Monday, July 18, 2011

The Valparaiso men’s soccer program was well represented as the Carolina Railhawks U23 side won the USASA U23 National Cup Championship this past weekend in Bowling Green, Ky.

Four Crusaders saw action over the weekend for the Railhawks as they captured the national title, beating Lazio (Utah) 6-2 in the semifinals on Friday night and Scott Gallagher (Missouri) 4-0 Sunday morning in the championship match.  2011 Crusader soccer alum Adrian Ortiz (Berwyn, Ill./Morton West) put home one goal on the weekend, while redshirt junior Kyle Zobeck (Coralville, Iowa/Iowa City West) played in net for the Railhawks in both matches. 

Fifth-year senior Stefan Antonijevic (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson [College of Lake County/Marquette]) and junior Jonathon Smith (McKinney, Texas/McKinney) both played in both contests as well to help the Railhawks capture the national title.  Fifth-year senior Brendan Roth (Elkhart, Ind./Memorial) was also part of the squad, but did not travel with the team for the championship weekend.