Category: College Soccer Reporter

It will be a big week in the Big West, which had three teams — No. 16 UC Santa Barbara (5-3-0), No. 20 UC Davis (8-1-0) and No. 25 UC Irvine (7-0-2) — move into the Soccer America Men’s Top 25. UC Irvine hosts UCD on Wednesday and UCSB on Saturday.

Nebraska, a national power for more than a decade, is making a spectacular comeback after enduring a 5-10-4 season in 2007 and opening the 2008 campaign with four losses. The Cornhuskers are undefeated in their last seven games after opening the Big 12 play last weekend with a 2-1 win over Kansas and 3-2 win over Missouri — both overtime victories achieved after they rallied to equalize late in regulation.

Top-ranked Notre Dame is the only remaining unbeaten and untied team in the NCAA Division I women’s ranks after its 6-0 win over Cincinnati. LSU fell at Mississippi, 1-0, while Oklahoma State tied Colorado, 1-1, in Boulder in other Sunday action.

Despite abysmal weather, which combined rain, wind and threats of lightning, a crowd of 6,500 turned out for the ACC play between No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 3 Maryland and set a new attendance record at the Terrapins’ Ludwig Field. Elsewhere, Saint Louis drew a Homecoming audience of 5,785 fans — the second-largest crowd in Robert R. Hermann Stadium history — for its 2-0 win over Missouri State. For the top 10 men’s crowds of 2008 …

Texas drew a record crowd of 5,585 at Mike A. Myers Stadium Friday night for the Longhorns’ 0-0 tie with archrival Texas A&M in the Big 12 opener for both teams. For the top 10 women’s crowds of 2008 …

There was just one change in the top seven spots in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 rankings — Stanford and UCLA changed places at No. 2 and No. 3. Texas A&M moved up two spots to No. 8, while Duke and West Virginia cracked the top 10. For this week’s complete Soccer America Women’s Top 25 …

Preseason No. 1 Wake Forest remains in the top spot in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25 followed by St. John’s and Saint Louis. For this week’s complete Soccer America Men’s Top 25 …

Last year, Wake Forest opened the season with s school record seven straight wins en route to its first national title. This year, the Demon Deacons are 8-0-0 after beating Maryland, 4-2, Friday night. ALSO: Louisville ends Notre Dame streak, Tulsa crushes SMU, UCSB recovers, and Sacred Heart pulls upset.

Freshman phenom Chris Agorsor’s first season at Virginia has ended after six games. Agorsor, the 2008 U.S. Soccer Development Academy U/17-18 Player of the Year, has likely torn both his anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee.

[WEEKEND UPDATE] No. 1 Wake Forest rallied to beat No. 3 Maryland, 4-2, Friday before 6,500 fans. No. 2 Connecticut fell at No. 6 St. John’s, 3-1. For this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 results and schedules …

No. 2 UCLA was held to a 0-0 tie by unranked Santa Clara on Thursday evening at Buck Shaw Stadium. ALSO: ACC upset, Tobin Heath hat trick and the rest of the Top 25 action.

With four teams in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 — No. 7 Texas, No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 16 Oklahoma State and No. 19 Kansas — and two teams on the edge — Colorado and Missouri — the Big 12 is one of the strongest women’s conferences in the country. Big 12 teams have winning records against teams from such powerful conferences as the ACC (2-1-0), Big East (3-1-0), SEC (5-4-1) and WCC (3-0-0). Conference play begins in earnest Friday with Texas hosting Texas A&M before what could be a record Longhorn crowd.

[WEEKEND UPDATE] The number of unbeaten and untied teams are down to three following No. 17 Minnesota’s 2-0 loss to Michigan State. No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 7 LSU and No. 16 Oklahoma State all won. For this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25 results and schedules …

Freshman Luke Norman‘s goal in the 23rd minute was the only goal No. 1 Wake Forest scored on Wednesday night, but it was good enough for a 1-0 victory over Appalachian State at Spry Stadium.

No. 1 Wake Forest travels to No. 3 Maryland Friday in one of the most anticipated matches of the season (TV: Fox Soccer Channel, live, 8 pm ET). No. 2 Connecticut also plays at No. 6 St. John’s. For this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 results and schedules …

This is quickly becoming the year of the freshman. The women’s ranks have seen an influx of high-scoring forwards, led by Sarah Hagen of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who leads all freshmen with 11 goals.

With conference play heating up in many parts of the country, Thursday becomes a big night in women’s soccer. Thursday matchups include Florida State-Virginia and Duke-Boston College. A non-conference match to watch: Santa Clara-UCLA. For this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25 results and schedules …

Rio Grande claimed the No. 1 spot in the NSCAA/adidas NAIA men’s rankings following Auburn-Montgomery’s 6-2 loss to Indiana Wesleyan. Unbeaten and untied Martin Methodist remained No. 1 in the NSCAA women’s rankings. For the NSCAA/adidas NAIA rankings …

Ingrid Wells, the “Little General” who earned All-American honors as a freshman for Georgetown, is sitting out the 2008 season to play for the USA in the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile later this fall, but that hasn’t stopped the Hoyas from getting off to a 6-0-2 start.

Without a winning season in three years under head coach Chris Norris following the retirement of longtime coach Al Albert, William & Mary has enjoyed a breakout start to the 2008 season. ALSO: Streaking Maryland, another Tony Tchani double for Virginia, Brown win over Boston College and a spectacular NAIA performance.

Northern Kentucky is again No. 1 in the NCAA Division II men’s rankings. Trinity (Texas) replaces Middlebury as the top-ranked team in the Division III  rankings after the Panthers had to settle for a 1-1 tie with Wesleyan on Saturday. For the NSCAA/adidas D2 and D3 men’s rankings …

Grand Valley State improved to 8-0-0 and remained No. 1 in the NCAA Division II women’s rankings. Messiah jumped from third to first in the NCAA Division III women’s rankings after last week’s No. 1 College of New Jersey (4-3 loss to Swarthmore on two goals and an assist by Megan Colombo) and No. 2 Whitworth (2-1 loss to Willamette) both fell. For the NSCAA/adidas D2 and D3 women’s 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 junior college rankings . For all the rankings …

SOCCER AMERICA interviews Tobin Heath, one of the most skillful players to enter the women’s college ranks. In 2006, she was part of a spectacular freshman class that led North Carolina to the national championship. Just back from the Olympics, where she was part of the U.S. gold-medal team, Heath calls the ’08 Tar Heels a “special team.”

South Carolina’s Sam Arthur moved into the top spot among men’s points leaders and is tied with Hartford’s Carlos Villa and Seton Hall’s Samuel Petrone for the national lead in goals. For all the NCAA Division I goal and point leaders …