Category: College Soccer Reporter

Troy sophomore Jill Pinder, a transfer from Louisiana Tech, leads all goal scorers with 13 goals (including three straight hat tricks) and is tied for the lead in points (with Georgia State’s Kay Harbrueger). For all the NCAA Division I goal and point leaders …

St. John’s was unranked when the 2008 season began but has moved up to the No. 6 spot in this week’s Soccer America Top 25. The young Red Storm have been led by a fifth-year senior starting full-time for the first time at the Division I level.

Boston College’s Alejandro Bedoya, who scored a hat trick in the 4-1 victory over previously unbeaten North Carolina, is the Soccer America Men’s Player of the Week. For all the Men’s Team of the Week selections for games played Sept. 15-21 …

On a night when Rutgers retired the No. 10 jersey of former Scarlet Knight standout and U.S. Olympic gold-medalist Carli Lloyd, it crushed Big East rival Villanova to improve to 7-1-0 for the season.

Duke senior Lorraine Quinn, who scored a hat trick in the space of 30 minutes in a 3-0 win against Georgia, is the Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week. For all the Women’s Team of the Week selections for games played Sept. 15-21 …

If there were any doubts about who is the top team in men’s soccer, Wake Forest put them to rest Sunday when it won the battle of the last two national champions with a 6-2 win at UC Santa Barbara. ALSO: O’Brien White ends scoring slump.

There is a shakeup among the teams immediately behind No. 1 Wake Forest. Connecticut moved into the No. 2 spot, and Maryland climbed three places to No. 3. For this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 rankings …

The crowd of 7,408 fans at UC Santa Barbara’s Harder Stadium on Sunday for the UCSB-Wake Forest game was the largest men’s crowd of the season. Maryland also drew a 6,000-plus crowd over the weekend for its ACC game with Duke. For the top men’s crowds …

Top-ranked women’s team Notre Dame, which improved to 8-0-0 with its 3-1 win at Big Ten powerhouse Penn State on Sunday, was playing without Coach Randy Waldrum, who was not in attendance at Sunday’s game due to a death in his family. ALSO: Six teams lose perfect records, and UCLA sets shutout record.

There was no movement at the top of the Soccer America Men’s Top 25 as the top eight teams all won. LSU, Texas A&M, Duke, Wake Forest and West Virginia each climbed two spots to claim the No. 9-13 spots in this week’s rankings. For this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25 rankings …

Howard, one of the great names in college soccer, is a program in big trouble. Its head coach was replaced after being arrested earlier in the year in a youth sex sting. And it is off to an 0-6-1 start with losses as bad as 9-1 and 8-0. ALSO: UC Santa Barbara-Evansville goalfest.

The West Coast Conference includes two former national champions — San Francisco (1966, 1975, 1976, 1980) and Santa Clara (co-champion in 1989) — and two other teams that have played in the final four — San Diego and Portland — but this season has been a non-starter for WCC teams. Entering the weekend, no WCC team has a winning record. For a look at the WCC seven …

[WEEKEND UPDATE] No. 2 SMU suffered its first loss of the season when it fell to Northern Illinois, 1-0. In Top 25 matchups, Maryland beat Duke, 1-0, Boston College defeated North Carolina, 4-1, thanks to Alejandro Bedoya‘s hat trick, and Cal prevailed over Drake, 2-0, to hand the Bulldogs’ their first loss. For this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 results and schedules …

James Madison beat No. 16 Penn State 1-0 before a school-record crowd of 1,829 fans — more than double the previous high — and a national television audience Thursday evening at the JMU Soccer Complex. ALSO: N.C. State, the only unbeaten and untied ACC team, makes a comeback … West Virginia freshman Erica Henderson stole the show in the Mountaineers’ Big East opener.

Notre Dame will put its No. 1 ranking on the line this weekend when it travels to DePaul and Penn State. No. 4 Portland hosts surging Florida, while Virginia plays West Virginia in another battle of Top 25 teams. For this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25 results and schedules …

SOCCER AMERICA interviews Ofori Sarkodie, one of the top young defenders in American soccer. He captained the USA at the 2005 Under-17 World Cup and played in the 2007 Under-20 World Cup. He trained with three European clubs earlier this year before returning to Indiana University. Sarkodie talks about what it will take for Indiana to win an eighth NCAA title, his advice for young players, his professional ambitions and his thoughts on the presidential election.

Wake Forest, the No. 1 team in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25, travels to California for a potentially tricky match at UC Santa Barbara on Sunday. Several intriguing conference matches are on tap for the weekend: Maryland-Duke  and BC-UNC in the ACC, Notre Dame-St. John’s in the Big East. Ranked Missouri Valley teams Drake and Creighton face No. 5 Cal at the Stanford Nike Classic. For this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 results and schedules …

Notre Dame will put its No. 1 ranking on the line this weekend when it travels to DePaul and Penn State. No. 4 Portland hosts surging Florida, while Virginia plays West Virginia in another battle of Top 25 teams. For this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25 results and schedules …

Loyola (Md.) and Appalachian State both went into action with perfect records, but both suffered blemishes that left only four unbeaten and untied teams in the NCAA Division I men’s ranks.

Colorado College, the sole women’s soccer-only Division I program in the country, moved into the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 at No. 23 thanks to its 6-0-1 start. The Tigers, who have twice reached the NCAA Division I championship game, will have a better idea of their chances in 2008 after a road trip to Big Ten powers  Illinois and Purdue this weekend.

Winner of back-to-back Pac-10 titles, California can make a strong case for being the best men’s program on the West Coast. Despite the losses of four players to MLS clubs in the last three SuperDrafts, Cal is ranked No. 5 in this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 with a 3-0-2 record heading into the Stanford Nike Classic, where it will face Drake and Creighton.

Northern Kentucky remained No. 1 in the NCAA Division II men’s rankings with a 2-0 win over Wisconsin-Parkside. Middlebury, No. 1 in the Division III  ranking, beat NESCAC rival Amherst, 1-0, on Harrison Watkins‘ goal. For the NSCAA/adidas D2 and D3 men’s rankings …

Miami (Fla.) lost for the first time this season after seven wins when it fell to BYU, 1-0, at home on Tuesday night. ALSO: After a slow start, Missouri is looking like it could be a Big 12 contender.

Wheaton (Ill.) had its 48-game win streak end with a 1-0 loss to Loras on Saturday, paving the way for the College of New Jersey to take over the top spot in the NCAA Division III rankings. Grand Valley State improved to 6-0-0 and remained No. 1 in the NCAA Division II rankings. For the NSCAA/adidas D2 and D3 men’s rankings …

Auburn-Montgomery took over the top spot in the NAIA Men’s Soccer Top 25 Poll with wins over Emmanuel, 3-0, Houghton, 3-0, and Vanguard, 1-0. Montreat knocked off then-No. 1 Lindsey Wilson, 1-0. Martin Methodist again held its No. 1 spot in the NAIA Women’s Soccer Top 25 Poll. For both the Top 25 rankings …