Congratulations to Ugo Ihemelu

[Corso]

Our man Ugo ended the season as one of the top rookies in MLS, one of the top defenders in MLS .... and as of today, an MLS champion. Ugo's L.A. Galaxy beat the New England Revolution (which includes SMU grads Daniel Hernandez and T.J. Tomasso), 1-0, in the MLS Championship Game.

Congratulations to all three.

Apparently Ihemelu had a pretty crucial play, too. Found this in Monday's version of the Washington Post: "The Revolution, which lost to the Galaxy in overtime in a poorly played 2002 final, finished with just two shots on goal. Galaxy keeper Kevin Hartman denied reserve Jose Cancela in the second half, then, late in overtime, watched teammate Ugo Ihemelu nick Cancela's shot fractionally wide of the far post to preserve the lead."[/b]

[mustangbill67]

Although many of the so-called soccer experts on the national and international scene are highly critical of the NCAA college soccer program (they believe college soccer does nothing to develop a player for professional play), the fact that SMU continues to produce outstanding professional players says a lot for our program and for Schellas. Now if we could only put it all together and win a national title in my lifetime.

[WildHorse]

How about our man Ugo getting some love on SportsCenter?
Not that the talking head could pronounce his last name (it's ee-HEM-a-lou), but they showed a highlight of his game-saving play, as he headed a sure goal away for a corner kick. Great play by a great player.