How does a Boston College-Wake Forest rematch in the 2007 Men’s College Cup final sound? Or what about a UCSB-UConn final? Those are two of the possibilities if the 2007 NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament goes as we predict.
Author Archives: Paul Kennedy
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
The unprotected: Quakes’ expansion candidates
Pat Onstad, Craig Waibel, Ryan Cochrane, starters on the Houston Dynamo’s 2007 MLS Cup championship team, are among the players left protected for Wednesday’s expansion draft in which the San Jose Earthquakes will take 10 players.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Soccer America picks the men’s field
The NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Committee will reveal on Monday afternoon the 48 lucky teams that will participate in the 2007 NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament that begins after Thanksgiving. There are 26 at-large berths up for grabs. Soccer America predicts these 26 teams — 20 that appear to be locks and six we’ll go out on a limb and pick from among a dozen bubble teams.
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Panucci ends Scotland’s fitba dream
[SCOTLAND-ITALY] They call it the Hampden Roar. In the old days, when the capacity of Glasgow’s Hampden Park exceeded 100,000, it was said the roar of the crowd could be heard for miles. The capacity of Hampden has been cut to a more modest 52,000, but the Hampden Roar was supposed to be Scotland’s home-field advantage when it took the field Saturday night in its decisive Euro ’08 qualifier against Italy.
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USA downs South Africa to claim Mandela Cup
[SOUTH AFRICA-USA] The U.S. national team finished 2007 on a winning note with a 1-0 win over World Cup 2010 host South Africa Saturday in the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup. A well-constructed goal by right back Steve Cherundolo highlighted a solid first-half performance by the United States, which finished the year with a 12-5-1 record.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Texas grudge match on tap
Ashlee Pistorius broke the Texas A&M career record for goals and points with two goals in the first nine minutes of the Aggies’ 4-1 win over Stephen F. Austin on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament. The win set up a grudge match Saturday at College Station between A&M and Texas, a 2-0 winner over BYU on a pair of goals by freshman Alisha Ortiz.
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Scotland and Italy set for ‘match of a lifetime’
[EURO ’08 PREVIEW] Ten berths in Euro ’08 qualifying remain up for grabs with games still to be played Saturday and Wednesday. Eight of the berths could be nailed down as soon as Saturday. Here’s look at the key matches …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Boston College ends Virginia’s ACC misery
[ACC TOURNAMENT] Virginia’s miserable ACC season came to an end on Wednesday when regular-season champion Boston College beat the Cavaliers, 1-0, in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. The Cavs slumped badly in the second half of the season and finished 1-5-2 in the eighth spot in the nine-team conference — its worst finish ever.
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Projected 48-team NCAA Division I men’s field (2)
Five teams — Brown, California Ohio State, Santa Clara and defending national champion UC Santa Barbara — have clinched automatic berths in the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament, and 43 spots remain up for grabs with one week left in the regular season. With the new RPI index as a guide, here’s an updated look at the 48 teams that might make the NCAA Tournament.
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South Africa relies heavily on European-based contingent
[SOUTH AFRICA ROSTER] Like his American counterpart Bob Bradley, South Africa national team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will rely heavily on foreign-based players for Saturday’s Nelson Mandela Challenge in Johannesburg (TV: Fox Soccer Channel, Galavision, live, 9 am ET).
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Surprises in NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament draw
There were only a few surprises in the 2007 NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament draw announced by the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee on Monday night.
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Italian soccer descends into ‘pure madness’
Italy has canceled all pro soccer games next week in the aftermath of the shooting death of a Lazio fan on Sunday. Italy national team coach Roberto Donadoni said the rioting that followed across Italy was “pure madness.”
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Soccer America predicts NCAA D1 women’s at-large field
The NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee will reveal on Monday the 64 teams that will participate in the 2007 NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament that begins later this week. The 64-team bracket will be revealed on the NCAA Women’s Soccer Selection Show that is set to air between 8 and 8:30 pm ET on ESPNews. Before seeding the top 16 teams and drawing the bracket, the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee must pick the 34 at-large teams who will join the 30 conference champions who have already qualified. After examining some of the key questions facing the committee, Soccer America’s predicts the 34 at-large teams …
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Puerto Rico Islanders romp, 7-1, in Caribbean quarterfinals
The USL-1’s Puerto Rico Islanders moved into the semifinals of the 2007 CFU Club Championship with a 7-1 win over SV Leo Victor of Suriname on Sunday in Macoya, Trinidad. Former Colorado Rapids player Fabrice Noel scored goals in the 18th and 22nd minute to put the Islanders ahead for good. The Haiti-born Noel now has scored seven goals in four games.
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Cristiano Ronaldo make case with ‘stunning’ display
[INTERNATIONAL HEADLINERS/VIDEO] Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo may lose out to Brazilian Kaka and Argentine Lionel Messi in balloting for the two year-end international player of the year awards, but he is certainly the class of European soccer, as evidenced by his two superb goals for Manchester United against Blackburn on Saturday. Barcelona’s troubles on the road continued, while Bayern Munich’s slump has put Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld at odds with club president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. In Mexico, the Torneo Apertura’s regular season finished, and 10 teams moved into the playoffs.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Italian soccer in chaos
Italian soccer was thrown into chaos when three key matches were either postponed or suspended in the aftermath of the shooting death of a Lazio fan on Sunday. Gabriele Sandri, a 26-year-old disc-jockey, was shot by a police officer after Lazio and Juventus fans clashed at a gas station on the A-1 freeway near the town of Arezzo. As news of Sandri’s death spread across Italy, riots involving soccer fans broke out across Italy.
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Austin saves punchless Michigan State in shootout
[BIG TEN MEN] No. 20 Michigan State’s offensive woes continued as it was shut out for the fourth straight game, but the host Spartans advanced to the semifinals of the Big Ten men’s tournament against regular-season champion Indiana thanks to a 4-2 shootout win over Ohio State. For all the news from East Lansing …
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Man. United’s new problem: too many stars
[INTERNATIONAL HEADLINERS] With an embarrassment of riches, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is finding it hard to keep everyone happy. Lyon has two exciting new players in youngsters Hatem Ben Arfa and Karim Benzema, who helped it regain the French league lead. The miserable showing by German clubs in Europe has former great Lothar Matthaeus questioning the commitment of their players. Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash between Feyenoord and Ajax has Dutch authorities crossing their fingers that there will not be a repeat of the violence that has marred the Rotterdam-Amsterdam rivalry over the last 30 years.
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Postseason tournament hopes on line
[BIG EAST MEN] NCAA Tournament berths may have been on the line Wednesday when the Big East Tournament began with first-round action. St. John’s (9-6-5) improved its chances with a shootout victory over Seton Hall. Probably needing two victories to return to the NCAA Tournament, Cincinnati (9-9-1) pulled the day’s big upset with a 2-0 win at Providence. At least eight Big East teams should make the NCAA Tournament — that’s the number that ranked in the top 35 in last week’s RPI index.
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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: How they stand
With games remaining on Nov. 27-28 and Dec. 11-12, only Arsenal and Manchester United have clinched berths in the round of 16 and only four teams have been eliminated. Here’s how all 32 teams stand after four games …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
UCLA faces the unthinkable
At 8-8-2, UCLA, the No. 1 team in the Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25, faces the unthinkable. If they lose to San Diego State next Wednesday, the struggling Bruins will finish with their first losing record in 41 years as an NCAA varsity sport and will fail to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a quarter century. What’s happened?
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Liverpool smashes European record
[WINNERS & LOSERS] It was quite a night in the UEFA Champions League. Tuesday saw Liverpool break one scoring record, and AC Milan’s Filippo Inzaghi tie another. In a stunning result, Norway’s Rosenborg spoiled Ronald Koeman‘s debut as Valencia coach with a 2-0 win at the Estadio Mestalla.
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Penn State leads latest women’s RPI index
Penn State, which wrapped up its 10th straight Big Ten women’s regular-season title on Friday, is the top-ranked team in the final RPI index the NCAA will release before the 64-team Division I Tournament field is announced next Monday. For the key RPI developments …
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Marta stays put in Sweden — for now
If the new U.S. women’s pro league scheduled to launch in 2009 is to have any chance of getting off the ground, an essential first step is to sign the great young Marta, who scored two goals against the USA in Brazil’s 4-0 win in the semifinals of the 2007 Women’s World Cup. According to Swedish newspaper Expressen, Marta, who’s been dubbed the Pele of women’s soccer for her extraordinary skills and scoring ability, was offered the equivalent of 7 million Swedish kronor ($1.1 million) for seven seasons by AEG to play for its Los Angeles team in the proposed league, but she re-signed with her Swedish club, Umea, for the 2008 season.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Women’s World Cup: Top 10 Stories
1 The long road to respect Women’s soccer has come a long way in the last half century since the DFB, the powerful governing body of German soccer, attempted to ban a group of women from forming a national league in 1955. “Irreparable damage” would come to their bodies and “the public display of their […]