Author Archives: Soccer America

WOMEN’S NEWS … Canadian international Kara Lang‘s college career is over following the season-ending knee injury she suffered Friday in UCLA’s 2-0 win at Cal State Northridge. She was marking Northridge’s Heidi Farran when she fell down, re-tearing the ACL in her right knee. The Oakville, Ont., native suffered a similar injury prior to her sophomore year at UCLA and was forced to redshirt the entire 2006 season.

At 22, Lang is already second all-time on the Canadian national team in scoring with 33 goals in 86 games. She debuted for Canada at the age of 15 and played all six games for Canada a year later at the 2003 Women’s World Cup. She was the subject of an intense recruiting battle and finally settled on UCLA.

Lang set UCLA freshman records for both goals (17) and assists (6) in 2005 and had eight goals in the NCAA Tournament. After coming back from knee surgery, she played for Canada in the 2007 Women’s World Cup and 2008 Olympics but never had the impact many expected she would at UCLA, where she had 15 goals and 13 assists over the last two-plus seasons.
 
“I feel extremely sorry for Kara to have suffered this type of injury during her senior year,” said UCLA coach Jillian Ellis.  “She is a vital part of this program and I know she will continue to be with us and support this team in some capacity the rest of the season.  Kara is a strong individual, and I have full confidence that she will rebound from this injury and continue to have a successful soccer career.”

— Rachel Yepez, who had three goals and two assists for LSU in SEC wins over ranked Georgia (6-0) and Tennessee (5-1), heads this week’s Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week.

* MONDAY’S RESULT:
NJIT 1 Iona 2 (OT)
(Gabriella D’Aprile scores on breakaway with 48 seconds remaining in first overtime.)

* COMEBACK KIDS (VIDEO). As Lang did, Brittany Taylor and Jessica Diakun have come back from knee injuries. After missing the 2008 season, Taylor and Diakun have returned and helped Connecticut, which missed out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever, off to a No. 17 ranking in this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25.

(View WTNH’s profile of Taylor, a top WPS prospect, and Diakun, a vocal leader in the back.)

SMALL COLLEGE NEWS … NCAA Division III New Jersey City beat Rutgers-Newark, 5-1, Saturday to end its New Jersey Athletic Conference women’s winless streak at 111 games.

Julia Caseres had a hat trick in the win for NJCU, whose only tie in the streak was a 1-1 tie against Ramapo in 1995. It had since lost 103 straight conference games. It entered the Rutgers-Newark game 0-2 in conference play after going 7-2 in non-conference action.

WOMEN’S NEWS … LSU put on one of the most impressive displays of the women’s season when the Tigers blasted previously unbeaten Georgia, 6-0, and Tennessee, 5-1, to open their SEC season. The wins propelled LSU into the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 for the first time this season at No. 20.

On Friday, freshman forward Carlie Banks led LSU with a hat trick and frontline partner Rachel Yenez added a goal and two assists. Two days later against Tennessee, the Tigers switched formations, dropping Banks from the starting lineup and using just Yenez up front. The result? LSU scored four first-half goals.
 
“We’ve got a versatile attack,” said LSU coach Brian Lee after the Tennessee game. “That was the appropriate move for today. I think it speaks well of our team that we can take out Carlie Banks, who had a hat trick on Friday, and still be up 2-0 nine minutes in. We did a good job of keeping up the pressure.”

Yenez finished the weekend with three goals and two assists, while midfielder Malorie Rutledge had one goal and three assists. Freshman Tricia Johnson scored goals against Georgia and Tennessee.

Weekend Results

* TALLAHASSEE BARN-BURNER. You’d be hard-pressed to find two better young women’s teams than Florida State and Boston College. Between them, they started 10 sophomores and four freshmen Sunday in Tallahassee, where they put on quite a show.

Twice Florida State went ahead and twice the visiting Eagles equalized before sophomore Jessica Price gave the Seminoles the lead for good, breaking a 2-2 tie in the 73rd minute on her seventh goal of the season. The 3-2 win was the Seminoles’ third in a row over a Top 25 team. The loss snapped BC’s nine-game winning streak.

“Well, it was exactly what we expected,” said FSU coach Mark Krikorian.  “We know Boston College is a very, very good team.  They came in here and pushed us to the limit.  The good thing for us is that we found a way to win.”

* GAME OF THE DAY:
Sept. 27 in Tallahassee, Fla.
Florida State 3 Boston College 2. Goals: Huster (Short, Pressley) 10, McCarty (Edwards) 23, Price (McCarty) 73; V.DiMartino (Mewis) 13, Caldwell (Bouchelle, V.DiMartino) 56.
Florida State — McNulty, Jaurena, Brockway, Edwards, Pressley, Short, DaCosta, Hunter, Lim, Price, McCarty. Subs: Crown, Bolinsky, Switzer, Kazbour.
Boston College — Mastroianni, Pember, Henderson, Cerrone, Beyar, Regan, G.DiMartino, Bouchelle, Mewis, V.DiMartino, Caldwell. Subs: Gimpel, Knowlton, Payne, Wirth.
Referee: Shane Moody.
Att.: 902.