Monthly Archives: November 2007

Two second-half goals by Emily Dixon gave Broome (N.Y.) Community College a 2-1 victory over Gloucester County (N.J.) College in the NJCAA Division III Women’s final on Sunday in Herkimer, N.Y.

Richland repeats as NJCAA Division III men’s champion

Richland College of Texas won its second straight NJCAA Division III Men’s title and fifth in the last six years with a 1-0 win over Ulster County (N.Y.) Community College on Sunday at the national finals in Herkimer, N.Y.

Farewell to Armas

by Ridge MahoneyNovember 13, 2007

Today’s the day Chris Armas officially hangs it up. At age 35, sent to the sidelines by a troublesome hip and the wear and tear of a dozen pro seasons, the MLS prototypical holding midfielder played 264 regular season games and 37 more in the playoffs with a zeal and hunger seemingly unaffected by fatigue, weather or circumstance. He’ll walk away reluctantly, happy and sad, as well he should. Nobody ever wore the colors of his club and country more humbly yet as proudly as did Armas. He played in four MLS Cups and helped the Fire, which he joined after two seasons in Los Angeles, win a league title and four U.S. Open

Fan power and marching band for new MLS team

Comedian Drew Carey, a member of the ownership group of the Seattle franchise that will field an MLS team in 2009, promised that the team will have a marching band and that he wants to allow fans to buy memberships giving them a vote on club policy, such as the fate of the general manager. “If you don’t like the job he’s doing, if he doesn’t have a winning team, if you don’t like the product, if you don’t think the hot dogs taste good when you go to the stadium, you can just vote him out,” Carey told the Seattle Post Intelligencer .

Florida woman arrested for stealing from youth league

Central Florida media outlets have reported that a board member of the Big Sun Soccer League has been arrested for engaging in a scheme to defraud the youth organization of more than $79,000. Police say Priscilla Bellcase, 40, allegedly wrote checks to cash, then endorsed them herself or forged the name of another board member to access the funds. The arrest came after a three-month-long investigation by the Ocala Police Dept. Economic Crimes Unit.

U.S. Soccer to announce new women’s coach Tuesday

The U.S. Soccer Federation is holding a press conference at 3:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday to announce the new coach of the U.S. women’s national team. The Washington Post’s Steven Goff wrote on his Soccer Insider blog on Monday that a source told him Pia Sundhage would be the pick. The 47-year-old Swede, her country’s all-time leading scorer, was most recently assistant coach of the Chinese women’s national team.

Italian soccer descends into ‘pure madness’

by Paul KennedyNovember 13, 2007

Italy has canceled all pro soccer games next week in the aftermath of the shooting death of a Lazio fan on Sunday. Italy national team coach Roberto Donadoni said the rioting that followed across Italy was “pure madness.”

Soccer America Daily, What They're Saying

What They’re Saying

“I was out until late in a place where I should not have been. The other day I gave you an excuse, above all to take the pressure off the club.”

— Chris Coleman, the Welsh coach of Spanish club Real Sociedad, who first claimed he was 90 minutes late for a press conference because his washing machine flooded his apartment. Spanish newspapers however reported he’d been at a nightclub the night before until 5 a.m. (The Independent)

Arsenal puts three past Hahnemann

[AMERICANS IN ENGLAND] Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahneman was beaten by Mathieu Flamini, Emmanuel Adebayor and Alexander Hleb as the Royals fell, 3-1, to Arsenal, which moved ahead of Manchester United atop the EPL standings on goals scored is now unbeaten in 27 straight games. Hahnemann has conceded 29 goals in 13 games. Only last-place Derby has given up more goals (31) than Reading. Midfielder Bobby Convey started for Reading and played the first 70 minutes.

Arsenal has 30 points from 12 games while Man U has 30 points from 13 games. Each have a goal difference of plus-17, but Arsenal has scored 27 goals to United’s 23.

Brazil takes Beach World Cup, again

Brazil claimed its second consecutive Beach World Cup on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, with an 8-2 win over Mexico 8-2 in the final. Uruguay finished third by edging France 1-0 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in regulation.

Italian Officials Ponder Next Steps

The Italian government is proposing to suspend Serie A for several weeks following violence in Rome and Bergamo that was spurred by the shooting death of a Lazio fan by a policeman on Sunday. Additionally, Italy’s anti-hooliganism body wants to see large groups of violent fans — known in Italy as “ultras” — banned from […]

Robinho Leads Real to Victory, Again

“Someone get that man a colossal caipirinha, a bevy of Brazilian beauties and a bumper box of johnnies!” the Guardian’s Sid Lowe says of Real Madrid winger Robinho. He’s referring of course to the little Brazilian’s penchant for women and late-night partying, which got him into trouble barely three weeks ago. But none of that […]

Deserving, if Uninspiring MLS Finalists

MLS Cup 2007 will be a repeat of last year’s final, but USSoccerPlayers’ Ian Plenderleith sincerely hopes it won’t be a repeat of last year’s “deadly” final—”deadly” because Steve Nicol’s New England Revolution “killed” it just like his team did the year before, the columnist says. However, are there two teams more deserving of being […]

Liverpool Owner Hicks in Talks to Takeover Roma

Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks is reportedly in talks with AS Roma over a possible a takeover, according to several reports in Italy. Apparently, Hicks has been pressuring Roma President Franco Sensi to sell the club for several months, although the situation has only just been brought to the media’s attention. The 61-year-old Dallas native has […]

Soccer on TV., Story

Soccer On TV

The USA faces South Africa on Saturday in Johannesburg for the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup on a weekend that includes European Championship qualifying, South American 2010 World Cup qualifying and MLS Cup 2007.

NCAA TOURNAMENT: Small-college powers advance

Defending champion Dowling and top-ranked Northern Kentucky both moved into the NCAA D2 men’s quarterfinals. Unbeatens Texas (Trinity) and Loras advanced to the D3 men’s round of 16. No. 1 Grand Valley State got a scare in the second round of the D2 women’s play. D3 women’s powerhouses Wheaton (Ill.) and the College of New Jersey both flexed their muscles.

Santa Clara wraps up WCC title early

[WCC] Santa Clara clinched its 10th WCC title with a week to spare thanks to a 4-1 win over St. Mary’s on Sunday. Captain Peter Lowry scored the first goal and helped set up two others to lead the Broncos, who repeated as WCC champions and clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Secret weapon propels Brown to Ivy championship

[IVY LEAGUE] Opposing teams have derided Brown junior Darren Howerton‘s flip throw as a gimmick, but it certainly has been effective. Canadian Dylan Sheehan headed in Howerton’s flip throw in the 83rd minute of Saturday’s Ivy League showdown between Brown and Dartmouth to break a 0-0 tie and lift the No. 3 Bears to a 1-0 win over No. 23 Dartmouth that clinched the 2007 Ivy championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Tournament.

Ohio State takes care of business

[BIG TEN] Last year, Ohio State was one of the hottest teams in the country over the last month and a half and finished 11-7-3 but didn’t get at-large bid to the NCAA Men’s Tournament. This year, the Buckeyes made sure there would be no question about whether they moved into the postseason. They won the Big Ten Championship for only the second time, beating regular-season champion Indiana, 5-4, on penalty kicks after their game ended 0-0.

Soccer America Men’s Top 25

No. 1 Wake Forest’s 3-1 victory over Virginia on Friday night kept the Demon Deacons at No. 1in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25 for the ninth time in 11 weeks and knocked the slumping Cavaliers (1-5-2 in the ACC!) out of the Top 25. All six teams behind Wake remained in the same spot after recording wins over the weekend. For the complete Top 25 …

Soccer America predicts NCAA D1 women’s at-large field

by Paul KennedyNovember 12, 2007

The NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee will reveal on Monday the 64 teams that will participate in the 2007 NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament that begins later this week. The 64-team bracket will be revealed on the NCAA Women’s Soccer Selection Show that is set to air between 8 and 8:30 pm ET on ESPNews. Before seeding the top 16 teams and drawing the bracket, the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee must pick the 34 at-large teams who will join the 30 conference champions who have already qualified. After examining some of the key questions facing the committee, Soccer America’s predicts the 34 at-large teams …

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Women’s Conference Report

The NCAA Division I women’s regular reason has wrapped up. Champions were crowned in 31 conferences, 28 of which held tournaments. For the results, goal scorers, all-tournament teams and MVPs, they’re all here …

Soccer America Women’s Top 25

There was no doubt about the No. 1 team in the final Soccer America Women’s Top 25 of the regular season. UCLA beat Washington State, 2-0, and Washington, 3-0, to finish the regular season at 16-1-2 overall and 9-0-0 in the Pac-10. The Bruins have an 18-game unbeaten streak, the longest in the country. For the Final Top 25 …

Houston returns to MLS Cup

by Ridge MahoneyNovember 12, 2007

By tried-and-true methods — efficiency on set plays and the unerring daring of Dwayne DeRosario – Houston duly returned to the MLS Cup by beating Kansas City, 2-0, Saturday. But those elements are only part of a formula that for the past two seasons has proven tough to break down even under pressure. Nate Jaqua powered home a Richard Mulrooney corner kick late in the first half to break open a goalless game and DeRosario drilled a low shot with nine minutes left for the clinching goal as Houston won its fifth postseason match (out of seven) since the franchise moved from San Jose in December, 2005.