Category: Story

MEN’S NEWS … Indiana is in trouble. The Hoosiers, who have never had a losing season in their previous 36 seasons as a varsity sport, have fallen to .500 and out of the Soccer America Men’s Top 25. Three consecutive losses — all shutouts — have left Indiana at 7-7-1 and in danger of missing out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1986.

After last Wednesday’s 4-0 loss to Louisville, Indiana coach Mike Freitag said his team didn’t show up. Not for the first time, he blasted his players’ lackluster play. The Hoosiers played better at Northwestern on Sunday, outshooting the Wildcats, 8-2, in the first half, but they came out flat after halftime and lost the key Big Ten match, 2-0. “This is a very difficult loss,” said Freitag. “It is indicative of the season at this point and time. For whatever reason, we have not come together as a team and we have very little time left to do that.”

IU has only three regular-season games left, all at home, beginning with a match against long-time rival Evansville in Bloomington. The Aces (10-5-1) have lost the last seven games in the series with IU that was resumed two years ago, but they are having a strong season. After that, IU closes out Big Ten play with matches against Ohio State and No. 25 Penn State, both tough teams. Then comes the Big Ten, which will be held in Bloomington Nov. 12-15.

To be considered for the NCAA Tournament, Indiana will need a record of .500 for better. If it finishes around .500, it should get in. It’s played one of the strongest schedules in the country. Six of its losses have been to teams ranked in this week’s top 13 — No. 1 Akron, No. 2 Wake Forest, No. 7 UC Santa Barbara, No. 9 Louisville, No. 10 Northwestern and No. 13 Butler.

* CROWD COUNT. UC Santa Barbara is on course to break the modern-day men’s soccer attendance record. The Gauchos are averaging 4,836 fans a game and should top the NCAA record of 3,629 fans a game set by New Mexico in 2005. The unofficial record is held by Connecticut, which averaged 4,297 fans a game in 1982. UCSB has led the nation in average attendance the last two years.

2009 AVG. ATTENDANCE:
1. UC Santa Barbara 4836
2. Connecticut 3211
3. Maryland 3085
4. Creighton 2449
5. Indiana 2335
6. New Mexico 2254
7. North Carolina 1819
8. Wake Forest 1773
9. Portland 1690
10. Clemson 1681
11. Akron 1597
12. Saint Louis 1492
13. Notre Dame 1485
14. St. John’s 1444
15. Louisville 1425
16. Kentucky 1322
17. Virginia 1318
18. Cal Poly 1307
19. Binghamton 1302
20. Seton Hall 1217

Men’s Player of the Week: Carlos Alvarez (Connecticut)
Men’s Team of the Week

* LEADING GOAL SCORERS:
1 Andrew Bulls, UMBC 15
2. Levi Houapeu, UMBC 14
3. Issa Tall, Adelphi 13
4. Teal Bunbury, Akron 12
4. Matt Eliason, Northwestern 12
6. Matthew Skonicki, Winthrop 11
6. JC Banks, Green Bay 11

WOMEN’S NEWS … The 2008 women’s conference tournament season kicks off on Thursday with first-round games in three conferences. The highlight is a pair of 4-5 matchups in the Big East: Villanova, the No. 4 seed from the National Division, hosts Connecticut, the No. 5 seed from the American Division, and South Florida, the No. 4 seed from the American Division, is at home against DePaul, the No. 5 seed from the National Division. At least one win in the Big East Tournament may be necessary for them to maintain their NCAA Tournament hopes. Villanova, Connecticut and DePaul all have wins over teams in this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25.

Villanova (11-4-4) Wildcats have scored only one goal in their last four games.
Connecticut (10-7-1) Last year Huskies failed to make NCAA Tournament for first time in 27 years.
South Florida (8-7-3) All seven Bulls losses have been by one-goal margins.
DePaul (10-8-2) Blue Demons are making first appearance in Big East Tournament.

Conference Tournament Scoreboard

* HAGEN STREAK ENDS. Sophomore Sarah Hagen‘s nine-game goal scoring streak came to an end Monday when she didn’t score in Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s 4-1 over Wisconsin-Green Bay in their makeup game. Hagen assisted on Kate Megna‘s goal. Megna also added an assist to give her 15, the most in the country.

Women’s Player of the Week: Danielle Foxhoven (Portland)
Women’s Team of the Week

* LEADING GOAL SCORERS:
1. Danielle Foxhoven, Portland 21
1. Morgan Marlborough, Nebraska 21
3. Sarah Hagen, Milwaukee 19
3. Kelley O’Hara, Stanford 19
5. Jessica Fuccello, Penn 16
5. Britany Curry, Texas State 16
7. Sydney Leroux, UCLA 15
7. Christen Press, Stanford 15
7. Whitney Palmer, Oklahoma 15