NCAA soccer tournaments are Corboz family affair for Maryland, Georgetown
The final whistle sounded on the Big Ten men's soccer final Sunday, and amid the merriment of Maryland's Ludwig Field, one clan of bundled-up spectators reveled in the end to a perfect weekend.
It had begun Friday in College Park when Mael Corboz converted a penalty kick during a shootout victory over Michigan State in the conference semifinals. It continued some 200 miles west Saturday when Mael's sisters, Rachel and Daphne, successfully started and finished Georgetown's set of penalty kicks in an NCAA tournament upset of West Virginia.
The next day, with Daphne and his highway-weary parents watching, Mael struck a tiebreaking free kick with world class precision in the 86th minute. The Indiana goalkeeper had not a prayer.
“I was so happy for him because he worked on them all summer,” Daphne said, “and I know how much time and effort he had put into it.”
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The Terrapins booked a ticket to the national tournament. The Hoyas were on to the round of 32. And Michel and Christine Corboz, soccer parents from New Jersey, were on their way home with another set of memories made by their three midfielders.
For three years, the French-born couple visited Washington regularly to watch Daphne, Georgetown’s all-time leader in goals and points. Rachel joined the Hoyas this season and Mael, a junior, transferred to Maryland from Rutgers.
Daphne, a two-time Big East offensive player of the year and U.S. under-23 national team selection, is third in the nation in assists with 18. She also is tied for the team lead in goals with 10. Rachel is second on the Hoyas in assists with eight. Mael (pronounced MY-el) leads the resurgent Terps in goals with 10.
Seeking the second round-of-16 appearance in program history, the Georgetown women (11-4-6) will face Virginia Tech on Friday at Penn State. The Maryland men (13-5-3), who are unbeaten in 11 straight, will host UMBC on Sunday.
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If the Hoyas advance, they too would play Sunday, creating a scheduling conflict for the parents. “When they play at the same time,” said Michel, a former semipro midfielder for French club Grenoble, “we go to see Daphne because she’s the senior.”
This fall, with three players in the D.C. area, the parents have memorized every rest stop, toll plaza and bridge between New Jersey and Maryland.
When their schedules allow, Daphne and Rachel visit College Park, often via Metro, to watch their brother. Mael takes the subway into the city for Hoyas matches.
It’s a tight-knit family with roots in both the foothills of the French Alps and the U.S. Gulf Coast. All three offspring were born in Mobile, Ala., while Michel, a scientist, was doing postdoctoral research at the University of South Alabama. (Christine is an accountant.)
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Mobile, of all places, has unique Euro-American soccer ties: It was also the birthplace of U.S. World Cup forward Aron Johannsson, the son of Icelandic parents studying at South Alabama.
While Johannsson enjoyed a soccer upbringing in Europe, the Corboz trio drew inspiration from their father in northern New Jersey. European matches filled the TV screen, tickets to MLS and women’s matches occupied weekends and two-on-two games broke out in the backyard: Daphne and Mael vs. Michel and Rachel.
“I can’t play with them anymore,” Michel said, “because they are too fast and I am too old.”
Said Mael: “My parents tried to expose us to every sport, but we were all drawn to soccer. It was instilled in us from a young age. We didn’t have to play, but we wanted to play.”
The family was visiting relatives in France during the French-hosted 1998 World Cup. Michel took Mael, not yet 4 years old, to the Japan-Jamaica match in Lyon. Two years later, the pair attended two European Championship matches in Belgium. In 2003, they saw the United States play Brazil in the Confederations Cup in Lyon.
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Although Daphne was a year older, she began playing later than her brother. “I always wanted to play on a team,” she said. “My dad said, ‘Soccer is not for you.’ He never saw girls playing in France.”
He had a change of heart when, while accompanying 7-year-old Mael to a tournament, he saw ponytailed girls on the field.
Daphne never looked back, evolving into a 5-foot-4 dynamo. She is a pre-med student who, upon graduation, will have to decide whether to put off medical school for a pro career in the National Women’s Soccer League or overseas. Like her siblings, she has dual citizenship and speaks French.
Rachel arrived at Georgetown this fall, lining up on Daphne’s left or right flank. Next season, Rachel will inherit Daphne’s playmaking role, Coach Dave Nolan said. Having attended different high schools — Daphne at public school and Rachel at private — they had never played on the same organized team until this season.
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“There is a bond between us,” Rachel said. “Having watched her play for so long, I knew her style.”
Mael began his college career 20 minutes from home. After two quality seasons at Rutgers, though, “I didn’t see myself getting much better the last two years and wanted a new challenge,” he said.
He considered joining his sisters at Georgetown, but the university did not offer his chosen degree, mechanical engineering. Maryland did. He transferred before the spring exhibition season started, a valuable period to adapt to one of the nation’s elite programs.
Rutgers signed a release allowing him to play right away and not sit out a year, as football and basketball transfers are required. Thankful, Terrapins Coach Sasho Cirovski offered to hold Mael out of the game against Rutgers, which also joined the Big Ten this year. Scarlet Knights Coach Dan Donigan appreciated the gesture but said it was not necessary.
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Four minutes into the regular season meeting in New Jersey, Mael scored. Out of respect for his former teammates and coach, he did not celebrate. “On the other side of the field are some of my best friends,” he said. “To celebrate there wasn’t right.”
Four days later, he scored against the Scarlet Knights in the Big Ten quarterfinals. This time, he showed some emotion.
In the title game, with overtime looming, Mael’s 23-yard free kick streaked over Indiana’s wall and splashed into the top corner of the net.
Long after the match ended, his family was waiting for him outside the interview tent.
“Oh my gosh,” Michel said a few days later, “it was a very good weekend for us.”
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