Category: College Soccer Reporter

[IVY LEAGUE] Opposing teams have derided Brown junior Darren Howerton‘s flip throw as a gimmick, but it certainly has been effective. Canadian Dylan Sheehan headed in Howerton’s flip throw in the 83rd minute of Saturday’s Ivy League showdown between Brown and Dartmouth to break a 0-0 tie and lift the No. 3 Bears to a 1-0 win over No. 23 Dartmouth that clinched the 2007 Ivy championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Tournament.

[WCC] Santa Clara clinched its 10th WCC title with a week to spare thanks to a 4-1 win over St. Mary’s on Sunday. Captain Peter Lowry scored the first goal and helped set up two others to lead the Broncos, who repeated as WCC champions and clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Defending champion Dowling and top-ranked Northern Kentucky both moved into the NCAA D2 men’s quarterfinals. Unbeatens Texas (Trinity) and Loras advanced to the D3 men’s round of 16. No. 1 Grand Valley State got a scare in the second round of the D2 women’s play. D3 women’s powerhouses Wheaton (Ill.) and the College of New Jersey both flexed their muscles.

There was no doubt about the No. 1 team in the final Soccer America Women’s Top 25 of the regular season. UCLA beat Washington State, 2-0, and Washington, 3-0, to finish the regular season at 16-1-2 overall and 9-0-0 in the Pac-10. The Bruins have an 18-game unbeaten streak, the longest in the country. For the Final Top 25 …

Purdue claimed three of the four individual honors when the 2007 Big Ten awards were announced. Parrissa Eyorokon was named Offensive Player of the Year, while teammate Jessica Stellhorn earned Freshman of the Year accolades.  Boilermaker head coach Rob Klatte was honored as Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. Purdue also led all teams with four players on the all-conference first team. Penn State sophomore Alyssa Naeher won Defensive Player of the Year laurels.

UNLV remained on course for its third straight Mountain West tournament title when it moved into the final with a 2-1 victory over Utah thanks to a pair of goals by Jessica Destito. The Rebels will meet BYU, which got two goals from star Katie Larkin to beat San Diego State, 2-0. Conference finals were also set in the Atlantic Sun (Kennesaw State-Mercer) and Sun Belt (Denver-North Texas). For all of Thursday’s results and goalscorers and Friday’s schedules …

Fans can follow women’s conference tournament action on cable and online. For all of this week’s conference tournament coverage …

Winthrop rallied from two goals down to beat Liberty, 3-2, in overtime in the quarterfinals of the Big South Tournament on Thursday in Charleston, S.C. Erin Foote was the hero for the Lady Eagles, setting up Ashley Bader for the tying goal with 48 seconds left in regulation and winning the game with a golden goal 39 seconds into overtime.

The opening day of the Atlantic-10 women’s tournament produced a pair of surprises as the tournament’s lowest seeds Richmond and Dayton both won. No. 6 Richmond scored early and late to defeat No. 3 Duquesne, 2-0, and No. 5 Dayton triumphed, 2-1, over No. 4 Saint Louis in overtime after its apparent winner in the last minute of regulation was called off for offside

[BIG TEN WOMEN] Seventh-ranked Purdue lost Big Ten Player of the Year Parrissa Eyorokon with an injury early in its Big Ten women’s tournament game against Northwestern, but that didn’t stop the Boilermakers from advancing to the semifinals with a 3-1 win Thursday at the University of Minnesota’s Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium.

[BIG TEN MEN] No. 20 Michigan State’s offensive woes continued as it was shut out for the fourth straight game, but the host Spartans advanced to the semifinals of the Big Ten men’s tournament against regular-season champion Indiana thanks to a 4-2 shootout win over Ohio State. For all the news from East Lansing …

Azusa Pacific (Calif.) is the No. 1 seed at the NAIA Men’s National Championships even though the Cougars fell in the first round of the Region II tournament to Westmont, 2-1. Fresno Pacific, No. 8 seed, eventually won Region II with a 4-1 win over No. 6 seed Concordia (Calif.). The National Championships begin next Wednesday in Olathe, Kan.

Lee is the top-seeded team at the NAIA Women’s National Championships that begin next Wednesday in Daytona Beach Fla. Defending champion Lindsey Wilson is the No. 2 seed even though the Blue Raiders fell to Martin Methodist, 1-0, in the Region XI championship game.

Midwestern State crushed Metro State, 8-1, Thursday in first-round play in the NCAA Division II Men’s Tournament. The Mustangs got goals from six different players in the first 45 minutes and cruised an easy win. Former MLS coach Tim Hankinson‘s first season at Fort Lewis came to an end when it fell to West Texas A&M, 2-1, in another first-round game. For all of Thursday’s results …

Yvonne Vasquez‘s golden goal gave Cal State Dominguez Hills a 2-1 win over UC San Diego in the opening game of the NCAA Division II Women’s Tournament.

Jami Tullius‘ golden goal lifted UTEP to a 3-2 victory over Colorado College Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA women’s tournament, completing a comeback from a 2-0 deficit with only 33 minutes to play to the delight of 1,126 fans in El Paso.

Fans can follow women’s conference tournament action on cable and online. For all of this week’s conference tournament coverage …

There was women’s tournament action in eight conferences on Wednesday night. Of the 13 ranked teams in action, only No. 15 Boston College (1-0 loss to No. 18 Florida State) and No. 16 Tennessee (2-0 loss to South Carolina) lost. No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 10 Virginia, No. 11 Texas and No. 25 LSU all needed shootouts to advance. For all of Wednesday’s results and goalscorers and Thursday’s schedules …

Top-ranked Trinity (Texas) opened play in the NCAA Division III Men’s Tournament with a 3-0 win over Texas-Dallas on Wednesday evening. Patrick Floeck scored two goals for Trinity, and Ben Stewart had the third. Robbie C’deBaca, who played on Maryland’s 2005 NCAA Division I championship team, had two assists. Trinity will face Principia College Saturday evening in the second round. For all of Wednesday’s scores …

Goalie Christi Carr, who won two shootouts for Hardin-Simmons in last year’s NCAA Division III Women’s Tournament, did it again, making two saves to lead the Cowgirls past Trinity (Texas), 4-2, in a shootout after their first-round game ended in a 0-0 tie. For all of Wednesday’s scores …

[BIG EAST MEN] NCAA Tournament berths may have been on the line Wednesday when the Big East Tournament began with first-round action. St. John’s (9-6-5) improved its chances with a shootout victory over Seton Hall. Probably needing two victories to return to the NCAA Tournament, Cincinnati (9-9-1) pulled the day’s big upset with a 2-0 win at Providence. At least eight Big East teams should make the NCAA Tournament — that’s the number that ranked in the top 35 in last week’s RPI index.

SMU, which dropped from No. 1 to No. 5 in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25 after last weekend’s 2-1 loss at Kentucky, got back on the winning track Wednesday with a 1-0 win over Bradley thanks to Scott Geppert‘s goal. In the only other game involving a Top 25 team, No. 19 Cal Poly beat Cal State Northridge, 1-0, on Jeff Meyer‘s goal. For all Wednesday’s scores …