Monthly Archives: August 2002

By Scott French, Senior Editor in Atlanta Birgit Prinz, an unstoppable force since first stepping foot on a WUSA field, was more than the Washington Freedom's defense could deal with Saturday afternoon, scoring one goal and creating another to give the Carolina Courage the Founders Cup II championship. The Courage completed a remarkable worst-to-first campaign […]

By Scott French, Senior Editor in Atlanta Carolina and Washington, last year's WUSA weaklings bolstered by savvy roster enhancements, meet Saturday at Herndon Stadium in the league's second title game. The Courage, which rebounded from a last-place finish to win the regular-season title, then overcame Atlanta in the semifinals with a late penalty kick and […]

MID-CONTINENT: Oakland, which put together the best season ever by a Mid-Con team in 2001, was picked to finish first in the preseason poll. Oral Roberts was tabbed to finish second. Valparaiso is No. 4, followed by IUPUI, Western Illinois and Southern Utah. MISSOURI VALLEY: Illinois State, last year's regular-season champion, is No. 1 in […]

AMERICA SUN: Central Florida received seven of 12 first-place votes to finish first in the coaches poll. Florida Atlantic, which received the other five, is second. The rest of the field: 3. Jacksonville, 4. Campbell, 5. Georgia State, 6. Samford, 7. Jacksonville State, 8. Mercer 9. Gardner-Webb, 10. Troy State, 11. Stetson, 12. Belmont. BIG […]

The U.S. U-17 boys national team is spending 10 days in Finland, which will host the 2003 FIFA Under-17 World Championship (Aug. 13-30). The Americans will play three games there in a quest to acclimate to the Scandinavian country in case they qualify for the world championship. Qualifying takes place in March in Guatemala. U.S. […]

Saturday, Aug. 24 (4:00 pm ET) SAN JOSE (13-7-2, 42 points) at COLORADO (10-10-3, 33 points) (TV: ESPN2) Key Players Out: San Jose – M Scott Bower (partial peroneal nerve palsy-R), D Troy Dayak (strained groin-L); Colorado – GK Scott Garlick (fractured thumb-L). Referee: Richard Heron. Saturday, Aug. 24 (8:30 pm ET) LOS ANGELES (12-8-3, […]

BY RIDGE MAHONEY in San Jose The Burn fell to San Jose, 3-1, Wednesday night at Spartan Stadium to fall lower than second place in the Western Conference for the first time since June 8. Los Angeles took over second place in the West by beating Kansas City, 2-1, and guess who's next for the […]

The United States learned its quarterfinal opponent at the FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship on Thursday, and it wasn't the expected foe. The Americans, who romped to victories over England, Australia and Chinese Taipei in Group C matches, will take on Denmark, the third-place finisher in Group A, on Sunday in Victoria, British Columbia. The […]

MID-AMERICAN: Defending champion Kentucky is the preseason favorite to win both the regular-season title and the tournament championship. The Wildcats, who have eight returning starters, have an eight-game MAC tournament winning streak and an 11-game MAC winning streak overall. The preseason poll: 1. Kentucky, 2. Akron, 3. Marshall, 4. Bowling Green, 5. Western Michigan, 6. […]

AMERICA SUN: Central Florida narrowly edged Stetson, Jacksonville and Georgia State in the preseason coaches' poll. All four teams received at least two first-place votes. Rounding out the poll were defending tournament champion Mercer in fifth place, Florida Atlantic, Campbell, Gardner-Webb and Belmont. CAA: William & Mary, which has captured four of the past seven […]

The San Jose Earthquakes became the first MLS team to clinch one of the eight playoff spots with a 3-1 over Dallas yesterday in San Jose. The win also prevented Dallas from overtaking the Earthquakes at the top of the standings. Los Angeles remained within three points of the Earthquakes by downing Kansas City, 2-1. […]

MLS Playoff Race Standings (Top 8 teams qualify) 1. x * San Jose 42 pts (+16 goal difference) 2. * Chicago 34 (+9 3. Los Angeles 39 (+6) 4. Dallas 37 (+3) 5. Columbus 34 (+1) 6. Colorado 33 (-8) 7. Kansas City 32 (-8) 8. MetroStars 29 (-2) —————————- 9. D.C. United 23 (-8) […]

University of North Carolina forward Lindsay Tarpley netted her second and third goals of the tournament and the United States completed a perfect first round at the FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship on Wednesday with a 6-0 romp over winless Chinese Taipei at Centennial Stadium in Victoria, British Columbia. Santa Clara's Megan Kakadelas gave the […]

Marinette Pichon, the dynamic French striker who took the WUSA by storm in her first season, was named the league's Most Valuable Player on Thursday. Pichon scored 14 goals and assisted on another to lead the Philadelphia Charge to second place in the regular-season standings and a berth in the WUSA semifinals. Her torrid scoring […]

Goalkeeper Jonny Walker earned a clean sheet against San Felipe to help his club, Universidad Catolica, advance in the newly-formed Copa Sudamericana. Walker made several key stops in the game and Mauricio Segovia scored on a 73rd minute rebound. Catolica will now play Cobreola on Aug. 28 to determine one of the two teams that […]

Aug. 21 in San Jose San Jose 3 Dallas 1. Goals: Graziani (Barrett, Corrales) 7, Donovan (Graziani, Corrales) 33, Corrales (Ekelund, Mulrooney) 63; Rodriguez pen. 43. San Jose — Cannon, Conrad, Robinson, Barrett, Corrales, Russell (Ibsen, 46), Ekelund, Mulrooney, Lagos (Agoos, 81), Graziani (DeRosario, 76), Donovan. Dallas – Jordan, Morrow, Bonseu, Rodriguez (O'Brien, 69), Vaca, […]

This month 576 people voted on the 19 players who saw action in Korea. The results are as follows: Who was the best U.S. player in the World Cup? 32% Brad Friedel 24% Landon Donovan 20% Tony Sanneh 10% Claudio Reyna 6% Brian McBride 2% Eddie Pope 1% DaMarcus Beasley 1% Pablo Mastroeni 1% Clint […]

Frenchwoman Marinette Pichon, who led the Philadelphia Charge into the WUSA semifinals, and rookie Danielle Slaton, instrumental in the Carolina Courage's run to Saturday's title game, were honored by the league on Wednesday. Pichon, who scored 14 goals and dished off one assist for the Charge, was selected the WUSA Offensive Player of the Year […]

MLS GAME PREVIEWS (August 21) DALLAS (10-5-7, 37 points) at SAN JOSE (12-7-3, 39 points) Wednesday, August 21 (10:00 pm ET) (TV: KWFD/DIRECTV: 794) Key Players Out: Dallas – GK D.J. Countess (shoulder surgery-L), D Chris Gbandi (knee surgery-L), D Ryan Suarez (sprained knee-L); San Jose – M Scott Bower (partial peroneal nerve palsy-R), D […]

A-LEAGUE: Team of the Week (Aug. 12-18) GOALKEEPER Jon Lowery (Minnesota) * Seven saves in 2-1 win at Seattle DEFENDER Ben Garry (Pittsburgh) * Solid in 2-0 win over Montreal Steve Shak (Minnesota) * Outstanding in two road wins Gilbert Jean-Baptiste (Atlanta) * Goal in 3-0 win at Hampton Roads MIDFIELDERS Marco Ferruzzi (Richmond) * […]

A-LEAGUE WEEK 18 WRAP: Six more clinch playoff spots By Nathaniel Gould PLAYOFF PICTURE TAKES SHAPE: The Milwaukee Rampage, Minnesota Thunder, Rochester Rhinos, Montreal Impact, Richmond Kickers and Atlanta Silverbacks secured playoff bids this week, joining Seattle and Charleston as the first eight teams to reserve berths in the A-League's 12-team postseason field. Milwaukee cliched […]

University of Portland All-American Christine Sinclair and 15-year-old Kara Lang scored two goals apiece as Canada rolled past Japan, 4-0, Tuesday night in Edmonton at the FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship. The host Canadians clinched a quarterfinal berth in the 12-nation competition, joining the United States and Brazil, who qualified Monday for the knockout stage. […]

Mark Krikorian, whose Philadelphia Charge squad was on top in the WUSA nearly all of the regular season, was named the league's Coach of the Year on Tuesday as three days of honors commenced. Abby Wambach, who played a pivotal role up top for the Washington Freedom, was voted Rookie of the Year. Selections for […]

U.S. U-20 menÆs coach Thomas Rongen has named five MLS players and two foreign-based players to his 20-man roster for the XIX U-20 Torneo Internacional de Futbol de LÆAlcudia in Spain (Aug. 24-29). The USA plays Brazil (Aug. 24), Italy (Aug. 26) and Ukraine (Aug. 27) in Group B action. Group A is comprised of […]

University of Texas forward Kelly Wilson scored her third and fourth goals of the FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship on Monday as the United States pulled away from Australia, 4-0, to become the first quarterfinal qualifier. Santa Clara's Leslie Osborne and New Jersey high-schooler Heather O'Reilly also tallied for the Americans (2-0), who held a […]