Author Archives: Paul Kennedy

MEN’S NEWS … It’s been a rough couple of weeks for UCLA goalie Brian Perk. First, he got shelled at the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt, where the USA lost a pair of 3-0 decisions to Germany and South Korea and was knocked out in the first round for the first time in more than two decades. Then in his first game back with the Bruins, he was kicked in the face by a San Diego State player while diving for the ball and had to be taken to the hospital.

Fortunately, Perk was not seriously injured and was back in action Friday for No. 2 UCLA, earning the shutout for the Bruins in their 1-0 win over No. 13 California in front of 1,807 fans at Drake Stadium. David Estrada scored the only goal of the game in the 15th minute on an assist from fellow senior Kyle Nakazawa. The assist extended Nakazawa’s points scoring streak to eight games — matching UCLA’s unbeaten streak.

Perk didn’t have much to do in the first half — UCLA had a 12-1 edge in shots — but he made a diving save on Hector Jimenez‘s shot with 11 minutes remaining. Cal keeper David Bingham, who was also injured (hamstring) last week, made eight saves to keep the game close.

— No. 19 Stanford won a Pac-10 thriller, coming back from a goal down with three minutes to play and eventually beating San Diego State, 2-1, on the road thanks to a golden goal by Ryan Thomas on a free kick from 24 yards.

* STREAK CONTINUES. Monmouth got goals from sophomore Max Hamilton and Ryan Kinne within 90 seconds of each other late in the second half to come away with a 2-0 win at Bryant and improve its record to 12-0-1. Kinne, who helped the New York Red Bulls win the USL Super-20 championship this summer, leads the Northeast Conference with seven goals.

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

* FRIDAY’S TOP 25 RESULTS:
No. 2 UCLA 1 (Estrada 15) No. 13 California 0.
Clemson 0 No. 6 Maryland 1 (Herrick 55).
Bryant 0 No. 11 Monmouth 2 (Hamilton 82, Kinne 84).
San Diego State 1 (McManus 51) No. 19 Stanford 2 (Gunther 87, Thomas 92) (OT).

MEN’S NEWS … No. 1 Akron hasn’t lacked for stars in its 12-0-0 run to start the season, but the Zips, who lost 2008 Hermann Trophy winner Steve Zakuani to MLS’s Seattle Sounders FC, have been getting major contributions from sophomore Teal Bunbury, the son of former Canada international Alex Bunbury.

Teal Bunbury scored his fifth goal in four games Tuesday to lead Akron to a 2-0 victory at Virginia Tech. He scored his 10th goal of the season, all in the last eight games, taking a pass from fellow sophomore Kofi Sarkodie and slipping through the Virginia Tech defense.

Junior Blair Gavin put the game away for good with third penalty kick of the season in 80th minute. Freshman goalkeeper David Meves earned his eighth shutout. The Zips extended their string of games in which they have not allowed a goal in the first half to 24.

Tuesday Results

* TOP 25 ACTION. Eight other teams in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25 were in action on Tuesday night …

— Freshman Enzo Martinez set up sophomores Billy Schuler and Kirk Urso with his first collegiate multi-assist game in No. 3 North Carolina’s 2-0 win over Campbell that ended a three-game losing skid to the Camels. Martinez was starting in place of injured midfielder Cameron Brown.

— A pair of outstanding diving saves from senior Akira Fitzgerald preserved No. 4 Wake Forest’s 1-0 at College of Charleston. Freshman defender Anthony Arena had the game’s only goal off Austin da Luz‘s corner kick. The assist was da Luz’s ACC-leading eighth of the season.

— No. 6 Maryland got early goals from Drew Yates and Jason Herrick and held on to win, 2-1, at No. 16 Georgetown. Maryland players wore white wrist bands with “A.L. #18” written in black marker for teammate Alex Lee, who was struck by a vehicle in Washington Saturday night and was only released from the hospital hours prior to kickoff.

— A pair of goals by Federico Nachmann and Alan Sanchez in a 30-second span of the second half led 12th-ranked N.C. State to a 2-0 win over visiting Georgia Southern.

— Visiting Liberty held No. 17 Virginia to a 1-1 tie. The Cavs broke open a scoreless game in the 78th minute when freshman Will Bates put away the rebound of Brian Ownby‘s shot off the post, but Liberty responded less than two minutes later when its leading scorer, Darren Amoo headed in a corner kick.

— No. 20 Brown improved to 7-0-4 with a 3-1 victory at Stevenson Field. Nick Elenz-Martin, Thomas McNamara and David Walls scored for the Bears, who rallied from a 1-0 deficit after 19 minutes.

— Cole Grossman set up freshmen Andrew Wenger and Ryan Finley for goals off corner kicks and scored the third goal himself in No. 25 Duke’s 3-0 win over UNC Greensboro.

MEN’S NEWS … Northwestern, ninth in this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 with a 6-1-4 record, is first in the initial Men’s Division I RPI index the NCAA released Tuesday.

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

The RPI — Ratings Percentage Index — is the most important of the criteria it 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.

Akron and UCLA, 1-2 in the Soccer America rankings, are 2-3 in the RPI index. Ten unranked teams are in the RPI Top 25 (see below). The highest ranked teams that did not make the RPI Top 25 are No. 5 UC Santa Barbara, No. 7 Louisville and No. 10 Connecticut. The four highest ranked Big East teams — Louisville, Connecticut, South Florida and Georgetown — with a combined eight losses did not make the cut, but 7-4-1 Notre Dame at No. 22 and 7-5-0 DePaul (unranked) did.

The ACC leads all conferences with six teams in the RPI top 10 — including North Carolina, Wake Forest and N.C. State at 4-5-6 — and the Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Ivy League, Pac-10 and WCC have two apiece. Reflecting the diversity in the men’s game, 14 of the 22 Division I conferences that receive automatic bids are represented.

* MEN’S SOCCER (RPI TOP 25)
1 Northwestern, Big Ten (9)
2 Akron, Mid-American (1)
3 UCLA Pac-10 (2)
4 North Carolina, ACC (3)
5 Wake Forest, ACC (4)
6 N.C. St., ACC (12)
7 South Carolina, Conference USA (NR)
8 Duke, ACC (T25)
9 San Diego, WCC (NR)
10 Portland, WCC (NR)
11 Butler, Horizon (18)
12 Maryland, ACC (6)
13 Monmouth, Northeast (11)
14 New Mexico, MPSF (NR)
15 California, Pac-10 (13)
16 Tulsa, Conference USA (NR)
17 Indiana, Big Ten (23)
18 DePaul, Big East (NR)
19 Dartmouth, Ivy (NR)
20 Drake, Missouri Valley (NR)
21 American, Patriot (NR)
22 Virginia, ACC (17)
23 Charlotte, Atlantic 10 (NR)
24 Notre Dame, Big East (22)
25 Harvard, Ivy (8)

* LEE IN STABLE CONDITION. According to the University of Maryland, sophomore defender Alex Lee “has shown incredible progress over the past two days” and was listed in stable condition at George Washington University Hospital after being struck by a vehicle while crossing a street in the District of Columbia Saturday night. Lee is a converted forward who started all 11 games for the defending national champion Terrapins on defense. He will be out of practice and competition indefinitely. Currently, no timetable has been set for his return to the field.

Men’s Player of the Week: Ronnie Bouemboue, N.C. State
Men’s Team of the Week

* LEADING GOAL SCORERS:
1. Andrew Bulls, UMBC 14
2. JC Banks, Green Bay 11
4. Andy Stadler, George Washington 9
4. Andrew Wiedeman, California 10
5. Matthew Skonicki, Winthrop 11
6. Teal Bunbury, Akron 9
6. Chris Cutshaw, Bradley 9
6. Giovanni Destasio, Iona 9
6. Matt Eliason, Northwestern 9
6. Levi Houapeu, UMBC 9
6. Conor O’Brien, Bucknell 9

MEN’S NEWS … In four seasons, Ken Lolla has accomplished at Louisville what he did at Akron. He’s built Cardinals into a national power. They climbed up to No. 7 — the highest-ranked Big East team in this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 — with a 1-0 win over ranked South Florida and 4-0 victory over Syracuse.

Lolla’s arrival at Louisville coincided with the athletic department’s move to upgrade the men’s program. Lolla, who also worked in the U.S. U-18 national team program, used his national and international connections to bolster recruiting. He also convinced former U.S. World Cup player Brian Maisonneuve, who had worked at the under-17 residency program since 2005, to become an assistant at Louisville last year.

The ’09 Cardinals are one of the most experienced teams in the country. The lone true freshman to start is former U.S. U-18 Paolo DelPiccolo from the Colorado Rush. Englishman Mark Knight, a transfer from Santa Barbara City College, and two Michigan Wolves products, Freddie Braun and Colin Rolfe, lead the Big East’s highest-scoring team (2.55 goals a game) with five goals apiece.

The Cardinals’ success has boosted interest in the program. Louisville ranks third in the Big East with an average attendance of 1,345 fans a game.

This week’s Men’s Top 25

* YEAGLEY FIRST. Todd Yeagley got his first Big Ten win as Wisconsin head coach on Sunday when the Badgers beat Michigan State, 2-1, on Scott Lorenz‘s goal in the 105th minute. It’s been a rough first season for the son of former Indiana coach Jerry Yeagley, so the win, only the second in nine games, was much appreciated. “From front to back, this was our best performance of the year,” Todd Yeagley said. “It was our toughness, team defending and our ability to get the ball to our key players and put pressure on the other team.”

Lorenz delivered some much needed offense, also getting the first goal that snapped the Badgers’ scoreless streak that had swelled to 313 consecutive minutes. The goals were his first in nine games after tallying a team-high 10 goals in 2008.

MEN’S NEWS … No. 2 UCLA got another goal and assist from Kyle Nakazawa, giving him eight goals and four assists in the last seven games, but the Bruins were held to a 2-2 draw at San Diego State on Sunday.

Nick Cardenas put SDSU 2-1 ahead with a header in the 81st minute but he was red carded a minute later, forcing the Aztecs to play the rest of regulation and overtime with 10 players.

On the ensuing free kick after Cardenas’ red card, Nakazawa set a ball into the penalty area, where Sean Alvarado headed it to David Estrada, who headed in a wide-open shot for the game-tying goal.

* NAKAZAWA STREAK:
Sept. 10, UC Davis (4-0), goal
Sept. 17, Cal State Fullerton (2-1), assist
Sept. 25, San Diego (2-1), goal on penalty kick and assist
Sept. 27, UNLV (3-0) two goals
Oct. 2, Oregon State (3-1) two goals, one on free kick, and assist
Oct. 4, Washington (1-1) goal on free kick
Oct. 11, San Diego State (2-2), goal, assist

* TOP 25 UPSET. Top 25 teams have taken it on the chin from unranked teams in recent weeks, but the only Top 25 team to fall to an unranked team over the weekend was No. 17 Boston University, which lost to Hartford, 3-1.

Patrick Boucher led the Hawks with the game-winning goal in the 77th minute and an assist on the opening goal. The game drew 1,102 fans at Al-Marzook Field. “It was a fantastic win against a first-class team,” said Hartford coach Dan Gaspar. “Our fans are amazing and our players won it for them.”

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

* SUNDAY’S TOP 25 RESULTS:
Pac-10: San Diego State 2 (Sandoval 27, Cardenas 81) No. 2 UCLA 2 (Nakazawa 15, Estrada 83).
Pac-10: No. 4 California 4 (Cosgroff 46, 50, 80, Wideman 83) Oregon State 1 (Sanchez 54).
Northeast: No. 14 Monmouth 2 (Kinne pen. 71, Barbieri 82) LIU 0.
WCC: No. 16 Portland 3 (Kawulok 12, Warner 18, vanSchaik 56) Loyola Marymount 1 (Baca 82).
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Pac-10: No. 21 Stanford 1 (Warshaw 4) Washington 1 (Moore 16).
Big Ten: No. 24 Penn State 1 (Hertzog pen. 90) No. 12 Northwestern 1 (O’Neill 85).
(Draw extends Wildcats’ unbeaten streak to nine straight.)
Atlantic-10: No. 25 Charlotte 0 Richmond 0.

* SATURDAY’S TOP 25 RESULTS:
Mid-American: Western Michigan 0 No. 1 Akron 4 (Ampaipitakwong 22, 45, Nanchoff 50, Bunbury 56)
Big East: No. 5 South Florida 1 (Boggs 42) St. John’s 1 (Himeno 62)
Ivy: Cornell 1 (Kenyon 10) No. 8 Harvard 1 (Chi 77).
Big West: UC Riverside 0 No. 9 UC Santa Barbara 1 (Walker 1).
(Gauchos extend win streak to four games.)
Big East: No. 11 Louisville 4 (own goal 16, Braun 51, Walker 78, Rosendall 88) Syracuse 0.
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Big East: No. 25 West Virginia 0 No. 13 Connecticut 0.
Big Ten: Michigan 0 No. 15 Indiana 1 (Adlard 54).
America East: Hartford 3 (Delibasic 23, Boucher 77, Villa 89) No. 17 Boston Univ. 1 (O’Neal 72).
Big East: No. 19 Georgetown 1 (Verdi 107) Pittsburgh 0.
Ivy: No. 22 Brown 4 (Rosa 2, 51, Elenz-Martin 51, Hayward 64) Princeton 2 (Sanner 57, Busch pen. 70).
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CAA: James Madison 3 (Harvey 38, Sepong 69, Wyatt 78) No. 23 George Mason 3 (Freeman 30, Walters 40, Marquez 53).
Conference USA: No. 25 UAB 7 (Gumede 14, Macwele 29, Gyawu 32, 34, 79, Williams 34, Solade 51) FIU 1 (Frings 80).
(Kofi Gyawu records first UAB hat trick since 2003.)

MEN’S NEWS … Visiting Washington pulled Friday’s biggest upset when the Huskies beat No. 4 California, 2-0, in Berkeley. UW got goals from Matt Van Houten (diving header) and Brad Keller (blast from 30 yards) for its first win over Cal since 2005. Cal’s starting goalie, David Bingham, was injured and had to be replaced by freshman Robby Gogatz in the 28th minute. The Bears were shut out for the first time this season.

“Needless to say, it’s our biggest win of the season and the guys deserved it,” said Washington coach Dean Wurzberger. “They played well and it was a mature performance, like a professional performance.”

— Friday’s only other Top 25 upset also took place on the West Coast. Despite playing the last 39 minutes with 10 players after Tim Grey was shown a red card, San Diego knocked off No. 16 Portland, 2-1. Momentum switched after Collen Warner tied the score after Grey was ejected for a hand ball in the penalty area. The Pilots had several chances to go ahead before Marcelo Carminatti won the game for the visiting Toreros with a shot from 25 yards.

* BOUEMBOUE WATCH. Ronnie Bouemboue is making a case for Player of the Year honors with his play for N.C. State. The senior from Congo by way of Brooklyn scored his ACC-leading sixth goal of the season with just 49 seconds left to give the No. 25 Wolfpack a 1-0 win at No. 6 Duke Friday night.

* UNBEATEN HAWKS. Monmouth improved to 10-0-1 with a 1-0 victory over St. Francis (N.Y.) on freshman Ryan Clark‘s goal in the 86th minute, his fourth game-winning goal. “As we move forward,” said Monmouth coach Rob McCourt, “we need to do a better job of finishing our scoring opportunities earlier in the game.”

* GAME OF THE NIGHT:
Oct. 9 in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Wake Forest 2 North Carolina 2. Goals: Redmond (da Luz) 7, Lubahn (Schilawski, Redmond) 82; Dixon (Farfan, Graye) 2, Farfan (pen.) 57.
Wake Forest — Fitzgerald, Arena, Opara, Lichtfuss, Adams, Norman, Lubahn, da Luz, Bone, Redmond, Schilawski. Subs: Courtney, Randolph, Newnam, Millington, Sokolow.
North Carolina — Haggerty, McKinney, Graye, King, Velez, McCarty, Brown, Urso, Farfan, Dixon, Schuler. Subs: Lebo, Martinez, Tannous, Walters, Garner, Goodwin.
Referee: Abiodun Okulaja.
Att.: 3,661.

(Click here for all the Friday men’s results and the weekend Top 25 schedule.)

* FRIDAY’S TOP 25 RESULTS:
Pac-10: No. 4 California 0 Washington 2 (Van Houten 23, Keller 54).
ACC: No. 7 Wake Forest 2 (Dixon 2, Farfan 57) No. 3 North Carolina 2 (Redmond 7, Lubahn 82).
ACC: No. 6 Duke 0 No. 25 N.C. State 1 (Bouemboue 110) (OT).
ACC: No. 10 Maryland 2 (Tangney 87, Stretzer 90) Virginia Tech 1 (Bentley 9)
Big East: No. 25 West Virginia vs. No. 13 Connecticut-postponed.
Northeast: No. 14 Monmouth 1 (Clark 86) St. Francis (N.Y.) 0.
WCC: No. 16 Portland 1 (Warner pen. 51) San Diego 2 (Posa 26, Carminati 69).
Cleveland State 0 No. 18 Ohio State 2 (McAnena 2, Verhoff 19).
Pac-10: No. 21 Stanford 1 (Warshaw 4) Oregon State 0.
Atlantic-10: No. 25 Charlotte 6 (Gross pen. 7, 25, Exley pen. 12, Darby 41, Smith 47, Rex 68) George Washington 0

MEN’S NEWS … The Ivy League, college soccer’s oldest Division I conference and the only one that does not allow athletic scholarships, continues to thrive. Harvard and Dartmouth have been ranked in the top 10, while Brown is one of only three unbeaten teams in the country.

Started in 1955, Ivy League soccer has a rich tradition, having produced national team players and coaches, U.S. senators and Hollywood actors. Here’s a look at the Ivy League past and present.

HARVARD (8-1-0). Past star: Chris Ohiri. The Nigerian, considered the greatest college player of the early 1960s, was struck down by leukemia at the age of 28. Present star: Andre Akpan is an early candidate for national player of the year honors with seven goals and five assists in nine games.

DARTMOUTH (6-2-1). Past star: Andrew Shue became a Hollywood actor and played for the 1996 Los Angeles Galaxy. Present star: Craig Henderson represented New Zealand at the Olympics and gained All-American honors in 2008.

BROWN (5-0-4). Past star: 2000 Ivy Player of the Year Cory Gibbs played for teams in Germany, the Netherlands and England and is now with MLS’s Colorado Rapids. Present star: Goalie Paul Grandstrand was the 2007 Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

CORNELL (4-3-2). Past star: 1972 All-Ivy goalie Bruce Arena went on to coach the University of Virginia, D.C. United and the U.S. national team at two World Cups. He now coaches the Galaxy. Present star: Matt Bouaree (two goals and five assists) leads the Big Red, who have rebounded from 1-15-0 season.

PENN (4-3-3). Past star: All-time leading scorer Steve Baumann (30 goals and 39 assists in 1971-73) was until May the president of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Present star: Sophomore Christian Barreiro leads Quakers with six goals and two assists.

YALE (3-4-2). Past star: U.S. senator and 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry scored a hat trick against Harvard in 1965. Present star: Midfielder Jordan Raybould is a four-year starter.

PRINCETON (4-4-1). Past star: U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley was the Tigers’ leading scorer in 1979. Present star: Midfielder Josh Walburn leads Tigers with six goals and three game-winning goals.

COLUMBIA (2-5-1). Past star: Englishman Barry Nix was the first four-time all-Ivy pick (1978-81) Present star: Junior Bayo Adafin was the Lions’ leading scorer in 2008 (seven goals) and again leads them with four goals this season.

* MEN’S TOP 25 ACTION:
Friday, Oct. 9
ACC: No. 7 Wake Forest vs. No. 3 North Carolina
ACC: No. 6 Duke vs. No. 25 N.C. State
Big East: No. 25 West Virginia vs. No. 13 Connecticut (TV: Fox Socer Channel, live, 8 pm ET)
Sunday, Oct. 11
Big Ten: No. 24 Penn State vs. No. 12 Northwestern

Weekend Top 25 Schedule