Category: Soccer America Daily

[COLLEGE] No. 4 North Carolina got a pair of early goals from 2008 Player of the Year Casey Nogueira and defeated No. 3 Florida State, 3-0, in the ACC final. No. 7 Notre Dame won the Big East with a 2-1 win over Marquette. Memphis upset No. 9 UCF, 3-0, to win the Conference USA. Sarah Hagen had all four goals for Wisconsin-Milwaukee in its 4-0 win over Valparaiso. For Sunday’s conference tournament results …

Colombia, Turkey and Switzerland joined Italy in the quarterfinals of the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria. For the Wednesday results …

[COLLEGE] No. 3 Florida Sate clinched a share of its first ACC regular-season title with No. 6 Boston College when it beat Virginia Tech, 2-1, on Sunday. In two other ACC battles involving Top 25 teams, No. 4 North Carolina won at No. 8 Maryland, 1-0, and BC edged No. 17 Wake Forest, 2-1, in overtime. Big East Tournament winners include No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 12 Marquette. No. 11 Rutgers fell to West Virginia, 1-0. For the weekend action and Sunday Top 25 schedule …

[COLLEGE] It continues to be a tough weekend for Top 25 teams as No. 12 Northwestern fell at Big Ten rival Michigan, 1-0, in overtime. No. 21 Brown lost an Ivy League contest to Penn, 1-0, on Sunday. On Saturday, No. 2 Wake Forest, No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Connecticut and No. 6 South Florida are among the teams to lose. For the weekend action …

[MLS] Don Garber, the MLS Commissioner, fined D.C. United President Kevin Payne $5,000 for “public comments deemed detrimental to the public image of the League.” Payne’s costly comments appeared in Steven Goff‘s Washington Post Soccer Insider, which also published Payne’s apology. For the words that made Payne five-grand poorer …

[UNDER-17 WORLD CUP] Alex Shinsky‘s goal on a volley that slipped through the hands and legs of Malawi goalie Cuthbert Seengwa and trickled across the line was all the United States could muster, but it was enough to beat a weak Malawi team, 1-0, Thursday at the Under-17 World Cup in Kano, Nigeria.

WEEKEND ACTION:
Men’s College Scoreboard
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[USA-MALAWI REPORT CARD] Soccer America’s Paul Kennedy rates the U.S. players in Thursday’s 1-0 win over Malawi at the Under-17 World Cup.

[U.S. WOMEN] Before a sellout crowd of 28,377 fans at Impuls Arena in Augsburg, one of the largest crowds ever to watch a women’s friendly match, the USA beat Germany, 1-0, to confirm its status as the best team in the world. The Americans got a first-half goal from Abby Wambach and a tremendous performance by their defense to hold off the recently crowned European champions.

[MLS PLAYOFF PREDICTION] The Eastern Conference semifinals get underway Saturday with a “crossover” Western team, Real Salt Lake, hosting the defending champion Columbus Crew, which didn’t fare well the last time it visited Rio Tinto Stadium.

[MLS PLAYOFF PREDICTION] For the fifth straight year, the Chicago Fire and the New England Revs meet in the playoffs with both teams missing key players because of injuries.

[MLS PLAYOFF PREDICTION] After five seasons of knocking heads as neighbors in Home Depot Center, the Southern California teams square off for the first time in the playoffs.

[MLS] The first MLS playoff game at Qwest Field produced everything it had to, except a goal. Houston, playing its fourth game in 12 days amid a raucous atmosphere generated by nearly 36,000 fans, matched the hometown Sounders in grit and spirit to emerge with a 0-0 tie Thursday night in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal. The teams will have a long rest period before playing the second leg at Robertson Stadium Nov. 8.

[UNDER-17 WORLD CUP] Following its 2-1 loss to Spain, the USA will look to get on the winning track against Malawi Thursday at the Under-17 World Cup in Kano, Nigeria (TV: ESPNU, ESPN360.com, 11 am ET). The Americans will be battling history — they have a 1-6-1 record against African teams at the Under-17 World Cup — and the conditions — the game will kick off in the afternoon when temperatures are expected to reach 95 degrees.

[SPAIN] Real Madrid spent a record $342 million on new players, but less than two months into its 2009-10 season, chaos already reigns at the White House. A 4-0 loss to Second Division B (third-level) Alcorcon will do that for you. Following the defeat, the Madrid media predicted first-year coach Manuel Pellegrini is on his way out.

[MLS PREDICTION] All the strategies and matchups and tactical nuances for the first leg of the Western Conference semifinal series between Seattle and Houston Thursday at Qwest Field might be tweaked somewhat if the conditions come up wet and windy. Whatever the weather, a seething atmosphere generated by a crowd of 36,000 should make for a memorable spectacle.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] 1860 Munich, which is fighting against relegation in the German second division, found no relief in the German Cup, falling, 3-0, against first division Schalke 04 as forward Kenny Cooper played the first 55 minutes for Munich in front of 28,500 home fans.

[COLLEGE] Teal Bunbury, the son of former Canada international Alex Bunbury, scored two goals to lead No. 1 Akron to a 3-0 win over Penn State for the Zips’ 16th win in a row. Seven other Top 25 teams in action were perfect on Wednesday (two other games involving No. 6 Connecticut and No. 21 St. John’s were postponed because of bad weather). For all the Wednesday action …

[AMERICAN ABROAD] Goalie Chris Konopka was in the nets for Irish First Division (second level) club Sporting Fingal FC Sunday in its 4-2 win over Premier Division Bray Wanderers that sent it to the final of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) Cup Nov. 22.

[MLS] In a season rife with memorable scenes from Qwest Field, a tiny tableaux just after the final whistle Saturday set off the last regular-season game just about right. Minority investor and extremely funny guy Drew Carey, swathed in a scarf, roamed across the field, and spotted majority investor and entertainment entrepreneur Joe Roth similarly attired and beaming just as broadly. Without a word or gesture, the two men, with combined ages solidly into three figures, joyfully and shamelessly jumped in unison to slam their bellies together.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Brad Friedel‘s understudy Brad Guzan made the most of a rare appearance for Aston Villa, saving one penalty kick in regulation time and three PKs in the tiebreaker in a win over Sunderland that sends Villa to the English League Cup quarterfinals. In Scotland, DaMarcus Beasley saw his first action of the season.

[MLS] The MLS playoffs will begin Thursday when the Seattle Sounders FC host the Houston Dynamo (TV: ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, live, 10 pm ET). Of the 11 games, 10 will be available on national television — five on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, three on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Espanol, one on TeleFutura and MLS Cup 2009 on ESPN and Galavision. For the complete television schedule …

[MLS] FC Dallas will not renew the contract of General Manager Michael Hitchcock and will not fill his position. Instead, FCD will hire a technical director to assist Head Coach Schellas Hyndman in day-to-day soccer operations. Hunt Sports Group President John Wagner will continue to oversee the business side of the organization.