WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010 – The NCAA Division-I Men’s Soccer Championship commences tonight, and Des Moines Menace alumni are representing six of the tournament’s 48 teams.

These former Menace Premier Development League players are part of this year’s postseason, which concludes on Dec. 12 in Santa Barbara, Calif.:

-       No. 2 Akron: Matt Dagilis

-       No. 5 Butler: Brandon Fricke

-       No. 23 Tulsa: Kyle Cumings

-       Indiana: Cameron Jordan

-       Penn: Stephen Baker

-       New Mexico: Lance Rozeboom

After checking in with the Menace’s PDL alumni at midseason (story here at MenaceSoccer.com), we catch up with these players and recap the seasons of former Menace players in Division I and Division II – including 12 all-conference selections.

Tomorrow, we turn our attention to the six Menace alums preparing for the NAIA Championship.

Related link: Interactive bracket for the D-I soccer championship, courtesy NCAA.com

Akron (18-1-1): Last year’s runner-up, Akron carries a No. 3 seed as it opens tournament play on Sunday, hosting the winner of tonight’s first-round match between Xavier and West Virginia. Dagilis, a defensive fixture for the Menace’s 2009 PDL Elite Eight team, has seen action in six matches for a club that has dominated foes by a 53-9 margin. The Zips won the Mid-American Conference Tournament last Sunday with a 4-0 win over Western Michigan, whose head coach is 2002 Menace standout Stu Riddle.

Butler (16-0-3): The 13th-seeded Bulldogs are one of just two undefeated teams, joining top-ranked Louisville. They prepare to host their first home tournament match – welcoming tonight’s Oakland-Michigan State winner on Sunday. The Horizon League champs' roster includes Grimes native Fricke (2010 Menace), a redshirt freshman.

Tulsa (11-6-2): Cumings, a former Norwalk High School and Menace Academy standout who has seen action with the Menace PDL side each of the last three years, scored his first college goal on Nov. 5. It was Tulsa’s only score in a 1-1 tie with then-No. 15 Central Florida, and the result secured the team’s place in the Conference USA Tournament. After knocking off CFU a week later in the tourney’s semis, the Golden Hurricane lost the C-USA final 1-0 to South Carolina on Sunday, barely missing the program’s fourth-straight title.

Tulsa, a team that was ranked No. 2 after winning its first six matches, hosts Bradley tonight.
 

Indiana (9-7-2): The 14th-seeded Hoosiers host the Tulsa-Bradley winner on Sunday. The Big 10’s regular-season champs feature Jordan (pictured above; 2009 Menace), who has made 15 appearances in his senior year. Indiana is making its 24th-straight trip to the national tournament.

Penn (12-5-0): An All-Ivy League second-team pick, freshman Baker (2010 Menace) is the Quakers’ points leader (18), and his eight goals (the most of any Menace alum in D-I) are tied for a league best. Penn hosts Bucknell tonight; the winner faces No. 2 Maryland on Sunday.

New Mexico (9-5-5): Thanks to a surprise tournament bid, the Lobos make their eighth NCAA appearance in the last decade. New Mexico faces Creighton tonight in Omaha; the winner advances to battle fifth seed SMU.

Rozeboom, a member of the Menace from 2007-09, is a Mountain Sports Federation first-teamer who has earned a spot on TopDrawerSoccer.com’s “Top 100” list. The midfielder from Walker, Iowa, has two goals and two assists.

Loyola Marymount (12-6-2): A year after granting Loyola Marymount an at-large bid into the field of 48, the NCAA Tournament selection committee denied the Lions a return trip, despite their No. 30 ranking in the final poll and their share of the West Coast Conference’s regular-season crown.

Logan McDaniel, an all-conference pick for the 2010 Menace, collected nine points for the Lions. His two goals came in back-to-back come-from-behind wins on Nov. 5 and Nov. 7. Billy Thompson, a teammate in Des Moines this summer, made one appearance in goal for LMU.

Florida Gulf Coast (13-3-2): In just their fourth season, the Eagles dominated their conference, going 9-0 against Atlantic-Sun foes, scoring 26 goals and allowing just two. Though they finished No. 20 in Soccer America’s final poll, they cannot compete in the postseason, due to the NCAA reclassifying period.

FGCU, which is eligible for the 2011 postseason, received contributions from a trio of 2009 Menace players: all-conference second-teamer Cristian Raudales (four goals, one assist), Scott Harrison (three goals, all coming on a hat trick on Halloween) and Jon Koshko (one assist in two games).

Drake (8-8-2): For the first time in three years, the Bulldogs are not part of the NCAA Tournament field. Drake put seven former Menace players on the field for a team that lost several key contributors to graduation after last year’s Elite Eight finish.

The defending Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champs finished 4-2-1 in the conference, and four of their Menace alums earned all-conference nods, including first-team selection Nick Foster (pictured above; 2009 Menace). All-MVC second-team members Thomas Ostrander (2009 Menace; five goals and one assist) and Michael Thaden (2008-10 Menace; four goals and three assists) shared the team lead with 11 points.

Goalkeeper Jordan Kadlec received honorable mention and was named to the all-tournament team after his performance in Drake’s first-round 1-0 defeat at eventual-champ Bradley. Kadlec finished with a 1.32 GAA and 5.44 saves per game – ninth best in the Division I.

Michael Noonan (2008 Menace; two goals and three assists), Hunter Kennedy (2009-10; one goal and three assists), Kenan Malicevic (2010; one goal in six games in an injury-shortened senior season), Jordan Stanley (2010; 12 appearances) and Joe Lyons (2010; eight appearances) were also part of Drake’s success.

Western Illinois (4-8-6): The defending Summit League Tournament champions are also not returning to this year’s NCAA Tournament. Menace Academy grad Husref Jupic (2010 PDL team), was third on the Fighting Leathernecks in points (six), despite playing in only 10 matches. Jupic, the 2009 Iowa High School Player of the Year at Hoover, notched an assist in his 2010 homecoming – a loss to Drake on Sept. 28 in a rematch from the first round of the 2009 national tournament. Darryl Odom (2009) appeared in all 18 matches for WIU and collected five points.

Kentucky (7-8-4): Newcomer Sam Brooks (2010) finished third on the Wildcats with seven points. The NAIA transfer was the hero on a couple occasions, scoring the “golden goal” in a pair of overtime wins only 10 days apart – at Evansville on Sept. 26 (2 OT) and at Marshall on Wednesday (Oct. 6).

Dayton (7-8-3): A staple in the Menace defense each of the last two seasons, Jack Pearson was named to the Atlantic-10’s second team. He notched two goals and two assists and helped the Flyers post a conference-best eight shutouts.

Bellarmine (10-5-2): Barraclough (pictured above) scored a GLVC-best 16 goals -- tops among Menace alumni in 2010. His 38 points (also a Menace best this fall) were second best in the league, and his 2.24 points per game ranked fifth in D-II. A member of the all-region and all-conference second teams in 2009, Barraclough finishes with 53 career goals.

Drury (11-7-0): Taylor (pictured above), the points leader for the Menace in 2009, has repeated as a member of the conference and regional first teams, despite missing a third of the Panthers’ games. A second team all-American a year ago, Taylor picked up two goals and four assists in 12 outings. Fellow senior defender Grant Bowden (also a member of the 2009 Menace), a graduate of Waukee High School and the Menace Academy, played every match and scored two goals on just three shots. Bowden’s header goal on Oct. 24 gave the defending GLVC champs a 1-0 win over St. Joseph’s on Senior Day.