Author Archives: Soccer America

Newcomer American and defending champion Lehigh each picked up 82 points and shared 12 of the 16 first-place votes in the preseason poll of coaches and sports information directors. American joins the Patriot League this season after posting a 7-9-2 overall record last season, including a 5-2-1 mark for a third-place finish in the Colonial […]

Titans were selected to win the 2001 Big West title in a vote by the conferenceÆs coaches. CSF received three first-place votes and 32 points to claim the top spot. The Titans are coming off a 15-win season and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. They return only four starters, but two were All-MPSF picks […]

Florida has been selected as the favorite to claim the 2001 title in the Southeastern Conference by the league’s 12 head coaches. This marks the seventh consecutive year that the Gators have been tabbed by the coaches to win the title. Coming off their fifth straight SEC title in 2000, the Gators earned nine first-place […]

The 2000 national champion North Carolina Tar Heels were selected preseason favorites for the 2001 ACC season in a poll by the eight league coaches. The Tar Heels received 63 of a possible 64 points, and all but one of the first place votes. North Carolina, holder of 17 national championships and the last 12 […]

SMU has been selected to defend its Western Athletic Conference title, according to the preseason WAC coachesÆ poll. The Mustangs received eight first-place votes and tallied 64 total points, while San Jose State, the reigning WAC Tournament titleholder, and Tulsa, last yearÆs regular-season and tournament runner-up, each tallied 51 points. All nine head womenÆs soccer […]

Cal Poly is the favorite to be crowned Big West womenÆs soccer champion in 2001, according to a vote of the conferenceÆs 10 head coaches. The Mustangs received 8.5 first-place votes and totaled 98.5 points. The two-time defending champions are coming off their third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and are returning seven starters […]

Executive Editor Mike Woitalla predicts: Tampa Bay 1 Dallas 2 Chicago 2 Columbus 1 Previews (All times ET) Wednesday, August 29, (7:00 p.m.) Dallas Burn at Tampa Bay Mutiny (KSTR) Did you know? Dallas has lost five straight on the road by a combined score of 17-6. … Dallas travels to Central Florida fighting for […]

Chicago tightens its grip on the Central Division title with a 2-1 win over Columbus on comeback goals by Eric Wynalda and Ante Razov. … Wynalda’s 10th goal of the season equals the Chicago striker’s best career total from 1996 with the San Jose Clash. … Dallas playoff hopes get a boost from Jorge RodriguezÆs […]

Fairleigh Dickinson, coming off a tour of England, is favored to again take the Northeast title. The Knights return NEC Rookie of the Year Dirceu Hurtado (43 points) in a bid to become the first NEC team to repeat since St. Francis (N.Y.) (1995-96). Also back for Seth Roland’s team are all-NEC picks Danny Lozano, […]

Quinnipiac has been picked as the preseason favorite to win the 2001 NEC Championship. The Braves (7-2-1 NEC), who tied for the regular-season title last year before winning the NEC Tournament, will be guided by 2000 NEC Coach of the Year David Clarke. In only his third season at the helm, Clarke returns an outstanding […]

One year after making its fifth trip to the womenÆs soccer College Cup, Portland has been voted to finish first in 2001 WCC preseason poll, as selected by the conference coaches Portland garnered 49 points to edge Santa Clara by two points for the top position in this yearÆs poll. The Pilots are coming off […]

Qualifiers are preceded by intense preparation. There’s pressure on coaches to get it right. The USA-Honduras match has special demands. The game kicks off at 10 a.m. and is followed four days later by another World Cup qualifier in Costa Rica. Here’s Coach Bruce Arena’s pregame method. Ask Bruce Arena how the U.S. men’s national […]

Mixed results came of Kansas City and the MetroStarsÆ first forays into South America for official competition. … The MLS defending champ Wizards, losers in their first two Merconorte games (Group C) against MexicoÆs Santos and PeruÆs Sporting Cristal, won in Ecuador, downing Barcelona 3-2. … The MetroStars, who won their Group B opener against […]

Here are Soccer AmericaÆs player ratings for games played Aug. 25 and 26. SA Report Cards: 1 (low) to 10 (high) Aug. 25 Los Angeles 1 Chicago 3. Goals: Vagenas 78; Razov (D. Beasley, Nowak) 5, D. Beasley (Kovalenko, Vaudreuil) 64, D. Beasley (Wynalda) 93+. Los Angeles (4-3-3) — Kevin Hartman (4); Ezra Hendrickson (5), […]

Jacksonville is the favorite to win the 2001 Atlantic Sun (former TAAC) championship. The Dolphins earned six of a possible 11 first-place votes in the annual preseason poll as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Jacksonville received 122 overall votes and returns seven starters from a team that won the 2000 conference tournament and […]

Boston University, which won its first America East Women’s Soccer Championship last season, has been chosen to repeat as conference champion this year in balloting by the coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their teams. The Terriers received eight of a possible 11 first-place votes and 118 total votes. Hartford, which won the […]

U.S. coach John Ellinger has selected his 18-player roster for the U-17 World Cup Sept. 13-30 in Trinidad & Tobago. It includes two MLS players — the Dallas BurnÆs Eddie Johnson and D.C. UnitedÆs Santino Quaranta. Johnson has scored 22 goals in 20 U-17 games. In seven international matches this year, Quaranta leads the team […]

Richmond, which has moved from the CAA, was the preseason pick to take the Atlantic-10 title ahead of Dayton. Teams Conf. Record/Overall 1. Richmond* 13-7 2. Dayton 9-1/16-5 3. Xavier 8-1-1/14-7-1 4. Massachusetts 7-2-1/11-7-1 5. Rhode Island 6-3-1/15-4-1 6. George Washington 4-6/5-14 7. La Salle 5-5/12-6 8. Temple 4-6/11-9 9. St. Bonaventure 3-6-1/5-11-3 10. Duquesne […]

For the fifth consecutive year, Montana has been predicted to win the Big Sky title. Montana tallied the maximum 36 points to finish six points ahead of Idaho State in the 2001 Big Sky preseason coaches poll. The Grizzlies earned six first place votes, while Idaho State earned one first place vote to finish with […]

After battling for the conference championship last November, Notre Dame and Connecticut have been picked to capture the 2001 Big East WomenÆs Soccer regular season divisional titles as voted by the conference coaches. The Fighting Irish are the unanimous choice to repeat as Mid-Atlantic Division champions, while the Huskies are picked to finish the regular […]

The following is Soccer America’s MLS Team of the Week from games played Aug. 25 and 26. GOALKEEPER Zach Thornton (1) Chicago DEFENDERS Eddie Pope (2) D.C. United Jorge Rodriguez (4) Dallas Diego Sonora (1) Tampa Bay MIDFIELDERS Stephen Armstrong (1) D.C. United Daniel Hernandez (2) MetroStars Manny Lagos (6) San Jose FORWARDS Junior Agogo […]

Liberty, last yearÆs tournament champion and the 1999 runner-up, is the 2001 favorite in the Big South, picking up 10 first-place votes. Elon, last yearÆs runner-up, was picked second, and Radford, finished in third place. Coastal Carolina, which started itÆs womenÆs soccer program last year, was chosen fourth and Charleston Southern finished fifth in the […]

Nebraska was picked to win its third straight and fourth overall Big 12 Conference title in 2001 in a preseason poll voted on by the league head coaches. The Huskers received nine first-place votes (coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team) and totaled 99 points, eight points ahead of second-place Texas A&M, […]

Richmond, which has moved from the CAA, was the preseason pick to take the Atlantic-10 title ahead of Dayton. Teams Conf. Record/Overall 1. Richmond* 13-7 2. Dayton 9-1/16-5 3. Xavier 8-1-1/14-7-1 4. Massachusetts 7-2-1/11-7-1 5. Rhode Island 6-3-1/15-4-1 6. George Washington 4-6/5-14 7. La Salle 5-5/12-6 8. Temple 4-6/11-9 9. St. Bonaventure 3-6-1/5-11-3 10. Duquesne […]

Brad Friedel’s Blackburn Rovers won for the first time this season at the expense of Tottenham, Kasey Keller’s new employer. The latter of the two national team goalkeepers did not play however, and the former had a strong effort. Gregg Berhalter had a forgetable first start of the season for Crystal Palace. England Brad Friedel, […]