A pair of freshman lead the NCAA Division I women’s ranks in points (Michigan State’s Laura Heyboer with 47) and goals (Milwaukee’s Sarah Hagen with 21). For all the NCAA Division I leaders …
Category: Story
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS Playoff TV Schedule & Scoreboard
MLS playoffs continue on Thursday. For the complete TV schedule of MLS quarterfinal, second-leg games. …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
So far, not bad
[MLS REF WATCH] For the MLS referees in the quarterfinal, first legs, the bottom line read: One red card, certainly justified; the same for two disallowed goals; and no penalty kicks. Neither of those figures would be reassuring if officials had ignored a savage off-the-ball incident meriting an ejection, or somehow missed a stone-cold penalty, or whistled for a phantom infraction and pointed to the penalty spot. Fortunately, in most cases the officials rose to the occasion and performed at their own playoff caliber.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Friedel’s Villa falls to Newcastle
[ENGLAND] Brad Friedel and Aston Villa went down, 2-0, to Newcastle United in English Premier League action Monday.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Under-17 Women’s World Cup Scoreboard
Group play at the inaugural Under-17 Women’s World Cup concludes Wednesday in New Zealand. The USA needs at least a tie against France in Auckland to clinch a berth in the semifinals. For all the results and schedules …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
UEFA Champions League TV Schedule
UEFA Champions League continues with Day 4 of group play. Eleven of the 16 games will be available on cable. The big games are Roma-Chelsea and Liverpool-Atletico Madrid on Tuesday and Real Madrid-Juventus on Wednesday. For all the games on television …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Arsenal star joins breastfeeding campaign
[OFF THE POST] Theo Walcott, the 19-year-old Arsenal striker who has scored three goals in six England appearances, is supporting a DVD campaign encouraging mothers to breastfeed their babies. Walcott, whose mother is a midwife, said she’s “always telling me that one of the reasons I’m such a good footballer is because I was breastfed.”
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Salt Lake Travels With Lead And Confidence
When the Major League Soccer postseason begins, the debate about home advantage kicks off too. Whichever team plays home first claims that this is the better deal. The team playing home second argues otherwise. For Real Salt Lake players traveling to L.A. next weekend to face Chivas USA with a one-goal lead in its pocket, […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Score Even, Houston In The Driving Seat
New York could have enjoyed the same advantage as Salt Lake if it had held on to its one-goal lead at home to the Houston Dynamo Saturday in what Joshua Robinson describes as a "messy, physical game." Houston's late equalizer, though, means the Texan team would certainly argue that playing at home second is best. […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Toronto Ponders The DP Plunge
Gareth Wheeler addresses the dilemma facing Toronto FC in the offseason. Does the team follow the lead of the newest MLS franchise, Seattle Sounders FC, and try to sign a Designated Player? Wheeler lauds the Sounders’ boldness in signing former Arsenal midfielder and Swedish international Freddie Ljungberg, 31, and says that signing a DP is […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Al-Ahly Takes 2-0 Lead In African Champions Cup Final
Egyptian champion Al-Ahly took a two-goal lead in the first leg of the African Champions Cup final Sunday against Cotonsport of Cameroon in front of 70,000 fans in Cairo. The second leg will be played November 16 in Cotonsport’s home city, Garoua. Al-Ahly struck twice early on through a header from defender Wael Gomaa in […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Chelsea’s Owner Is Exceedingly Rich
It's always been clear that Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich has been an exceedingly wealthy man ever since he bought formerly state-owned Russian oil company Sibneft for peanuts in 1995, then sold it 10 years later for $12 billion. A ruling by the Royal Courts of Justice in London, however, has outlined in detail the […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Materazzi Wins Damages Over Racism Claim
Italy’s World Cup-winning defender Marco Materazzi has won undisclosed damages from U.K. tabloid The Daily Mail over its claim that the player racially insulted Zinedine Zidane during the 2006 World Cup final.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
TV Camera Catches Messi ‘Spitting At Opponent’
A TV camera reportedly caught Barcelona’s Lionel Messi spitting at Malaga player Duda during Barcelona’s 4-1 weekend win.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Marsch: It’s Only Halftime
“We were two minutes away from accomplishing what we set out to do when you come on the road. It’s unfortunate and we’re disappointed, upset. But it’s halftime and we’re going home. We’d have to score a goal to advance anyway.” Chivas USA veteran midfielder Jesse Marsch looks ahead to his side’s Western Conference semifinal […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Schmid Happy To Have First Playoff Game Behind Him
“It’s been a while since this club has been through the playoffs. There is always a little bit of apprehension, a little bit of tentativeness. To get the first game under our belt knowing we didn’t play our best game and being able to come out on equal footing was very important for our team.” […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
League should ponder ‘reverse’ format
The best format for the MLS playoffs isn’t yet feasible, simply because not every team has its own stadium, and to truly reward the best regular-season teams, the entire format would have to be reworked.
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
European Champions League highlights the midweek. MLS playoffs continue Thursday as Chicago hosts New England and kick into high gear on the weekend with three other second-leg, quarterfinal matchups. The Mexican league’s weekend matches will be updated in Friday’s Soccer on TV e-letter.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
MORNING BRIEFING: UCLA clinches Pac-10 title
UCLA became the first team to clinch a berth in the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament when it won the Pac-10 title Sunday a 2-0 win over Stanford. Top 10 teams Wake Forest, St. John’s, Loyola (Md.) and UIC all clinched their respective conference regular-season titles, while the Big Ten title when to Michigan State in outgoing coach Joe Baum‘s last regular-season game.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
POLLS: Soccer America Men’s Top 25
Wake Forest remained No. 1 in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25 for the 11th straight week. Creighton and Akron exchanged places at No. 2 and No. 3. For this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 and last week’s results …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
MORNING BRIEFING: Conference play goes down to wire
UCLA moved into first place in the Pac-10 with a 1-0 win over Stanford in a battle of undefeated teams. The WCC will go down to the wire as Portland and San Diego, both 6-0-0, meet next Saturday for the WCC title. Play wrapped up this weekend in other major conferences, where North Carolina (ACC) and Oklahoma State (Big 12) were crowned regular-season champions. Penn State and Minnesota shared the Big Ten title, while Florida and LSU claimed divisional crowns in the SEC.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Women’s Conferences
Connecticut pulled an upset when it knocked off ranked Georgetown, 2-1, and joined Notre Dame, West Virginia and Marquette in the Big East semifinals. Boston University moved into the America East final with a 1-0 win over Maine, its eighth straight victory. For all the weekend conference tournament results …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
POLLS: Soccer America Women’s Top 25
Notre Dame remained No. 1 in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25 for the eighth straight week. UCLA moved up to No. 2, ahead of Stanford, thanks to its 1-0 win over the Cardinal on Friday. For this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25 and last week’s results …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
REPORT CARDS: Quarterfinals, First Legs
[MLS] Soccer America’s Paul Kennedy, Ridge Mahoney and Mike Woitalla grade the players’ performance in the four first-leg games of the MLS quarterfinals …
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Playoff Soccer: More Pros than Cons
The first good thing about the MLS playoffs was that the Colorado Rapids didn’t qualify. I say that intending no disrespect for their players, but as a harsh criticism of the style and tactics adopted by their interim coach Gary Smith — the dreaded survival soccer that I excoriated here a couple of weeks back.