Category: Story

SMALL COLLEGE NEWS … Stevens Tech, No. 2 in the NSCAA/adidas NCAA Division III men’s rankings, fell to Swarthmore for the second straight year and dropped to 10th in this week’s rankings.

After ending the Ducks’ 62-game home unbeaten streak in 2008, Swarthmore won, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon on sophomore Roberto Contreras‘ goal.

Messiah remained No. 1, and Amherst climbed to No. 2. Spencer Noon scored two goals in his first game for the Lord Jeffs in their 2-0 victory over Bowdoin.

MEN RANKINGS:
NCAA Division II 1. Tampa, 2. Northern Kentucky, 3. Millersville.
NCAA Division III 1. Messiah, 2. Amherst, 3. Ohio Wesleyan.

WOMEN RANKINGS:
NCAA Division II 1. Seattle Pacific, 2. West Florida, 3. Saint Rose.
NCAA Division III 1. Messiah, 2. Puget Sound, 3. Williams.

NAIA MEN’S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
Offense: Alex Hanne, Simon Fraser (Tied school record with six goals in 9-1 win at Menlo)
Defense: Tyler Stromberg, Azusa Pacific (Made 12 saves in wins over Notre Dame of Ohio and Mobile)

NAIA WOMEN’S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
Offense: Ashley Sherr, Fresno Pacific (Scored golden goal at Southern Oregon and added four more goals in win over Simpson)
Defense: Kylie Willet, Ashford (Back-to-back shutouts against Trinity Christian and Calumet College of St. Joseph)

MEN’S NEWS … Having lost his entire backline — including Rodney Wallace, Omar Gonzalez and A.J. DeLaGarza, who all start in MLS —  Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski was preoccupied with defensive issues in the 2009 preseason. But with only four goals in their first three games, scoring was the problem early on. That all changed Tuesday night as No. 7 Maryland routed Duquesne, 7-0, in the pouring rain.

Matt Kassel scored on a free kick from 25 yards out in the 13th minute opened the scoring. Fellow sophomore Casey Townsend put the game away with three goals.

“It was a very gratifying performance,” Cirovski said. “We’ve been talking about getting a little crisper in finishing and tonight I thought we made some good runs and good crosses and had some good goals. We showed a little more menace in our attack and we didn’t give up after we scored one. To be fair to Duquesne, they had two games over the weekend and I think they were a little fatigued and had a hard time keeping up with our energy and pace.”

— Senior Ronnie Bouemboue scored two goals and set up another as No. 21 North Carolina State defeated Campbell, 5-1. Next up for the Wolfpack: Maryland at home on Saturday.

— Neil Barlow‘s goal in the 38th minute was all No. 25 Virginia could muster from an 18-2 advantage in shots and the Cavaliers settled for a 1-0 win over Mount St. Mary’s. They play Wake Forest on Friday.

Tuesday’s Scoreboard

* HAT TRICK HEROES:
— Townsend’s hat trick for Maryland was his first in two seasons with the Terrapins.
— Honduran Romario Blandon‘s three goals gave VCU a 4-3 win over city rival Richmond.

WOMEN’S NEWS … Last year, it was Laura Heyboer who carried Michigan State with 21 goals in 24 games as freshman. This year it’s senior Lauren Hill who leads the Spartans with eight goals in six games. 

Hill’s goal with under a minute to go in the first half broke a scoreless deadlock against Detroit and Michigan State went on to win, 2-0, extending its unbeaten streak to 16 games at DeMartin Stadium — 9-0-2 last year and 5-0-0 so far in 2009.

After a shot by Samantha Cook bounced off the crossbar, Hill scored off the rebound with a header to extend her own streak of having scored in every game for the 5-0-1 Spartans.

“She has been on a roll and we want to keep it that way,” said Coach Tom Saxton. “Her goal today was an opportunistic one; she was in the right place and the right time and took advantage of the loose ball.”

Hill’s goal gives her 36 for her career and puts her within three of the MLS record held by Michelle Wise.

Tuesday’s Scoreboard

* RECORD BOOK:
— Rachel King needed only eight games to break the Louisiana Tech record for goals in a season, collecting her 10th goal of the season in a 2-0 win over Grambling State that improve the Lady Techsters’ record to 8-0-0.