NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 set

Rutgers' hopes of an upset to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament were destroyed in the first 18 minutes of their match with fourth-seeded Akron on Sunday as the Zips offense erupted for five goals.

Brazilian Victor Souto started the goal parade with a penalty kick for the Mid-American Conference champions in the 5th minute and sophomores Stuart Holthusen and Richie Laryea turned a bad start for the Scarlet Knights defense to a nightmare with four goals between them in the next 13 minutes.

Sean Sepe's goal in the 60th minute made it 6-0 and marked the most goals for a Zips team in the NCAA Tournament since a 7-0 victory over Green Bay in 1983. Freshman Sugor Al Awwad saved some face for Rutgers and spoiled the clean sheet with a goal in the 81st minute off an assist from senior Mitchell Taintor. The six goals were the most Rutgers had allowed since conceding five goals to Princeton in a 5-2 loss in October 2014.

2014 finalists Virginia and UCLA eliminated
This year's College Cup won't have any repeats as both finalists from last year, Virginia and UCLA, were eliminated on Sunday (Providence and UMBC didn't make the tournament).

Sebastian Elney and 10th-seeded Maryland knocked out storied rivals Virginia with a 1-0 win in College Park. Elney started and played 62 minutes in the match, but it was fellow freshman Eryk Williamson who scored the decisive goal. Williamson, a DC United Academy alum, got on the end of a free kick from senior Mael Corboz in the 38th minute to beat Cavaliers goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell and notch his fifth goal in five games. Caldwell, a U.S. youth international, made five saves in the game to keep Virginia in it, but the offense couldn't muster an equalizer.

UCLA's young and talented offense led by Abu Danladi, Jackson Yueill, Jose Hernandez (Real Salt Lake Academy) and Seyi Adekoya (Seattle Sounders Academy) couldn't break down 11th-seed Seattle's defense and fell 1-0 on Hamza Haddadi's 40th minute goal. Red Hawks goalkeeper Shane Haworth made six saves to pick up his 10th shutout of the year.

Seattle will face Syracuse on Sunday afternoon after the Orange edged Matthew Greer and Dartmouth on Sunday.

Greer helped give the Big Green a lead in the first half when he assisted on Justin Donawa's 30th minute goal, but Syracuse's on-fire striker Ben Polk made sure that lead was short-lived when he scored an equalizer three minutes later. Louis Cross delivered the game-winner in the 55th minute off Julian Buescher's second assist of the day.

Union Academy alums Morgan Hackworth and Chris Gomez didn't play in the match, but Kenny Lassiter, who played for the Union's 2012 Generation adidas Cup team, came off the bench for 18 minutes and recorded a shot on goal.

UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati

Colton Storm / Credit: UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati

Wake Forest, Clemson, UNC, Notre Dame and BC wins make it six for ACC
Syracuse was one of six ACC teams to advance on Sunday. No. 1 seed Wake Forest needed an 83rd-minute goal from the son of a former Spanish international to get by in-state rival Charlotte.

Jon Bakero, whose dad played for Spain in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, headed home his eighth goal of the season off a cross from the son of another former World Cup player, Ian Harkes (his dad John played for the U.S. in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups).

Colton Storm and 5th-seeded North Carolina held off a late Coastal Carolina rally to win 2-1. Making a rare start, Tucker Hume opened the scoring for the Tar Heels with his 11th goal of the season, but it was Zach Wright's 85th-minute insurance goal that held up as the winner when Tobenna Uzo pulled a goal back for the Chants.

Clemson junior defender Iman Mafi had a career day on the offensive side of the field with three assists and a late insurance goal to lead the second-seeded Tigers to a 5-2 win over Jonathan Wenger and Elon. Senior forward TJ Casner opened the scoring in the 27th minute and added the eventual game-winner in the 48th minute.

Wenger came off the bench to play 14 minutes for the Phoenix, which cut the lead to 3-2 with goals from Jaiden Fortune and Cooper Vandermaas-Peeler in the 79th minute, but goals by Saul Chinchilla and Mafi sealed the win for Clemson.

Patrick Berneski and Notre Dame had their hands full with a young and talented Tulsa team that took them to penalties. Jeffrey Farina opened the scoring in the 24th minute, but Berneski and the back line were unable to keep freshman Juan Sanchez off the scoreboard. The Red Bulls Academy product knocked home a Geoffrey Dee shot in the 62nd minute to tie the game with his eighth of the season.

Scoreless the rest of the way, Irish goalkeeper Chris Hubbard had the upper hand in a penalty shootout that only lasted three rounds. Ohio State survived and advanced on penalties after Amass Amankona nearly won it in overtime for Dayton with a shot that clanged the crossbar. Buckeyes goalkeeper Chris Froschauer made seven saves, including two in the shootout, against his former team to lead the regular season Big Ten champions into the third round.

Boston College was three minutes away from going to penalties when freshman Simon Enstrom delivered a game-winning goal to top 14th-seeded South Florida.

SMU hands Denver their first loss of the season; Indiana, UC Santa Barbara and Stanford win
Denver's dream season came to a heartbreaking end Sunday when Stanton Garcia delivered the only goal of the game in the first overtime to hand the 13th-seeded Pioneers their first loss of the season.

American Athletic Offensive Player of the Year Mauro Cichero and Bryce Clark assisted on Garcia's winner, which was the only shot on target the Mustangs offense was able to produce.

Billy McConnell and Indiana made a Ben Maurey goal in the 39th minute hold up with a 1-0 win over UConn. Maurey's goal came minutes after he subbed into the game on a play where freshman left back Andrew Gutman did most of the heavy lifting. Gutman, a Chicago Fire Academy alum, dribbled around a defender and fired a perfect cross to Maurey's feet and the fifth-year senior from Downingtown did the rest. The goal was the Maurey's first for the Hoosiers after scoring six during his time with Brown University.

Stanford overcame a first half deficit with three second half goals to beat Santa Clara 3-1 in a Silicon Valley derby match.

Dylan Autran gave Santa Clara the lead in the 28th minute, but defender Brandon Vincent started the comeback for the Cardinal with a goal off a free kick in the 58th minute and freshman Amir Bashti scored with a header in the 75th and off a cross from USMNT forward Jordan Morris in the 87th minute to lead Stanford to victory.

Reserve midfielder Ismaila Jome delivered a game-winning goal in overtime to lead 15th-seeded UC Santa Barbara to a 1-0 win over South Carolina. The trip to the third round, where they will face Clemson, is the first for the Gauchos since 2011.

Melvin Snoh

Creighton and Georgetown roll
Big East powers Creighton and Georgetown had little trouble advancing to the third round with lopsided wins over mid-major programs.

Creighton buried five of its 17 shots on goal to beat Drake 5-1. Ricky Lopez-Espin had two goals and Ricardo Perez, Evan Waldrep and Timo Pitter all found the back of the net for the Blue Jays. Fabian Herbers collected three assists in the match to take over the nation's lead with 15 and now has 45 points on the year to lead the nation.

Senior Brandon Alley scored his 50th career goal to break Ben McKnight's school record set in 1995 and lead Georgetown to a 3-0 win over Hofstra. Fellow Red Bulls Academy alums Arun Basuljevic and Alex Muyl also scored in the game.

Union Academy alum Melvin Snoh nearly found the back of the net and provided a spark off the bench in his 42 minutes of play while Keegan Rosenberry had three shots on goal in 90 minutes and Brett Campbell started and played 48 minutes.