Author Archives: Paul Kennedy

Top-ranked Wake Forest got a scare in the second round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament Tuesday night when it needed a golden goal by junior forward Cody Arnoux in the first overtime period to subdue William & Mary, 1-0, at Spry Stadium.

It’s been quite a tumultuous end-of-season for Ohio State, last year’s runner-up at the Men’s College Cup. The Buckeyes ended the season with four straight losses but managed to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Things got worse when Coach John Bluem suspended six players — five of them starters in last year’s final against Wake Forest — indefinitely for a violation of team rules. But the Buckeyes (9-8-3) survived to win at Oakland on penalty kicks with a makeshift team and advanced to Tuesday’s second-round game at Akron (16-1-4).

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament is the presence of Texas A&M. The Aggies, who struggled late in the season, have gotten hot in the postseason and reached the quarterfinals, where they will meet North Carolina Friday in Chapel Hill.

Former Columbus Crew coach Greg Andrulis takes one of the nation’s hottest teams to No. 2 Maryland for Tuesday’s second round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament. George Mason extended its winning streak to eight games with a 1-0 win over Penn on Friday. Only the Terrapins, winners of 11 in a row, have a longer active winning streak.

Westmont College’s remarkable postseason continued Saturday when the Warriors beat Holy Names, 3-2, in overtime before 2,000 fans at UC Santa Barbara’s Harder Stadium. The victory, which sends the Warriors to the NAIA Championships, came 10 days after a wild fire destroyed the home of Westmont coach Dave Wolf and the school’s soccer/baseball facility and closed down the campus.

UCLA defeated defending champion USC, 1-0, in the marquee match of the third round of NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament. Top-ranked Notre Dame needed an overtime penalty kick from Kerri Hanks to beat unseeded Minnesota, 1-0. Stanford also struggled to put away unseeded Rutgers and had to settle for a 1-0 on a late goal from Kelley O’Hara. The fourth No. 1 seed, North Carolina, extended its scoreless streak to 671-plus minutes with a 3-0 win over Illinois. Two No. 2 seeds Florida State and Portland and No. 3 seeds Duke and Texas A&M complete the final eight. For game reports on all eight third-round games …

Columbus Crew coach Sigi Schmid will face a dilemma if the Crew wins the MLS Cup on Sunday at the Home Depot Center. Does he return with the Crew for its celebrations back home or does he stay in Southern California to watch his son, Kyle, play for Big West champion UC Irvine on Tuesday in the second round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament? The Anteaters are one of three teams making their first appearance in the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament. Atlantic-10 champ Dayton also earned an automatic berth, while Missouri Valley regular-season runner-up Drake took an at-large bid.

The biggest third-round match in the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament pits a pair of Olympic gold-medalists in action when Lauren Cheney’s UCLA hosts Amy Rodriguez‘s USC Saturday in Westwood. Last year, they met in the Women’s College Cup semifinals, where the Women of Troy prevailed, 2-1. The Bruins were crushed, having had their hopes of a title after five straight College Cup appearances dashed. USC went on to win the national championship two days later.

San Francisco and UNC Greensboro, two legendary programs, sneaked into the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament. USF won the WCC (9-9-1 overall), while UNCG, the Southern Conference champion, is the only team in the men’s field with a losing record (8-11-2).

The Under-20 Women’s World Cup begins Wednesday in Chile. Many of college soccer’s top young players are skipping this fall’s NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament to represent their countries.

Top-ranked Wake Forest had its 25-game unbeaten streak snapped in the ACC Tournament. Loyola (Md.) lost for the first time in 28 games. But there are many other teams riding unbeaten streaks into the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament, which starts Friday with the first round.

In its 20th year of varsity play, Yavapai College has enjoyed considerable success — six NJCAA men’s championships and 18 national tournament appearances. But this year’s team is on the verge of greatness. The Roughriders are 23-0-0 heading into the NJCAA Division I finals, which begin Thursday at nearby Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix, Ariz. For more on the Roughriders and Coach Mike Pantalione‘s advice for players looking to play JC soccer …

Defending champion Wake Forest is the top seed in the 48-team NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament field announced on Monday. The Demon Deacons, whose 25-game unbeaten streak was stopped by Virginia in Saturday’s ACC semifinals, were joined by two other teams from last year’s Men’s College Cup, Massachusetts and Ohio State, which nabbed at-large bids ahead of several teams disappointed to be left out.

Four days after the devastation of the Tea Fire in Montecito, Calif., that destroyed more than 100 homes, including the home of head coach Dave Wolf, and closed down the school, Westmont College regrouped and won the Golden State Athletic Conference men’s championship with a 2-0 win at defending national champion Azusa Pacific on Monday that earned the Warriors a berth in the 50th annual NAIA national championship that begins Saturday.

Unbeaten UCLA moved into the third round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament with a tense 1-0 victory over San Diego in a match postponed until Monday because of poor air quality caused by the Southern California fires. The win set up a date with cross-town rival USC Saturday in Westwood in a rematch of last year’s Women’s College Cup semifinal the Women of Troy won.

We don’t envy the NCAA Division I men’s soccer committee with its task of picking the at-large teams for the 2008 NCAA Division I Tournament — the 26 teams that will join the 22 conference champions. The rash of weekend upsets and number of low-ranked conference champions ate into the number of places available for at-large teams.