Monthly Archives: September 2009

WOMEN’S NEWS … The first major women’s conference kicked off play Thursday night when Marquette edged South Florida, 2-1, on Kerry McBride‘s late goal in the Big East opener, and a full slate of games is scheduled for Friday. Notre Dame and West Virginia were picked to win their respective divisions, but both teams head into conference play with .500 records.

The Big East is as deep as its ever been with all 16 teams beginning conference action with legitimate shots of claiming the divisional crowns. Five are ranked in the Soccer America Top 25: No. 13 Notre Dame, No. 18 St. John’s, No. 19 Connecticut, No. 23 Rutgers and No. 25 West Virginia. And only one team has a losing record in non-conference play. Here’s a look at the divisional races with the teams cited in order of their preseason ranking.

* AMERICAN
1. West Virginia, 2-2-3 (Mountaineers have scored only seven goals.)
2. Connecticut, 4-2-0 (Huskies have won four games in a row.)
3. Marquette, 6-2-0 (Golden Eagles are very tough at Valley Fields.)
4. St. John’s, 5-1-0 (C.J. Ludemann leads Red Storm with two goals and four assists.)
5. South Florida, 3-3-1 (Six of USF’s 10 goals came against Austin Peay.)
6. Pittsburgh, 4-2-0 (Panthers opened with four straight victories.)
7. Syracuse, 3-2-2 (Tina Romagnuolo has four of Orange’s six goals.)
8. Providence, 4-2-1 (Both Friar losses came in overtime.)

* NATIONAL
1. Notre Dame, 3-3-0 (Irish are unbeaten in last 52 Big East games — 50-0-2)
2. Rutgers, 5-1-1 (Erin Guthrie allowed her only two goals last Friday against San Diego.)
3. Georgetown, 6-1-0 (Ingrid Wells leads Big East with seven assists.)
4. Louisville, 2-3-0 (Cardinals have only scored four goals.)
5. Villanova, 6-0-1 (Katie Ryan leads Big East with seven goals and two assists.)
6. Cincinnati, 4-3-0 (Julie Morrissey had four goals last week in pair of wins.)
7. Seton Hall, 3-3-0 (Nicki Gross leads Pirates with four of their eight goals.)
 8. DePaul, 4-2-2 (Blue Demons have already equaled last year’s win total.)

Thursday’s Scoreboard

* WEEKEND TOP 25 MATCHUPS:
Friday, Sept. 18
No. 12 South Carolina vs. No. 17 UCF
No. 14 Florida vs. No. 6 Florida State
No. 25 Kansas vs. No. 21 San Diego (Jayhawk Invitational)

MEN’S NEWS … No. 6 UCLA survived its first game since seniors Brian Perk and Michael Stephens left to prepare for the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt, but it wasn’t easy. The Bruins went down a goal against Cal State Fullerton after only four minutes, but rallied on goals by freshman Evan Raynr and junior Shawn Singh to defeat the Titans, 2-1. In his first collegiate start in goal, sophomore Brian Rowe, Perk’s backup, was called upon to make five saves.

“At the end of the day, it was a good win after going down 1-0 and not having the best start,” said UCLA coach Jorge Salcedo. “As the first half wore on, we got better and had more energy and were able to get the win.”

* DERBY NIGHT. Thursday was derby night on the West Coast, where three other big matches were played. Defender A.J. Soares matched his career total with two goals in No. 8 California’s 3-0 win at San Francisco. He also had an assist on Davis Paul‘s opening goal.

In the Bay Area Classic’s other game, Stanford ended its six-game winless streak against Santa Clara and beat the Broncos, 2-0, on goals by juniors Bobby Warshaw and Daniel Leon. The visiting team also won the Pacific Northwest derby as Portland defeated Washington, 2-1, on goals by Keith Grubisich and Michael Nielsen.

* HAT TRICK HERO:
— Transfer Debola Ogunseye‘s third goal of the game in 89th minute earned Furman a 3-3 tie at Coast Carolina.

Thursday’s Scoreboard

* WEEKEND TOP 25 MATCHUPS:
Friday, Sept. 18
No. 1 Akron vs. No. 10 Indiana (Akron Tournament)
No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 22 Duke
No. 3 Wake Forest vs. No. 25 Virginia
Saturday, Sept. 19
No. 22 N.C. State vs. No. 7 Maryland
Sunday, Sept. 20
No. 5 Dartmouth vs. No. 18 Loyola Marymount (San Diego Nike Classic)
No. 9 South Florida vs. No. 23 Notre Dame

WOMEN’S NEWS … When Notre Dame co-captain Courtney Rosen was sidelined with a broken foot last month, it was the fourth time she has broken her foot in five years. What made the injury different was that it was the first time she has broken her left foot. Because of stress fractures to her right foot, Rosen has a screw placed in that foot.

Rosen was walking from the locker room to the practice field when her left foot gave out. “It was like a death in the family when she broke her foot,” teammate Michele Weissenhofer, who has also battled injuries, told the Notre Dame Observer. “That just shows how big of a part of the team she is.”

Without Rosen, a second-team All-Big East selection in 2008, the Irish have struggled, losing three of their last four games.

* TOP 25 ACTION: No. 22 Indiana dominated play against state rival Butler, but all the Hoosiers could muster was a goal by Orianica Velasquez Herrera in the 79th minute for a 1-0 victory that improved IU’s record to 7-1-0. The Hoosiers were stymied by keeper Jessica Schein, who made five saves. They also had Carly Samp‘s shot glance off the far post.
 
Wednesday’s Scoreboard

* HAT TRICK HERO:
— Kirby Zak scored three goals for Sam Houston State in its 6-0 win over Texas Southern.