Category: College Soccer Reporter

MEN’S NEWS … Sophomore Stephen Knox‘s first goal of the season gave Boston University a 1-0 win over No. 3 St. John’s on Sunday night at Nickerson Field.

No. 1 Akron and No. 4 Wake Forest rolled on the road on Sunday. Golden goals gave New Mexico a 2-1 win at No. 15 Notre Dame and No. 17 Northwestern a 3-2 victory over Tulsa.

American was the only other Top 25 team to fall to an unranked team, dropping a 3-0 decision to Monmouth.

With UC Santa Barbara trailing Loyola Marymount, 2-0, in the second half, it looks like only three Top 25 teams will complete Week 2 with unbeaten and untied records: No. 1 Akron, No. 12 South Florida and No. 20 Duke (4-0-0).

(Read Monday morning’s Soccer America Daily for the new Soccer America Top 25.)

TOP 25 RESULTS:
Sunday, Sept. 13
Cincinnati 0 No. 1 Akron 3 (own goal 17, Nanchoff 80, Mwila 81).
Boston Univ. 1 (Knox 34) No. 3 St. John’s 0.
Clemson 1 (Thornton 89) No. 4 Wake Forest 3 (Opara 6, Randolph 60, 83).
(Ike Opara scores in last game before joining U.S. U-20s.)
No. 6 Dartmouth 2 (Keat 25, pen. 60) Rhode Island 0.
51st minute: No. 7 UC Santa Barbara 0 Loyola Marymount 2 (Baca 24, Da Silva 34).
Marquette 0 No. 8 UC Irvine 1 (Thompson 57).
No. 11 California 3 (Wiedeman 16, Cosgriff 35, Jimenez 71) Cal Poly 1 (Gray pen. 66).
No. 13 Louisville 1 (Rolfe 50) UIC 1 (Trout 63).
No. 15 Notre Dame 1 (own goal) New Mexico 2 (Davis 38, 92) (OT).
No. 16 Indiana 2 (Bruin 54, Adlard 83) Seattle 0.
No. 17 Northwestern 3 (Bellizzi 23, Eliason pen. 66, 99) Tulsa 2 (Albertson 33, Parada 75) (OT).
No. 18 Connecticut 0 Iona 0.
No. 22 Northern Illinois 1 (De La Cerda 85) Oakland 0.
Monmouth 3 (Clark 1, Kinne 7, Caiella 42) No. 23 American 0.
No. 24 Michigan 3 (Fuzetti 10, Saad 25, Keller 74) Lipscomb 0.
No. 25 South Carolina 1 (Ruthven 45) George Mason 0.

Saturday, Sept. 12
No. 2 North Carolina 2 (Loyd 33, Farfan 65) No. 19 N.C. State 1 (Sanchez 2).

(Read more below for other Sunday results and highlights from around the country.)

MEN’S NEWS … Unranked Santa Clara was the weekend’ big winner, beating No. 7 Notre Dame (2-0) and No. 8 Purdue (3-1).

No. 10 Wake Forest and No. 12 Indiana lost for the first time this season. Washington beat No. 20 Illinois, 1-0, and Penn edged No. 25 Pitt, 2-1, in overtime.

No. 10 Wake Forest and No. 12 Indiana lost for the first time this season. Dartmouth defeated No. 15 West Virginia, 1-0, Washington beat No. 20 Illinois, 1-0, and Penn edged No. 25 Pitt, 2-1, in overtime.

The biggest rout: Three days after losing for the first time, No. 4 Florida State took it out on No. 24 UAB with an 8-0 win. Three different Seminoles had two goals.

PERFECT STARTS
Unbeaten and untied Top 25 teams …
1. North Carolina (6-0-0) 1
2. Stanford (7-0-0) 2
3. Portland (7-0-0) 3
5. Boston College (6-0-0) 6
18. Maryland (7-0-0) NR
25. South Carolina (6-0-0) NR

TOP 25 RESULTS:
Sunday, Sept. 13
No. 2 Stanford 2 (Nogueira 56, Press 58) No. 7 Notre Dame 0.
No. 3 Portland 2 (Enyeart 11, Foxhoven 86) Miami, Fla. 0.
(Pilots complete sweep of Nike Portland Invitational before 3,038 fans.)
No. 4 Florida State 8 (Lim 2, 25, McCarty 10, 29,  Bolinsky 33, 84, Switzer 51, Price 63) No. 24 UAB 0.
No. 5 Boston College 4 (G.DiMartino 16, 63, V.DiMartino 54, Caldwell 76) Long Beach State 0.
No. 6 UCLA 2 (Larsen 2, 46) Gonzaga 0.
Santa Clara 3 (Patton 3, Webster 18, 82) No. 8 Purdue 1 (Forbes 15).
No. 9 California 4 (Omarsdottir 3, Morgan 9, 16, Kevorkian 81) SMU 2 (Briggs 18, Scovill 86)
Connecticut 4 (Cunningham 17, Giddings 31, 55, Clark 39) No. 10 Wake Forest 2 (Hutchinson 48, Fountain 88)
Arizona vs. No. 11 Rutgers (10 pm ET kickoff)
St. John’s 2 (Ludeman 73, McGrath 76) No. 12 Indiana 1 (McKay 11)
Colorado College 0 No. 13 Kansas 0.
No. 14 Florida 3 (King 41, Tymrak 48, Thompson 54) Colorado 1 (Russell 80).
No. 15 West Virginia 0 Dartmouth 1 (O’Dea).
No. 16 Virginia 4 (Lenczyk 12, 20, Rostedt 26, L.Miller 56) Seton Hall 0.
Charlotte 2 (Beam 26, McGowan 87) No. 17 Georgia 3 (Vorless 17, Perry 37, Dennis 64).
No. 18 Maryland 1 (Dreska 60) James Madison 0.
No. 20 Illinois 0 Washington 1 (Perez 83).
No. 23 Penn State 3 (Toney 29, 47, Evans 49) Boston Univ. 0.
Penn 2 (Campbell 85, McDermott 94) No. 25 Pittsburgh 1 (Nicassio 53) (OT).
No. 25 South Carolina 2 (Mattern 56, Grimsley 64) UNC Wilmington 0.
(Goalie Mollie Patton hasn’t given up a goal in 540 minutes.)
No. 25 Vanderbilt 1 (Andrews 3) Missouri 1 (Bonnick 56).

Saturday, Sept. 12
No. 1 North Carolina 2 (Washington 82, McDonald 88) No. 21 Texas A&M 0.

(Read more below for other Sunday results and highlights from around the country.)

MEN’S NEWS … The hottest duo in the men’s ranks is UMBC’s Andrew Bulls and Levi Houapeu.

For the third straight game, Bulls had two goals, while Houapeu added three assists in the Retrievers’ 3-1 win over St. Francis (Pa.) that improved their record to 4-0-0, making them the first Division I men’s team to win four games. Bulls, a sophomore, now has seven goals and four assists in four games. Houapeu, a junior, has four goals and six assists.

Their reputations as scoring threats extend beyond the college game. Bulls’ goal for the Baltimore Bays was named the 2008 Goal of the Year in the first year of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. Houapeu was named to the all-tournament representing D.C. United this summer at the Super-20 men’s championships.

UMBC’s 4-0-0 start is the program’s best since the 1999 season. It will host Mount St. Mary’s Saturday in the final game of the adidas Kick Off Classic.

* OFF TO EGYPT. Goalie Brian Perk and midfielder Michael Stephens played their last game for UCLA Thursday night before leading off to Cyprus, where the USA will begin preparations Sunday for the Under-20 World Cup beginning later this month in Egypt. Both played 79 minutes before coming out in the Bruins’ 4-0 win over UC Davis.

The Bruins should make do without their seniors thanks to one of the deepest squads to grace Westwood in the program’s long history. That was evident Thursday night as freshmen Chandler Hoffman and Evan Raynr combined for three goals off the bench. Brian Rowe, who did not have to make a save in his 20 minutes of action Thursday, will assume starting goalkeeper duties while Perk is away.

* U-20 COLLEGIANS:
Brian Perk (UCLA)
Aaron Maund (Notre Dame)
Ike Opara (Wake Forest)
Brian Ownby (Virginia)
Dillon Powers (Notre Dame)
Michael Stephens (UCLA)

Thursday’s Scoreboard

* WEEKEND TOP 25 ACTION:
Friday, Sept. 11
No. 6 Dartmouth vs. No. 18 Connecticut (Nike Hypertherm Classic)
No. 21 Virginia vs. No. 20 Duke

Saturday, Sept. 12
No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 19 N.C. State

WOMEN’S SOCCER … UCF knocked No. 5 Florida State from the unbeaten ranks Thursday when it defeated the Seminoles, 1-0, on Courtney Whidden‘s golden goal on a header off fellow senior Becca Thomas‘ free kick that touched off a massive celebration among the fans in a school record crowd of 1,142 in Orlando.

“I knew we could do it,” said Whidden. “This team has worked so hard and finally we are getting recognition. We are showing everybody that we need to be ranked. We got what we deserved tonight.”

UCF (4-1-1) had already beaten one ranked ACC team, defeating Duke, 3-2, on Stacie Hubbard‘s late goal off another set piece. The Knights’ only loss was a 4-0 defeat at No. 1 North Carolina.

“Credit to UCF,” said FSU coach Mark Krikorian.  “They came in, had a great game plan and were very organized.  They were disciplined in their defending and limited our chances.  I would say it was a fair result for the game.”
 
Thursday’s Scoreboard

* WEEKEND TOP 25 ACTION:
Friday, Sept. 11
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 8 Purdue (Santa Clara Tournament)
No. 3 Portland vs. No. 20 Illinois (Nike Portland Invitational)
No. 10 Wake Forest vs. No. 23 Penn State (UConn Classic)
No. 16 Virginia vs. No. 15 West Virginia (Virginia Nike Classic)

Saturday, Sept. 12
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 21 Texas A&M

Sunday, Sept. 13
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 7 Notre Dame (Santa Clara Classic)
No. 4 Florida State vs. No. 24 UAB

* INJURY REPORT. Cincinnati lost defender Logan Ballinger with a season-ending injury in Sunday’s match against South Carolina. The junior, the Bearcats’ second-leading scorer when she was injured, will seek a medical redshirt.

SMALL COLLEGE NEWS … Jim Regan played at Bethany College, where he was enshrined in its Hall of Fame in 2005. Son Seth was an all-conference selection for Wheeling Jesuit.

On Wednesday night, they squared off when Wheeling beat Bethany, 5-1, but they switched sides (VIDEO). Jim is in his 27th season as the head coach at Wheeling Jesuit and needs only four more wins to reach the 300 mark in his career. Sean, in his first season as the head coach at Bethany, is still seeking his first win. The Bison is 0-4-0.

“Most people dream of playing professionally,” Seth told woaktv.com, “but when I was little, I never missed one of my dad’s games and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Now to be the head coach at Bethany where he played and run the program that John Cunningham, who was like a second grandfather to me, started, is a dream come true.”

MEN’S NEWS …  Denver lost one of the nation’s top sophomores when Sam Garza tore his anterior cruciate ligament and miniscus in the Pioneers’ game against N.C. State on Friday.

The injury means that Garza, the 2008 MPSF Newcomer of the Year , won’t be joining the U.S. under-20 national team in Cyprus Sunday for preparations for the Under-20 World Cup later this month in Egypt. Hertha Berlin midfielder Bryan Arguez has been added to the U.S. U-20 roster.
 
* Akron will put its No. 1 ranking on the line this week when it travels to Cincinnati to face High Point and the host Bearcats at the inaugural adidas Bearcat Classic on Friday and Sunday. Two easy games? Hardly. Both High Point and Cincinnati are 3-0-0.

HPU has only allowed one goal in three games. “We are excited for the fast start,” said Coach Dustin Fonder. “We are really proud of the fact that we had our second shutout in three games. A goal of ours was to tighten up defensively and it looks like we are starting to do that. “

Hylton Dayes‘ Bearcats scored 12 goals in their three wins — one less goal than they scored all last season. They’ve gotten goals from eight different players, led by Branden Stelmak with three goals.

* Clemson continued to struggle as the winless Tigers had to settle for a 1-1 tie at home with Charlotte on Wednesday night.

Wednesday’s Scoreboard

WOMEN’S NEWS … No. 18 Maryland joined ACC rival Wake Forst and UAB as the first teams to go 6-0-0 when it beat American, 1-0, on Wednesday. An early second-half goal by sophomore Jasmyne Spencer was the difference for the Terps, who had a 20-4 edge in shots but struggled to put away AU.

“American is a good team and they put 10 players behind the ball and made it difficult for us,” said Maryland coach Brian Pensky. “Good teams find ways to win on not so crisp days. And today we were not so crisp.”

* Wednesday’s most intriguing game pitted Morehead State against Kentucky. It marked the return of Warren Lipka to UK, the program he started and coached for 17 years, for the first time since he was dismissed at the end of last season.

Now the coach of Morehead State, Lipka watched the two teams battle to a 0-0 tie. “There were a lot of close calls,” he said. “I think it could have easily been a 2-2 score.”

* Utah’s 2-0 win over Princeton gave Coach Rich Manning his 100th career win. “I got here at the right time [in 2002] and I am very lucky,” said Manning who previously was an assistant at powerhouse Santa Clara.

Wednesday’s Scoreboard

* No. 24 UAB’s game against Samford scheduled for Thursday was postponed due to the sudden passing of Samford men’s basketball player Jim Griffin. No makeup date has been set.

COLLEGE CUP NEWS … Regions Park, the 10,000-seat home of the Double-A Birmingham Barons, hasn’t never hosted a soccer game, but that isn’t stopping the city of Hoover, Ala., from bidding for the 2011 and 2012 Men’s and Women’s College Cups, which will be held jointly for the first time.

Alabama Sports Foundation President Gene Hallman is pushing Hoover as a warm-weather option for the final fours, which have been plagued through the years by cold weather,

“We were told they were looking for a place where they can establish roots on a long-term basis,” Hallman told the Birmingham News. “The city of Hoover is very aggressive going after these types of events. Our intention is to make the bid so attractive that they reward it to Hoover for two years.”

MEN’S NEWS … When you think about summer jobs for a college student, a few come to mind. Camp counselor. Store clerk. Busboy. Lifeguard. But prison guard?

That’s what Kentucky freshman midfielder Matt Lodge did in the summer before leaving his native England to join the Wildcats.

“It was a pretty laid back job, to be honest,” Lodge told Cat Scratches. “I wasn’t dealing with prisoners as much as I could have been. I pretty much just escorted them in and out of their cells, to and from their work places and guarded equipment.”

The prison was a “Cat C” prison — two levels below a maximum-security facility — but a lockdown took place on the day, coincidentally, UK coach Ian Collins was supposed to call Lodge and go over plans for his first season in Lexington.

Collins had discovered Lodge last winter at a trial of English amateur players and already calls the freshman his best player — a huge compliment when you consider the Wildcats feature Soccer America Preseason All-American Barry Rice.

“That is quite a statement about a guy who has been here for a month and a half,” said Collins. “Just the quality he brings every day, the effort level, the intensity, the competitiveness. All of those things are very good and he is just very good.”

Lodge got his first collegiate goal Sunday for the 2-0-0 Wildcats in a 4-1 win over Bowling Green in the finale of the UK Invitational before 1,475 fans.

* THREE-GAME SWEEPS:
Ten teams had 3-0-0 weeks to start the 2009 men’s campaign …Cincinnati (Bearcats are 3-0-0 for the first time since 1999.)

College of Charleston (Senior John Bello had the game-winners against Coastal Carolina and Old Dominion)
Duke (Blue Devils debuted this week in the Soccer America Top 25 at No. 20)
Gardner-Webb (Redshirt-senior Gerard Hefferon was the Soccer For A Classic MVP)
High Point (Brothers Karo and Fejiro Okiomah have three of the Panthers’ four goals)
Iona (Senior Gustavo Destasio scored game-winning goals against Georgia Southern and North Florida)
N.C. State (Wolfpack gets an early ACC test at No. 2 North Carolina on Saturday)
UC Irvine (Sophomore keeper Andrew Fontein has 0.97 GAA, second lowest in school history)
UC Santa Barbara (David Walker matched ’08 season total with three goals at West Virginia Nike Classic)
UMBC (Sophomore Andrew Bulls had five goals and four assists in the three wins)

Tuesday’s results

* HAT TRICK HERO:
— Senior Andy Stadler registered his first career hat trick to lead George Washington to a 7-1 victory over the District of Columbia.

WOMEN’S NEWS … One of the hottest women’s conferences is the SEC. It had six teams make the 2008 NCAA Tournament. More than a dozen games involving SEC teams will be televised this season. And they have been cleaning up in non-conference play.

Six SEC teams — Vanderbilt (5-0-0), South Carolina (4-0-0), Mississippi State (4-0-0), Georgia (4-0-1), Arkansas (4-0-1) and Auburn (2-0-2) — are undefeated after three weeks of play, and no team has a losing record.

The only down note so far came when Florida star Ashlee Elliott was lost for the season with an ACL injury in the Gators’ 2-1 win South Florida. The defending conference champions then traveled to the Illini Challenge Cup and lost to Indiana, 2-1, and Florida, 3-0.

* It’s long way from Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus to California, but the Blackbirds had not trouble adjusting on their trip to San Francisco for the USF odwalla Nike Classic, where they beat the host team and San Jose State by the scores of 2-0 to give them four shutout wins in four games.

The trip was a homecoming for LIU’s six Californians, four of whom started against San Jose State. Ariana Calderon, the 2008 Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year, had the first goal. Also starting were senior Tasia Davis and juniors Sami Bock and Caitlin Meadows.

Tuesday’s results

* HAT TRICK HERO:
— Maggie Lupinski had three goals in 19 minutes in the second half to lead St. Joseph’s to a 5-2 comeback victory at St. Peter’s.

SMALL COLLEGE NEWS … Despite a change in coaches, Messiah rolls on. The 2008 NCAA Division III champion won its first two games under Brad McCarty, who was the Falcons’ top assistant coach for the previous eight years and promoted to head coach when Dave Brandt took the Navy job. Messiah beat Gordon, 5-0, and Fredonia State, 3-0, getting seven of its eight goals in the second half.

A crowd of 1,750 packed Shoemaker Field for the opener in which Nick Thompson opened the scoring with two goals and Derek Black followed with a hat trick in a little more than 10 minutes. “Sometimes it takes a first half to wear down an opponent before you finish some opportunities,” McCarty said.

NSCAA/adidas Top 25 Rankings:
MEN:
NCAA Division II 1. Tampa, 2 Northern Kentucky, 3. Millersville
NCAA Division III 1. Messiah, 2. Stevens Tech, 3. Amherst

WOMEN:
NCAA Division II 1. Seattle Pacific, 2 West Florida, 3. St. Rose
NCAA Division III 1. Messiah, 2. Puget Sound, 3. Williams

NAIA Women’s Players of the Week
Offense: Sarah Akers, Campbellsville (shutouts against Bluefield and Bryan)
Defense: Kimmia Parker, Rogers State (Jamaican international had six goals in 18-0 win over Bacone)

Offense: Abass Ayembillah, Texas-Brownsville (hat trick in the 5-1 upset over No. 16 Southern Nazarene)
Defense: Tanner Fox, Benedictine (recorded wins over Hastings and Sioux Falls)

WOMEN’S NEWS … One of women’s soccer’s best kept secrets is the support BYU receives. After opening with three games on the road — 0-0 tie at Hawaii and wins over West Virginia and Connecticut at the Penn State Invitational — the Cougars returned home to Provo, where they drew crowds of 3,196 and 2,292 for games Friday and Monday.

Fans certainly got their money’s worth as both games were decided in overtime. After losing to William & Mary, 1-0, BYU fell behind against Oklahoma State but rallied to beat the Cowgirls, 2-1. Freshman Carlee Payne scored the tying goal and set up sophomore Jennie Marshall for the winner in the second overtime. “Ups and downs are a part of sports,” BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “But to have a young team play with composure throughout the game says a lot.”

Payne had both game-winners last week at Penn State. The goal was Marshall’s first this year. “Carlee was brilliant today,” added Rockwood, “and did a great job getting the ball to Jennie who is a great scorer.”

Monday’s results

* PERFECT STARTS
UAB 6-0-0 (Blazers are off to best start in school history)
Wake Forest 6-0-0 (Jill Hutchinson and Kaley Fountain have 14 points apiece)
Florida State 5-0-0 (Jessica Price leads the Seminoles with 15 points)
Indiana 5-0-0 (Dating back to last season, the Hoosiers have won eight games in a row)
Kansas 5-0-0 (Jayhawks open 5-0-0 for the second year in a row)
Louisiana Tech 5-0-0 (Rachel King had back-to-back hat tricks last week)
Marshall 5-0-0 (Thundering Herd opens with three 2-0 wins and two 1-0 wins)
Maryland 5-0-0 (Five-game winning streak is the Terps’ longest in a decade)
New Mexico 5-0-0 (Redshirt freshman Kelli Cornell has four shutouts in goal)
North Carolina 5-0-0 (Heels have gotten goals from 11 different players)
Portland 5-0-0 (Sophie Schmidt and Danielle Foxhoven have 11 of UP’s 16 goals)
Purdue 5-0-0 (Won Boilermaker Challenge Cup with a 6-1 win over Ball State on Monday)
Stanford 5-0-0 (Scored five goals in 26 minutes and 33 minutes in different games)
Vanderbilt 5-0-0 (Commodores also won first five matches in 2008)
… Eight teams at 4-0-0
… One team at 3-0-0
… One team at 2-0-0

* Canadian international Sophie Schmidt, who four goals in the No. 3 Portland’s 5-1 win over Columbia, is the Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week.

This week’s Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week.

MEN’S NEWS … Penn State senior Jason Yeisley‘s comeback following two knee injuries and a 20-month layoff is an amazing story.

A member of the Soccer America All-Freshman Team and MVP of the Big Ten Tournament in 2005, he suffered a knee injury and was lost for the season seven games into the 2006 season. The same thing happened in 2007, only this time he went down with a month remaining in the season — he still led the Lions in scoring and earned All-Big Ten honors.

After sitting out the 2008 season, Yeisley got a jumpstart on the 2009 campaign when the Lions traveled to Brazil in the spring for a 10-day tour during which they played four games against local competition, saw Ronaldo play for Corinthians twice and visited the Pele museum. Yeisley also played for the PDL’s Reading Rage over the summer

Yeisley returned to Penn State for a fifth year — he has to only take one English class to complete his degree in business and is taking a yoga class for fun — and has gotten off to a remarkable start. He earned Soccer America Player of the Week honors with three goals and an assist in three games for the 2-1-0 Nittany Lions.

(Yeisley chronicles the buildup to the 2009 season, including the Brazil tour, at his Penn State sports blog.)

This week‘s Soccer America Men’s Team of the Week

* Clemson is going through hard times. The Tigers are coming off their first back-to-back losing seasons, they lost long-time coach Trevor Adair, who resigned in June following his arrest for allegedly assaulting his two daughters, and they opened with a 3-1 defeat to unheralded Gardner-Webb.

Still, Clemson enjoys remarkable support. Its annual match with state rival South Carolina is one of the best draws in college, as evidenced by the 6,121 fans who turned out on Friday at Riggs Field. Clemson lost, 1-0, but not without trying. In the second half, Francklin Blaise hit the post, and Mike Mattson‘s header was tipped off the crossbar and out of play.

“I’m disappointed, but I’m staying positive,” said Clemson interim coach Phil Hindson. “In the first two matches, we have not scored the first goal and that is hard.” He liked how the Tigers moved the ball around during the second half against South Carolina. “Our players cannot give any more effort,” he added. “They have played reasonably well in the first two games. I know that taking this many shots that something good will happen.”

* For the second game in a row, Aaron O’Neal scored twice for No. 14 Boston University, leading the Terriers to a 3-0 win over Providence. Also on Monday, DePaul handed No. 17 Northwestern its first loss of the season when it beat its Chicago area rival, 2-1. No. 8 UC Irvine improved to 3-0-0 when it beat Cleveland State, 2-0, to win its UC Irvine College Classic.

Monday’s results

* The shocker: LIU’s 2-0 win over Santa Clara …

MEN’S NEWS … Heading into the 2009 season, Akron had several question marks. Who would replace Hermann Trophy winner Steve Zakuani, who left after his sophomore season and signed with MLS’s Seattle Sounders FC? And who would replace four-year starter Evan Bush in goal?

After the opening weekend of play, it looked like the Zips have found a replacement for Bush but finding a goalscorer to replace Zakuani will be a bit harder.

Freshman goalkeeper David Meves earned a pair of shutouts as Akron beat SMU and Tulsa by 1-0 scores to sweep the to the Radisson Tulsa Airport Classic and move into the top spot in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25.

For the time being, Akron will get its goals by committee. The Zips hit the post twice against SMU and needed a penalty kick from Blair Gavin to win on Friday. Another midfielder, Anthony Ampaipitakwong, had the goal against Tulsa.

* It was not a great week for the three ACC teams ranked in the Preseason Top 25. North Carolina had to settle for a 1-1 tie with Northern Illinois and fell to No. 2 behind Akron in this week’s rankings. Defending national champion Maryland lost to UCLA, 2-0, in its opener, while 2007 champion Wake Forest managed only four goals (one an own goal) in three games and went 2-0-1. But before you write off the ACC …

— Virginia put a horrible preseason behind it and beat Portland, 3-0, and Washington, 2-1, at the Portland Nike Invitational. Sophomore Tony Tchani, back after missing the last part of the 2008 season with a knee injury, set the tone with two goals in the first 15 minutes in the opener against Portland.

— Duke and N.C. State both won two games at the Duke/Nike Classic to move to 3-0-0. Denver, the defending MPSF champion, arrived in Durham with a No. 25 ranking, but N.C. State blew the Pioneers away, 4-0, and Duke won, 2-0, two days later.

*TOP 25 ACTION:
Sunday, Sept. 6
No. 22 Tulsa 0 No. 2 Akron 1 (Ampaipitakwong 10)
No. 3 St. John’s 2 (Wegge Gundhus 68, Becerra 90) No. 10 Notre Dame 0.
No. 4 Indiana 1 (Alexander 52) No. 5 Wake Forest 2 (own goal 13, Randolph 72)
No. 8 Maryland 2 (Herrick 5, 96) No. 7 California 1 (Salciccia 78) (OT).

Saturday, Sept. 5
No. 6 Creighton 1 (Sinovic 81) No. 20 Cal Poly 0.
No. 13 Connecticut 0 No. 24 Boston Univ. 3 (Berube 30, O’Neal 86, 90)

Friday, Sept. 4
No. 4 Indiana 0 No. 3 St. John’s 0.
No. 5 Wake Forest 1 (Norman 13) No. 10 Notre Dame 1 (Thomas pen. 77).
No. 8 Maryland 0 No. 9 UCLA 2 (Alvarado 77, Hollingshead 83).

This weekend’s Top 25 results and goal scorers

* CROWD COUNT:
— Maryland drew a record crowd of 6,718 fans at Ludwig Field on Friday night for its game against UCLA. The game had a festive atmosphere. Students wore commemorative red and black scarves to celebrate last year’s NCAA title, and the Terrapin players raced through the goal Coach Sasho Cirovski paid $10,000 and shipped from Pizza Hut Park, where they beat North Carolina in the ’08 final. The Terps have the goal from their 2005 national championship in another corner of the field.

— In a game that started Friday night and ended early Saturday morning, Bradley drew a record crowd of 2,612 for its 1-1 tie with Memphis on Fox Soccer Channel. The Busey Bank Kickoff Festival included a promotion that allowed Peoria fans to pick up a coupon for one free ticket at 19 locations.

— Other big men’s crowds included 3,920 for the first day of the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic, 3,495 for Boston University’s 3-0 win at Connecticut and 2,938 for UC Santa Barbara’s 2-0 win at West Virginia.

WOMEN’S NEWS … North Carolina, No. 1 in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 for the third week in a row, again scored early and often. Two weeks after it beat last year’s NCAA semifinalist UCLA, 7-2, Carolina won, 6-0, at 2008 runner-up Notre Dame.

Against the Bruins, it won only 41 seconds for Tobin Heath to score the first goal. On Friday night, sophomore forward Courtney Jones beat that, scoring after only 23 seconds.

Against UCLA, Carolina had three goals on the board after 13 minutes. In South Bend, it took slightly longer, only 20 minutes.

“It’s disappointing to come out and play like we did, especially when we had such an amazing crowd on the first night in this wonderful new stadium,” said Notre Dame coach Randy Waldrum.

The game drew a sellout crowd of 3,000 at the new Alumni Stadium.

* Besides Carolina, four other ACC teams are still perfect after three weeks: No. 4 Florida State (5-0-0), No. 5 Boston College (3-0-0), No. 10 Wake Forest (6-0-0) and No. 18 Maryland (5-0-0). The Terrapins are the big surprise, beating Santa Clara, 1-0, on sophomore Ashley Grove‘s game to extend its winning streak to five games, their longest in a decade. The key, according to Coach Brian Pensky, is the Terrapins are playing with a lot of confidence.

* With 2-1 wins over ranked Florida and Mercer, No. 12 Indiana matched its best start ever at 5-0-0. Leigh Anne Cummings won the Florida game with a golden goal, while Kelly Lawrence assisted on both goals in the comeback against Mercer. As big as the Florida win was, IU coach Mick Lyon like the Mercer victory just as much. “[Mercer] is a very good team and will win a lot of games this year.”

*TOP 25 ACTION:
Sunday, Sept. 6
No. 8 UCLA 3 (Leroux 51, Larsen 75, Lang 88) No. 7 Florida 0.

Friday, Sept. 4
No. 4 Notre Dame 0 No. 1 North Carolina 6 (Jones 1, McDonald 7, 55, Klingenberg 20, Bartok 37, Nogueira 50)
No. 3 Portland 2 (Reed 21, 44) No. 23 Colorado College 0.
No. 5 Florida State 2 (Huster 57, Lim 81) No. 10 Penn State 1 (Toney 79).
No. 16 Illinois 1 (Nweke 37)  No. 8 UCLA 2 (Leroux 4, Cheney 79).
No. 14 California 1 (Kevorkian 70) No. 13 Texas A&M 0.

This weekend’s Top 25 results and goal scorers

SMALL COLLEGE NEWS … Division II Saint Leo was forced to cancel two women’s games because five players were among 17 students confirmed to have come down with swine flu.

Saint Leo, the preseason favorite to win the Sunshine State Conference, was scheduled to open with games at West Florida against the 2008 NCAA Division II runner-up and Delta State.

It marked the second straight week the UWF women had a game canceled. The Argos’ opener against Thomas was canceled because of thunderstorms A men’s game between West Florida and St. Leo went ahead in Pensacola and the UWF won, 2-1.

MEN’S NEWS … This year’s darkhorse in men’s soccer could be N.C. State. At the very least, the Wolfpack has a good shot of winning the ACC — something it hasn’t done since 1990 when its championship team featured future national team players Dario Brose and Henry Gutierrez and a backup goalie in Robert Gibbs, now President Barack Obama‘s press secretary.

Defending ACC and national champion Maryland, Wake Forest and Boston College face major rebuilding, Clemson and Virginia Tech lost their coaches in the offseason, Virginia and Duke begin the season with question marks. That leaves only No. 1 North Carolina and N.C. State reasonably confident about what they have to offer.

Enthusiasm is high in Raleigh, as evidenced by the 1,800 fans who turned out on opening day to watch the Wolfpack defeat Winthrop, 3-1. N.C. State was one of the best teams in the ACC over the second half of last season, winning eight of its last 11 games, and it returned everyone. Seven seniors, three juniors and one sophomore started in Tuesday’s opener.

The Wolfpack’s lineup is a mix of locals — five starters from North Carolina — and foreigners — including starters born in Cameroon, Congo, England, Venezuela and Argentina, Coach George Tarantini‘s home country (his brother Alberto starred on the 1978 World Cup championship team).

Ronnie Bouemboue, who was born in Congo and attended high school in Brooklyn, is the Wolfpack’s top scoring threat and most inspirational player. He missed most of the 2006 season and all of the 2007 season with knee injuries but recovered to score 14 goals in 2008. Bouemboue, who had a goal and an assist against Winthrop, was nominated for the 2009 Lowe’s Senior CLASS award, having served two terms as the president of N.C. State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and been active in charity works.

All four other foreigners are second-year seniors. Left back Korede Aiyegbusi, who was born in London to Nigerian parents and represented England in the 2009 World University Games, and Cameroonian midfielder Chrystel Bakong both took the JC route to Raleigh. Defenders Federico Nachmann, 24, and Romulo Manzano, 21, arrived last season from Argentina and Venezuela, respectively.

* No. 4 Indiana will be without Soccer America Preseason All-American Ofori Sarkodie for the rematch of its 2008 NCAA quarterfinal match with No. 3 St. John’s Friday at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington. Sarkodie is serving a one-game suspension for his red card in the Hoosiers’ 3-2 loss to St. John’s.

TOP 25 MATCHUPS:
Friday
No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 3 St. John’s (adidas/IU Credit Union Classic)
No. 5 Wake Forest vs. No. 10 Notre Dame (adidas/IU Credit Union Classic)
No. 8 Maryland vs. No. 9 UCLA

Saturday
No. 6 Creighton vs. No. 20 Cal Poly
No. 13 Connecticut vs. No. 24 Boston Univ.

Sunday
No. 22 Tulsa vs. No. 2 Akron (Radisson Tulsa Airport Classic)
No. 3 St. John’s vs. No. 10 Notre Dame (adidas/IU Credit Union Classic)
No. 4 Indiana vs. No. 5 Wake Forest (adidas/IU Credit Union Classic)

(Follow all the action with Soccer America’s Men’s College Weekend Scoreboard.)

WOMEN’S NEWS … North Carolina-Notre Dame ranks as the top rivalry in women’s college soccer. They’ll meet for the 17th time Friday night when the Tar Heels are the guests for the ailing Irish’s first women’s game at the new Alumni Stadium.

Five of the 16 meetings have been for the national championship, most recently in 2008 when the Tar Heels rallied after going down, 1-0, in the first minute and won, 2-1, on a pair of world-class goals by Casey Nogueira.

Heading into Friday’s Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic, North Carolina (3-0-0) is No. 1 and Notre Dame (2-0-0) is No. 4 in this week’s Soccer America Top 25.

Carolina has arguably the deepest team Anson Dorrance has ever assembled. Nogueira, 2008 Olympic gold-medalist Tobin Heath, Courtney Jones and Nikki Washington lead the attack that has scored 13 goals in three games. The Tar Heel defense includes goalie Ashlyn Harris, who was called up to the U.S. national team camp that begins next week.

On the other hand, the Irish entered a rebuilding year, having lost two-time Hermann Trophy winner Kerri Hanks, Brittany Bock, Carrie Dew and Elise Weber to WPS. To make matters worse, the Irish have been without their two senior co-captains, Michele Weissenhofer and Courtney Rosen. Weissenhofer has been bothered with hamstring problems, while Rosen is out indefinitely after breaking her left foot during preseason training.

TRIVIA: North Carolina won all five NCAA championship games against Notre Dame and leads the series with a 10-4-2 record. Perhaps the Irish’s most memorable accomplishment involved the 0-0 tie on Oct. 2, 1994 in St. Louis. Goalkeeper Jen Renola made 11 saves for Notre Dame, which snapped UNC’s NCAA record 92-game winning streak, the third time an Irish squad had broken an NCAA-record success string (joining football’s 1957 win at Oklahoma that ended the Sooners’ 47-game streak, and the 1974 men’s basketball team that stopped UCLA’s 88-game run).

Notre Dame-North Carolina Audio UND.com

* It wasn’t for a lack of trying that Wisconsin-Milwaukee fell to Marquette, 2-0, for its first loss at home since 2006. The Panthers held a 15-2 shot advantage in the second half after falling behind by two goals. “We completely dismantled them,” said UWM coach Michael Moynihan. “It was as good as I think I have ever seen our team play.” The game drew a women’s record crowd of 1,307 at Engelmann Field.

* Thursday night Top 25 action: Defending Big West champion UC Santa Barbara held No. 15 Michigan State to a 1-1 tie, while No. 9 West Virginia cruised past Duquesne, 4-0.

TOP 25 MATCHUPS:
Friday
No. 4 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 North Carolina (Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic)
No. 3 Portland vs. No. 23 Colorado College (Husky/Nike Invitational)
No. 5 Florida State vs. No. 10 Penn State
No. 16 Illinois vs. No. 8 UCLA (Illini Challenge Cup)
No. 14 California vs. No. 13 Texas A&M (Cal Invitational)

Sunday, Sept. 6
No. 7 Florida vs. No. 8 UCLA (Illini Challenge Cup)

(Follow all the action with Soccer America’s Women’s College Weekend Scoreboard.)

TELEVISION NEWS … Bradley has scheduled a 10 p.m. kickoff (11 p.m. ET) for Friday’s match against Memphis, the opening game of the NSCAA College Game of the Week on Fox Soccer Channel.

Eleven of the 12 men’s matches will be played on Friday nights. All but one of the eight women’s matches will be featured on Sunday afternoon. Women’s action debuts on Sept. 20 when Boston University hosts Harvard.

(Read more for the complete NSCAA College Game of the Week schedule.)

MEN’S NEWS … It’s a long way from California to Storrs, Conn., but it’s a testament to Coach Ray Reid‘s power of persuasion that he’s convinced five Californians to play for the Huskies.

In his UConn debut, Alan Ponce, a JC transfer from Rio Honda Community College, scored the winning goal on a nifty header, and fellow California Kwame Siriboe-Watson scored the first goal, also a header, in his four years with the Huskies to lead them to a 2-0 win over St. Peter’s in Wednesday’s opener.

Also making his college debut was highly touted freshman Carlos Alvarez, who spent time in camps with both the U.S. and Mexican youth national teams. Like Siriboe-Watson, Shawn Nicklaw is a returning starter on the UConn backline. UConn’s fifth Golden Stater, Cruz Hernandez, came off the bench against St. Peter’s.

(Click here for extended highlights of UConn-St. Peter’s.)

* Overshadowed by the final of the U.S. Open Cup at RFK Stadium was the opening day of the D.C. College Cup on Wednesday evening at George Mason Stadium. Parker Walton knocked in the game-winning goal in the 86th minute to lift No. 19 George Mason past Howard, 2-1. American shut out George Washington, 2-0, on goals by David Menzie and Karsten Smith.

* South Carolina’s 3-1 win over Charlotte on Tuesday was costly. Senior defender Mark Wiltse, who had started 52 of 53 games at South Carolina, was lost for the season with a broken right leg. He will be eligible for a medical hardship.

* Soccer America’s Men’s College Scoreboard has all of Wednesday’s results and the rest of the week’s Top 25 matches.

WOMEN’S NEWS … Georgetown set a school record with its fourth straight shutout to start the season, a 4-0 win over James Madison on Wednesday. “Our center backs, Michaela [Buonomo] and Gabby [Miller], have been outstanding,” Hoya coach Dave Nolan said. “Michaela is adopting more of a leadership role and Gabby is her silent counterpart in the middle.”

The Hoya should be very dangerous in the Big East with the return of playmaker Ingrid Wells, who red-shirted in 2008 to play for the USA at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup. “The two goals in the first half were set up by identical slotted passes from Ingrid,” Nolan said. “She moves so fast that it is hard for other teams to single-team and even double-team her defensively.”
 
* Roxanne Tebbs, who transferred from Utah to Weber State after her freshman year, returned to Salt Lake City and haunted the Utes scoring the only goal in a 1-0 victory that snapped No. 19 Utah’s four-game winning streak.

The Utes outshot the Wildcats 28-12, but were unable to finish their chances. Utah coach Rich Manning could not fault his players’ efforts.m “They defended with passion and heart and [Rebecca Ritchie] was great in goal,” he said. “They had a chance and scored on it, and we were not good enough in front of the net on ours.”

HAT TRICK HERO (Wednesday, Sept. 2):
— Louisiana Tech’s Rachel King scored three goals in the 7-1 win over Prairie View A&M.

* Soccer America’s Women’s College Scoreboard has all of Wednesday’s results and the rest of the week’s Top 25 matches.

SMALL COLLEGE NEWS … On a day when thick smoke from a wildfire hovered over the San Gabriel Mountains in the background and temperatures soared above 100 degrees, Cal Baptist and Azusa Pacific pulled off a pair of upsets in an interregional clash of women’s NAIA powers.

CBU ended defending champion and top-ranked Lee’s 19-game winning streak with a 1-0 victory on freshman Kitra Walters‘ goal. Defender Katie Rorabaugh had two goals and an assist for host Azusa Pacific in its 3-1 win over No. 3 Lindsey Wilson.

The first day of the Cougar classic had been moved from Azusa to Riverside because of the fires. Lee beat Azusa Pacific, 1-0, while Cal Baptist upset Lindsey Wilson, 3-1.

SMALL COLLEGE NEWS … The fall was swift for defending NCAA Division II men’s champion Cal State Dominguez Hills. The Toros, ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA/adidas preseason rankings, dropped out of the Top 25 after they fell at Grand Canyon, 2-1. St. Mary’s transfer Kyle Ciliento led GCU with both goals.

By contrast, No. 2 Dowling fell to Franklin Pierce, 3-0, and only dropped to No. 15. The new No. 1 is Tampa.

Seattle Pacific remained No. 1 in the Division II women’s rankings after the Falcons extended their unbeaten streak to 19 games with 1-0 wins over Cal State Monterey Bay and San Francisco State.

Read more for the complete men’s and women’s Division II rankings …

MEN’S NEWS … No. 1 North Carolina opened the season Tuesday with a 5-0 victory over UNC Asheville, but few other Top 25 teams had it as easy on opening day.

Two Top 25 teams fell at home to unranked teams — No. 17 Loyola (Md.) to Villanova and No. 20 Cal Poly to UNLV, both by 1-0 scores — while No. 6 Creighton, No. 11 Northwestern and No. 24 Boston University all had to settle for ties.

No. 16 UC Irvine pulled the night’s best comeback, going down at Santa Clara, 2-0, on a pair of goals by former U.S. U-17 star Mykell Bates before rallying to win, 3-2, on Amani Walker‘s golden goal.

TOP 25 RESULTS:
Tuesday, Sept. 1
No. 1 North Carolina 5 (Urso 22, 86, Dixon 61, Martinez 80, McCarthy 86) UNC Asheville 0.
No. 5 Wake Forest 1 (Schilawski 73) William & Mary 0.
No. 6 Creighton 0 Loyola (Ill.) 0.
No. 10 Notre Dame 5 (Brovsky 26, Perry 50, Dike 64, 71, 77) No. 21 Michigan 0.
Wisconsin-Green Bay 3 (Banks 69, Raymonds 74, Basty 80) No. 11 Northwestern 3 (Eliason 29, 39, Bellizzi 71).
No. 15 UC Santa Barbara 3 (Hedevag 7, Nonni 10, 89) Cal State Bakersfield 1 (Coppieters pen. 37).
Santa Clara 2 (Bates 2, 43) No. 16 UC Irvine 3 (Bagby 64, Garcia 81, Walker 104) (OT).
No. 17 Loyola (Md.) 0 Villanova 1 (Soroka 83).
No. 18 South Florida 2 (Gonzalez 24, Boggs 31) UCF 1 (Simmons 76).
No. 20 Cal Poly 0 UNLV 1 (Marshall). (OT)
No. 22 Tulsa 2 (Albertson 77, Parada 87) Missouri State 0.
Massachusetts 1 (DeNormandie 42) No. 24 Boston Univ. 1 (Taylor 65).

Here is this week’s Top 25 schedule.

Elsewhere …

* Graceland’s 4-0 victory over Western Illinois was a major victory for NAIA soccer. Canadians Diego Gonzalez and Roger Thompson teamed up for Gonzalez’s first goal after two minutes and it was all downhill from there for WIU. Jamaican Andre Sharpe, Gonzalez (again set up by Thompson) and Ian Christensen added goals in the second half. “The team has gelled well early in the season,” said Graceland coach Aldemar Angel Monroy. “We’ve got some really good newcomers and some seasoned returners that have helped to mold us.”

* Virginia Tech and Clemson, two ACC powers, facing transition years, both lost on Tuesday. Virginia Tech trailed, 2-0, at UMBC after only 26 minutes and lost, 3-1, in Mike Brizendine‘s debut as Hokie head coach following Oliver Weiss‘s resignation. After seven losses, Gardner-Webb finally beat Clemson, 1-0, when John Sargent lobbed Tigers keeper Joseph Bendik in the 34th minute. Tiger assistant Phil Hindson took over as interim head coach following Coach Trevor Adair‘s resignation in June.

* Saint Louis University coach Dan Donigan is fuming after the Billikens fell to New Mexico, 3-0, at home. “This was obviously a disappointing way to begin the season,” he said. “We can’t make those simple, fundamental mistakes that are preventable against a tough team like New Mexico. This is an unacceptable performance by our team, and we are not going to forget this.”

— Xavier canceled its match with Radford on the recommendation of the Cincinnati Health Department. Xavier students have been experiencing mild influenza-like symptoms and the university is canceling or postponing many major events.

— Getting his first collegiate goal in Stetson’s 1-0 win over Northwood was Matt Hoskins, son of new USL chairman Rob Hoskins.

Hat trick heroes:

— Bright Dike scored the last three goals in No. 10 Notre Dame’s 5-0 win over No. 21 Michigan in the first game at Alumni Stadium that drew 1,818 fans.
— For the second straight season, Liberty’s Darren Amoo scored three goals on opening day, this time in a 10-1 win over Division II Concord.
— Arie Muniz led the Appalachian State onslaught with a hat trick in the Mountaineers’ 10-0 win over Division III Emory & Henry.
— Despite a second-half hat trick from redshirt junior Riley Phelps, Coastal Carolina fell to the College of Charleston, 4-3.

(Read more for all of Tuesday’s other Division I results and goal scorers of all the games.)

WOMEN’S NEWS … It took only two weeks, but Oklahoma has already topped its win total for all of last season. The Sooners, who went 3-15-1 in 2008, have opened with four straight wins.

Whitney Palmer tied a school record with three goals on Sunday as OU rallied to beat Tulsa, 3-1.

“Each game we have won,” said OU second-year coach Nicole Nelson. “We’ve won in a different manner.  We’ve scored early, not scored in the first half, came right back and scored to start the second half, and it was good for us to have to come from behind.”

Freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Devonshire improved to 4-0 on the season despite allowing her first goal of the season. Another freshman standout is Dria Hampton (two goals in four games).

(Read more for a look at the Sooner starters against Tulsa.)