Category: College Soccer Reporter

Notre Dame’s Kerri Hanks was selected as an NSCAA/adidas All-America for the fourth time. She was a second-team All-America choice in 2005 and a first-team selection each of the subsequent years. She was joined by Irish teammate Carrie Dew on the 2008 first team. UCLA, Florida State and Stanford also had two players apiece on the first team. For all the D1 All-America selections …

Three players —  first-team pick Nicole Cito (Metro State) and second-team selections Gabriela Demoner (Franklin Pierce) and Katy Tafler (Grand Valley State) — were named to the 2008 NSCAA/adidas NCAA Division II Women’s All-America for the third time. For all the D2 All-America selections …

Like her sister, Penn State goalie Alyssa Naeher, named to the NCAA Division I first team, Amanda Naeher of Division III women’s champion Messiah was named to the NSCAA/adidas Division III Women’s All-America first team. She was joined by fellow Messiah midfielder Kacie Klynstra on the first team. For all the D3 All-America selections …

Concordia (Ore.) senior defender Jackie Pronovost completed her stellar career with a fourth first-team selection to the NSCAA/adidas NAIA Women’s All-America Team. Pronovost’s sister, Justine, garnered her third all-America honor as she was named to the second team. For all the NAIA women’s selections …

It’s fitting that the Men’s College Cup will be played at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. Dallas soccer has had a big impact on the college game. All four Men’s College Cup teams have key players who hail from the Dallas soccer community. Two played for the Texans — St. John’s Ale Ivo and Maryland’s Omar Gonzalez — and two played for Solar — Wake Forest’s Corben Bone and North Carolina’s Cameron Brown. They’ll each square off in Friday’s semifinals.

Just when you thought some parity had arrived in women’s soccer, North Carolina came along to set things start.  The Tar Heels underdogs? Hah! They had to knock off not one, but two unbeaten teams, and they fell behind after only 16 seconds in the final. But they recovered to beat Notre Dame, 2-1, in the Women’s College Cup final and capture their 19th NCAA Division I women’s title and 100th win in NCAA Tournament history — against only eight losses. The hero was Casey Nogueira with two of the most phenomenal goals UNC coach Anson Dorrance says he has ever seen.

North Carolina has won 19 out of the 27 NCAA Division I women’s championships. The Tar Heels have never gone more than two years without winning a title. Five of the last eight UNC titles have come against Notre Dame in the final.

Last week it was 7-0. This week it was 5-0 — 4-0 in less than half an hour. Wake Forest left doubt who is the favorite to win the Men’s College Cup with a win over Big East champion South Florida that sends the Demon Deacons to the final four for the third straight year.

North Carolina picked the right time to get hot. The Tar Heels, who entered the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament with a five-game losing streak, advanced to the College Cup with a 1-0 win over Northwestern on Saturday at Fetzer Field.

Maryland is returning to the Men’s College Cup for the first time since winning the national title in 2005 thanks to a 1-0 win over Creighton on Saturday at Ludwig Field. The win was the Terps’ 14th in a row and gave them 21 on the year — a program-best.

Cal State Dominguez Hills, best known as the home of the Home Depot Center, won its second NCAA Division II men’s title with a 3-0 win over Dowling Sunday at Tampa’s Pepin-Rodd Stadium

Nick Blossey didn’t play a minute of the NCAA Division III Men’s Tournament but he was voted its Most Outstanding Player, coming off the bench in the shootout in the final to stop three shots and lead Messiah to a 3-0 win on penalty kicks after its game with Stevens Institute ended in a 1-1 tie.

Fielding a team entirely comprised of foreign players, unseeded Bethel College of Tennessee completed its stunning march to the NAIA men’s title with a 4-0 win over No. 1 seed Oklahoma City in the semifinals and a 2-1 overtime win over No. 2 seed Rio Grande in the final at the 50th annual National Championships hosted by Fresno Pacific University.

Best known for its men’s soccer program, winner of five national titles, Seattle Pacific won its first NCAA Division II women’s championship on Saturday when the Falcons edged previously undefeated West Florida, 1-0, in final.

Messiah gained revenge for its loss to Wheaton (Ill.) in last year’s NCAA Division III Tournament final with a 5-0 victory in this year’s final that denied the Thunder a three-peat.

Lee University of Tennessee won the NAIA women’s title with a 3-0 win over Concordia (Ore.) in Saturday’s final in Daytona Beach, Fla.

St. John’s accomplished one of the great comebacks in the history of the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament when it came back from two goals down with less than nine minutes to play and beat Indiana, 3-2, in overtime.

The four quarterfinals in the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament will all take place on Saturday. For more on Wake Forest-South Florida, Maryland-Creighton, St. John’s-Indiana and North Carolina-Northwestern …

West Florida and Seattle Pacific advanced to Saturday’s final (TV: CBS College Sports, live, 3:30 p.m. ET) in the NCAA Division II Women’s Tournament with convincing wins Thursday at Tampa’s Pepin Stadium.

The semifinals will be held Friday for NCAA Division II men, NCAA Division III men and women and NAIA men and women. For the complete schedule …

Of the four women’s Division I teams left standing, Stanford and UCLA have yet to claim an NCAA Division I title. The other two teams, North Carolina and Notre Dame, have captured a combined total of 20. The Tar Heels are going for their 19th title, but their coach, Anson Dorrance, insists their role is that of the spoiler going up against three programs he insists may have their best teams ever.

Notre Dame (25-0-0) plays Stanford (22-1-1) at 4:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2, ESPNU) in the first semifinal, which is followed by North Carolina (23-1-2) against UCLA (22-0-2) at 7 p.m (ESPNU). Soccer America Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney previews the four semifinalists.

[2008 WOMEN’S COLLEGE CUP] Notre Dame, which enters its semifinal match against Stanford at the Women’s College Cup with a 25-0-0 record, looks to accomplish what it’s never done before — finish the season unbeaten. The Irish captured national titles in 1995 and 2004 but failed to win the four previous years it entered the final four unbeaten.

[2008 WOMEN’S COLLEGE CUP] Stanford, which faces Notre Dame in Friday’s semifinal at the Women’s College Cup (TV: ESPN2, ESPNU, 4:30 PM ET), is the outsider at this year’s final four. North Carolina is playing in its 24th final four in 27 years, Notre Dame is making its 10th appearance and UCLA is returning for the sixth year in a row. Stanford, on the other hand, hasn’t been in the semifinals since 1993 when Julie Foudy was still playing. It lost in its only appearance to George Mason in a shootout.

Top seed Lindsey Wilson moved into the semifinals of the NAIA Women’s National Championships with a 1-0 win over previously unbeaten Graceland in Daytona Beach, Fla. Jamaican international Kimmia Parker scored the lone goal for the Blue Raiders, who are joined by No. 3 Lee, No. 5 Concordia (Ore.) and No. 10 Trinity Christian in Friday’s semifinals. For all the results and goal scorers …