Soccer America Archives

The Houston Dynamo takes on L.A. Firpo in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday. Midweek action also includes European Champions League and UEFA Cup. Next weekend’s Mexican second-leg quarterfinal games and Fox Sports en Espanol’s weekend schedule will appear in Friday’s Soccer on TV e-letter.

SCOREBOARD: Small College Women

No. 1 Grand Valley State was knocked out of the NCAA Division II Women’s Tournament. Unbeaten Williams heads the field for the NCAA Division III women’s final four, while all the seeds advanced in the NAIA Women’s Tournament. For all the weekend results …

NJCAA WOMEN: Lewis & Clark claims second championship

Freshman Kaylee Neutzling scored two goals to lead Lewis & Clark Community College to a 3-2 win over top-ranked Darton College and give the Trailblazers the NJCAA Division I Women’s championship.

CROWD COUNT: Portland smashes attendance record

The sellout of of 4,879 for Saturday night’s Portland-James Madison game ensured that Portland will lead women’s soccer in both average and overall attendance this year.

MORNING BRIEFING: Close calls for top women’s seeds

by Paul KennedyNovember 24, 2008

UCLA defeated defending champion USC, 1-0, in the marquee match of the third round of NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament. Top-ranked Notre Dame needed an overtime penalty kick from Kerri Hanks to beat unseeded Minnesota, 1-0. Stanford also struggled to put away unseeded Rutgers and had to settle for a 1-0 on a late goal from Kelley O’Hara. The fourth No. 1 seed, North Carolina, extended its scoreless streak to 671-plus minutes with a 3-0 win over Illinois. Two No. 2 seeds Florida State and Portland and No. 3 seeds Duke and Texas A&M complete the final eight. For game reports on all eight third-round games …

SCOREBOARD: Small College Men

Tampa came back from two goals down and won, 3-2, at Tusculum to reach the NCAA Division II men’s final four it will host Dec. 4-6. Amherst knocked off top-ranked Texas (Trinity), 1-0, while Stevens Institute eliminated defending champion Middlebury in a shootout in the NCAA Division III men’s quarterfinals. Five seeded teams fell in the opening round the NAIA Men’s Tournament. For all the weekend results …

NJCAA MEN: Yavapai completes first perfect season

Yavapai completed its first perfect season when it beat San Jacinto, 1-0, and won its seventh NJCAA Division I men’s tournament.

UPDATE: Westmont moves into NAIA finals

by Paul KennedyNovember 24, 2008

Westmont College’s remarkable postseason continued Saturday when the Warriors beat Holy Names, 3-2, in overtime before 2,000 fans at UC Santa Barbara’s Harder Stadium. The victory, which sends the Warriors to the NAIA Championships, came 10 days after a wild fire destroyed the home of Westmont coach Dave Wolf and the school’s soccer/baseball facility and closed down the campus.

SCOREBOARD: NCAA Division I Men

Five teams — UNC Greensboro, Cal Poly, Harvard, Jacksonville and Ohio State — won on the road in the first round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament. The 16 seeded teams move into action in the second round on Tuesday. For the first-round results and second-round schedules …

MORNING BRIEFING: Former Crew boss Andrulis leads red-hot George Mason

by Paul KennedyNovember 24, 2008

Former Columbus Crew coach Greg Andrulis takes one of the nation’s hottest teams to No. 2 Maryland for Tuesday’s second round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament. George Mason extended its winning streak to eight games with a 1-0 win over Penn on Friday. Only the Terrapins, winners of 11 in a row, have a longer active winning streak.

REPORT CARD: Columbus Crew-New York Red Bulls

by Ridge MahoneyNovember 24, 2008

[MLS CUP 2008] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the players’ performance in the Columbus Crew’s 3-1 win over the New York Red Bulls’ in MLS Cup 2008 on Sunday …

SoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story

Goals win championships!

by Paul GardnerNovember 24, 2008

MLS Commissioner Don Garber was looking rather pleased with himself. The 13th MLS Cup final had passed into history only a couple of hours ago, the Columbus Crew was the new champion and Garber declared that it had been “a satisfactory afternoon. A good afternoon for soccer in America.”

Soccer America Daily, What They're Saying

What They’re Saying

“We haven’t heard anything from Bayern Munich about Landon [Donovan] going on loan to that team.”

— MLS Commissioner Don Garber at a press conference last Friday. On Thursday, Bayern Munich’s official Web site reported that Landon Donovan had gotten the oral go-ahead from MLS to go on loan to Bayern Munich from Jan. 1 until the beginning of the MLS season in March in a deal similar to Galaxy’s teammate David Beckham’s with AC Milan. The Bayern Web site also cited Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann as saying he could imagine a longer-term acquisition of Donovan.

Crew strikes at critical moments

by Ridge MahoneyNovember 24, 2008

[MLS CUP 2008] Sunday at Home Depot Center met two of the three original MLS teams never to play for the league title, and Columbus prevailed over the stubborn NewYork Red Bulls, 3-1, to end a five-year run of Supporters’ Shield failures in the final. Guillermo Barros Schelotto set an MLS Cup record by assisting on goals by Alejandro Moreno, Chad Marshall and Frankie Hejduk to down New York, which played perhaps its best postseason game at both ends of the field. A goal by John Wolyniec tied the game briefly in the second half, but ultimately New York was cruelly punished for its lapses.

Alejandro Moreno: Three titles with three teams

by Mike WoitallaNovember 24, 2008

[MLS CUP 2008] Alejandro Moreno, who scored Columbus’ crucial opening goal, has now won three MLS titles with three different teams. The Venezuelan’s American soccer adventure began at a youth tournament in Texas.

Friedel ties EPL record

by Paul KennedyNovember 24, 2008

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Brad Friedel tied an English Premier League record when he made his 166th straight appearance in a stellar effort to hold Manchester United in a 0-0 tie. Youngster Preston Zimmerman scored his first league goal, and reports continue that Oguchi Onyewu could be headed to France during the January transfer window.

Strange Muntari goal gives Inter win over Juve (VIDEO)

[ITALY] Inter topped Juventus in the weekend’s big game on a bizarre goal from Sulley Muntari, while Milan could only tie in Torino.

Barca held at home, Real ekes out a win

[SPAIN] Real Madrid closed the gap on Barcelona to three points at the top of La Liga after the Catalan club could only tie at home to Getafe.

Hoffenheim pulls clear as Leverkusen loses

[GERMANY] It was another high-scoring weekend in the Bundesliga as Hoffenheim took advantage of a Bayer Leverkusen loss to move three points clear at the top.

Big four fail to score

[ENGLAND] Manchester City beat Arsenal, 3-0, on a low-scoring weekend as all of the Premier League’s top five clubs failed to find the net.

Yanks cruise into U-20 quarterfinals

[UNDER-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP] The USA moved into the quarterfinals of the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile with a 3-0 win over Argentina in Saturday.

USA opens against Mexico in February

[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Like it did in qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, the USA opens at home against archrival Mexico in the final round of World Cup 2010 qualifying.

Americans face tough task in South Africa

[2009 CONFEDERATIONS CUP] The USA received no favors when it was drawn with reigning World Cup champion Italy, South American champion Brazil and African champion Egypt in Group B the 2009 Confederations Cup June 14-28 in South Africa. Euro ’08 champion Spain’s opposition in Group A will be Iraq, New Zealand and South Africa.

No Bulls on Best XI

[MLS HONORS] Three members of the Columbus Crew made MLS’s 2008 Best XI team while the other MLS Cup 2008 finalist New York Red Bulls were not represented.

Kenny Cooper gets ‘Comeback’ Award