Category: College Soccer Reporter

[PRESEASON NO. 3] Indiana has won seven national championships, most recently back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004. The goal of the IU seniors is simple: don’t finish without a title.

[PRESEASON NO. 4] After losing 2008 Olympians Maurice Edu, Robbie Rogers and Chris Seitz from the 2005 national championship team to the pros — Seitz and Rogers would be seniors this fall — Maryland was forced to regroup. With their most experienced team since 2005, the Terrapins will be national contenders.

[PRESEASON NO. 5] WCC champion Santa Clara should be the class of the West Coast thanks to a solid nucleus of returnees and the arrival of three highly rated freshmen.

[PRESEASON NOS. 6-25] Depth makes Saint Louis, Boston College and South Florida serious national championship contenders.

Freshman goalie Mo Isom was in shock after she scored on a free kick from 90 yards in LSU’s 4-1 win over BYU in Baton Rouge. Monday also produced the first major upset of the women’s college season …

Denver’s Mariah Johnston, who scored the game-winners in wins over Mew Mexico and Colorado, is the Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week. For all the Women’s Team of the Week selections for games played Aug. 22-24 …

MEMBER ALERT. Soccer America’s College Soccer Reporter has resumed its daily (Monday-Friday) frequency during the college season. The Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25 will appear Tuesday, while the Men’s Preseason All-American selections will appear Wednesday.

Two days after watching the U.S. women’s national team do in the Olympic gold-medal game what it couldn’t do 11 months earlier with him in charge — beat Brazil — Greg Ryan began his new job as head coach of the Michigan women’s team. The result? A 7-0 loss at Notre Dame.

There was little movement in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 following an opening weekend of play during which most teams played one game. No. 1 USC got a scare at San Diego but prevailed, 1-0, thanks to junior Marihelen Tomer‘s overtime goal. No. 5 Florida State, which the Trojans beat in last year’s Women’s College Cup final, has twice postponed its game against UCF — now scheduled for Monday — because of nearly 10.5 inches of rain Tropical Storm Fay dumped on the Tallahassee area since early Friday afternoon. For this week’s Soccer American Women’s Top 25 rankings and last week’s Soccer American Women’s Top 25 results …

The men’s regular season doesn’t begin until Friday, but preseason games are taken seriously. About 7,000 fans showed up at the annual National Soccer Festival  in Ft. Wayne, Ind., to watch the showcase match of the three-day tournament — Indiana’s 3-0 win over North Carolina.

Franklin Pierce (NCAA Division II), Middlebury (NCAA Division III) and Azusa Pacific (NAIA) are ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA/adidas Preseason Men’s Polls. For all the rankings …

Tampa (NCAA Division II), Wheaton of Illinois (NCAA Division III) and Martin Methodist (NAIA) are ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA/adidas Preseason Women’s Polls. For all the rankings …

Soccer America is seeking support from Sports Information Departments on getting contributions from college soccer players during the fall season.

Welcome to College Soccer Reporter’s Morning Briefing. Find out which college produced the most U.S. women’s soccer gold-medalists and learn about North Carolina’s newest left-leaning star. We have news on Florida State’s latest import and the college star who will be red-shirting so she can play in the U-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile later in the year. For all the news and Top 25 weekend action …

MEMBER ALERT. Soccer America’s College Soccer Reporter yesterday resumed its daily (Monday-Friday) frequency during the college season. The Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25 will appear next Tuesday, while the Men’s Preseason All-American selections will appear next Wednesday.

U.S. Olympic gold-medalists Amy Rodriguez, Lauren Cheney and Tobin Heath head the 2008 Soccer America Women’s Preseason All-Americans. Cheney is one of six 2007 Soccer America MVP first-team selections named Preseason All-Americans. For all the first- and second-team selections …

NCAA Division I women’s conference polls are out. For the preseason conference ranking of your ranking D1 program …

Defending national champion USC is ranked No. 1 in the Soccer America Women’s Preseason Top 25 rankings. North Carolina, the 2006 national champion, is ranked No. 2. The race for the top spot begins on Friday when the 2008 women’s college season kicks off. For all the Top 25 preseason rankings …

MEMBER ALERT. Soccer America’s College Soccer Reporter today resumes its daily (Monday-Friday) frequency during the college season. Friday’s edition will feature the Soccer America Women’s Preseason All-American selections. The Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25 will appear next Tuesday, while the Men’s Preseason All-American selections will appear next Wednesday.

[PRESEASON NO. 1] Amy Rodriguez parlayed a standout junior season for USC into a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. A-Rod leads a group of seniors who make the Women of Troy the favorites to repeat as national champions.

[PRESEASON NO. 2] It’s easy to forget just how young North Carolina’s 2006 national championship team was. Eight starters from that championship team return in 2008, including Olympian Tobin Heath and Casey Nogueira, one of four Tar Heels who represented the USA this summer in U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifying.

[PRESEASON NO. 3] UCLA’s 2007 postseason brought the disappointment of another Women’s College Cup collapse, but the Bruins, led by Olympians Lauren Cheney (USA) and Kara Lang (Canada), should return to the final four for a sixth straight year.

[PRESEASON NO. 4] With the trio of Kerri Hanks, Brittany Bock and Michele Weissenhofer, Notre Dame again has the most dangerous threesome in women’s college soccer.

[PRESEASON NOS. 6-25] After the big five is a quintet of women’s programs — Stanford, Virginia, Portland, Penn State and West Virginia — that have their sights set on reaching the 2008 Women’s College Cup in Cary, N.C.

[PRESEASON NO. 5] Losing players to the pros before their eligibility expires is common for major men’s programs. But Hermann Trophy winner Mami Yamaguchi’s decision to leave Florida State to play for Sweden’s Umea was a surprise. Even without the Japan international, the Seminoles have the talent to return to the College Cup for a fourth straight year.