Category: College Soccer Reporter

Connecticut drew a sellout crowd of 4,407 for its Big East match with West Virginia. Fans donated more than 1,000 new and used soccer balls on a night when the visiting Mountaineers upset the Huskies, 1-0. UConn partnered with the  Kick for Nick organization, which was started in memory of Connecticut native Nick Madaras and collected soccer balls to send to children in Iraq. For the top 10 men’s crowds of 2008 …

Santa Clara, one of the great names in women’s soccer, suffered two more losses — 5-0 to Stanford and 2-0 to Arizona  — in its final two non-conference games of the season and fell to 3-7-2. ALSO: The weekend hat trick stars.

There was no change among the top six teams in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 with unbeaten and untied Notre Dame still No. 1. Virginia climbed four places to No. 7 thanks to 6-0 and 7-1 wins in ACC play. For this week’s complete Soccer America Women’s Top 25 …

Illinois drew a crowd of 2,036 fans, the second largest crowd in history at the Illinois Soccer and Track Stadium, for its 1-0 win over Michigan on Sunday. Other crowds of note included 3,376 for Texas A&M-Oklahoma State, which gives the Aggies four of the top eight women’s crowds of the season, and 2,316, Notre Dame’s largest crowd of the season, for the top-ranked Irish’s 3-0 win over South Florida on Friday. For the top 10 women’s crowds of 2008 …

Top-ranked Wake Forest extended its winning streak to 15 games with an 8-2 victory over visiting Virginia Tech before 3,246 fans on Friday. ALSO: Michael Brooks put on one of the season’s great individual performances in Clemson’s 5-3 win over Maryland. Virginia’s streak continued with another ACC win.

The top clash of the weekend is a match between Midwest powers — No. 3 Saint Louis at home against No. 7 Creighton on Saturday. For this week’s complete Soccer America Men’s Top 25 …

No. 6 UIC improved to 8-0-2 with a 1-0 victory over over Marquette at Valley Fields on Thursday night. ALSO: Connecticut will be collecting soccer balls for those attending Friday’s sold-out game against West Virginia as part of its support for an organization started in memory of Nick Madaras that collects soccer balls to send to children in Iraq.

SOCCER AMERICA interviews Peri Marosevic, one of the top strikers in men’s college soccer. The Michigan junior had an outstanding season for the rising U.S. under-20 national team and has helped the Wolverines get off to a solid start this fall.

All conferences are in full swing except the Pac-10 and WCC, which conclude non-conference play with several traditional rivalries on Friday: Santa Clara-Stanford, Portland-Washington and UCLA-Pepperdine. For this week’s complete Soccer America Women’s Top 25 …

U.S. Olympic gold-medalist Amy Rodriguez scored the first hat trick of her collegiate career when she scored three goals in No. 5 USC’s 7-0 win over Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday. ALSO: North Carolina, Virginia, Florida State and Boston College were Top 25 teams to win ACC games.

SOCCER AMERICA interviews top-ranked Notre Dame’s Kerri Hanks, who will go down as one of the great strikers in the history of women’s college soccer. The 2006 Hermann Trophy winner ranks 17th in NCAA Division I history with 208 points (74 goals and 60 assists). She says the Irish are finding ways to finish early and late, making them a favorite to return to the Women’s College Cup.

No. 1 Wake Forest improved to 9-0-0 with a 3-0 win over Elon. For this week’s complete Soccer America Men’s Top 25 …

The two top-ranked ACC teams meet in the NSCAA Women’s Game of the Week Thursday when No. 9 Duke hosts No. 6 North Carolina. For this week’s complete Soccer America Women’s Top 25 …

Michigan again showed why it is one of the most dangerous teams in the country as the unranked Wolverines defeated No. 14 Notre Dame, 3-1, Wednesday afternoon in a game played at Eastern Michigan University’s Scicluna Field. ALSO: Wins for Wake Forest, Creighton, Ohio State and Loyola (Md.) and ties in a pair of major West Coast showdowns.

With 12 goals in 11 games, freshman Laura Heyboer has been a big reason why Michigan State is 10-1-0 and ranked No. 20 in the country.

No. 3 Saint Louis and No. 10 Northwestern battled to a 0-0 tie in the marque match of a busy Tuesday night of men’s college action. ALSO: Freshmen gave Maryland and North Carolina narrow wins. Indiana downed Evansville in thriller. Drake gave up as many goals it had done in its first eight games.

Lynn replaced Northern Kentucky at No. 1 in the NCAA Division II men’s rankings. Trinity (Texas), one of six unbeaten and untied teams, remained the top-ranked team in the Division III rankings. For the NSCAA/adidas D2 and D3 men’s rankings …

Grand Valley State, No. 1 in the NCAA Division II women’s rankings, improved to 10-0-0. Williams is the new No. 1 in the NCAA Division III women’s rankings after last week’s No. 1 Messiah and No. 2 Lynchburg both earned ties last week. For the NSCAA/adidas D2 and D3 women’s rankings …

There was no change at the top in the junior college national rankings. Yavapai (D1 men), Suffolk County (D3 men), Iowa Western (D1 women) and Broome County (D3 women) are No. 1 in this week’s NSCAA/adidas rankings . For all the rankings …

After three consecutive losing seasons. Coach Lesle Gallimore has Washington back on the right track. The Huskies are 9-1-0 and hit the charts this week at No. 23 — their first ranking in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 since 2004 when they reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. UW begins a brutal stretch when it faces teams ranked No. 4, No. 5, No. 3 and No. 2 in its next four games.

Meghan Lenczyk, who scored two critical goals in Virginia’s ACC wins at Florida State and Miami (Fla.), is the Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week. For all the Women’s Team of the Week selections for games played Sept. 22-28 …

Doug Demartin of Michigan State and Swazi MfanaFuthi Bhembe of Alabama A&M joined South Carolina’s Sam Arthur as the NCAA Division I men’s points leaders. They are among six players tied for the national lead in goals. For all the NCAA Division I leaders …

Michigan State freshman Laura Heyboer took over the lead in points among NCAA Division I women’s scorers. For all the NCAA Division I leaders ..

SOCCER AMERICA talks with Harvard’s Andre Akpan, one of the most exciting players in college soccer. The lone sophomore on last year’s Soccer America MVP first team, Akpan is considered one of the top pro prospects in the college game, but the former U.S. U-20 has resisted the temptation to leave Harvard early and turn pro.

Austin da Luz, who played a key role off the bench in Wake Forest’s 4-2 win over Maryland in the battle of No. 1 and No. 3 teams, is the Soccer America Men’s Player of the Week. For all the Men’s Team of the Week selections for games played Sept. 22-28 …