Author Archives: Soccer America

Play begins Thursday in the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament with two games at the Texas A&M regional: Texas A&M-Stephen F. Austin and Texas-BYU. The other 30 first-round games will be played Friday. For all the matchups …

[ACC TOURNAMENT] Wake Forest, ranked No. 1 in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25, needed two goals in the last two minutes to beat Clemson, 3-1, Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament in Cary, N.C. The Tigers finished their season with a 7-11-1 record, their worst record in the 41-year history of the program, but not before they threw the Wake offensive machine off track.

[PAC-10] UCLA stayed alive — barely. Its 1-1 tie with San Diego in its final Pac-10 game of the season left it with an 8-8-3 record for the season and an outside shot at making the NCAA Tournament. If the Bruins had lost to San Diego State in their regular-season finale, they would have finished with their first losing record in 41 years as an NCAA varsity sport and failed to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a quarter century.

[ACC TOURNAMENT] Five days after it had its 15-game unbeaten streak snapped, Virginia Tech gave one of its most dominating performances of the season with a 3-0 win over Maryland Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.

[ACC TOURNAMENT] Unranked North Carolina beat No. 20 Duke, 1-0, Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament and kept alive its slim hopes of being considered for the NCAA Tournament. With a 7-7-5 record, UNC must beat top-ranked Wake Forest in the semifinals or lose in a shootout to be assured of finishing with a record of .500 or better and therefore be eligible for consideration for an NCAA Tournament bid.

FIU pulled one of the biggest upsets of the 2007 men’s season when it beat SMU, ranked No. 5 in this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25, 3-1, in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament on Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala. The win, only their fourth of the season, was the Golden Panthers’ first victory over SMU in 22 years and was revenge for their 6-0 loss to the Mustangs in last year’s conference tournament.

[NAIA MEN] No. 17 seed MidAmerica Nazarene, No. 18 Mid-Continent and No. 19 Embry-Riddle all pulled upsets Wednesday on the opening day of the NAIA Men’s National Championships in Olathe, Kan. Play continues Thursday with Wednesday’s four winners taking on the top four seeds. For all the results and goal scorers …

America East top seeds Binghamton and Vermont moved into Saturday’s final with wins on Wednesday. Campbell (Big South) and Niagara and Siena (MAAC) all lit it up for six goals in first-round victories. For all Wednesday’s tournament results and goalscorers and Thursday’s schedules …

The NJCAA Division I Men’s National Championships begin Thursday and continue through Sunday in Tyler, Texas. Defending champion Jefferson is joined by traditional powerhouses Mercer County, Yavapai and Georgia Perimeter, the No. 1 seed, and resurgent CCBC Essex in the eight-team field. This year’s surprise is Iowa’s Marshalltown featuring Grenadian scoring sensation Arkenson Neckels, who set a JC national record with 13 goals in one game this season. For a breakdown of the quarterfinal matchups …

WCC champion Portland swept this year’s conference individual awards. Angie Woznuk was the sixth UP player to be selected as the WCC Player of the Year in the last 15 years, while fellow senior Stephanie Lopez garnered WCC Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second time in her career. Keelin Winters was named the Freshman of the Year, while Pilot head coach Garrett Smith was selected as the Coach of the Year for the second time.