CSM among nation’s top 10

Men’s soccer team overcomes national power Louisburg

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by DALLAS COGLE CSM head coach Tony Galeano, surrounded by captains Marco Gaudio, left, and Cedric Mansaray, picked up his 100th victory on Thursday versus Hagerstown. The Hawks are currently 14-0-1 and 10th in the nation. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Maryland Junior College Conference and Region XX contender –– another check mark.

This has become the norm for the College of Southern Maryland men’s soccer program over the last few years, as the Hawks have won no less than 13 games while losing no more than six contests in any season since head coach Tony Galeano took the helm in 2002.

Along the way for Galeano have come three regional crowns and two state championships.

And yet, this season is shaping up as the most celebrated of Galeano’s tenure if last week was any indication of how the rest of the year will unveil.

Thursday saw CSM prevail in 4-1 fashion over Hagerstown to improve to an unbeaten 8-0-1 in the Maryland JUCO. More importantly, Galeano notched his 100th career coaching victory to become the program’s second all-time winningest frontman behind Carlos Silva, who tops the list with 171 wins over 14 seasons. Galeano is on pace to break Silva’s high standard.

‘‘I had no clue, I don’t keep track of that,” Galeano said about knowing entering Thursday that he was about to reach the milestone. ‘‘Carlos, he’s a legend. I was an assistant coach for him. I always set my goals high. I’m from Southern Maryland and went here in 1994 and 95, so I have a lot of pride in this school. So, yeah, I could see [this milestone] coming.

‘‘I couldn’t have won those 100 games without a great coaching staff.”

Then came Saturday, as 10th-ranked CSM traveled to North Carolina to face postseason nemesis and out-of-conference archrival Louisburg, 11th in the national rankings just behind the Hawks.

For the first time since Galeano’s inaugural season of 2002 at CSM, the Hawks defeated Louisburg, 3-2 –– and they did so in the most dramatic of fashions. CSM came roaring back from a 2-1 deficit with a pair of goals in the final 2 1⁄2 minutes.

The game-winner was tallied with about five seconds remaining, as sophomore forward Marco Gaudio got past Louisburg’s defense, showcasing perfect timing without being offsides, and lobbed the ball over the goalie to ignite CSM into celebratory bedlam. The late-game dramatics provided a measure of revenge, as Louisburg has been responsible for keeping CSM out of the national tournament in 2003, 2005 and 2006.

Gaudio is leading the nation in scoring with 61 points on 26 goals and nine assists. He is eight points ahead of the next-best scorer in the land.

‘‘It’s really huge,” Gaudio said Monday in his native English accent about upending Louisburg on the road. ‘‘We went down there, and we knew we could beat them. We’ve got a great team, and [beating them] was just the best feeling ever. To be honest, it’s still a blur to me now because of all the adrenaline. As soon as we scored that [game-winner], I just kept on running. Everyone knew how important it was. We played so well as a team, and it really did mean a lot.”

Quick to deflect any praise intended for himself, Gaudio boasted the hat trick in the marquee win that raised CSM’s unbeaten overall mark to 14-0-1 and has CSM destined to move up in this week’s national rankings, which are scheduled to be released today.

In addition to Gaudio, CSM also features the nation’s 12th-best scorer in sophomore midfielder Justin Lambert with 40 points on the season.

‘‘[The game with Louisburg] was pretty intense,” said Gaudio, who tied the pivotal affair on a penalty kick. ‘‘We didn’t have the greatest first half –– we sort of gave them too much respect. We saw their best by halftime, and they had seen nothing of us. We knew what we were about, and it was a great team effort.”

For sophomore forward Cedric Mansaray –– a CSM captain like Gaudio –– downing Louisburg was particularly satisfying.

The Bladensburg graduate from Prince George’s County spent his freshman campaign two years ago on Louisburg and helped beat CSM in the national tournament play-in game after both clubs won their respective regions.

Mansaray realized CSM was close to contending for the national stage after that game and decided to transfer to the Hawks, red-shirting last season.

‘‘When I went to Bladensburg, I never knew of CSM,” Mansaray said. ‘‘After playing against CSM, I realized this is a school around my way [near home] and they’re really good. I thought I could go here and make a difference and go to the next level.

‘‘Beating Louisburg was intense for me, because I’m going back to my old school, my old coach. I knew for a fact that he was kind of mad, because I’m coming back to play him. I felt very proud, because I always said that if I played against Louisburg I wanted to get a win. It was so exciting.”

Galeano added, ‘‘On paper, it was a huge win but it wasn’t a championship game. To get that monkey off your back of beating Louisburg ... Since 2002, they had beaten us a few times. We hadn’t gotten over the hump. But it wasn’t the biggest win of my career, because it wasn’t a championship game.

‘‘If we don’t win a championship, it means nothing.”

When CSM last knocked off Louisburg six years ago, that win came on the Hawks’ field. So going on the road to beat the national power only added clout to the accomplishment.

With the win and CSM seemingly primed to move into elite status among the national rankings –– Galeano estimating the club could find itself as high as among the top seven in the country when today’s rankings are released –– there is confidence permeating the program that this season will feature that elusive breakthrough into the national tournament.

And CSM does not want to just make the national tournament but do some contending while they are there.

Of course, first thing’s first –– there is still a regular season and a regional tournament before CSM can get caught up with serious thoughts about the national stage in Phoenix, Ariz.

‘‘This team has so much depth,” Gaudio said about what sets this CSM club apart from the great ones of last year and earlier in the decade. ‘‘We can just bring players off the bench, and they can do the same job as the person who came off. We’re playing so well, but we haven’t peaked –– that’s the best thing for us. We’re waiting for that.

‘‘So the best is still yet to come.”

As Galeano coached during his 100th win, he was curious about why there were certain alumni players at the game from his 2002 team. CSM assistant Colin Herriot kept pointing out familiar faces from the past to Galeano during the game.

‘‘I was like, ‘Wow, these guys are coming back to watch. They must be reading about us,’” an unaware Galeano said about his initial thoughts behind seeing his former players at Thursday’s game. ‘‘[Herriot] set me up. He got all those people there.”

Recruiting talent from across Maryland –– starting in Southern Maryland –– and internationally, with several players from England and Ireland, has been instrumental for Galeano and assistants Herriot, Derek Dyson and Austin Flowers in constructing a highly formidable group of players.

‘‘I look at it as equal opportunity,” the CSM head coach said about his successful recruiting style. ‘‘There are plenty of very good players around here that don’t want to come to us. My first priority is to recruit around here, and from there we go to showcase tournaments. Some of our teams play on club teams up the road. Our internet [Web site] has been great. Since we’re nationally ranked every year, that’s where we get attention from these guys. A lot of these guys, I don’t go finding them. They find [us]. The best recruiters are [my current players].

He added, ‘‘We’re deeper [than years past], there’s not a weak position on the field. Potentially, the sky’s the limit for this team but we don’t look too far ahead. We start looking too far ahead, we’ll slip up. We really do take it one game at a team. That’s why we’re still undefeated.”