Monthly Archives: December 2007

[ELITE 8] Bradley had overcame one- and two-goal deficits to win at Indiana and Maryland in the second and third rounds, but there was no Braves’ comeback Sunday at Ohio State. Even the support of eight busloads of Bradley supporters who had made the trek from Peoria couldn’t help the Braves after they fell behind on a Xavier Balc penalty kick in the 58th minute. A four-goal blitz over 12 minutes sent the Buckeyes to the Men’s College Cup for the first time with a 4-0 win.

[ELITE 8] Sam Koch will be the first to admit that he didn’t plan on Massachusetts going to the Men’s College Cup. The Minutemen coach went so far as to book a family trip to Disney World for Thanksgiving. Well, the trip came and went without him, and three weeks later, UMass is still playing. The Minutemen made sure of that with a 2-1 victory over UIC on Sunday at the place the Minutemen call Fort Rudd.

[ELITE 8] Wake Forest will be the only team at this year’s Men’s College Cup that played in last year’s finals in St. Louis. Indeed, the No. 2 seed Demon Deacons are the only team still alive to have ever played in a men’s final four. They moved into Friday’s semifinal against ACC rival Virginia Tech with a 1-0 overtime win over Notre Dame Saturday night before a record crowd of 4,589 at Spry Stadium.

[ELITE 8] Virginia Tech pulled the biggest upset of the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament quarterfinals with a 1-0 victory over No. 3 seed Connecticut Saturday afternoon before 5,495 fans in Storrs, Conn. The Huskies took a 17-game home winning streak into the game, but bad field conditions and bad luck conspired to knock them out. Instead, Virginia Tech is heading to the Men’s College Cup this weekend in Cary. N.C.

USC is only the seventh team to win the NCAA Division I women’s championship in the 26-year history of the tournament.

All the results and goal scorers from the first games on Nov. 17 in College Station to Sunday’s final back in Aggieland …

USC’s Ali Khosroshanin exuded confidence going into the Women’s College Cup, and he said it was for real. “With this group,” he said afterwards, “it took them a while to start believing, but once they started it’s been a spectacular run.” The assessment of star Amy Rodriguez? Once USC got rolling, it was “like every game we just took teams apart.” For more from the USC and FSU players and coaches after Sunday’s Women’s College Cup final …

Paul Kennedy on the new women’s champion
On the eve of the Women’s College Cup, first-year USC coach Ali Khosroshahin recounted his first meeting with his new boss, Athletic Director Mike Garrett, after being named the Trojans’ women’s soccer coach last winter. “We evaluate you on national championships,” Garrett, SC’s first Heisman Trophy winner, told Khosroshahin, who arrived from Cal State Fullerton. “No pressure!” Khosroshahin joked. More like, no problem.