Category: College Soccer Reporter

MEN’S NEWS … The men’s season kicks off Tuesday, and the marquee matchup pits No. 10 Notre Dame against No. 21 Michigan in the Irish’s first game at the new Alumni Stadium, which features a natural grass field, lights, locker rooms, restrooms and concession areas. The lead benefactors for the $5.7 million facility are former Irish soccer players Tom Crotty and Rob Snyder.

Both teams are loaded with young talent. Notre Dame sophomore Aaron Maund and freshman Dillon Powers will leave following the game against New Mexico on Sept. 14 to join the U.S. under-20 national team for the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt. Michigan has one of the deepest freshman classes in the country with Latif Alashe, Hamoody Saad and Kofi Opare among the standouts.

The Irish were perfect in preseason action, while Michigan was 1-0-2 in exhibition play.

Tuesday’s Top 25 Action:
No. 1 North Carolina vs. UNC Asheville
No. 5 Wake Forest vs. William & Mary
No. 6 Creighton vs. Loyola (Ill.)
No. 10 Notre Dame vs. No. 21 Michigan
Wisconsin-Green Bay vs. No. 11 Northwestern
Santa Clara vs. No. 16 UC Irvine
No. 17 Loyola (Md.) vs. Villanova
Massachusetts vs. No. 24 Boston Univ.
No. 18 South Florida vs. UCF
No. 20 Cal Poly vs. UNLV
No. 22 Tulsa vs. Missouri State

Complete Top 25 Schedule

* Virginia got some much-needed good news when sophomore Chris Agorsor was cleared to begin practicing with the Cavaliers.

Agorsor, considered the top freshman recruit in 2008, was lost with a knee injury (torn anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments) suffered in the seventh game of the season. He was held out until a question about his eligibility was cleared up with the NCAA. Agorsor, who missed Virginia’s three exhibition losses, won’t travel with the Cavs for their opening games this weekend at Portland.

Virginia is also awaiting word on the eligibility of German newcomer Ole Hengelbrock, a 21-year-old defender from VfL Osnabrueck, the same club where former Cav star Yannick Reyering played.

* With 10 returning starters, UNC Wilmington had high hopes for the 2009 season, but they suffered a major blow when Devan Carroll, the 2008 CAA Player of the Year, was suspended from the team and the university because of a violation of team rules. “Unfortunately, Devan put himself into a situation that has resulted in him no longer being a part of our soccer program this season,” said Coach Aidan Heaney

WOMEN’S NEWS … DePaul’s 1-0 victory over Missouri propelled the Blue Demons into the Soccer America Top 25 for the first time in their 14-year history, but Coach Erin Chastain, sister-in-law of U.S. great Brandi Chastain, says she is not paying much attention.

“Anyone is capable of beating a good team on any given day,” she said. “I think our players will gain a little confidence from the Missouri game, but right now we’re focusing on Friday’s game at Iowa State.”

Freshman keeper Claire Hanold has three shutouts in her first four games.  “This is really exciting for her,” Chastain said of Hanold. “She has been outstanding for us in goal.”

* Portland sophomore Danielle Foxhoven, who scored the first two goals in the No. 3 Pilots’ 4-0 win over California and both goals in 2-0 victory over Washington, heads the Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week.

* Monday Top 25 action:

— No. 10 Penn State twice rallied from one goal down to beat Connecticut, 3-2, on Monday. Nittany Lion subs Nikki Watts and Ali Schaefer provided the offensive spark that turned the game around. Schaefer set up Watts for the tying goal in the 76th minute, and Watts found freshman Christine Nairn for the winning goal less three minutes later. Nairn debuted for the U.S. national team this summer.

— In the other game at the Penn State Invitational, No. 25 BYU defeated No. 9 West Virginia, 1-0, on freshman Carlee Payne‘s golden goal.

WOMEN’S NEWS … It was not a good weekend for teams in the Soccer America Top 25. Nine lost to unranked teams.

— Duke fell twice, losing to UNC Greensboro, 1-0, and UCF, 3-2, at the Carolina Nike Invitational. The Blue Devils outshot UNCG, 22-5, but couldn’t win in a game delayed 69 minutes because of lightning. Against UCF, Duke lost starting center back Nicole Lipp in the 25th minute with an injury and did not return. Coach Robbie Church took the blame for the loss, saying he failed to readjust his defense after Lynnea Pappas equalized in the 85th minute. Less than two minutes later, Stacie Hubbard scored the winner on a UCF corner.

— USC fell to 0-2 after losing to St. John’s, 2-1, on Sunday. (Two days earlier, the Trojans lost to Mexico’s national team, 2-0, in an exhibition.) Sunday’s defeat was USC’s first at McAlister Field since 2006. The Trojans lost despite playing with a player advantage after Courtney Lane was red carded in the 54th minute for a foul that led to the tying goal on a penalty kick by Megan Ohai. Raelynne Lee later gave St. John’s the win.

— The highest ranked team to lose was Texas A&M. It took Sylvia Forbes only four seconds to score for Purdue, and the Boilermakers went on to win, 3-2, before 6,589 fans. “We’re upset with the result, but you can’t take anything away from Purdue,” said A&M coach G Guerrieri. “They played great.”

— Other wins by unranked teams over Top 25 teams: BYU-Connecticut (1-0), Utah-Santa Clara (1-0), Georgia-Minnesota (2-0), Hofstra-Richmond (1-0), Colorado College-Washington State (2-1).

* Here is this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25.

* As a precaution, Stanford assistant coach Jay Cooney decided to drive his own car to the No. 2 Cardinal’s game at Cal Poly, and it’s a good thing he did. He got the call after he had driven for about an hour that his wife, Greta, was in labor. He turned around, missing Stanford’s 2-1 win, and made it in plenty of time for the birth of their second son, Hayes, at 6:25 p.m. Hayes’ numbers were as healthy as the Cardinal’s: 20.5 inches, 7 pounds, 13 oz.

MEN’S NEWS … Virginia won’t get out of Charlottesville fast enough and get on with the regular season. The Cavaliers lost their third straight preseason exhibition, falling to West Virginia, 2-0, on Saturday night at Kloeckner Stadium. The defeat followed losses last week to George Mason (1-0) and Old Dominion (3-1).

“I think if we get guys motivated and going we will be fine,” Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. “The other part of it is going to be getting a couple guys healthy.” The Cavs open the regular season this weekend at the Nike Portland Invitational, where they will face Portland and Washington.

* Weekend highlights from the National Soccer Festival in Ft. Wayne, Ind.: No. 2 Akron beat Wisconsin, 2-1, on Anthony Ampaipitakwong‘s free kick. Rich Balchan, Alec Purdie and Andy Adlard scored to give No. 4 Indiana a 3-0 win over DePaul.

* No. 9 UCLA and No. 16 UC Irvine battled to a 1-1 tie on Saturday afternoon. After a listless first half, play heated up after intermission. Brett Berman put the Anteaters ahead in the 48th minute, and Prince Lapnet fed freshman Evan Raynr for the equalizer in the 84th minute. “We trained hard throughout the week, so we knew they would be a little lethargic,” said UCLA coach Jorge Salcedo. “Prince and Dakota [Collins] came in and did well and had some great energy, and Michael Stephens could have scored in the overtime on a pass from Prince.”

WOMEN’S NEWS … This weekend’s most intriguing matchup of Top 25 teams takes place Friday in Portland, where the No. 3 Pilots host No. 16 California.

The game will be a reunion of former U.S. under-20 national team stars. Alex Morgan, who scored a hat trick for Cal in its 4-1 win over Nevada, will face UP stars Elli Reed, Keelin Winters and Michelle Enyeart. They all missed the 2009 NCAA Tournament because of the Under-20 Women’s World Cup the USA won with a 2-0 win over North Korea in the final.

Cal will be without Katrin Omarsdottir, who is playing for Iceland (0-2 after two games at the 2009 European Women’s Championship). In Omarsdottir’s absence, the Bears have been getting some quality time from Zulma Munoz, a sophomore who played for the Cal women’s club team in 2008.

* Follow the weekend Top 25 action at the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 Scoreboard.

* Only two Top 25 teams were in mid-week action:

— After scoring 21 goals last season as a freshman, Laura Heyboer picked up where she left off, scoring No. 18 Michigan State’s first goal of the season less than four minutes into the Spartans’ 3-0 win over Oakland.

—  Senior captain Caycie Gusman scored back-to-back goals in the first half to help secure No. 22 Rutgers a 4-0 win over UMBC.

* Robyn DesOrmeaux, who started for four years (2001-04) at LSU, died early Thursday morning following a six-year battle with cancer. She was 27.
 
DesOrmeaux, the LSU’s all-time leader with 28 wins, fought a courageous six-year battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer that is commonly found in the pelvis. She was diagnosed with the disease on Nov. 11, 2004, in the weeks after completing her athletic eligibility at LSU.
 
When DesOrmeaux was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, she was given only a 10 percent chance to live five years, but she persevered and graduated from LSU in 2006 with a degree in general studies.

Fans who wish to assist the DesOrmeaux family with medical bills and funeral expenses can donate to the Robyn DesOrmeaux Donations Trust Account at any Chase Bank location.

MEN’S NEWS … Three Soccer America Men’s Preseason All-Americans — UCLA’s Brian Perk and Michael Stephens and Wake Forest’s Ike Opara — are among the 21 players named to the U.S. under-20 national team that will compete in the world championships in Egypt.

FC Dallas defender Anthony Wallace and Perk are the only players with prior U-20 World Cup experience.

Notre Dame is the only other team with two collegians on the team: Aaron Maund, who represented Trinidad & Tobago at the U-17 level, and Dillon Powers. Other U-20s expected to play during the ’09 college season are Brian Ownby (Virginia) and Sam Garza (Denver).

Several other collegians, notably Sheanon Williams, who started for North Carolina, aren’t playing in 2009 with the hope of earning a pro contract.

The U.S. U-20s will train in Larnaca, Cyprus, for a week, beginning Sept. 14, before traveling to Suez, Egypt. The USA will open against Germany on Sept. 26 before facing Cameroon on Sept. 29 and rounding out group play against South Korea on Oct. 2.

* Transfer midfielders Michael Farfan and Stephen McCarthy combined for a pair of first-half goals to lead North Carolina to a 2-1 win over Old Dominion in its final preseason tune-up Thursday at Fetzer Field.

McCarthy scored in the seventh and 31st minutes off corner kicks from Farfan for Carolina, ranked No. 1 in the Soccer America Preseason Top 25. McCarthy, the lone Tar Heel on the Soccer America Preseason All-American team, scored the goal in UNC’s previous game, a 10 win over VCU.
 
The Heels open the 2009 regular season Tuesday against UNC Asheville at Fetzer Field.

* Canadian Julien Edwards‘ goal off a scramble in front of the goal in the 88th minute completed Drake’s comeback and gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 win over No. 4 Indiana on Thursday evening at the National Soccer Festival. IU went ahead on Will Bruin‘s goal, but Evan Harrison evened the score in the 58th minute.

Edwards was one of four Drake players, along with Nick Foster, Hunter Kennedy and Garrett Webb, who helped the Des Moines Menace with its conference title in the PDL.

Elsewhere …

— No. 5 Wake Forest exploded for three second-half goals from Corben Bone, Ike Opara and Chris Estridge to win, 3-0, at Furman on Thursday night at Stone Soccer Stadium.

— Five different Bluejays scored for No. 6 Creighton  in its 5-0 victory over the University of Nebraska club team.

— No. 22 Tulsa had a 17-6 advantage in shots but had to settle for a 0-0 tie with city rival Oral Roberts.

* Oklahoma City University’s Brian Harvey, the most combined men’s and women’s wins (576) of any soccer coach in NAIA history, has been selected for induction into the NAIA Hall of Fame. Harvey first came to the United States in 1968 to play fort the NASL’s Dallas Tornado.

MEN’S NEWS … Yavapai, the Arizona JC superpower, lost for the first time in its 21-year history in the state of California when it fell to Mount San Antonio, 2-1, in an exhibition match.

The trip to California will be the only action outside the state of Arizona until the postseason. There are now 11 teams in the Arizona Community College Athletics Conference, so all 20 games on Yavapai’s regular-season schedule are conference matches.

The Roughriders, who won the last two NJCAA Division I titles and hold a 33-game unbeaten streak in regular-season and postseason play, lost seven players to Division I programs but have brought in players from seven different states. The freshmen include Nomads product Rodolfo Godinez, a 2009 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Starting XI selection in the under-17/18 age group.

Yavapai ’08 players on the move:
Dirk Petersen, UC Irvine
Justin Meram, Michigan
Jeff Bendawald, Ohio State
Evan McNiel, UC Santa Barbara
Chris Hunter, UC Santa Barbara
Sam Hayden, UC Santa Barbara
Ivan Dizdar, Seattle

* Saint Louis University, who have won or shared a record 10 men’s national championships, is celebrating its 50th anniversary of men’s soccer, and fans have the chance to select a “Billiken Half-Century Team.”

Fans may select 22 players and two coaches. If you think that’s a lot of selections, consider the choices. Former Billikens include two National Soccer Hall of Famers, three Hermann Trophy winners and 20 U.S. internationals, plus Vedad Ibisevic, who plays for Bosnia, and Dipsy Selolwane, who represents Botswana.

The 24-member roster will be recognized Oct. 3, along with the more than 450 Billiken soccer alumni at that night’s game against Clemson at Robert R. Hermann Stadium.

Fans can vote here.

* Wednesday’s preseason highlights:

— Matt Schmitt set up freshman Latif Alashe and Mauro Fuzetti for goals to give Michigan, ranked No. 21 in the Soccer America Preseason Top 25, a 2-1 win over Xavier.

— J.J. Greer and Andreas Guentner scored first-half goals to give Memphis a 2-0 win over Saint Louis.

— Defender Patrick Hopkins‘ goal in the 79th minute gave DePaul a 1-1 tie at Northern Illinois.

AWARDS … Seven members of the 2009 Soccer America Men’s Preseason All-American team and five players on the Soccer America Women’s Preseason All-American team are among the 60 candidates for the 2009 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, given to a senior who has achieved notable accomplishments in four areas of excellence — classroom, character, community and competition.

Read more for the complete list of nominees.

WOMEN’S NEWS … It’s still early, but there are lots of positives Coach Jerry Smith saw from Santa Clara’s opening two games, wins San Jose State (4-0) over UC Santa Barbara (2-0).

The two wins put the Broncos within two wins of matching last year’s total. Their 4-12-4 record was their first sub-.500 season since 1983.

Injuries have decimated women’s powerhouse Santa Clara in recent years, so perhaps the most encouraging news was the return of Jordan Angeli, who missed the last two seasons with injuries and was granted a sixth year by the NCAA. She converted a penalty kick to seal the UCSB win.

“We missed her the past two years,” said Smith “and she brings a lot of things to our team with her ability to start an offensive attack out of the back and her leadership and organization.”

Freshmen Lauren Matheson, Amanda Webster and former U-17 national team midfielder Olivia Klei all got their first collegiate goals last weekend. “I’m pleased with how well this rookie class is playing,” Smith added.

Next up for the Broncos is a date Friday night at Utah, coached by former Santa Clara assistant coach Rich Manning.

MEN’S NEWS … The story of Coach Oliver Weiss‘ hasty departure from Virginia Tech in June took a new twist with a Roanoke Times story that Virginia Tech reported 11 recruiting violations to the NCAA and has banned foreign recruits for three seasons.

In documents obtained by the Roanoke Times, Virginia Tech informed the NCAA of the violations 13 days after Weiss resigned.

The violations by a person who “no longer serves … at Virginia Tech” (according to the redacted documents obtained under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act) concerned entrance fees paid on behalf of recruits and later repaid by the players themselves.

According to Roanoke Times, Virginia Tech will take  “corrective actions” and stop recruiting foreign men’s players for three years — through the 2011-12 school year.

Weiss’ recruiting of foreign players produced a Men’s College Cup semifinal team in 2007 but sparked controversy, though the decision to ban foreign recruits itself has met with opposition.

The editorial board of the Collegiate Times, the Virginia Tech student paper, criticized the ban, saying “there is absolutely no reason to rub proverbial salt in the wounds with the three-year suspension.”

* Transfers will play a big role in the 2009 men’s campaign. No. 1 North Carolina’s lone selection on the 2009 Soccer America Preseason All-American team is transfer Stephen McCarthy, who will spent his senior year in Chapel Hill after playing his first three seasons at Santa Clara. Three other transfers are also on the second team: Creighton defender Chris Schuler (Indiana), St. John’s midfielder Nelson Becerra (Centenary, N.J.) and UC Irvine forward Irving Garcia (Yavapai).

* Six Soccer America Preseason Top 25 teams — No. 2 Akron, No. 4 Indiana, No. 11 Northwestern, No. 12 UIC, No. 21 Michigan and No. 23 Louisville — will take part in the 2009 National Soccer Festival, which kicks off Friday in Ft. Wayne, Ind.  All seven Big Ten teams will play in 2010 thanks in part to a $10,000 sports business development grant from the city of Ft. Wayne for the Big Ten Challenge, the working title for the preseason event.

* Thomas Campbell‘s comeback bid got off to a fantastic start. The fifth-year senior who missed all of last season after tearing knee ligaments needed only 36 minutes to score a hat trick Saturday in UNC Greensboro’s 5-3 win over Division II Lees-McRae on Saturday night.

WOMEN’S NEWS … North Carolina keeper Ashlyn Harris‘ call-up to the U.S. national team is one of women’s soccer’s great feel-good stories.

Along with UCLA forward Lauren Cheney and Carolina teammate Tobin Heath, both 2008 Olympic gold-medalists, Harris was one of three collegians picked to attend the national team camp that will take place Sept. 21-Oct. 2 at the Home Depot Center.

Harris’ first call-up comes seven years after she burst on the international scene helping the USA win the inaugural Under-19 Women’s World Cup.

Harris was a starter for the USA at both the 2002 and 2004 U-19 world championships, playing every minute of all 12 games during those tournaments, but her college career suffered several setbacks.

She redshirted in 2005 after tearing her right anterior cruciate ligament during her first practice with the Heels.

While training in June 2006 she suffered what appeared to be another season-ending knee injury, but she recovered to come on as a reserve in all six of Carolina’s NCAA Tournament games — and made several saves — en route to its 2006 championship.

After splitting time with Anna Rodenbough in her first three seasons, Harris is for the first time UNC’s undisputed starter.

* The Mexican national team beat TCU, 4-1, Tuesday night before 2,089 fans in Ft. Worth. The Tri Femenil previously lost to South Carolina, 2-0, and beat Kennesaw State, 5-0.

MEN’S NEWS … The North Carolina men made a clean sweep of preseason rankings when it was ranked No. 1 in the Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25.

Elmar Bolowich‘s boys are coming off a runner-up finish in the 2008 Men’s College Cup.

The Heels return six starters and all four substitutes from last year’s team that lost ACC rival Maryland, 1-0, in the final.

Billy Dworsky, UNC’s leading scorer in 2007, is back in action after redshirting in 2008, and two former first-team freshman All-Americans Michael Farfan (Cal State Fullerton) and Stephen McCarthy (Santa Clara) transferred to Chapel Hill.

The freshman class is led by South Carolina prep legend Enzo Martinez (182 goals at Northwestern High School).

— Only two other ACC teams are ranked in the Top 25 — No. 5 Wake Forest and Maryland No. 8. Both teams suffered heavy losses to the pro ranks but both welcome strong freshman classes.

— The Big East led all conferences with five teams in the Top 25: No. 3 St. John’s, No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 13 Connecticut, No. 18 South Florida and No. 23 Louisville.

— Unlike the women, where a half a dozen conferences dominated the preseason rankings, the Men’s Top 25 features teams from 13 conferences. Other conferences represented are the Big West and Big Ten with three, Pac-10 with two and the Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Horizon, Ivy, MAAC, CAA, Conference USA, America East and MPSF, all with one.

TRIVIA: Never has a school swept the men’s and women’s Division I titles in the same year. The Carolina women won and the men were second in 2008. The only year the Tar Heel men won the national championship was in 2001 when the women fell to Santa Clara in the final.

Soccer America Top 5
TEAM (2008 RECORD)
1. North Carolina (15-8-1)
2. Akron (17-2-4)
3. St. John’s (19-3-3)
4. Indiana (14-7-3)
5. Wake Forest (21-2-1)

Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25

Wednesday: Soccer America Men’s Preseason All-Americans

* Virginia’s preseason troubles continued as the Cavs fell to Old Dominion, 3-1, on Monday night. All the goals came in the last 15 minutes. Freshman Ahkeel Rodney evened the score after Nane Joseph put ODU ahead on a penalty kick, but the Monarchs won on late goals by Emmanuel Ambane and Yannick Smith. Virginia had lost, 1-0, to another state rival, George Mason, on Friday.

* Ethan Finlay had both goals for No. 6 Creighton in its 4-2 loss to the Kansas City Wizards on Monday. Former Bluejay standout Michael Kraus scored the game-winning goal for the MLS team.

* Steven Perry‘s goal was the difference as Notre Dame edged No. 11 Northwestern, 1-0, before 1,756 fans in South Bend.

WOMEN’S NEWS … Stanford, ranked No. 2 in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25, looked great in its game late Sunday night at Hawaii, a 6-2 win. Juniors Kelley O’Hara and Christen Press both scored two goals.

Coach Paul Ratcliffe started two freshmen on the backline — Alina Garciamendez in the middle and Rachel Quon at right back — and Courtney Verloo had a goal and two assists in her collegiate debut off the bench.

Ratcliffe: “We were just happy to get six goals. But we need to keep working on a lot of things. In the back, we still have work to do. The midfield has work to do. But, offensively, we looked strong.”

* Here is the first Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week, led by Carolina’s Casey Nogueira.

* Several records were broken or tied over the weekend:

— Senior Jessica Okoroafo set a Purdue record when she scored the first goal in the 5-0 win over Ohio and had both goals in a 2-1 victory at Butler, giving her 14 game-winning goals, one more than Lauren Sesselmann had in her career (2001-05).

— Welshwoman Shan Jones tied the Middle Tennessee school record with four goals in an 11-1 victory over Alabama A&M.

WOMEN’S NEWS … Defending champion North Carolina put the nation on notice that it will be hard to beat. The top-ranked Heels opened with a 7-2 win over UCLA, scoring three goals in the first 12 minutes.

Casey Nogueira, the 2008 Player of the Year, scored a pair of goals. Sophomore forward Courtney Jones had a goal and two assists and senior Tobin Heath, junior Ali Hawkins and sophomore reserve Emmalie Pfankuch all scored a goal and an assist.

UCLA coach Jillian Ellis: “Carolina was special tonight.”

(The loss was the Bruins’ second worst defeat in their 17-year history. They fell, 8-0, to Notre Dame in the 1995 NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.)

* Here’s this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25, released Monday morning along with the North Carolina-UCLA summary and all the weekend Top 25 results.

* Other opening weekend notables …

— Of the other winners in weekend Top 25 matchups, Texas A&M looked the most impressive. The Aggies beat USC, 3-0. The game turned on an opening goal by Mary Grace Schmidt shortly before halftime. A&M went on to outshoot the Trojans, 25-10.

— The biggest upset was Cal State Bakersfield’s 2-1 win over then-No. 15 San Diego. The Roadrunners, who had gone 5-13-1 in each of the last two seasons, fell behind the visiting Toreros in the 68th minute but evened the score 30 seconds slater on Raquel Gervas‘ penalty kick. Two minutes after that, Kassie Massey stunned USD with a header.

— Natalie LeClair scored once in each half and fellow freshman LeighAnne Baxter had the third goal to lead Richmond to a 3-0 victory at then-No. 25 James Madison. Spider coach Peter Albright also singled out another freshman, Emily Parisi, for praise.

— Senior Carrie Patterson scored in the first 35 seconds of Georgia’s 6-0 win over Kennesaw State to break the Bulldogs’ all-time scoring record. She finished with a hat trick to bring her career tally to 36 goals.

* Some women’s teams chose to open with exhibitions. South Carolina beat the touring Mexican national team, 2-0, in front of 3,000 fans at the MeSA Soccer Complex in Greenville.

Look for the Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week on Tuesday in Soccer America Daily …

MEN’S NEWS … UAB set a school record with a crowd of 3,481 fans at West Campus Field for its 3-0 win over Clemson in an exhibition Saturday night. “The crowd was amazing,” said UAB senior Two-Boys Gumede, who opened the Blazer scoring from the penalty spot.

Other exhibition highlights:
— Wake Forest 2 Liberty 0 (goal and assist for freshman Andy Lubahn before 2,341 fans)
— North Carolina 2 Georgetown 1, North Carolina 1 VCU 0 (goals by Billy Dworsky, Enzo Martinez and Stephen McCarthy)
— George Mason 1 Virginia 0 (Parker Walton‘s goal in stoppage time decided game)
— Akron 3 South Florida 1 (Zips won on goals by Darlington Nagbe, Blair Gavin and Michael Nanchoff)
— Ohio State 5 Cincinnati 1 (Buckeye goalscorers included Konrad Warzycha, son of Columbus Crew coach Robert Warzycha)
— New Mexico 3 Tulsa 2 (the visiting Lobos got two goals from Stephen Brown)
— UCLA 2 Cal State Bakersfield 0 (Bruins started seven seniors, including U-20s Brian Perk and Michael Stephens)

THIS WEEK … The Soccer America’s Men’s Preseason Top 25 will be released on Tuesday in Soccer America Daily. The Soccer America’s Men’s All-Americans will appear the day after that.

WOMEN’S NEWS … The 2009 women’s season begins Friday. The weekend play is highlighted by four matches in which both teams are ranked in the Soccer America Women’s Preseason Top 25.

FRIDAY: #11 Virginia at #6 Penn State: The Nittany Lions are looking to break the Jeffrey Field record crowd for a women’s game set in 2006 (3,206 for Penn State-UCLA on opening day).

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The game will mark the collegiate debut of Christine Nairn, who delayed her enrollment at Penn State to represent the USA at the 2008 U-20 World Cup. She has since become the first member of the U.S. world champion team to earn a cap at the senior level.

SATURDAY: #3 UCLA at #1 North Carolina: The game is a rematch of last year’s College Cup semifinal the Tar Heels won, 1-0, to send the Bruins home from the College Cup without a trophy for the sixth straight year.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior Kylie Wright will have to play a bigger role in the UCLA midfield following the departure of playmaker Tina DiMartino.

SATURDAY: #12 USC at #9 Texas A&M: The Trojans return to College Station, where they won the NCAA title two years ago. This will be the first-ever meeting between USC and Texas A&M.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: With Olympic gold-medalist Amy Rodriguez having departed, junior Megan Ohai will be counted upon to spark the USC attack. She spent the summer with the U.S. U-23s, playing with USC goalie Kristin Olsen and Aggies Kristin Arnold and Bri Young.

SATURDAY: #24 Oklahoma State at #17 Colorado (Radio: KSBI, 780 AM). The match is a rare conference match to open the season. Both teams are expected to challenge for the Big 12 title with co-favorites Missouri and Texas A&M.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Shaye Marshall joins older sister Nikki Marshall, who was named to the Soccer America Women’s Preseason All-American team, in the Colorado lineup. Shaye, a freshman, made her presence felt in the Buffs’ final tuneup, earning an assist on the winning goal in the 2-1 exhibition victory over Northern Colorado.

* All but Boston College, Michigan State, Connecticut and Rutgers kick off their regular-season schedules this weekend:

Soccer America Top 25 Schedule

(BC and UConn meet Saturday in an exhibition. Rutgers scrimmages the University of Montreal Friday. MSU is idle.)

MEN’S NEWS … The 2009 men’s season doesn’t officially kick off until Sept. 1, but many teams will tune up with exhibitions over the next two weekends. Here are some top games on tap for this weekend:

Friday: Akron-South Florida, Virginia-George Mason, North Carolina-Georgetown, Duke-VCU, Tulsa-New Mexico.
Saturday: American-Maryland, SMU-Denver, Wake Forest-Liberty.
Sunday: West Virginia-Michigan, North Carolina-VCU.

* UC Santa Barbara, which faces Santa Barbara neighbor Westmont on Saturday, has lost one of its top scoring threats, Bongomin Otii, out for the 2009 season due to knee injury.

* The Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25 will appear in Tuesday’s Soccer America Daily, and the Soccer America Men’s Preseason All-Americans will be released a day later.

MEN’S NEWS … Preston Hirten, a junior at Division III Mary Washington, collapse during practice and later died on Tuesday. He collapsed during a water break, was taken by ambulance with what was described as respiratory arrest to Mary Washington Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Temperatures were hot during the late afternoon practice at the Virginia school, but a cause of death was not yet determined.

Hirten had transferred from Hobart, another Division III school, last year. He starred at Staples High School in Westport, Conn.

“Preston epitomized Staples soccer,” said Staples head coach Dan Woog. “Anyone who watched him play – who saw his combination of speed, skill, and above all determination – knew he loved the game, and loved being on the field with his friends.”

Hirten is survived by his parents, Marc and Lisa Hirten, and two sisters Ella and Justine.

A memorial service will be held this Saturday at the Unitarian Church, 10 Lyons Plains Road, Westport. The service begins at 2 p.m.

The family also notes that, in lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Preston Hirten Memorial Scholarship, being organized by the Westport Soccer Association. The address is: PO Box 2561, Westport, CT 06880.

WOMEN’S NEWS … There’s one day to go before the start of the 2009 women’s season. Here are the remainder of favorites in women’s conference preseason polls:

America East Boston Univ. (unanimous selection of conference coaches)
Atlantic Sun Kennesaw State (Owl Maylee Attin-Johnson is Preseason POY)
Atlantic-10 Dayton (Flyers are led by Mandi Baeck, three-time All-Atlantic-10 pick)
Big South Radford (Highlander keeper Lisa Lubke is Preseason POY)
Big Sky Weber State (Wildcats edged defending champion Northern Arizona)
Big West UC Santa Barbara (defending champs return eight starters)
CAA James Madison (Dukes received 10 of 11 first-place votes)
Horizon Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Sophomore Sarah Hagen will lead Panthers)
Ivy no poll.
MAAC Fairfield (Nicole Cavallaro repeats as Preseason POY)
Mid-American Toledo (Midnight Blue seeks fourth MAC title in a row)
Missouri Valley Illinois State (Redbirds face five ’08 NCAA Tournament teams)
Mountain West BYU (all-MWC picks Lauren Anderson and Andrea Willis return)
Northeast Central Conn. State (Leah Blayney and Clio Tregear anchor midfield)
Ohio Valley Murray State (Racers return OVC’s top goalie, Tara Isbell)
Patriot Navy (Middie Shelly Moeller is again Preseason Defensive POY)
Southern UNC Greensboro (Spartans return three all-conference selections)
Southland Texas State (Bobcats led by conference tournament MVP Lauren Lewis)
Summit Oakland (South Dakota State and IUPUI follow in tight poll)
Sun Belt Denver (Pioneers Lizzy Carlson, Mariah Johnston and Jessie Rogers on preseason team)
SWAC Mississippi Valley State (Eastern) and Grambling State (Western)
WAC Utah State (Aggies return eight of their top 10 goal scorers)

* No. 5 Notre Dame will open Friday against Wisconsin at old home Alumni Field while construction is completed on the state-of-the-art Alumni Stadium. The Irish will host Loyola (Ill.) a week later at Alumni Field before opening at its new facility on Sept. 4 against No. 1 North Carolina in a rematch of last year’s NCAA national championship game. The game will be part of the 2009 Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic.

THIS WEEK’S NEWS … Due to technical difficulties, service of our e-newsletters has been intermittent this week. Here is all the major college news this week:

Women’s Preseason Top 25
Women’s Preseason All-Americans
Men’s Preseason Top 25: coming Tuesday
Men’s Preseason All-Americans: coming Wednesday

College Soccer Reporter:
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday

WOMEN’S NEWS … The Soccer America Women’s Preseason All-Americans were released today. Heading the team is Casey Nogueira, the 2008 Soccer America Women’s Player of the Year and one of three North Carolina seniors on the Preseason All-American first team along with Whitney Engen and Tobin Heath. Florida State, Notre Dame and UCLA are the only teams with two players named to the first and second teams.

Of note, seven of the Preseason All-Americans missed the 2008 postseason because they were with the U.S. under-20 national team that won last year’s world championship in Chile. UConn’s Brittany Taylor, a first-team preseason selection, was injured and missed the entire season.

* No women’s coach is more excited than Portland’s Garrett Smith that there will be no international championships during the 2009 postseason. Just about every major program lost at least one player during the NCAA Tournament to the U.S. U-20s. The Pilots, whose record 19-game winning streak ended when they fell to Stanford in the quarterfinals, were without three starters — Elli Reed, Keelin Winters and Michelle Enyeart. Throughout her career, Sophie Schmidt has missed time to represent various Canadian teams. When you consider that Reed, Winters, Enyeart and Schmidt will be available all fall, that Kendra Chandhoke returns after redshirting last season, and U-17 defender Cloee Colohan joins the backline that returns everyone, Portland will be as deep as any team in the country. “We are going to have players on the bench this year that would start in most years,” Smith told the Oregonian. “It’s a talented group.”

* Florida is picked to repeat as SEC champion for the fourth consecutive year in the preseason poll released today. The Gators return eight starters, including All-SEC performers Ashlee Elliott and Lauren Hyde, from last season’s squad that went 11-0-0 in league play. Florida is also picked to win the East, ahead of Georgia. In the West, LSU was first, ahead of Auburn.

SMALL COLLEGE NEWS … The NSCAA/adidas preseason polls are out, and there are no surprises. The NCAA Division II and III preseason rankings are duplicates of the final 2008 rankings, released after postseason play. That means last year’s champions are all No. 1:

NCAA Men’s Division II Cal State Dominguez Hills
NCAA Men’s Division III Messiah (with first-year coach Brad McCarty in charge)
NCAA Women’s Division II Seattle Pacific
NCAA Women’s Division III Messiah

As for the NAIA rankings, last year’s champions — both Tennessee schools — are No. 1:

NAIA Men Bethel
NAIA Women Lee

TELEVISION … Two Big 12 women’s matches will be televised on national television. ESPNU will broadcast the game between preseason co-favorites Texas A&M and Missouri on Oct. 4. FSN will air the Big 12 championship game on Nov. 8.

TELEVISION. ESPNU will for the first time feature SEC women’s soccer in a regular lineup. The soccer schedule includes six games to air on Sundays at 3 p.m. ET — five regular-season games and the SEC Tournament championship game on Nov. 8 from Orange Beach, Ala. The highlight will the Oct. 18 match between defending champion Florida and Georgia.