[PRESEASON NO. 1] Amy Rodriguez parlayed a standout junior season for USC into a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. A-Rod leads a group of seniors who make the Women of Troy the favorites to repeat as national champions.
Category: Story
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Carolina is loaded with national team talent
[PRESEASON NO. 2] It’s easy to forget just how young North Carolina’s 2006 national championship team was. Eight starters from that championship team return in 2008, including Olympian Tobin Heath and Casey Nogueira, one of four Tar Heels who represented the USA this summer in U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifying.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
UCLA becomes a College Cup regular
[PRESEASON NO. 3] UCLA’s 2007 postseason brought the disappointment of another Women’s College Cup collapse, but the Bruins, led by Olympians Lauren Cheney (USA) and Kara Lang (Canada), should return to the final four for a sixth straight year.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Trio leads Notre Dame attack
[PRESEASON NO. 4] With the trio of Kerri Hanks, Brittany Bock and Michele Weissenhofer, Notre Dame again has the most dangerous threesome in women’s college soccer.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Depth in numbers
[PRESEASON NOS. 6-25] After the big five is a quintet of women’s programs — Stanford, Virginia, Portland, Penn State and West Virginia — that have their sights set on reaching the 2008 Women’s College Cup in Cary, N.C.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Young Seminoles regroup without Yamaguchi
[PRESEASON NO. 5] Losing players to the pros before their eligibility expires is common for major men’s programs. But Hermann Trophy winner Mami Yamaguchi’s decision to leave Florida State to play for Sweden’s Umea was a surprise. Even without the Japan international, the Seminoles have the talent to return to the College Cup for a fourth straight year.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Soccer America Women’s Preseason Top 25
Defending national champion USC is ranked No. 1 in the Soccer America Women’s Preseason Top 25 rankings. North Carolina, the 2006 national champion, is ranked No. 2. The race for the top spot begins on Friday when the 2008 women’s college season kicks off. For all the Top 25 preseason rankings …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Special Edition: U.S. Olympic Soccer
MEMBERSHIP ALERT: A special edition will appear later Thursday with coverage of the USA-Brazil women’s gold-medal game, so look for this e-newsletter from Soccer America’s editors. For fans not wishing to read our coverage until after they have watched the game, the subject line of these e-letters will begin “Special Olympic Edition.”
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Colorado’s Clavijo is third coach to go in 2008
[MLS] When the season began, the two most tenuous head coaches were Fernando Clavijo in Colorado and Sigi Schmid in Columbus. One is riding high, the other just got dumped. With one-third of the season to go, Schmid is firmly entrenched, as is the Eastern Conference leading-Crew. A surprise firing in Dallas (Steve Morrow) and a shocking-yet-not-surprising dismissal (Ruud Gullit) in Los Angeles preceded the seemingly inevitable departure of Clavijo, who left the country last week to be with his seriously ill brother in his native Uruguay and on Monday officially terminated his tenure.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
International Friendly Results
International play resumed with Europe’s top teams all in action in friendly action on Wednesday. Euro ’08 champion Spain was playing its first game under Vicente Del Bosque, while Italy and Portugal both welcomed back former coaches. For all the results …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Big U.S. win in ugly game
[WORLD CUP 2010] The first USA foray into Central America for 2010 World Cup qualifying followed tradition in so many ways, except for one: the result. Guatemala 0, USA 1. Spectacular? No, but historic, yes. Never before in a qualifier, and only once in nine games, had the USA returned from this nation victorious.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Bocanegra, Howard earn highest marks
[GUATEMALA-USA REPORT CARD] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players’ performance in their 1-0 win over Guatemala on Wednesday. …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Onstad own goal blows it for Canada; comeback win for Mexico
[WORLD CUP 2010] Pavel Pardo scored two late goals to lead Mexico to a 2-1 comeback win over Honduras. Canada is already in trouble after tying at home with Jamaica because of an own goal by its MLS keeper. Suriname had a 2-0 lead until squandering it in the waning minutes against Haiti. The Ticos and Soca Warriors fared well.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Revs rebound; Dynamo thumps Chivas USA
[MLS RESULTS/SCHEDULE] For the second time in a week, the Houston Dynamo scored four goals in the first half. On Wednesday, the two-time defending champ followed up on Saturday’s 4-3 win over Real Salt Lake with a 4-0 victory over Chivas USA. Also on Wednesday, New England reclaimed first place in the East with a 2-1 win over D.C. United. On Thursday night, Coach Bruce Arena makes his Galaxy debut when L.A. hosts the Chicago Fire (TV: ESPN2). For Wednesday’s game summaries, standings, leading scorers and this week’s MLS TV Schedule …
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Backline: Duke’s John Kerr Jr. Taps Unique Experiences
Duke banks on hero of 1986 NCAA title win to guide Blue Devils back to top
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Nationals: Texans Make History
The Dallas Texans didn’t have to travel far to clean up. They made history when they won four titles at the 2008 U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in North Little Rock, Ark. Add to that a rare double by Andromeda and Solar’s McGuire Cup title, and North Texas teams finished with a record seven championships.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
NE Revolution: ‘Supah Shalrie’
Shalrie Joseph is the New England Revolution’s leader in its quest to finally win an MLS Cup title. He is the perfect package, combining size, strength, touch and vision, and could be MLS’s best player.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
College Women: Rapinoe Attack is Back
They arrived at Portland with high expectations, but in four seasons, injuries and illness limited the Rapinoe twins, Megan and Rachael, to playing perhaps 10 games together. After both players were sidelined four games apart last season with knee injuries, their careers reached a low point. But the Rapinoes rebounded with determination and return for their final season. Their goal for the Pilots: “champions or bust.”
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
College Men: O’Brian White’s Unfinished Business
College soccer’s best player is back.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Youth Beat: Refs’ Difficult Job Made Harder
As U.S. Soccer works on improving the nation’s refs, their job isn’t made any easier by coaches, parents and TV commentators.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
LA Galaxy: Anatomy of a Meltdown
The news that both Alexi Lalas and Ruud Gullit had departed the Los Angeles Galaxy in early August came as a surprise, but the underlying problems at MLS’s most visible team were an old story.
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Women’s College Preview ’08
FavoriteA-Rod leads USC again Amy Rodriguez and USC women's soccer seemed to be an odd match. The U.S. national team star could have chosen to attend any school in the country but says she picked USC because it was a "school where national championships are made." Football, maybe. But women's soccer had a long history […]
Posted inSoccer America Magazine, Story
Men’s College Preview ’08
FavoriteWake Forest learns life lessons A chance meeting in Santa Filomena, Brazil, located one hour outside of Sao Paulo, underscored the huge difference between American and Brazilian soccer. NCAA Division I champion Wake Forest was in Brazil for a spring tour, and Marcus Tracy, the Demon Deacons' star at the Men's College Cup, befriended a […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Fire-Galaxy Game A Missed Opportunity For MLS
Thursday’s matchup between the Chicago Fire and the L.A. Galaxy in California should have been a flagship game for Major League Soccer, writes Luis Arroyave. Bruce Arena makes his debut as Galaxy coach, pitching the western conference divas in desperate need of a win against the eastern high-fliers, with the league’s most prominent designated players […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Busy Times In Toronto As Robert Leaves, Ruiz Arrives
Toronto FC kept quiet during the past week’s press reports about midfielder Maurice Edu’s $5 million move to Glasgow Rangers. But on Tuesday the team made a flurry of announcements, waiving midfielder Laurent Robert, and signing L.A.’s much-traveled Guatemalan striker Carlos Ruiz. Edu’s move, meanwhile, will become official when the player receives a U.K. work […]