[MASSACHUSETTS PREVIEW] Without a lot of scholarship money to offer, Massachusetts coach Sam Koch likes to recruit players with a passion for the game. Players who don’t mind training outdoors in the middle of the Amherst winter. Qualities have been big factors in the Minutemen’s unexpected ride to the Men’s College Cup.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Case for the newbies
Paul Kennedy on the Men’s College Cup
You have to go back to 1996, the first college season of the MLS era, to find an NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament semifinal involving two teams making their final four debuts. Neither Ohio State nor Massachusetts was ranked in Soccer America’s Top 25 preseason rankings. Our bad. No one has come forward with an Ohio State-UMass semifinal on his or her bracket sheet. Anyone?
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Wake Forest and Ohio State players picked for pro combine
Three players each from Men’s College Cup finalists Wake Forest (Brian Edwards, Julian Valentin and Pat Phelan) and Ohio State (Casey Latchem, Eric Brunner and Xavier Balc) head the initial list of 54 players invited to the 2008 adidas MLS Player Combine, which will be held Jan. 11-15 at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“I had to set an example so everyone at Bayern knows how they’re expected to behave. Players criticizing their teammates must stop. Otherwise we become a madhouse. [Oliver] Kahn must know he has to set an example to the younger players and at the Christmas party he did not behave well. The captain can’t leave early.”
— Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld explains why he suspended goalkeeper Oliver Kahn from Saturday’s game against Hertha Berlin. Kahn criticized the performances of teammates Luca Toni and Franck Ribery. (Reuters)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS defender shuffle continues
Thirteen months after being honored as MLS Defender of the Year, Bobby Boswell is leaving D.C. United. Boswell, who lost and regained his starting spot several times last season and sat out the conference semifinal, first leg against Chicago (a 1-0 loss) that eventually eliminated D.C., 3-2, on aggregate, is the newest member of the two-time defending champion Houston Dynamo.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Everton, Tim Howard reach League Cup semis
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Yakubu Aiyegbeni scored a stoppage-time goal for Everton to give it a 2-1 over West Ham United in the English League Cup quarterfinals. Carlton Cole beat unrushing American goalkeeper Tim Howard to a long pass for West Ham’s goal. American defender Jonathan Spector stayed on the bench for the Hammers.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
UEFA Champions League Survivors
[MAKING A LIST] The 16 survivors from the group stage of the UEFA Champions League include all four English entrants. Italy and Spain are the only other countries with at least three teams in round of 16. The draw for the round of 16 takes place in Nyon, Switzerland, on Dec. 21.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Revenge is sweet for Lyon
[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] After suffering an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Rangers at home that featured a goal by American DaMarcus Beasley, six-time French champion Lyon returned the favor and beat Rangers, 3-0, at Ibrox on Wednesday and clinched the second berth from Group E in the UEFA Champions League’s round of 16.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
2007 NSCAA/adidas Boys Youth All-America Team
A total of 80 players earned berths on the 2007 NSCAA/adidas Boys Youth All-America Team. Six of the players were also selected to the NSCAA/adidas Boys High School All-America Team: Chris Agorsor, Will Bruin, Michael Green, Thomas Meyer, Casey Townsend and Andrew Wenger. For all the All-Americans.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
2007 NSCAA/adidas Girls Youth All-America Team
The 2007 NSCAA/adidas Girls Youth All-America Team features 80 players. Courtney Barg was selected for the fourth time, while Laura Heyboer and Teresa Noyola were recoginzed for the third time. For all the All-Americans …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Lapira heads adidas MLS Combine invitees
Notre Dame’s Joseph Lapira, the 2006 Soccer America Player of the Year and Hermann Trophy winner, heads the initial list of 54 players invited to the 2008 adidas MLS Player Combine, which will be held Jan. 11-5 at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
UEFA Champions League Results
Lyon and Fenerbahce clinched the final two available spots in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League with wins on Tuesday in Matchday 6. For all the results and goal scorers …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Revived Quakes sorting out stadium situation
Renovations to Buck Shaw Stadium, which operator-investor Lewis Wolff says will cost between $1 million and $2 million, won’t be completed until early spring, so the expansion San Jose Earthquakes will start their home schedule April 12 against Chicago at the Oakland Coliseum.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Gerrard Robbed During Champions League Match
Steven Gerrard’s house was burglarized Tuesday night while Liverpool was in Marseilles, safely securing passage into the second round of the Champions League. According to the police report, four men broke into his house, confronted his wife and another woman at the house, and then stole some jewelry. Meanwhile, the Liverpool captain led his team […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
FC Dallas Opts Out of Denilson Contract
Denilson’s short stint in MLS may have already come to a close. MLSNet reports that FC Dallas declined to pick up the Brazilian midfielder’s contract option after signing him as a designated player in August. The former World Cup winner scored just one goal — a penalty kick — and had no assists in eight […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Revs Bargain Go Hunting in Argentina
Steve Nicol and Paul Mariner, the New England Revolution’s No. 1 and No. 2 coaches, recently spent nearly two weeks on a recruiting trip to Argentina, seeking an impact player for next season. Mind you, “impact” doesn’t necessarily mean, “designated.” In fact, not only will the Revs’ new Argentine not take a DP slot, he’ll […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Armas: Osorio Can Help Red Bulls Succeed
Fire staff, players and coaches can feel hard done by now that former coach Juan Carlos Osorio has traded the Chicago for New York. Osorio lasted little more than six months in the Windy City before the Red Bulls gave him a more lucrative offer. You’d expect most Chicagoans to be left with a bitter […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Soccer’s Mighty Southern California Rise
There’s a drastic change underway in youth sports in Los Angeles: “futbol” is quickly catching up to football as the most popular sport among high school kids, thanks to the influx of Latin American families in Southern California. Canoga Park High School, for example, didn’t have a soccer team 30 years ago when its student […]
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
MEN’S COLLEGE CUP: Tickets & TV
The Men’s College Cup returns to SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C., for the second time. For information on tickets to this weekend’s College Cup and television coverage …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
MEN’S COLLEGE CUP: Tale of the tape
No team at the Men’s College Cup comes close to matching the dominance of Wake Forest, which has outscored its opponents 63-13. For how the four finalists match up …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Talk of the Men’s College Cup
On the road to Cary …
Virginia Tech reached the Men’s College Cup for the first time with four first-year upperclassmen whose participation in college soccer has touched off a debate. Ringers or bona-fide students? Ohio State is known as a football school, but the Buckeyes’ march to Cary has raised awareness about the men’s soccer team. Wake Forest goalie Brian Edwards chose to return as a fifth-year senior instead of turning pro, while Mike DeSantis chose to follow older brother Mark to UMass, for whom they will form the College Cup’s only starting brother tandem. For what’s being said about the 2007 College Cup entrants …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Dream comes true for USF’s Rodd
San Francisco’s Chris Rodd became the first collegian to sign a pro contract since the end of the college soccer when the All-WCC defender inked a three-year contract to play for Bryne Fotballklubb, a Norwegian second-level pro team.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
2007 NSCAA/adidas NCCAA All-America Teams
There are 13 repeat selections on the 2007 NSCAA/adidas NCCAA All-America teams, including two women — junior midfielder Summer Mullen (Philadelphia Biblical) and junior defender Beth Seitz (Southeastern) — who were chosen for the third time. For all the All-Americans …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
2007 NSCAA/adidas Women’s Junior College Division III All-America Team
NJCAA Division III women’s champion Broome Community College landed four players on the 2007 NSCAA/adidas Women’s Junior College Division III All-America Team: forwards Allie Stabler and Emily Dixon on the first team and goalkeeper Alicia Sagendorf and midfielder Emily Cirillo on the second squad. For all the All-Americans …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MAKING A LIST: Red Bull/MetroStar coaching history
Juan Carlos Osorio will be the New Red Bulls (nee MetroStars) 10th coach.