Category: Story
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

Dempsey and Altidore face off in EPL

by Paul Kennedy

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Midfielder Clint Dempsey, who missed the final two World Cup 2010 qualifiers with a sprained right shoulder, was back in action Monday for Fulham, which beat Hull City, 2-0, to climb four places to 12th in the English Premier League. U.S. teammate Jozy Altidore came on the 69th minute for Hull, making his first appearance for the Tigers in more than three weeks.

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week

by Soccer America

[COLLEGE] Sophomore Sarah Hagen, who extended her goal scoring streak to nine games with all three goals in a 2-0 win at Detroit and 1-0 victory over Wright State that gave Wisconsin-Milwaukee the Horizon League regular-season title, is the Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week for games played Oct. 12-18. For the Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week …

Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story

No. 1 Stanford creates own luck

by Paul Kennedy

MEN’S NEWS … No. 1 Stanford had a little luck in its 2-0 win over No. 4 UCLA in their much-anticipated Pac-10 matchup that drew an overflow crowd of 2,400 at Cagan Stadium on Sunday afternoon, but Coach Paul Ratcliffe insisted the Cardinal had created its own luck.

As it has done all season, Stanford had a big edge in the play but couldn’t score on the Bruins until well into the second half. Until then, the best chance fell to UCLA’s Olympic gold-medalist, Lauren Cheney, who hit the post. When the Cardinal’s first goal came, it was an own goal — scored when a clearance deflected crazily over goalkeeper Chante’ Sandiford and into the goal.

“You need a little bit of luck in soccer, and if you’re doing the right things, you create your own luck,” Ratcliffe said. “We created our own luck there. We put them in an awkward situation, putting them under pressure, and it ended up deflecting into their own goal.”

The second Stanford goal came less than two minutes later when Camille Levin, who was inserted at forward for the first time this season, headed in a cross to the far post from New Zealand international Ali Riley. “Cami had done very well in that spot, so I thought it would be a good element to throw out there,” Ratcliffe said. “I thought Cami was fantastic. She was a huge spark off the bench. She’s a player who should be starting. She’s that good.”

* GAME OF THE WEEK:
Oct. 18 in Palo Alto, Calif.
Stanford 2 UCLA 0. Goals: own goal 72, Levin (A.Riley) 73.
Stanford — Maker, Quon, A.Riley, Jenkins, Garciamendez, Noyola, Taylor, Nogueira, McCann, Press, O’Hara. Subs: Levin, Verloo, Heath.
UCLA — Sandiford, Cook, Belcher, Wilmoth, Barnes, Bywaters, Cline, Wright, Larsen, Cheney, Leroux. Subs: Williams, Smith, Metz, Zadro, Lee, Bearde.
Referee: Cory Dean.
Att.: 2,400.

This week’s Top 25

* HAGEN CARRIES MILWAUKEE. Wisconsin-Milwaukee clinched its 10th straight Horizon League regular season championship Sunday when it beat Wright State, 1-0, on a goal by Sarah Hagen, who set a school record with at least one goal in nine straight games.

Things didn’t look so great for Milwaukee earlier this season. The Panthers had gone winless with five losses and a tie in their final six non-conference games. Since then, Hagen has carried them with 15 goals in seven games, at conference wins. The sophomore sensation has 19 goals for the season, only five less than the conference-record 24 goals she scored as a freshman.

“It was a huge win for us,” UWM coach Michael Moynihan said. “We had a lot on the line today. If Wright State could have come in here and knocked us off, they would have most likely been hosting the conference tournament. It was important for us to play it here.”

Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story

Big week for Wake Forest’s da Luz family

by Soccer America

MEN’S NEWS … It was a big week for the da Luz family at Wake Forest. On Thursday, Coach Tony da Luz earned his 200th coaching win in the Demon Deacon women’s 2-0 victory at N.C. State. On Saturday, son Austin da Luz, contributed on all four Wake Forest goals, scoring one and assisting on the other three, in a 4-1 win for the Wake men at N.C. State.

Austin da Luz set up goals by Zack Schilawski, Andy Lubahn and Ike Opara. The senior leads the ACC with 11 assists and holds the Wake career mark with 35 assists.

This week’s Top 25

* GOLDEN MOMENT. After seven ties, St. John’s finally won a game in overtime, getting a goal from Brazilian Tadeu Terra in the 99th minute to beat Louisville, 3-2. Sverre Wegge Gundhus and Pablo Punyed also scored for St. John’s, which went into the game with only 10 goals scored (and six goals allowed) in 12 games. The Red Storm (4-2-7) was ranked No. 3 in the Soccer America preseason rankings but has since fallen out of the Top 25.

* PEZZA NIGHT. Senior Mike Pezza has earned a solid reputation as a setup man in his career at Connecticut, but his game-winning goal in the Huskies’ 2-0 win over Pitt on Saturday was only the second goal of his career. And quite a goal it was. Pezza took a pass from freshman Carlos Alvarez, dribbled into the middle of the field, dodging two defenders, and took a shot with his left foot that sailed into the top left corner of the goal after slightly deflecting off a Panther defender. The shutout was the seventh in a row for the Huskies, who are 8-2-3.

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

Montreal Impact, anatomy of a champion

by Paul Kennedy

[USL-1] The Montreal Impact became first USL First Division team in a decade to sweep all its playoff games when it beat the Vancouver Whitecaps, 3-1, Saturday before more than 13,000 fans at Stade de Saputo and captured the championship series, 6-3, on aggregate. The Impact’s third championship team featured a midfield corps of Americans who had previously played at Vancouver, players with MLS roots and a trio of local players who been with Montreal since the club’s early days.

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

MLS Results

by Soccer America

Streaking FC Dallas kept its playoff hopes alive with a 2-1 win over Colorado. D.C. United remained in contention with a 1-0 victory over defending champion Columbus. For all the weekend summaries, as well as standings, schedule and leading scorers …

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

International Results

by Soccer America

After opening the season with six straight wins, Spanish leader Barcelona had to settle for a 0-0 tie at Valencia. Inter Milan is back on top in Italy thanks to a 5-0 win at Genoa. Manchester United regained the lead in England with a tense 2-1 win over Bolton Wanderers. Surprise Montpellier took advantage of Lyon’s 2-0 loss to Sochaux to gain a share of the lead in France. For the weekend results, as well as standings and leading scorers …

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