Category: Story

SMALL COLLEGE NEWS … NCAA Division III New Jersey City beat Rutgers-Newark, 5-1, Saturday to end its New Jersey Athletic Conference women’s winless streak at 111 games.

Julia Caseres had a hat trick in the win for NJCU, whose only tie in the streak was a 1-1 tie against Ramapo in 1995. It had since lost 103 straight conference games. It entered the Rutgers-Newark game 0-2 in conference play after going 7-2 in non-conference action.

MEN’S NEWS … This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Boston College, but after a 1-3 start — including losses to No. 3 Maryland and No. 8 Harvard — the Eagles have run off four wins in a row, including a 2-0 win over Duke on Friday night, and made their 2009 debut in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25 this week at No. 14.

Veteran coach Eddie Kelly had seven starters, including All-American Alejandro Bedoya, graduate and an eighth, Shawn Chin, transfer to South Florida. But Kelly, now seconded by Marco Koolman, the highly successful head coach at Division II Franklin Pierce, has built BC into one of the hottest men’s programs in recent years. The Eagles have held their own since joining the ACC in 2005, and they’ve featured such players as U.S. national team star Charlie Davies and Bedoya.

The ’09 Eagles’ best player may be sophomore Edwin Worley, who like Bedoya and Chin hails from Florida, but a corps of eight freshmen have made a huge difference. Except for Worley’s two goals, all the scoring has come from freshmen. Kelly has found them in New England boarding schools, MLS academy programs, as far away as the LAFC Chelsea program in Southern California.

Only one senior, defender Chris Carey, played against Duke, and it was his first appearance of the season since returning from injury.

* BOSTON COLLEGE FRESHMEN:
GK-Justin Luthy (Columbus Crew Academy) Allowed one goal in the last four games.
D-Isaac Taylor (D.C. United Academy) Left-sided player made first start at Maryland.
D-Sacir Hot (New York Red Bulls Academy) Started first seven games.
D-Stefan Carter (Albertson SC) One of five freshmen to start on opening day.
M-Kyle Bekker (Canada) Has two goals and three assists.
M-Colin Murphy (New Zealand) First collegiate goal was winner against Duke.
F-Kevin Mejia (LAFC Chelsea) Scored insurance goal against Duke from penalty spot.
F-Charlie Rugg (FC Greater Boston Bolts) Leads BC with three goals and two assists.

* SOCCER FEVER. Two days before game time, No. 1 Akron announced that its game against No. 11 Ohio State is already a sellout. It’s the Zips’ second advance sellout in four games at Lee Jackson Field this season. UA set an attendance record on Sept. 18 when 2,443 watched the Zips defeat Indiana, 1-0. (UA students with valid ID will be admitted free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis when the gates open at 6:30 p.m. and continuing until the facility reaches its capacity.)

* TUESDAY’S TOP 25 SCHEDULE:
George Mason vs. No. 3 Maryland
Radford vs. No. 5 North Carolina
No. 4 Wake Forest vs. Charlotte
No. 10 Indiana vs. No. 23 Kentucky
No. 14 Boston College vs. Siena
No. 15 Duke vs. Elon
No. 16 Virginia vs. VCU

* MASTERS CANDIDATE. Mike Mattson, whose goal gave Clemson a 1-0 win over Virginia Friday for its first win in seven games, is in the masters of professional accounting program at Clemson after graduating from the University of Central Florida in May. He started for three seasons at UCF, sat out the 2008 and spent the summer with the Central Florida Kraze in the PDL, where was second in the league with 10 assists. Mattson is featured in this week’s Soccer America Men’s Team of the Week

WOMEN’S NEWS … Canadian international Kara Lang‘s college career is over following the season-ending knee injury she suffered Friday in UCLA’s 2-0 win at Cal State Northridge. She was marking Northridge’s Heidi Farran when she fell down, re-tearing the ACL in her right knee. The Oakville, Ont., native suffered a similar injury prior to her sophomore year at UCLA and was forced to redshirt the entire 2006 season.

At 22, Lang is already second all-time on the Canadian national team in scoring with 33 goals in 86 games. She debuted for Canada at the age of 15 and played all six games for Canada a year later at the 2003 Women’s World Cup. She was the subject of an intense recruiting battle and finally settled on UCLA.

Lang set UCLA freshman records for both goals (17) and assists (6) in 2005 and had eight goals in the NCAA Tournament. After coming back from knee surgery, she played for Canada in the 2007 Women’s World Cup and 2008 Olympics but never had the impact many expected she would at UCLA, where she had 15 goals and 13 assists over the last two-plus seasons.
 
“I feel extremely sorry for Kara to have suffered this type of injury during her senior year,” said UCLA coach Jillian Ellis.  “She is a vital part of this program and I know she will continue to be with us and support this team in some capacity the rest of the season.  Kara is a strong individual, and I have full confidence that she will rebound from this injury and continue to have a successful soccer career.”

— Rachel Yepez, who had three goals and two assists for LSU in SEC wins over ranked Georgia (6-0) and Tennessee (5-1), heads this week’s Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week.

* MONDAY’S RESULT:
NJIT 1 Iona 2 (OT)
(Gabriella D’Aprile scores on breakaway with 48 seconds remaining in first overtime.)

* COMEBACK KIDS (VIDEO). As Lang did, Brittany Taylor and Jessica Diakun have come back from knee injuries. After missing the 2008 season, Taylor and Diakun have returned and helped Connecticut, which missed out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever, off to a No. 17 ranking in this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25.

(View WTNH’s profile of Taylor, a top WPS prospect, and Diakun, a vocal leader in the back.)