Great Lakes’ greatest set to battle

Some say he's the best high school men's soccer player to ever come out of the state of Michigan. One former coach said he's been the best player in the state since age five.

"Once every 10 or 20 years," a coach at a rival high school said, "someone comes through Michigan with his kind of ability."

The plaudits aren't for Terrapin men's soccer forward Casey Townsend, the first and only two-time Mr. Soccer in Michigan.

Instead, the lofty praise goes to Michigan's freshman sensation, Soony Saad, who has transformed the Wolverines into national championship contenders and led them to the verge of a program-first College Cup.

As the No. 2 seed Terps and No. 10 seed Michigan battle for a spot in college soccer's final weekend of action in tomorrow afternoon's NCAA Tournament quarterfinal, a showdown between two of Michigan's finest products will take center stage.

The similarities between the two forwards are obvious enough. Both followed a record-breaking high school career with a stellar freshman season for a championship men's soccer program, scoring almost at will while setting their team up for a deep NCAA Tournament run.

But Saad's scoring prowess as a rookie has gone almost unrivaled. In just his first season, Saad has scored a program-record 19 goals, fourth-most among freshmen since 1998. He ranks second in the country in goals, and his 43 points dwarf the 26 Townsend racked up en route to freshman All-America honors in 2008.

"Soony has come in and given them a lot of goals and a lot of confidence," coach Sasho Cirovksi said. "[He and Casey] have both had great freshman seasons. Casey had a great run for us as a freshman and obviously a good career."

Townsend said he doesn't know too much about Michigan's most recent prized product.

"We know he's a good player," Townsend said. "I've never played against him, and I've only seen him a couple times."

Saad, though, knew all about Townsend as a freshman and sophomore in high school and said he looked up to his accomplishments on the field.

"I've never actually seen him play in person, but I've heard a lot about him," Saad said.

The Terps have faced their share of talented attacking personalities this season, including Connecticut's Tony Cascio and Penn State's Corey Hertzog. But statistically, Saad, midfielder Hamoody Saad — his brother — and forward Justin Meram present the toughest challenge to date.

The three have accounted for more than 80 percent of the team's scoring and 70 percent of the team's points.

"We know they're pretty dangerous, so we have to keep an eye on them," defender Ethan White said. "You're going to deal with one of those guys every game from now on through the Final Four."

"We've played some good players this year, but this might be the best threesome that we've seen," Cirovski said.

The Terps (19-2-1) seem to have the defense to match, having tied a program record with 15 shutouts this season. In preparation for tomorrow's match, Cirovski discussed the individual tendencies of each with the team and had the Terps mimic the attacking threesome in practice this week.

"It's just a matter of us paying attention to the principles of defending," Cirovski said.

Since losing at then-No. 1 Akron, 7-1, on Oct. 19, the Wolverines (16-4-3) have railed off eight straight wins. The team enjoyed an undefeated November for the first time in school history, winning the Big Ten Championship, and has tied a program record for goals scored. Michigan's 16 wins are also a school record.

"We're peaking at the right time," Saad said.

The Terps have their own 15-game winning streak, though, spearheaded in large part by the Traverse City, Mich., native who would like nothing more than to knock out a team from his home state.

"The competition gets better," Townsend said of the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, "but we just have to rise to the occasion."

ceckard@umdbk.com