Category: College Soccer Reporter

Creighton’s climb to the No. 2 spot in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25 is not surprising. The Bluejays have been perennial national contenders for more than a decade. A key to Creighton’s 3-0-0 start is the play of their freshmen. ALSO: Patriot League teams enjoy success.

Women’s college soccer has witnessed the arrival of an outstanding crop of freshman strikers. One of the most imposing forwards is 5-foot-11 Courtney Goodson, whose two goals powered No. 4 Texas to a 2-1 overtime win over Arizona on Sunday.

Stanford’s Lindsay Taylor is the Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week. She is one of four freshman forwards named to the Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week. For all the Women’s Team of the Week selections for games played Sept. 1-7 …

Two days after playing to a 0-0 tie, No. 3 Indiana and No. 5 South Florida both took it on a chin. Dartmouth handed the Hoosiers their third straight shutout with a 4-0 loss, while Notre Dame crushed South Florida, 5-0. ALSO: John Kerr Jr. gets first wins as Duke coach.

Wake Forest remained No. 1 in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25 that features eight new teams — including three Big Ten teams Ohio State (No. 13), Michigan (No. 19) and Wisconsin (No. 21). For this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 and last week’s results …

Tropical Storm Hanna dropped heavy rain on the East Coast over the weekend,  keeping crowds down for several top clashes. Still, Maryland drew more than 3,000 for its match against Hartford on Friday. For the top men’s crowds …

For the second time in two years, Notre Dame traveled to North Carolina and beat the Tar Heels at Fetzer Field. Friday’s 1-0 win moved Notre Dame to No. 2 in this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25 — the place UNC held last week. ALSO: Florida upset.

UCLA and Notre Dame climbed two spots each to No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25. Stanford, Texas and Portland climbed into the top five for the first time as USC, North Carolina and Florida State, all losers last week, fell. For this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25 and last week’s results …

Chris Petrucelli became the seventh NCAA Division I women’s coach to reach the 300-win mark when the unbeaten Longhorns defeated UT-San Antonio, 4-0, on Friday.

[FRIDAY UPDATE] Notre Dame did it again. The No. 4 Irish beat North Carolina, 1-0, at Fetzer Field Friday night. Elsewhere, No. 1 USC edged No. 12 Santa Clara, 2-1. For all the Top 25 results and schedules …

[FRIDAY UPDATE] No. 1 Wake Forest beat UCLA, 3-0, on Friday night. No. 3 Indiana and No. 5 USF played to a 0-0 tie. For all the Soccer America Men’s Top 25 results and schedules …

As Rachael and Megan Rapinoe, both coming back from season-ending knee injuries, prepared for their final season at Portland, they said they were thankful they would finally be able to fulfill their dream of playing college soccer beside one other. “Fate has a funny way — life has a funny way — of working out,” Megan told Soccer America before Rachael finished the thought, “And we’re just looking forward to getting back that Rapinoe attack.” Well, the Rapinoe twins were back together for only three games. Early in the Pilots’ 1-0 win over Portland on Monday, Rachael Rapinoe suffered a season-ending knee injury, re-tearing the ACL in her left knee.

One of this year’s hot picks for men’s national champions is USF. Not the University of San Francisco but the University of South Florida. The Bulls travel to South Bend, Ind., to face No. 3 Indiana and No. 13 Notre Dame at the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament, where their reputation has preceded them.

One of the biggest women’s crowds of the season is expected at the Nike/Carolina Classic Friday night when No. 4 Notre Dame looks to knock off No. 2 North Carolina again.

This weekend’s Men’s Top 25 action includes a pair of games involving top 10 teams — Indiana-South Florida at  Notre Dame’s Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament Friday and California-SMU at the Cal Legacy Classic Sunday. For this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 results and schedules …

No. 6 Stanford is getting big play out of its freshmen. Teresa Noyola, considered one of the best playmakers to enter college in the last decade, is just one of three first-year players to have a big impact on the Farm.

LSU, No. 17 in the Soccer America Top 25, has had to cancel its Tiger Classic because the LSU Soccer Complex suffered considerable damage from Hurricane Gustav.

No. 2 Connecticut’s high-powered attack went silent on Wednesday night. It needed an own goal in the 75th minute to beat Stony Brook, 1-0, in Storrs.

Blakely Mattern is the star of the South Carolina women’s defense that has yet to give up a goal in three games — marking the first time the Gamecocks have opened with three straight shutouts. Mattern, one of only four players to have played every minute of every game, was the 2007 SEC Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore. She recaps USC’s pre-season preparations and the excitement of opening the season and being introduced at halftime of the South Carolina-N.C. State football game before more than 80,000 fans.

Lincoln Memorial took over the top spot in the NCAA Division II rankings following defending champion Franklin Pierce’s 2-0 loss to Dominican (N.Y.). In Division III, the highest-ranked team to lose was No. 6 Washington (Mo.), which fell to University of the South, 3-1, at the Birmingham Southern Labor Day Classic. For the NSCAA/adidas Men’s D2 and D3 rankings …

Irie Dennis‘ goal gave Grand Valley State a 1-0 win over Tampa and took over the Spartans’ top spot in the NCAA Division II women’s rankings. In Division II, Wheaton (Ill.) extended its winning streak to 47 games and remained No. 1 thanks to wins over Cal Baptist (5-1) and Eastern (6-1 with four goals by All-American Taryne Lee). For all the NSCAA/adidas Women’s D2 and D3 rankings …

This week’s action in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 begins on Wednesday with the Milwaukee derby between No. 24 Wisconsin-Milwaukee and No. 25 Marquette. For all the Top 25 results and schedules …

ETSU, the first Division I school to add men’s soccer since 2000, won its first game on Sunday when it defeated Wofford, 2-0. ALSO: New England showdown.

Men’s teams from the Big Ten got off to the best start of teams from any conference on the Labor Day weekend that marked the start of the 2008 season. Perhaps the biggest surprise was last year’s national runner-up Ohio State, which was hit hard by graduation losses and struggled in preseason.

Enjoying its highest ranking ever at No. 17 in the Soccer America Top 25, the LSU women returned home from Chicago to discover that the LSU Soccer Complex took a hard hit in Hurricane Gustav. ALSO: Penn State regroups, and Denver wins again.