Before facing No. 10 overall seed Duke on the road last weekend, USD men’s soccer coach Brian Quinn had his players close their eyes and “dream a little.”

Dream of beating the Blue Devils on their home field, and dream that a few hundred miles north Vermont would score an upset win at No. 7 seed Hofstra.

Dreams do come true. The Toreros’ 1-0 victory put them into the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 for the first time in 12 years. The Catamounts’ 2-1 win later that day on a spectacular flick and volley by David Ismail meant Torero Stadium would host the Sweet 16 on Sunday at 5 p.m.

“You never know what’s going to happen in soccer,” Quinn said, “and we were the beneficiary of two good away wins — one by us and one by Vermont.”

It’s an enormous opportunity for the Toreros (15-2-2), poetic justice after being denied a first-round bye despite being ranked No. 3 in the regular season’s final poll and, after gutting out a 1-0 win against UC Davis, having the longest travel in the second round.

Next up are the Vermont Catamounts … a college soccer power thanks to a German pipeline (six are on the current roster).

They are the first Vermont team in any sport to make four straight Division I postseason tournaments, and one of just four programs nationally to reach the Sweet 16 in the last three;  Stanford, Indiana and Marshall are the others.

“It’s a little bit of a pressure,” Zach Barrett, the American East Conference Defender of the Year, told the Burlington Free Press before the season. “But we always like to say, ‘Pressure’s a privilege here.’ We use that to drive us and keep expectations high. But we don’t put that pressure on ourselves. We like to play freely, we like to play as a flowing team.”

They are clutch, too. After Hofstra equalized in the 52nd minute last week, it took all of 51 seconds for Vermont to re-take the lead. Ismail received a pass in the right side of the penalty area with his back to goal, flicked it over his head with his heel, spun in mid-air and, before the ball hit the ground, blasted it into the far corner of the net from an impossibly tight angle.

By their standards, that was actually early for game-winning dramatics. The Catamounts (13-2-5) have scored 17 times in the 76th minute or later this season and 13 times in the 83rd minute or later.

They are now 9-1-1 over their last 11 games, and their seven goals lead all teams in the NCAA Tournament.

This isn’t their first trip to San Diego in the last few years, or even the last few months. They came to Southern California over Labor Day weekend, tying UC Irvine 1-1 and beating San Diego State 1-0.

Those are their only two common opponents, and in that regard USD has the upper hand. It beat UCI and SDSU 1-0 and 3-0, respectively.

The Toreros also have the advantage of not traveling 2,500 miles in Thanksgiving week with a significant climate change (from temperatures in the upper 20s to mid-70s). They’ll also play on grass; Vermont’s home field is artificial turf, as is Hofstra’s and many other East Coast schools.

Another plus: Leading scorer Samy Kanaan (nine goals), who was sick against Duke and limited to just 21 minutes, is healthy again.

It is only the second time USD has hosted the Sweet 16 in men’s soccer. That came in 1992 and it ended well – a 2-0 win against Indiana en route to the College Cup and the national championship game.

“They say if you’re still playing in November, you’ve had a good season,” Quinn said. “And if you’re playing after Thanksgiving, you’ve had a great season. So we’ve had a great season but we don’t want it to end.”

NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament: Vermont (13-2-5) at USD (15-2-2)

When: 5 p.m. Sunday

Where: Torero Stadium

Originally Published: November 30, 2024 at 1:40 PM PST