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NCAA Champions
The 1966 NCAA Championship team was coach Stephen Negoesco's first NCAA championship title. After a regular season 7-0-1 record in which the Dons gave up only seven goals and scored 37, the Dons won the WCISC title and qualified for post-season play.
The Green and Gold beat San Jose State 2-1 in double overtime in the regional playoffs. The team then journeyed to Missouri to meet long-time nemesis St. Louis University. In a rain-soaked match that went four 5-minute overtimes, the Dons won when Eduardo Rangel scored on a rebound off the St. Louis goalie. This was the first time since the tournament began in 1959 that USF had made it into the NCAA semifinals.
The final four included Michigan State, Army, Long Island and USF. The Dons met Army in the semifinal game at a wet and foggy Memorial Stadium. The field was a mess, forcing many of the West Point Booters shot attempts to sail off target. Negoesco's talented Dons, who won their two previous games in the mud, were better prepared. The Dons dominated to defeat Army as second-half goals by Luis Sagastume and Sandor Hites gave the Dons the 2-0 victory. Olympian Mike Ivanow recorded the shutout.
Weather conditions improved the following day when USF faced Long Island University, which had scored a surprise overtime win against Michigan State, triumphing 6-5 on corner kicks.
Led by Sandor Hites' outstanding effort, the Dons scored a record five goals en route to a 5-2 win over LIU and USF's first NCAA title. Hites accounted for three of the five Dons' goals and was named the tournament's outstanding offensive player, with four goals in USF's two contests. It was the first of USF's four NCAA crowns under Negoesco, as the Hilltoppers finished the season 10-0-1.
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