Author Archives: Soccer America

52% of the soccer player market is female…but unisex sizing is still the norm.

He’s shot pictures from the sidelines of many U.S. national team games. He pondered being part of a Cleveland MLS expansion franchise before that attempt withered. He played a drag-out video-game duel with Landon Donovan to raise money for a worthy soccer cause. Finally, Drew Carey has put his money where his heart is. He’s a minority partner in the expansion MLS Seattle franchise scheduled to start play in 2009.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: NAIA Men’s National Championship

Steven Lenhart. Nathaniel Jafta. Amaury Nunes. Never heard of them? They are among the NAIA stars who will be on display at the 20-team Men’s National Championship, which kicks off Wednesday in Olathe, Kan., with four first-round games.

NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament Schedule

Play begins this weekend with first- and second-round games in the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament. All games are Friday-Saturday except in the Texas A&M regional, which will play Thursday-Saturday. BYU, one of four teams in the regional, doesn’t play on Sundays. For all the matchups …

2007 NCAA Division II Men’s Conference Awards

Englishmen David Clifton of Franklin Pierce and Jonathan Maloney of Montevallo, Senegalese Ahmadoul Gaye of defending national champion Dowling, Brazilian Leandro Pereira of Lincoln Memorial and Bosnian-born Berin Boracic give NCAA Division II men’s soccer an international flavor. All represent teams who have advanced to the NCAA Division II and all were honored as conference players of the year. For all the award winners …

2007 Big East Women’s Awards

Georgetown and Connecticut each had a pair of major award winners in Big East women’s soccer. For all the individual awards and all-conference teams …

UCSB’s comeback kids do it again

[BIG WEST MEN] Defending national champion UC Santa Barbara again looks to be a serious postseason threat. The Gauchos wrapped up the Big West championship and an automatic berth in the 2007 NCAA Men’s Tournament with a 3-2 comeback win at Cal State Northridge on Tuesday.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Men’s Soccer

A big week of Division I men’s conference tournament play began on Tuesday with wins by Virginia in the ACC, Towson and VCU in the CAA and Hartwick and Northern Illinois in the Mid-American. For all the conference tournament results and goalscorers, as well as schedules and television updates …

USA men to host Mexico in February

The USA will host Mexico on Feb. 6 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, in a friendly. The game will be shown live on ESPN2 and Univision.

‘It’s about dictating the tempo’

[AUDIO/TRANSCRIPTS] At Tuesday’s press conference announcing the hiring of Pia Sundhage, U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati explained why he believes the Swede is the right choice to get the USA back on track. Sundhage discussed how the USA can prevail in an increasingly competitive international arena: “The team is capable of keeping possession and finding the right moment to penetrate. The U.S. can be very successful this way, even playing against tough teams and organized teams. It’s about dictating the tempo; sometimes high tempo and sometimes low tempo. You have to expect that they want to keep the ball and to be comfortable with the ball.”

Swede takes charge of U.S. women’s coach

[THE SUNDHAGE FILE] Swede Pia Sundhage, 47, has been named U.S. women’s national team coach, becoming the first foreign coach to head the team in the 22-year history of the U.S. women’s national team program. Sundhage is charged with qualifying the USA for the 2008 Olympics and winning the gold medal a year after the Americans, under Coach Greg Ryan, finished a disappointing third-place at the 2007 Women’s World Cup. For facts and figures on Pia Sundhage. …

Goalscorers on tear in U.S. Soccer Development Academy

The Concorde Fire broke out with a 6-1 win over AFC Lightning and a 6-3 win over the Atlanta Fire against Georgia rivals in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy U17/18 division over the weekend. Brian Ownby scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season for the Richmond Strikers in their 3-1 victory over the Richmond Kickers in a battle of Atlantic Conference leaders. In U15/16 play, Justin Watson scored his league-leading eighth and ninth goals of the season to lead South Carolina’s Bridge FA to a 2-1 win at home against the Virginia Rush. For all the results, U.S. Soccer Development Academy goalscorers and lineups …

Soccer America Daily, What They're Saying

What They’re Saying

“I can’t remember being involved in a search and selection process where we’ve had such universal support and acclaim for a candidate. That’s from players, coaches, FIFA staff, FIFA elected officials and people at the technical level. So, I’m not going to say it was easy because we had some excellent candidates, but Pia comes with extraordinary credentials and I think the message is that we want to win the gold in Beijing and get the program to higher levels.”

— U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati on hiring Pia Sundhage as the new U.S. women’s national team coach. (USsoccer.com)

High School Girls Fall Rankings

South Side, ranked No. 2 in the NSCAA/adidas High School Fall Girls Top 25, won its fourth straight Long Island Class A girls title with a 1-0 win over Islip on Molly Bralower‘s goal with 29 seconds remaining. Two other Long Island teams have excelled in postseason play. St. Anthony’s won the New York CHSAA final with a 6-2 win over Nichols of Buffalo. Sachem East won the Long Island Class 2 title with a 1-0 win over Massapequa in the final on Kelly McCabe‘s goal. For the complete Top 25 …

High School Boys Fall Rankings

Led by U.S. U-18 Chris Agorsor, one of the top prospects in the country, Maryland powerhouse McDonogh School, won the MIAA A Conference championship with a 3-0 win over Archbishop Curley and climbed to No. 17 in the NSCAA/adidas High School Fall Boys Top 25. Tyler Fiorito, Peter Franklin and Agorsor scored in the final. No. 10 Magruder advanced to the MIAA 4A final with a 4-1 win over Bowie. It will be without suspended Alex Lee, who set a school single-season scoring record, in the final against Perry Hall. For the complete Top 25 …

MyFootballClub Buys First Club

Staying on the theme of democratic soccer ownership, MyFootballClub, the community Web site that aimed to take over a soccer club and let fans decide on everything (we’ll explain), on Monday announced that it had successfully taken over its first team, Ebbsfleet United of the Blue Square League. The project’s 20,000 members have each paid […]

TFC Already Sold Out for 2008

Need a yardstick to measure the success of first-year MLS club Toronto FC? How about this: the 2007 season isn’t even over and yet the expansion franchise on Monday announced that it had sold out of season seats for the 2008 MLS season. Sales were capped at 16,000, surpassing last season’s 14,000. More seats were […]

Comedian Carey Invests in Seattle Franchise

Comedian and game show host Drew Carey has invested in Seattle’s MLS expansion franchise, making him part of an ownership group consisting of Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen, Seattle Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer and Hollywood producer Joe Roth, who is the majority owner. Carey, like Allen and Hanauer, will be a minority owner. The yet-to-be-named […]

Kaka Fed Up with Italian Violence, Corruption

Kaka dropped his strongest hint yet that he may be set to leave AC Milan and Serie A after talking with reporters about the latest round of fan violence in Italy. The Brazilian said Serie A was “losing its credibility” in the world of soccer, and warned that the game’s best players would opt to […]

Success of Dynamo and Revs All About Stability

Other Major League Soccer coaches and GMs shuffle race around the country looking for the next big thing, but New England coach Steve Nicol and Houston’s Dominic Kinnear prefer a steadier course. Obviously, it’s working, says ESPN’s Steve Davis. Over the past three or four MLS seasons, Nicol and Kinnear’s teams have been a model […]

Grassroots Soccer Biz, Story

Vendor Village can enhance tournament profits

A centrally located vendor area enhances the tournament experience and can help grow profits

Boston College and Wake Forest claim top honors

[ACC MEN’S AWARDS] Boston College transfer Alejandro Bedoya, who was instrumental in leading the Eagles to the 2007 ACC men’s regular-season title, was tabbed the Offensive Player of the Year, and BC coach Ed Kelly was named Coach of the Year. Four players on top-ranked Wake Forest were first-team all-ACC picks, and Demon Deacon midfielder Corben Bone captured Freshman of the Year honors. For all the ACC award winners …

Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week

Among the members of the Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week are Chelsea Deptula (Hawaii), Ashley Berra (Memphis) and Katie McCoy (Sacramento State), whose play helped their teams earn their first NCAA Tournament bids. For the complete Team of the Week for games played Nov. 5-11 …

Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week

Sophomore Nikki Washington, who scored in all three games for North Carolina en route to its 18th ACC tournament title in 20 years, is the Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week for games played Nov. 5-11.

Soccer America Men’s Player of the Week