Soccer America Archives

SMALL COLLEGE NEWS … It doesn’t pay to be No. 1 in the NCAA Division II men’s rankings. Unbeaten Cal State Los Angeles, the fourth different No. 1 team in four weeks in the NSCAA/adidas poll, was shocked by Humboldt State, 3-0, and then beaten by Sonoma State, 1-0, two days later in front of 1,142 fans at Seawolf Field, the largest regular-season crowd in school history.

Humboldt State entered the game with a 2-8-2 record but upset the Golden Eagles, getting two first-half goals from striker Josh Suggs. Sonoma State, which got a first-half goal from Ryan Hall to beat Cal State Los Angeles, had only lost for the first time in 12 games two days earlier when it fell to defending national champion Cal State Dominguez Hills, 2-0.

WOMEN’S NEWS … No. 1 Stanford (13-0-0) is one of only three team unbeaten teams with four weeks remaining in the regular season. No. 5 South Carolina improved to 13-0-1 with a 2-0 win over Alabama on Sunday, while Dayton is 9-0-5 after beating Saint Louis, 2-1, in overtime.

— Senior Blakely Mattern scored the two goals 100 seconds apart against Alabama, and junior goalie Mollie Patton needed to make only one save to earn her 11th shutout of the season. After four one-goal wins and a 1-1 tie at Mississippi State — the Gamecocks’ only blemish — the 2-0 win was their most comfortable SEC victory. South Carolina has two victories over ranked teams — No. 14 UCF and No. 21 Mississippi. Its season now hits the toughest stretch with four of its next five games on the road, beginning with a match against No. 24 Georgia in Athens on Friday night.

— For the second time in two weeks, senior Mandi Back had a golden goal to for the Flyers, scoring in the 109th minute to give them the win over Saint Louis. A week earlier, she scored a golden goal with four seconds left in overtime to defeat La Salle, 2-1. Back, a three-time Atlantic-10 first-team selection, has 12 game-winning goals in her career, three this season. “The girls found a way to win,” said Dayton coach Mike Tucker. “I love this group because they persevere and battle; they find a way to get great results.”

* FEWEST LOSSES:
Stanford 13-0-0
South Carolina 13-0-1
Dayton 9-0-5
Portland 12-1-0
North Carolina 11-1-1
UCLA 11-1-1
Samford 8-1-3
Michigan State 7-1-4

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

* LEADING GOAL SCORERS:
1. Morgan Marlborough, Nebraska  19
2. Sarah Hagen, Milwaukee 16
3. Danielle Foxhoven, Portland 15
3. Kelley O’Hara, Stanford 15
5. Whitney Palmer, Oklahoma 14
5. Britany Curry, Texas State 14
7. Jessica Fuccello, Penn 12
7. Rochelle VanBuskirk, UC Davis 12
7. Sylvia Kowalski, Canisius 12
7.  Christen Press, Stanford 1

MEN’S NEWS … Northwestern, ninth in this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 with a 6-1-4 record, is first in the initial Men’s Division I RPI index the NCAA released Tuesday.

(Click here for the complete men’s RPI.)

The RPI — Ratings Percentage Index — is the most important of the criteria it uses to determine the 64-team field for the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament. The RPI is a mathematical formula designed to objectively compare results and strength of schedule.

Akron and UCLA, 1-2 in the Soccer America rankings, are 2-3 in the RPI index. Ten unranked teams are in the RPI Top 25 (see below). The highest ranked teams that did not make the RPI Top 25 are No. 5 UC Santa Barbara, No. 7 Louisville and No. 10 Connecticut. The four highest ranked Big East teams — Louisville, Connecticut, South Florida and Georgetown — with a combined eight losses did not make the cut, but 7-4-1 Notre Dame at No. 22 and 7-5-0 DePaul (unranked) did.

The ACC leads all conferences with six teams in the RPI top 10 — including North Carolina, Wake Forest and N.C. State at 4-5-6 — and the Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Ivy League, Pac-10 and WCC have two apiece. Reflecting the diversity in the men’s game, 14 of the 22 Division I conferences that receive automatic bids are represented.

* MEN’S SOCCER (RPI TOP 25)
1 Northwestern, Big Ten (9)
2 Akron, Mid-American (1)
3 UCLA Pac-10 (2)
4 North Carolina, ACC (3)
5 Wake Forest, ACC (4)
6 N.C. St., ACC (12)
7 South Carolina, Conference USA (NR)
8 Duke, ACC (T25)
9 San Diego, WCC (NR)
10 Portland, WCC (NR)
11 Butler, Horizon (18)
12 Maryland, ACC (6)
13 Monmouth, Northeast (11)
14 New Mexico, MPSF (NR)
15 California, Pac-10 (13)
16 Tulsa, Conference USA (NR)
17 Indiana, Big Ten (23)
18 DePaul, Big East (NR)
19 Dartmouth, Ivy (NR)
20 Drake, Missouri Valley (NR)
21 American, Patriot (NR)
22 Virginia, ACC (17)
23 Charlotte, Atlantic 10 (NR)
24 Notre Dame, Big East (22)
25 Harvard, Ivy (8)

* LEE IN STABLE CONDITION. According to the University of Maryland, sophomore defender Alex Lee “has shown incredible progress over the past two days” and was listed in stable condition at George Washington University Hospital after being struck by a vehicle while crossing a street in the District of Columbia Saturday night. Lee is a converted forward who started all 11 games for the defending national champion Terrapins on defense. He will be out of practice and competition indefinitely. Currently, no timetable has been set for his return to the field.

Men’s Player of the Week: Ronnie Bouemboue, N.C. State
Men’s Team of the Week

* LEADING GOAL SCORERS:
1. Andrew Bulls, UMBC 14
2. JC Banks, Green Bay 11
4. Andy Stadler, George Washington 9
4. Andrew Wiedeman, California 10
5. Matthew Skonicki, Winthrop 11
6. Teal Bunbury, Akron 9
6. Chris Cutshaw, Bradley 9
6. Giovanni Destasio, Iona 9
6. Matt Eliason, Northwestern 9
6. Levi Houapeu, UMBC 9
6. Conor O’Brien, Bucknell 9