Author Archives: Paul Kennedy

WOMEN’S NEWS … North Carolina ended its two-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over Clemson. The Tar Heels got two goals from 2008 Player of the Year Casey Nogueira, who had only one goal in her 12 previous games.

Nogueira, who scored 25 goals in 2008 but only has six this season, was one of eight seniors to start in the Tar Heels’ last home game of the regular season. Nikki Washington, whose senior year ended against LSU last month when she tore her right ACL, started the game in uniform wearing a brace on her right knee. Clemson, in a show of sportsmanship, intentionally kicked the ball out of play so sophomore Maria Lubrano could replace Washington 31 seconds into the match. The only senior not to start was midfielder Tobin Heath, who was with the U.S. women’s national team in Germany for its exhibition match against the Germany.

The other six Tar Heel seniors, all part of one of the most celebrated classes in UNC’s long history, were defenders Whitney Engen and Kristi Eveland, goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris, midfielder Sterling Smith and forwards Ashley Moore and Caroline Boneparth. Both Moore and Boneparth earned the first starts of their careers.

* THURSDAY TOP 25 RESULTS:
ACC: No. 4 North Carolina 3 (Nogueira 12, 54, McDonald 52) Clemson 0.
ACC: No. 6 Boston College 1 (Caldwell  25) Duke 0.
ACC: No. 8 Maryland 1 (Hutchinson 3) No. 17 Wake Forest 3 (Hutchinson 3, Farrell 75, Fountain 86).
Indiana 1 (Moses 70) No. 25 Penn State 2 (Toney 21, Nairn 80).

Weekend Schedule

* TOURNAMENT WATCH. Conference tournament play began Thursday with a huge first-round game in the Big East Tournament between Villanova and Connecticut. The Huskies are hoping to return to the NCAA Tournament after missing out for the first time ever in 2008, but they fell at ‘Nova, 4-1, in a shootout after their 1-1 tie. Villanova (11-4-5) travels to Milwaukee to face Marquette on Sunday. UConn will have to wait to see whether it gets an at-large bid, though its No. 19 in the last RPI Index puts it in good shape. In the other Big East first-round game, Chelsea Klotz scored late to give host South Florida a 1-0 win over DePaul.

Conference Tournament Scoreboard

* CMU STREAK OVER. Central Michigan’s shutout streak ended at 1,238 minutes when Paige Sheridan scored 11 minutes into Eastern Michigan’s Mid-American match with the Chippewas on Thursday. CMU rallied for a 1-1 tie with the Eagles to extend its school record unbeaten streak to 14 matches. The 13-game shutout streak was tied for the second longest in NCAA Division I women’s history. The Chippewas, the MAC regular-season champions, return home to begin their quest for their first conference tournament championship against Kent State on Sunday.

MEN’S NEWS … Teal Bunbury, the son of former Canada international Alex Bunbury, scored two goals to lead No. 1 Akron to a 3-0 win over Penn State for the Zips’ 16th win in a row. Bunbury scored in the fifth minute when he redirected Kofi Sarkodie‘s cross into the goal and the struck from 30 yards in the 24th minute. Bunbury has 14 goals, all in the last 11 games. Forward Darlington Nagbe put the game out of reach in the 62nd minute with his eighth goal of the season.

“I thought we came out flying and jumped on them early but then coasted a little,” said Akron coach Caleb Porter. “We have not played teams recently that have been able to punish us when we let our guard down, but Penn State’s that type of team. And from here on out, all the teams we play are going to be that type of team.”

* TOP 25 ACTION. The seven other Top 25 teams in action on Wednesday were perfect (two other games involving No. 6 Connecticut and No. 21 St. John’s were postponed because of bad weather):

— Alex Dixon recorded No. 3 North Carolina’s first hat trick since 2005 to highlight the Tar Heels’ 7-0 win over Stetson. The sophomore scored three times in under seven minutes.

— No. 6 South Florida extended its home unbeaten streak to 28 games — the longest such streak in the nation — with a 1-0 win over DePaul on Zak Boggs‘ free kick on the half hour.

— No. 7 UC Santa Barbara earned its seventh shutout in its last eight games with a 2-0 win over Cal State Northridge. The Gauchos remained tied for first in the Big West with Cal Poly, a 3-0 winner over UC Riverside.

— No. 9 Louisville tied a school record for wins, improving to 12-2-2 with a 3-1 win over Cincinnati. All three goals came off set pieces, beginning with Simeon Steward‘s first goal of the season.

— Freshman Andrew Wenger scored twice to lead No. 17 Duke to a 6-0 win over Presbyterian in a game originally scheduled for Tuesday.

— Amani Walker scored three goals and added an assist on Irving Garcia‘s goal to lead No. 19 UC Irvine to a 4-1 win over Cal State Fullerton.

— No. 25 UAB moves into first place in the Conference USA with a 3-0 victory over South Carolina on goals by Anthony King, Two-Boys Gumede and Babayele Sodade.

Wednesday Results

* INDIANA ENDS SKID. Indiana snapped a three-game losing streak in style with a 2-0 victory over Evansville on goals by Lee Hagedorn and Nick Blevins. The victory put the Hoosiers, who have never finished with a losing record, back over .500 at 8-7-1.  “We fought hard and stuck with a game plan,” said IU coach Mike Freitag. “Maybe in other games we over extended ourselves and made mistakes. Tonight I thought we played within ourselves and did everything we needed to be successful.

* STREAKING SEAHAWKS. One of the hottest teams in the South is UNC Wilmington, which extended its unbeaten streak to eight games with a 2-0 win at James Madison on second-half goals by juniors Tyler Wheaton and Daniel Roberts. The win, the Seahawks’ first ever in Harrisonburg, kept them tied for first place in the CAA with Northeastern, a 2-1 winner at Delaware. It was also Coach Aidan Heaney‘s 100th career win.

MEN’S NEWS … The second Men’s Division I RPI index the NCAA released Tuesday underscores the parity in men’s college soccer this year. The RPI — Ratings Percentage Index — includes teams from 14 different conferences among the top 28 teams and two major surprises. Not one of the 16 Big East teams is in the top 25, nor is any team from the Big West.

Three Big East teams are among the top nine teams in this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25: No. 5 Connecticut, No. 6 South Florida and No. 9 Louisville rank 30-34-44 in the RPI index. If the current RPI index were used to rank the 48 NCAA qualifiers — the top-ranked teams from the 21 conferences whose champions get automatic bids and 27 at-large teams — Louisville would not get in.

The two Big West teams in this week’s Top 25 — No. 7 UC Santa Barbara and No. 19 UC Irvine — are No. 48 and No. 38 in the RPI index. Like Louisville, UCSB falls below the 42 teams who would get in as conference champions or at-large teams.

Also of note:
— Two top 25 RPI teams — No. 7 Indiana and No. 15 Loyola Marymount — have .500 records.
— Since the Mid-American Conference does not get an automatic berth this year, Northern Illinois (No. 46) and Hartwick (No. 61) have their work cut out. Akron (15-0-0) is No. 3 in the RPI Index and a shoo-in for an NCAA Tournament bid.

(Click here for the complete men’s RPI.)

The Ratings Percentage Index is the most important of the criteria the NCAA uses to determine the 64-team field for the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament. The RPI is a mathematical formula designed to objectively compare results and strength of schedule.

2009 NCAA Men’s Soccer RPI
1. Wake Forest, ACC
2. UCLA, Pac-10
3. Akron, Mid-American
4. Northwestern, Big Ten
5. San Diego, WCC
6. North Carolina, ACC
7. Indiana, Big Ten
8. North Carolina St., ACC
9. Duke, ACC
10. Princeton, Ivy
11. San Diego St., Pac-10
12. Charlotte, Atlantic 10
13. Butler, Horizon
14. Maryland, ACC
15. Loyola Marymount, WCC
16. Penn St., Big Ten
17. Stanford, Pac-10
18. Tulsa, Conference USA
19. Harvard, Ivy
20. Virginia, ACC
21. Monmouth, Northeast
22. South Carolina, Conference USA
23. Michigan St., Big Ten
24. Ohio St., Big Ten
25. American, Patriot

* TOP 25 ACTION. Corben Bone tied a career high with three assists to lead No. 2 Wake Forest to a 4-1 win over Davidson on Tuesday night. The victory extended the Demon Deacons’ unbeaten streak to eight straight games. Only two other Top 25 games were played Tuesday. No. 11 N.C. State beat Centenary, 5-0. No. 13 Butler defeated Detroit, 3-0, in a game that had been rescheduled from last weekend because several Detroit players had been diagnosed with the flu, or flu-like symptoms. Elsewhere in the South, bad weather took its toll with four games cancelled, postponed or suspended. Among them was the game between No. 17 Duke and Presbyterian.

Tuesday Results

* CORRECTION. Connecticut’s average attendance is 3,211, putting it second in the country behind only UC Santa Barbara.

MEN’S NEWS … Indiana is in trouble. The Hoosiers, who have never had a losing season in their previous 36 seasons as a varsity sport, have fallen to .500 and out of the Soccer America Men’s Top 25. Three consecutive losses — all shutouts — have left Indiana at 7-7-1 and in danger of missing out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1986.

After last Wednesday’s 4-0 loss to Louisville, Indiana coach Mike Freitag said his team didn’t show up. Not for the first time, he blasted his players’ lackluster play. The Hoosiers played better at Northwestern on Sunday, outshooting the Wildcats, 8-2, in the first half, but they came out flat after halftime and lost the key Big Ten match, 2-0. “This is a very difficult loss,” said Freitag. “It is indicative of the season at this point and time. For whatever reason, we have not come together as a team and we have very little time left to do that.”

IU has only three regular-season games left, all at home, beginning with a match against long-time rival Evansville in Bloomington. The Aces (10-5-1) have lost the last seven games in the series with IU that was resumed two years ago, but they are having a strong season. After that, IU closes out Big Ten play with matches against Ohio State and No. 25 Penn State, both tough teams. Then comes the Big Ten, which will be held in Bloomington Nov. 12-15.

To be considered for the NCAA Tournament, Indiana will need a record of .500 for better. If it finishes around .500, it should get in. It’s played one of the strongest schedules in the country. Six of its losses have been to teams ranked in this week’s top 13 — No. 1 Akron, No. 2 Wake Forest, No. 7 UC Santa Barbara, No. 9 Louisville, No. 10 Northwestern and No. 13 Butler.

* CROWD COUNT. UC Santa Barbara is on course to break the modern-day men’s soccer attendance record. The Gauchos are averaging 4,836 fans a game and should top the NCAA record of 3,629 fans a game set by New Mexico in 2005. The unofficial record is held by Connecticut, which averaged 4,297 fans a game in 1982. UCSB has led the nation in average attendance the last two years.

2009 AVG. ATTENDANCE:
1. UC Santa Barbara 4836
2. Connecticut 3211
3. Maryland 3085
4. Creighton 2449
5. Indiana 2335
6. New Mexico 2254
7. North Carolina 1819
8. Wake Forest 1773
9. Portland 1690
10. Clemson 1681
11. Akron 1597
12. Saint Louis 1492
13. Notre Dame 1485
14. St. John’s 1444
15. Louisville 1425
16. Kentucky 1322
17. Virginia 1318
18. Cal Poly 1307
19. Binghamton 1302
20. Seton Hall 1217

Men’s Player of the Week: Carlos Alvarez (Connecticut)
Men’s Team of the Week

* LEADING GOAL SCORERS:
1 Andrew Bulls, UMBC 15
2. Levi Houapeu, UMBC 14
3. Issa Tall, Adelphi 13
4. Teal Bunbury, Akron 12
4. Matt Eliason, Northwestern 12
6. Matthew Skonicki, Winthrop 11
6. JC Banks, Green Bay 11

MEN’S NEWS … No. 2 UCLA’s 10-game unbeaten streak came to an end Sunday afternoon when No. 21 Stanford shut out the Bruins, 2-0. “This was a fantastic win for the program,” said Cardinal coach Bret Simon. “Our players made a great turnaround after a difficult loss.”

Two days earlier, the Cardinal had fallen in overtime to visiting San Diego State, 2-1, but it put that defeat aside with a solid performance against UCLA. Stanford had the edge in play in the first half but didn’t score until Bobby Warshaw buried a header for his sixth goal of the season in the 56th minute. Twenty minutes later, Stanford added an insurance goal when Taylor Amman‘s through ball found a breaking Evan Morgan, who poked the ball past UCLA keeper Brian Perk.

* HAWKS FALL. No. 10 Monmouth University dropped its first match of the 2009 season, falling at Saint Francis (Pa.), 2-0, in a game that was moved from the Red Flash’s soccer field to its artificial turf football field because of heavy rains. The kickoff was pushed back three hours to accommodate the move. Daniel Moir‘s goal in the 11th minute snapped Monmouth’s shutout streak at 790 minutes. The loss ended the Hawks’ 14-match unbeaten streak to begin the season, which was a school record.

* FLU UPDATE. The Conference USA match between SMU and Kentucky, slated for Sunday, was postponed because several Kentucky players displayed flu-like symptoms. Similarly, Butler’s game at Detroit was rescheduled because several Detroit players were diagnosed with the flu or flu-like symptoms. The Horizon League match will be played Tuesday, forcing the cancellation of the scheduled match between Detroit and Western Michigan.

* MILESTONE. Coach Mike Getman picked up his 200th win at UAB with a 2-0 victory against UCF. It was a big win for the Blazers. They moved into a tie for first place with Tulsa in the Conference USA.

This week’s Top 25

* WEEKEND UPSETS:
Sunday, Oct. 25
No. 21 Stanford 2 (Warshaw 56, Morgan 76) No. 2 UCLA 0.
St. Francis (Pa.) 2 (Moir 12, McLeod 83) No. 10 Monmouth 0.
No. 18 Dartmouth 0 Columbia 2 (Adafin 69, Ayers 84).
Wisconsin 2 (Ahlering 32, Waspi 56) No. 23 Ohio State 0.
No. 25 California 0 San Diego State 2 (Reza 30, 37).

Saturday, Oct. 24
No. 9 Harvard 1 (Akpan pen. 66) Princeton 2 (Hoppenot 66, 102).
No. 20 West Virginia 1 (Etuk 26) Georgetown 2 (Diggs 77, Larrabee 88)

(Click here for more Sunday men’s results.)

MEN’S NEWS … Sophomore Teal Bunbury scored his seventh goal in his last seven games to give No. 1 Akron a 1-0 win at Buffalo on a cold and rainy Friday night. Bunbury’s team-leading 12th goal of the season was enough for the Zips to extend their winning streak to 15 straight games.

“We’ve been on the road the last six of seven games and I thought we looked a little flat at times tonight,” said Akron coach Caleb Porter. “But we still generated quality chances and possessed the ball for the entire game.” Indeed, Buffalo did not muster a single shot on goal.

* BRUIN TEAMWORK. No. 2 UCLA extended its unbeaten streak to 10 games with a 1-0 win at No. 25 California on senior Kyle Nakazawa‘s ninth of the season. Goalie Brian Perk needed to make only two saves to shut out the slumping Golden Bears.

“Our performance was very solid from beginning to end,” said UCLA head coach Jorge Salcedo. “We had the majority of the possession throughout the game. The goal was a result of 14 passes and winning the ball back in their penalty box. The finish was from a intelligent pass from Michael Stephens, and Kyle Nakazawa took his goal really well.”

— In other Pac-10 action, visiting San Diego State knocked off No. 21 Stanford, 2-1, on Khadem Diouf‘s golden goal.

(Click here for more Friday men’s results.)

* FRIDAY’S TOP 25 RESULTS:
Buffalo 0 No. 1 Akron 1 (Bunbury 13).
No. 25 California 0 No. 2 UCLA 1 (Nakazawa 41).
Robert Morris 0 No. 10 Monmouth 1 (Vazquez 30).
(Hawks record their eighth straight shutout.)
No. 14 Charlotte 3 (Caughran 29, Gross 33, Tucker 71) La Salle 0.
(49ers have only allowed one goal in the last 500 minutes of play.)
No. 21 Stanford 1 (Abolfathi 69) San Diego State 2 (Cardenas 13, Diouf 92) (OT).
No. 24 Duke 2 (Thomas 75, Grossman pen. 82) Clemson 1 (Thornton 22).

WOMEN’S NEWS … North Carolina’s season has turned out to be much tougher than one would have imagined it would be. The defending national champions lost for the second time in ACC play this season — only the ninth time in 23 years — when they fell at No. 5 Florida State, 3-2, Thursday night on sophomore Ella Stephan‘s golden goal with just 12 seconds left in overtime.

Carolina demonstrated overwhelming firepower at the beginning of the season with a 7-2 win over UCLA and 6-0 victory at Notre Dame, but since then, the Tar Heel attack has cooled off. It didn’t help that Nikki Washington was lost with a knee injury and Tobin Heath has been away with the women’s national team, currently in Germany for next week’s international friendly. The big mystery has been the loss of form of 2008 Player of the Year Casey Nogueira, who has only four goals and four assists in 15 games.

In Tallahassee, the UNC defense looked vulnerable. The Seminoles blew a 1-0 lead they held for an hour but they did not get down even after going behind, 2-1. Florida State won on goals by Amanda DaCosta, who fended off two Tar Heel defenders while making a run down the middle of the field, and Stephan, who outjumped the UNC defense to put away Lauren Switzer‘s corner kick.

“That was awesome,” said Stephan. “To be able to finish the game with the final goal is a great feeling.  I didn’t even see the ball go in.  I went up, came down and before I knew it everyone was on top of me screaming.” The win was only the second ever by FSU over Carolina. The first came in 2000 when the Tar Heels suffered three ACC defeats — the only time until this year they have lost more than one conference game in a season. Florida State took over first place in the ACC standings with Thursday’s win.

* GAME OF THE DAY:
Oct. 22 in Tallahassee, Fla.
Florida State 3 North Carolina 2 (OT). Edwards (Price, Huster) 7, DaCosta (Brockway) 85, Stephan (Switzer) 110; Klingenberg (Bronze) 66, McDonald (Jones) 67.
Florida State — McNulty, Jaurena, Stephan, Pressley, Brockway, Hester, DaCosta, Edwards, Lim, McCarty, Price. Subs: Crown, Switzer, Kazbour, Hupp,
North Carolina — Harris, Engen, Givan, Eveland, Hawkins,  Klingenberg, Brooks, Jones, Rich, McDonald, Nogueira. Subs: Bartok, Mathias, Bronze, Premji, Smith, Pfankuch, Klimczak, Lubrano.
Referee: Tony Russo.
Att.: 2,000.

Weekend Scoreboard

* SEC FOCUS. With five teams in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 and two close divisional races, it has been a banner year for the Southeastern Conference. No. 20 Florida stayed within a striking distance of No. 10 South Carolina in Eastern Division when redshirt freshman McKenzie Barney, starting her first  game at home, scored twice in the Gators’ 4-0 win over No. 16 LSU.

No 17 Mississippi took advantage of the Tigers’ loss to take over the top spot in the Western Division with a 4-1 win at Kentucky thanks to a pair of goals from Dylan Jordan and Hannah Weatherly. South Carolina defeated Arkansas, 2-0, and No. 24 Georgia, the SEC’s fifth Top 25 team, downed Alabama, 3-0. Sunday’s top match: South Carolina at LSU, to be televised on ESPNU at 3 p.m. ET.

 * BU CLINCHES. Boston University claimed its third straight America East regular-season title — and seventh since 2000 — as a result of Stony Brook’s 4-0 loss to Maine on Thursday afternoon. The Terriers, who close out their regular season on Sunday with UMBC, will host a semifinal matchup on Nov. 1. They will receive a first-round bye.