Category: Story

[COLLEGE] Akron and North Carolina remained 1-2 in the Soccer America Men’s Top 25. Pac-10 teams UCLA and California moved up to third and fourth in the rankings, and South Florida rounded out the top five. For the complete Top 25 rankings …

Soccer America Women’s Top 25

[COLLEGE] Stanford took over as No. 1 in the Soccer America Top 25 rankings following North Carolina’s 0-0 tie with Auburn. The Tar Heels dropped to second. Boston College and Portland changed places at No. 3 and No. 4. Besides Stanford (9-0-0) and Boston College (8-0-0), the only unbeaten and untied teams in the Soccer America Top 25 are No. 9 Maryland (8-0-0) and No. 12 South Carolina (8-0-0). For the complete Women’s Top 25 rankings …

Ferguson praises Owen, Hughes fumes after sensational Manchester derby

by Paul KennedySeptember 21, 2009

[ENGLAND] Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson called it probably the greatest Manchester derby, and few fans would doubt him after United won the see-saw match, 4-3, on what Ferguson called a “world-class” goal by Michael Owen six minutes into stoppage time. On the other side, City manager Mark Hughes said his team was robbed after the fourth official had indicated that only four minutes of additional time would be played.

Beckham comes through for Galaxy [VIDEO]

by Mike WoitallaSeptember 21, 2009

[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] David Beckham scored his second goal of the season and notched his third assist in the Los Angeles Galaxy’s 2-0 win over Toronto FC. Houston and Kansas City pulled off exciting wins, but Seattle disappointed its loyal following once again.

MLS Results

The visiting Columbus Crew tied Chicago Fire, 2-2, in their Eastern Conference’s top-of-the-standings clash and held on to its three-point lead with a game in hand. The Los Angeles Galaxy beat Toronto FC, 2-0, and kept it within two points of the Houston Dynamo, a 3-2 winner over Real Salt Lake, in the battle for the lead in the Western Conference. For all the weekend summaries, current standings and leading scorers …

International Results

Barcelona and Real Madrid romped in Spain, where they are tied with Athletic Bilbao for first place. Leaders Sampdoria and Juventus won their fourth games in a row in Italy. Bayern Munich, Hoffenheim and Mainz took advantage of ties by Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen to move to within three points of the lead in Germany. For the weekend results and current standings …

Playoff pairings are set

[USL-1] The USL First Division field had been set since Sept. 11, so the final week determined the first-round pairings for the six teams behind regular-season champion Portland. Carolina, which had never advanced to the playoffs, took second place and will defending champion Vancouver in the first round. Other first-round pairings: Puerto Rico-Rochester and Charleston-Montreal. Complicating the playoff picture for the Islanders is their home game Tuesday against Saprissa of Costa Rica in the Concacaf Champions League.

Wizards’ win keeps them in the hunt

by Ridge MahoneySeptember 21, 2009

[MLS PLAYOFF WATCH] The one-two teams in both conferences stayed where they were, with the respective leaders, the Crew and Dynamo, both on top with 43 points. Columbus (11-4-10) rallied for a 2-2 tie away to Chicago (10-6-10) to maintain a three-point lead over the Fire, and Houston (12-8-7) prevailed at home, 3-2, against Real Salt Lake to stay two points ahead of Los Angeles (10-5-11), which beat Toronto, 2-0. Here is our weekly rankings of the wild-card teams chasing the four spots behind the first and second teams in each conference, which qualify automatically for the playoffs.

SoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story

Mystifying PK calls and the witch-hunt effect

by Paul GardnerSeptember 21, 2009

We’re not going to solve this mystery of exactly what it is that referees see when they do or not give penalty kicks. Well, not this week, anyhow. Two prime examples of mystifying calls happened over the weekend — one penalty that wasn’t given (that should have been), and one that was given (that should not have been). The comments in brackets represent my opinions, of course.

Akron remains perfect with sixth victory

by Paul KennedySeptember 20, 2009

MEN’S NEWS … No. 1 Akron remained perfect with a 4-0 win over Saint Louis on Sunday. Teal Bunbury, son of former Canada international, led the Zips with a pair of goals.

No. 18 Loyola Marymount knocked No. 5 Dartmouth from the unbeaten ranks with a 3-2 win. Rafael Baca broke a 2-2 tie in the 82nd minute with his second goal of the game. Jamaican youth international Yannick Salmon scored twice in the second half to lead Rutgers past No. 21 Connecticut, 2-1. Marshall ended No. 25 Kentucky’s 15-game unbeaten streak with a 1-0 overtime win. Dustin Dawes‘ golden goal in the 102nd minute decide the Conference USA opener for both teams.

Michigan State goalie Avery Steinlage‘s NCAA record shutout streak was snapped at 1,319 minutes when the Spartans fell at San Diego.

(Click here for more weekend men’s results.)

WEEKEND TOP 25 RESULTS:
Sunday, Sept. 20
No. 1 Akron 4 (Nagbe 16, Bunbury 54, 71, Mwila 79) Saint Louis 0.
No. 18 Loyola Marymount 3 (Canty 44, Baca 52, 82) No. 5 Dartmouth 2 (Keat 76, 80).
No. 8 California 3 (Cosgriff 7, Wiedeman 59, 77) Santa Clara 1 (Hurtado 11).
No. 9 South Florida 2 (Sinclair 5, Mora 84) No. 23 Notre Dame 1 (Dike 78).
No. 10 Indiana 2 (Bruin 68, 106) FIU 1 (Cabas 85) (OT).
No. 13 Louisville 5 (DelPiccolo 19, Yanez 20, own goal 21, Braun 65, Rosendall 85) Pittsburgh 0.
Columbia 0 No. 14 Boston Univ. 1 (own goal 26).
No. 15. St. John’s 0 Seton Hall 0.
Princeton 0 No. 16 Monmouth 1 (Von Bargen 5).
(Loss is Princeton’s first of the season.)
No. 19 UC Santa Barbara 1 (Barrera 87) Wisconsin 1 (Miller 82).
No. 20 UC Irvine 2 (Garcia 67, Thompson 83) Sacramento State 0.
Rutgers 2 (Salmon pen. 62, 69) No. 21 Connecticut 1 (Cascio 10).
No. 22 Kentucky 0 Marshall 1 (Dawes 102) (OT).
(Wildcats’ unbeaten streak snapped at 15 games.)
No. 25 Northwestern 2 (Kupe 59, O’Neill 88) Lafayette 1 (Peckham pen. 54).

Saturday, Sept. 19
No. 4 Creighton 0 Missouri State 1 (Hoffman 45).
(Game draws Missouri Valley record crowd of 5,609.)
No. 22 N.C. State 1 (Carpenter 64) No. 7 Maryland 1 (Yates 89).
Fairfield 1 (Burridge 84) No. 12 Harvard 4 (Akpan 33, 60, Rogers 57, Wolfenson 82)
Western Michigan 1 (Suleman 80) No. 24 Michigan 5 (Keller 33, Cameron 41, Wood 71, Meram 71, Klein 89).
(Western Michigan falls to 0-6-0.)

No. 1 North Carolina held to a 0-0 tie by Auburn

by Soccer AmericaSeptember 20, 2009

WOMEN’S NEWS … Auburn held No. 1 North Carolina to a 0-0 tie Sunday at the Duke Nike Classic, snapping Carolina’s seven-game winning streak to start the season. The Tar Heels outshot Auburn, 40-4, but were stymied by Tiger keeper Amy Howard, who made 12 saves.

Carolina’s tie left only No. 2 Stanford (9-0-0), No. 4. Boston College (8-0-0), No. 9. Maryland (8-0-0) and No. 12. South Carolina (8-0-0) are the only unbeaten and untied Top 25 teams. The only Top 25 team to lose on Sunday was No. 24 Denver, which fell to Oregon State, 3-1.

(Click here for more weekend women’s results.)

WEEKEND TOP 25 RESULTS:
Sunday, Sept. 20
No. 1 North Carolina 0 Auburn 0.
No. 2 Stanford 6 (Press 21, Nogueira 23, 54, Verloo 32, Taylor 51, O’Hara 53) Wisconsin 0.
SMU 0 No. 3 Portland 6 (Johnson 22, Enyeart 27, 52, Schmidt pen. 49, Chandhoke 63, 63).
(Kendra Chandhoke scores two goals 27 seconds apart.)
No. 4 Boston College 4 (Bouchelle 12, Knowlton 18, 24, Mewis 37) Central Conn. State 0.
No. 5 UCLA 5 (Leroux 2, Lang 8, Larsen 14, 63, Wright 32) Missouri 0.
(UCLA head coach Jillian Ellis is ejected in second half.)
No. 10 Santa Clara 1 (Bosio 99) Colorado 0 (OT).
Eastern Michigan 1 (Sheridan 12) No. 11 Michigan State 1 (Heyboer 70).
(Lauren Hill was red carded in 78th minute.)
No. 12 South Carolina 6 (Small 4, Diaz-Matosas 20, Aaron 28, Grimsley 56, Holand 60, Brewer 74) South Alabama 1 (Stocker 86).
(Goal allowed is the first in Gamecocks’ eight games.)
No. 13 Notre Dame 2 (Barg 7, Scheidler 50) Northwestern 0.
No. 14 Florida 5 (Torosian 38, 67, Thigpen 67, 87, Thompson 68) Eastern Kentucky 1 (Muller 53).
No. 16 Virginia 2 (Farrelly 48, Lenczyk 89) American 0.
Columbia 1 (Yahr 53) No. 18 St. John’s 2 (Haas 33, Duggan 71).
No. 19 Connecticut 1 (Buske 67) Yale 0.
(Melissa Busque gets her third game-winning goal of the season.)
No. 21 San Diego 1 (Ochs 83) Missouri State 0.
No. 22 Indiana 2 (Herrera 15, pen. 62) Wisconsin-Green Bay 0.
Princeton 0 No 23 Rutgers 2 (Jones 19, 65).
Oregon State 3 (Wetzel 37, Buckland 70, Peck 80) No. 24 Denver 1 (Stewart 2).
No. 25 West Virginia 1 (Larkin 62) Tennessee 0.
No. 25 Kansas 4 (Morris 1, 70, Dolinsky 20, Johnson 56) South Dakota State 0.

Saturday, Sept. 19
UAB 0 No. 20 Wake Forest 1 (Winslow 85).

Conference races remain tight

by Paul KennedySeptember 19, 2009

[MLS] David Beckham‘s second goal of the season powered the Los Angeles Galaxy to a 2-0 win over Toronto FC on Saturday night and kept it within two points of the Houston Dynamo in the battle for the lead in the Western Conference. On Sunday, the Columbus Crew tied Chicago Fire, 2-2, in the Eastern Conference’s top-of-the-table clash and held on to its three-point lead with a game in hand.

SUNDAY COLLEGE ACTION …
Men’s Scoreboard
Women’s Scoreboard

Akron remains perfect; Virginia ends Wake’s home streak

by Paul KennedySeptember 19, 2009

MEN’S NEWS … Michael Nanchoff‘s goal on a free kick in the 78th minute gave No. 1 Akron a 1-0 win over No. 10 Indiana before a record Akron crowd of 2,443 fans.

Junior defender Mike Volk‘s first career goal gave No. 25 Virginia a 1-0 win over No. 3 Wake Forest, snapping the Deacons’ home unbeaten streak of 35 games.

No. 2 North Carolina handed No. 11 Duke its first loss of the season the battle of Tobacco Road, winning, 1-0, before 4,439 fans, the second-largest men’s crowd in Fetzer Field history.

Ranked Connecticut and Notre Dame both won their Big East openers on the road.

In late night action St. Mary’s edged No. 20 UC Irvine, 2-1, on Dylan Lesley‘s golden goal.

(Click here for more Friday night men’s results as well as the weekend Top 25 schedule.)

TODAY’S TOP 25 RESULTS:
Friday, Sept. 18
No. 1 Akron 1 (Nanchoff 78) No. 10 Indiana 0.
No. 2 North Carolina 2 (Schuler 22, Brown 69) No. 22 Duke 1 (Finley 79).
No. 3 Wake Forest 0 No. 25 Virginia 1 (Volk 25).
San Diego 1 (Carminatti 34) No. 5 Dartmouth 2 (Bowers 64, Henderson 78).
No. 9 South Florida 1 (Anor 30) Marquette 1 (Lysak 57).
No. 13 Louisville 2 (Knight 11, Chavez 66) West Virginia 0.
No. 14 Boston Univ. 0 Boston College 1 (Worley 57).
No. 15. St. John’s 2 (Himeno 80, Terra 89) Georgetown 0.
No. 16 Monmouth 4 (Kinne 42, 44, Barbieri 51, Clark 84) Cornell 1 (Nissl 51).
(Hawks improve to 6-0-0.)
Ohio State 2 (Hegngi 32, 59) No. 17 Butler 1 (Pateros 81).
(Buckeyes remain unbeaten at 3-0-2.)
Michigan State 3 (Beca 7, 42, Saydee 89) No. 18 Loyola Marymount 0
(Avery Steinlage extends NCAA record shutout streak to 1,259 minutes.)
Wisconsin-Milwaukee 0 No. 19 UC Santa Barbara 2 (Silva 27, Ibrahim 46).
No. 20 UC Irvine 1 (Prieto 61) St. Mary’s 2 (Rivas 71, Lesley 107) (OT).
Villanova 1 (Griffith 41) No. 21 Connecticut 2 (Brickley 66, Ponce 67).
DePaul 1 (Leinauer 11) No. 23 Notre Dame 2 (Brovsky 10, Dike 59).
No. 25 Northwestern 0 South Carolina 0.

Texas A&M sends Portland to its first defeat

by Soccer AmericaSeptember 19, 2009

WOMEN’S NEWS … No. 3 Portland was shocked by unranked Texas A&M, 3-1, on Friday night before 3,542 fans in College Station, Texas. Whitney Hooper led the Aggies with two goals.

LSU gave top-ranked North Carolina a fight, holding the Tar Heels scoreless until Jessica McDonald‘s goal in the 77th minute gave them a 1-0 win at the Duke Nike Classic.

Toni Pressley‘s golden goal gave No. 6 Florida State a 1-0 win at No. 14 Florida before 3,526 in Gainesville. In another battle of Top 25 teams, No. 25 Kansas hammered No. 21 San Diego, 5-0.

(Click here for more Friday night women’s results as well as the weekend Top 25 schedule.)

FRIDAY’S TOP 25 RESULTS:
No. 1 North Carolina 1 (McDonald 77) LSU 0.
No. 2 Stanford 4 (Riley 24, O’Hara 50, Redman 78, 80) Colorado 0.
Texas A&M 3 (Kmezich 34, Hooper 43, 57) No. 3 Portland 1 (Winters 52).
No. 4 Boston College 4 (G.DiMartino 8, V.DiMartino 10, 76, Mewis 71) Harvard 1 (Sheeleigh 40).
No. 5 UCLA 6 (Cheney 17, 69, Lang 23, Barnes 62, Leroux 78, Smith 87) Utah 1 (Hair 35).
No. 14 Florida 0 No. 6 Florida State 1 (Pressley 93) (OT).
St. Mary’s 1 (Menzhuber 33) No. 7 California 4 (Oakes pen. 16, Morgan 57, Omarsdottir 67, 79).
Clemson 1 (Elder 2) No. 8 Georgia 2 (Miller 13, Patterson pen. 48).
No. 9 Maryland 3 (Dreska 29, 50, Spencer 85) Brown 1 (Walker 52).
(Molly Dreska opens scoring with shot from 40 yards.)
No. 10 Santa Clara 2 (Orand 34, Goynes 37) Wisconsin 1 (Owusu 89).
Kent State 0 No. 11 Michigan State 2 (Heyboer 24, Mueller 80).
No. 12 South Carolina 1 (Grimsley 28) No. 17 UCF 0.
(Gamecocks have yet to allow a goal this season.)
No. 13 Notre Dame 4 (Fowlkes 17, Augustin 44, 75, Henderson 88) DePaul 0.
No. 15 Purdue (Phillips pen. 80) Wisconsin-Milwaukee 1 (Hagen 54).
(Visiting Panthers snap four-game losing streak.)
No. 18 St. John’s 2 (McConnell 15, Haas 42) Syracuse 0
No. 19 Connecticut 2 (Diakun 16, Clark 34) Providence 0.
No. 22 Indiana 2 (Velasquez 15, 62) Wisconsin-Green Bay 0.
No. 23 Rutgers 2 (Schacher 68, Jones 98) Seton Hall 1 (Desmond 86) (OT).
Oregon 4 (Bowns 14, 54, Libke 44, Kenney 80) No. 24 Denver 1 (Armstrong 87).
(Ducks improve winning streak to four consecutive matches.)
No. 25 Kansas 5 (Cressy 8, Williamson 34, Noble 64, Jackson 67, Morris 84) No. 21 San Diego 0.
Pittsburgh 1 (Habbel 30) No. 25 West Virginia 1 (Blank 16).

Soccer America Confidential, Story

Dynamic Huckerby will be missed

by Ridge MahoneySeptember 18, 2009

Unlike many foreign players who’ve come to America and promised much but delivered little, Darren Huckerby gave everything: his zealous commitment to team, his unquenchable daring to scorch opponents, his indomitable spirit, his puckish humor, and ultimately, his health.

Story, Youth Soccer Insider

For Kids Only …

by Mike WoitallaSeptember 18, 2009

This column is for the kids. Adults can stop reading now.

Dear Soccer-Playing Children of America,

Five Official Experiment Underway

On Thursday, the Europa League implemented its experimental policy of using five match officials, using two extra assistants to help officiate incidents from behind the goals for the 24 first-round games. U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard got a shutout as Everton opened European soccer's second-tier cup competition with a 4-0 victory over AEK Athens in Group […]

Messi Inks Contract Extension with Barcelona

Lionel Messi tacked a two-year extension onto his existing contract with European champion Barcelona. Barcelona says in a statement on its Web site that "the Argentina forward's new agreement runs until 2016 and has a buyout clause of [$368 million] included." The 22-year-old Messi's previous contract expired in 2014 with a buyout clause of $220 […]

‘It’s Not All Maradona’s Fault,’ Says Schelotto

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, FutbolMLS.com/MLSnet.com is interviewing some of the league's top Latin players. 2008 MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto speaks about the Crew's slow start, the quality of the league, and his native national team's struggles to qualify for the World Cup. Schelotto on the Crew's early struggles: "I believe that we […]

Chivas Shores Up Defense for Playoff Push

Preparing for the stretch run of the season, Chivas USA has made crucial moves to bolster its defense. Last week, Chivas acquired veteran goalkeeper Jon Conway from New York for a fourth-round draft pick in 2011. Conway will join Lance Parker as backup for Zach Thorton, Conway's former teammate in New York, who leads MLS […]

New DP De Guzman Raring to Go Against Galaxy

Julian de Guzman is itching to get on the field after spending a week training with his new club, Toronto FC. Toronto head coach Chris Cummins, normally tight-lipped about his starting lineups, has already penciled the club's most expensive player into the lineup against Saturday's opponent, the Los Angeles Galaxy. "If he feels good and […]

Expansion Union May Need Alternative Venue For Opener

Philadelphia Union may not have its new stadium, currently under construction on Chester's waterfront, ready for its opening date next season. Prepared for such an event, the team is shopping for other venues, namely the Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field. "Right now everything is running on schedule construction-wise, but we are on a real tight schedule […]

U.S. Prospect Jones To Skip Surgery

Schalke midfielder and U.S. national team prospect Jermaine Jones, who suffered a hairline fracture in his shin over two months ago, will forgo additional surgery according to Schalke's website. Jones will spend the next three weeks working with the team's physiotherapy department in an attempt to overcome pain caused by a metal plate inserted during […]

European Clubs Spilling Red Ink

On Thursday, UEFA reported that almost a quarter of Europe's top division soccer clubs suffered major financial losses last year. Clubs' rising costs have offset increases in income. For example, while income rose five percent last year, player costs increased 9 percent. "The huge spending on players produces constantly an inflationary effect with consequences on […]