Category: College Soccer Reporter

WOMEN’S NEWS … There’s no surprise here: Defending champion North Carolina is No. 1 in the Soccer America Women’s Preseason Top 25 rankings.

Soccer America Top 5
RANK/TEAM (2008 RECORD)
1. North Carolina (25-1-2)
2. Stanford (22-2-1)
3. UCLA (22-1-2)
4. Portland (20-2-0)
5. Notre Dame (26-1-0)

Complete Top 25 rankings

Carolina is seeking its 20th NCAA title in 28 years, though the trophies haven’t come as easily as they once did. The Heels won 16 of the first 19 championships but only three of the last nine.

The Heels sneaked up on the competition — if that’s possible — in 2006 when they won with seven freshman starters and last year they had to knock off two unbeaten teams, UCLA and Notre Dame, at the College Cup.

UNC will not be sneaking up on anyone this season. The Tar Heels return nine starters, including 2008 Soccer America Player of the Year Casey Nogueira, from last year’s College Cup championship team. They don’t include two regular-season starters — Nikki Washington and Meghan Klingenberg — who missed the postseason because of their participation at the U-20 Women’s World Cup.

The ’09 Tar Heels have a chance to be one of the great Anson Dorrance teams of all-time. They will certainly get the opportunity to prove it. Their schedule includes five 2008 elite eight teams in the first two months of the season — UCLA, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Duke and Florida State. They open Saturday at Fetzer Field against UCLA, which they beat in the ’08 semifinals.

* Carolina leads a group of five ACC teams ranked in the top 14. The rest are Florida State (No. 7), Boston College (No. 8), Virginia (No. 11) and Duke (No. 14). Led by Stanford and UCLA at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, the Pac-10 also has five teams in the Top 25. Six other conferences represented are the Big East (4 teams), Big 12 (4), Big Ten (3), WCC (2), CAA (1) and SEC (1).

* The only team ranked in the Top 25 that did not make the 2008 NCAA Tournament is Connecticut, whose absence left North Carolina as the only team to have played in all 27 tournament. The Huskies welcome back nine starters plus Brittany Taylor, who was a medical redshirt last season but could be one of the top defenders in the 2010 WPS draft.

* Soccer America’s Women’s All-Americans will appear in Wednesday’s Soccer America Daily.

WOMEN’S NEWS … There are only four days until the women’s season kicks off. Many of the top teams were in action over the weekend.

* ACC teams racked up a string of impressive victories …

— Florida State crushed Georgia, 5-1, with goals coming from five different players. Tori Huster, Becky Edwards (penalty), Lauren Switzer, Amanda DaCosta and Breezy Hupp. (Listen to FSU coach Mark Krikorian here on what he liked about the young Seminoles.)

— Georgetown is expected to be a Big East contender, but the Hoya were no match for Virginia, which won, 5-1, Sunday night at Klockner Stadium. Junior Meghan Lenczyk had a hat trick within 33 minutes of the 110-minute contest, and senior Jess Rostedt had a pair of assists.

— West Virginia, favored to win its division in the Big East, fell to visiting Maryland, picked eighth in the ACC preseason poll, 2-0, on a pair of first-half goals.

— Clemson, picked 10th in the ACC preseason rankings, buried Alabama, 4-0,

* Despite the loss of Kerri Hanks, Brittany Bock and others, Notre Dame showed it will have plenty of firepower, scoring three times in the first 14 minutes against Virginia before the Cavs rallied late to earn a 3-3 tie in a game played Friday in Maple City, Mich. Sophomore Melissa Henderson scored twice, while junior Erica Iantorno and sophomore Jessica Schuveiller each recorded a pair of assists for the Irish.

* A few other exhibition results of note: Penn States 2-1 over Pitt … LSU 2-1 over Texas … Illinois 1-0 over Cincinnati … Michigan State 2-1 over Wisconsin-Milwaukee … South Florida 2-0 over Jacksonville … Wisconsin 2-1 over Marquette in regulation (2-2 tie after 110 minutes).

PRESEASON RANKINGS … Here’s the schedule for the release of Soccer America’s Preseason Top 25 rankings and All-Americans in Soccer America Daily:

— Women’s Preseason Top 25: Tuesday;
— Women’s Preseason All-Americans: Wednesday;
— Men’s Preseason Top 25: Aug. 25
— Men’s Preseason All-Americans: Aug. 26.

WOMEN’S NEWS … Soccer America’s College Soccer Reporter is back on its daily (Monday-Friday) schedule for the 2009 college season.

* The women’s conference polls are out. But before we forget …

* Here’s the schedule for the release of Soccer America’s Preseason Top 25 rankings and All-Americans in Soccer America Daily:

— Women’s Preseason Top 25: Tuesday;
— Women’s Preseason All-Americans: Wednesday;
— Men’s Preseason Top 25: Aug. 25
— Men’s Preseason All-Americans: Aug. 26.

* Here’s how women’s coaches see things in some major conferences …

* PAC-10. UCLA won its fourth straight conference title — perfect at 9-0-0 — and advanced to the College Cup for the sixth straight year, but Stanford gets the nod (by two points) in the preseason poll.

Elsewhere, no real surprises …

* ACC. It’s unanimous: defending national champion North Carolina, winner of 20 of 22 conference titles.
* BIG EAST. Notre Dame and West Virginia get to nod to win their respective divisions. 
* BIG TEN. Coaches picked Penn State (with freshman sensation Christine Nairn) to win a record 12th straight title.
* BIG 12. Texas A&M (with two goalies, Kristin Arnold and Kelly Dyer, on the preseason all-Big 12 team) and Missouri tied for first.
* WCC. Portland (with no national team conflicts — for once) is picked to repeat.

Click here for the preseason conference rankings and all-conference teams …

* For the fifth consecutive season, the NSCAA College Game of the Week will appear on Fox Soccer Channel: eight women’s and 12 men’s matches. West Coast fans will like these women’s matchups: Oct. 30 — UCLA-USC, Nov. 1 — Santa Clara-Portland, Nov. 8 — Stanford-California.

* Sad news for Duke’s Ashley Rape. The 2008 Freshman All-American re-tore the same ACL she injured last season and had surgery on Friday. She will miss the 2009 season.

* It was the Irish over the Irish Tuesday night in Indianapolis. Ellen Jantsch gave Notre Dame a 1-0 exhibition victory over the touring Ireland national team before a crowd of approximately 2,000 fans at Kuntz Stadium.

MEN’S NEWS … The annual Hermann Trophy Watch List came out, and Creighton’s Byron Dacy achieved a first by earning a fourth listing. He’s a fifth-year senior, having red-shirted in 2007 with an ACL tear.

* The player we’re pulling for: UAB senior Two-Boys Gumede. Full name: Two-Boys Gladstone Gumede. South African-born. Came to the United States on an exchange program and played for Javanon in Louisville. Also missed the 2007 season … he returned home to see his ill mother and grandmother for the first time in six years and South African authorities, he says, then wouldn’t allow him to leave.

* Look for men’s conference polls next week.

More than two months after his arrest for allegedly assaulting his two daughters and placement on leave of absence, Clemson University men’s coach Trevor Adair has resigned. Tiger assistant Phil Hindson will take over as interim head coach for the 2009 season.

As expected, Mike Brizendine has been promoted to Virginia Tech men’s coach following the resignation of Oliver Weiss. In making the announcement, Tech’s athletic director said a change in recruiting philosophy would take place.

Instead of preparing for the 2009 fall campaign, University of Maine men’s soccer coach Pat Laughlin and assistant Trevor Singer spent recent weeks helping their players find places to play after Maine dropped the men’s soccer and women’s volleyball as part of its cost-cutting measures. The Bears were contacted by just about every major program in the country.

University of San Francisco head coach Erik Visser, who guided the Dons to the 2008 West Coast Conference championship and their 31st NCAA Tournament berth, was rewarded with a contract extension.

Harvard landed Parade All-American Scott Prozeller and Brian Rogers, both members of 2008 Development Academy under-17/18 all-conference teams. San Francisco’s incoming class includes a pair of transfers who should help the Dons’ defense, goalie Franco Carotenuto, a D2 standout, and central defender Kyle Dagan from Notre Dame. For both classes …

Jim Rudy, one of the pioneers in women’s college soccer, has announced his retirement after 21 seasons as the University of Massachusetts women’s soccer head coach. He produced three final four teams in 28 years at UCF and UMass and finishes with a 313-160-28 lifetime women’s coaching record.

Big East champion St. John’s has signed two-time NSCAA/adidas High School All-American Rafael Diaz, one of the nation’s top goal prospects. Central Florida has signed three New Zealand under-20 national team players. For all the Red Storm and Knight signings, along with those at Campbell, Charlotte, Columbia, Holy Cross, Iona, Mt. St. Mary’s, Towson and Western Michigan …

GateWay Community College is the latest team to join the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference men’s soccer ranks.

The number of women’s programs changing coaches has been less than usual. Spring hirings include Cal assistant Brian Zwaschka at Fresno State and veteran coach Dave Poggi at Nichols State. For all the Division I women’s coaching moves …

Former NBA star Randy Smith, one of the most famous athletes to excel at college soccer, died of a heart attack Thursday at his home in Norwich, Conn. College soccer did not have much of a following in 1970 when Smith earned All-Americans honors at Buffalo State, but he was so good that fans came just to see him.

A year and a half after he led Virginia Tech to the Men’s College Cup, Oliver Weiss has unexpectedly quit as the Hokies’ head coach. Their 2007 campaign was not without controversy as Weiss imported a number of foreign exchange students who spent one season in Blacksburg. It was followed by a 2008 season that saw Tech go winless in the ACC.

Dana Taylor, Oregon State men’s head coach for the last 10 years, has resigned his post to take the same position at Division II Cal State Stanislaus. Under Taylor, the Beavers reached the NCAA Tournament for the first times (2002-03) in school history and featured several future MLS standouts.

The NCAA has awarded the 2010 Men’s College Cup to UC Santa Barbara, marking just the second time since 1986 that the finals will be played on the West Coast. The Men’s Cup will be played at Harder Stadium, the former UCSB football stadium that has become home to a major college soccer hotbed.

UC Santa Barbara led the nation in average attendance in 2008 for NCAA Division I men’s programs, beating out Connecticut, Big West rival Cal Poly, Creighton and Maryland. For the top 50 men’s programs in average attendance …

The University of Michigan’s Board of Regents has approved plans for a new soccer stadium, allowing work to begin immediately on the $6 million project. The goal is to add European-style grandstand seating for 2,200 fans at the soccer field, which has only temporary bleachers.

Phil Wolf, the 2007 NAIA Coach of the Year, resigned his position as men’s head coach at NAIA power Azusa Pacific to to accept a position as assistant coach at SMU.

Nnamdi Nwokocha, one of the most prolific scorers in ACC history, died of meningitis recently at the age of 46 in his native Nigeria.

The head coaches at three 2008 NCAA Division I Tournament teams — Charlotte, Fresno State, Morehead State — have been lured away to other programs. For all the Division I women’s coaching moves …

Bryant, Princeton, Quinnipiac and William & Mary have all announced their 2009 men’s recruiting classes. For all their incoming players and their club connections …

Three former MLS players — Kevin Anderson (Columbia), Clint Peay (Richmond) and Todd Yeagley (Wisconsin) — have accepted positions as head coaches at Division I programs. For all the Division I men’s coaching moves …