20 nationally ranked Georgetown, 2-1, in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals in Washington, D.C. Junior Giuseppe Guerriero (Essex, Mass.) scored early in the second half to give the Friars a 1-0 lead, but the Hoyas tied the game in the 78th minute. Providence responded with 6:45 remaining when Cintron scored from 12 yards out to seal the team's second-consecutive trip to the BIG EAST Semifinals. Obando made five saves, including several from point-blank range to help the Friars, who are unbeaten in their last seven matches.

Cincinnati (7-4-7), which is unbeaten in the last six matches (2-0-4), earned its way to the BIG EAST Championship after battling Connecticut to a 1-1 double overtime tie in the quarterfinals, but the Bearcats prevailed in the penalty kick shootout, 4-1. Nick Weightman scored in the 12th minute to give Cincinnati the lead, but UConn netted the equalizer in the 27th minute. Both teams battled through a scoreless second half and two overtime halves. In the shootout, the Bearcats buried their first four attempts and goalkeeper Matt Williams stopped UConn's second and third tries with diving saves to his left. Roger Thompson sealed Cincinnati's trip to the semifinals when he ripped his penalty shot into the middle of the net.

Matt Bahner leads the team in scoring with seven goals and five assists for 19 points, while Mark Konitsch (two goals, four assists) and Weightman (four goals, two assists) are tied for second with 10 points each. Williams has played in all 18 matches and has nine shutouts.

Providence is 2-1-2 all-time against Cincinnati, including a 2-1 mark in the BIG EAST Tournament. The last meeting between the two teams resulted in a scoreless double overtime draw in Providence on September 19, 2008. PC's two wins against Cincinnati came in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals (2-0 on October 28, 2006) and the BIG EAST First Round (2-1 on November 2, 2005). The Bearcats' win against the Friars came in the BIG EAST First Round (2-0 on November 7, 2007) in Providence.