Georgetown goalkeeper Tomas Gomez saved Maryland's fifth and final penalty kick attempt to help the Hoyas win a thrilling College Cup semifinal in PKs and book Georgetown's first trip to the NCAA Final.
The Hoyas will face Indiana in Sunday's College Cup Final after the Hoosiers held off Creighton, 1-0, in Friday's second semifinal.
Two big semifinal games today followed by an even bigger final later this weekend. Gotta love the College Cup format as it showcases four really good teams with three big games.
Creighton tackles Indiana while Georgetown and Maryland square off. Four really talented teams folks and this is a three-game weekend that I am super excited for.
Freshman midfielder Christian Blandon scored an 89th-minute winner to propel Creighton to a 1-0 victory against UConn in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals on Sunday.
Blue Jays senior Jose Gomez set up the winner with a cross from the right flank that Blandon deposited past UConn goalkeeper Andre Blake to book Creighton's second straight trip to the College Cup semifinals.
Tulsa freshman forward Christian Mata stole the show on Tuesday night, scoring two goals to help lead the Golden Hurricanes to a 2-0 upset win against No. 20-ranked Creighton in Oklahoma.
Mata opened the scoring in the 56th minute when he finished off a pass from Bryce Follensbee, then added his second in the 86th minute to help Tulsa improve to 6-3 on the season.
UNC leads the way after two weeks. (Photo via UNC Athletics/Jeffrey A. Camarati)
After two weeks of play, there are no clear cut favorites in the college game that we can say
will be in the College Cup later this fall. Some teams in the top of the rankings (for this purpose
we'll use the Coaches poll), have looked good while others have struggled.
To the outside observer, the 2012 MLS SuperDraft seemed to be breaking almost perfectly for the
Seattle Sounders. Despite holding the No. 15 pick in the first round, three Generation Adidas
players were available to them when their turn finally came around.
Forward Dom Dwyer, who many seemed to think was high on the Sounders' list, was one of those
players.
The Final Four of NCAA men's soccer is set. No. 3 Georgetown will meet No. 2 Maryland in one semifinal at 5 p.m. on Friday, while No. 16 Indiana will face No. 12 Creighton in the second semifinal thirty minutes [...]
The post Indiana, Creighton Join Favorites in College Cup appeared first on Soccer Perspectives.
Andrew Ribeiro (Green Bay Notre Dame) helped Creighton advance to the Elite Elite of the NCAA men's soccer tournament.
The senior played all 110 minutes on the backline, then converted his shot in a shootout as the eighth-ranked Bluejays outlasted host and top-ranked Akron 5-4 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 tie in a third-round match Sunday.
The Philadelphia Union select Greg Jordan with the 32nd overall pick in the 2012 MLS
SuperDraft.
Jordan is a defensive type of midfielder, making him the fourth player on the Union that can
play in a central defensive midfield role (Brian Carroll, Gabriel Gomez and Amobi Okugo, as well).
He is a good passer of the ball and works hard throughout the midfield, a lot like Carroll.
Christian Blandon's 89th minute goal bounced fourth-seed Connecticut from the NCAA Tournament astwelfth-seed Creighton secured a 1-0 win in Sunday's quarterfinal match at MorroneStadium.
Blandon broke a scoreless match when he grabbed a pass from Jose Gomez and slammed his shot off the bar before it bounced into the net.
Because there's only one Sounder on Campus still playing (more on that in a bit), I'm going to sweep the regular Campus update into a larger post about the general Sounders-related youth soccer goings on, including the Academy teams and US youth international teams.
Zips Advance, Deacons and Huskies Not So Much
After a close first round home win over Air Force, the Washington Huskies advanced to an away match against 12th seed Creighton, the previous coaching stop for Jamie Clark (no relation).
With the second weekend of the men's NCAA Division 1 soccer tournament set to kick off this weekend, 2 teams with former Juniors on their rosters are still alive in the tournament. Christian Duke and San Diego and Eric De Julio and Chris Tuso at Creighton.
Duke and San Diego won their first round match up over Cal State Northridge in extra time after tying 1-1 through regulation.
Some news that Sporting KC released earlier today regarding the Juniors and upcoming Open
Tryouts.
Last week I posted about the Sporting KC Juniors that I'd been able to find that had signed for
colleges. Today Sporting KC came out with a full list of those Juniors players that have signed to
play at the collegiate level.
Since national signing day was a week or so ago, I've gotten a few emails from people asking about
where certain Juniors players were heading for college. Instead of directing people to 5 different
places, I figured I'd post a list of players that have signed or at least have verbally committed.
So with all apologies to Alex and his former Juniors update, here's some commitments for you.
The Missouri State men's soccer team (5-6-4, 0-4-0 MVC) travels to Omaha, Neb. to take on its second consecutive ranked opponent in No. 21 Creighton (11-3-2, 3-0-1 MVC) on Saturday at 2 p.m.
THE SERIES This year's match will be the 33rd meeting between Missouri State and Creighton.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. The Missouri State women's soccer team (8-6-2, 2-1-1) handed Creighton (3-10-2, 0-4-0) its fourth-consecutive conference loss and put on another dominant defensive performance in a 1-0 shutout at Plaster Field on Sunday afternoon.
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary men's soccer team returns to Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field on Wednesday, Sept. 19, as it hosts Elon in a match slated for a 7 p.m. start. W&M enters the contest with a record of 2-3-1, while the Phoenix come to Williamsburg with a mark of 3-2.
QUEENS, N.Y. - The William and Mary men's soccer team dropped a 2-1 decision
Saturday night to No. 12 St. John's at Belson Stadium. The College cut the Red Storm lead down to a
goal after sophomore Marcus Luster netted his first career score in the 69th minute. However, the
Tribe was unable to tie the match as it fell to 1-2-1 on the year, while St.
It appears Andrew Duran just can't catch a break. The Seattle Sounders rookie, who was their top
pick in the most recent SuperDraft, could be done for the season after tearing his ACL while on
loan to the Atlanta Silverbacks. Duran has rejoined the Sounders, but only so he can get the
surgery done here, which will likely happen next week.
There is an excitement offered to watching a rough diamond polished, in tracking and follow
their progress. When Seattle Sounders FC picked Tim Pontius, Jason Banton, Abdul Aman and Wes
Feighner four more potential diamonds were picked. One of these may make the squad ala Mike Fucito
and Josh Ford.
Being a professional has less to do with getting paid, and more to do with the proper attitude and
approach. The adjustment for young professionals making a jump to the next level from college
normally starts with how quickly they can apply that approach, and adapt to those demands.
Nearly nine hours after being selected with the 10th pick in the Major League Soccer SuperDraft,
and after doing who knows how many interviews, Ethan Finlay's voice was a little hoarse
Thursday night.
But he was still excited to talk about his day and his future with the Columbus Crew.
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The 2012 MLS Combine has come to a close, but not before several players
used the event to help their stock while others did not.
In a class dominated by attacking talent, several forwards and creative midfielders enjoyed
strong combines, showcasing their goal-scoring and playmaking abilities.
The trio of Wisconsin players at the Major League Soccer Combine did their best Tuesday to leave
good final impressions on the league's coaches and general managers before the SuperDraft.
Tony Walls (Wauwatosa East/UW-Green Bay) and Calum Mallace (Marquette) came off
the bench and scored in an eight-minute span in the second half to help spark the adiPower team
beat adiPure 4-1 in the last of six matches at the Combine in Lauderhill, Fla.
Skillful wingers in the player pool are at a premium ahead of Thursday's MLS SuperDraft, but
three of the top players available at the position are some of the more sought-after attackers
eligible for selection.
Sam Garza, a Generation adidas signing out of UCSB who can play up top or on the wing, helped
his stock considerably with his showing while playing for the adiPure team at the Combine and had a
big hand in helping set up Ethan Finlay as part of the Creighton forward's hat trick.
After missing the first day of matches at the Major League Soccer Combine, Ethan Finlay
(Marshfield) more than made up for it Sunday.
The former Creighton forward logged a 17-minute hat trick in the first half as the adiPure team
doubled up Prime 4-2 on the second day of games in Lauderhill, Fla.
The big names at the 2012 MLS Combine have for the most part lived up to expectations through
two Combine match-days, but there have also been some lesser-known players who have also boosted
their stock in Fort Lauderdale.
Three of the players to help boost their draft stock are Fordham goalkeeper Ryan Meara,
Marquette midfielder Calum Mallace and Creighton forward Ethan Finlay.
There are only four days left until the 2012 MLS SuperDraft gets underway. It will be televised
on ESPN 2 and 3 at 9a or Noon if you happen to be on the East Coast. The next few days will be
crucial for draft hopefuls as it's a time when their stock can rise or take a trip to the garbage
pit.
In a interesting turn the Guardian over in the UK, decided to let the supporter groups for all
19 MLS sides do the heavy lifting when it comes to this years SuperDraft.
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The second day of the MLS Combine was the first day for Ethan Finlay,
who had arrived to the Sunshine State on Saturday. He had missed the first day of the event on
Friday to attend the Hermann Trophy Award ceremony in St.
The MLS Combine starts this afternoon and the four teams have been released. Below is where
everyone will be playing with this weekend.
adiZero
Coach: Barlow
Last First Pos. School/Note Meara Ryan GK Fordham Singh Shawn LB UCLA Rodriguez Charles CB
Charlotte Bates Mykell RB Santa Calra Maund Aaron CB ND Walker Kenney DM Louisville Ubierna
Benjamin DMF Youth International Creavalle Warren CM UCF Ibarra Miguel CM UC Irvine Martinez Enzo
CM GA / UNC Cascio Tony FWD UCONN James Evan Mid/Fwd Charlotte Rolfe Colin FWD Louisville Ownby
Brian FWD UVA Frimpong Evans FWD Delaware Bonfigli Emiliano MF Youth International Dwyer Dom FWD
GA/USF adiPower
I'll be the first to admit that I don't watch much college soccer, sorry. There's simply too
much out there for me to consume to give a great deal of attention to a version of the sport where
the clock runs the wrong direction and there are infinite substitutions. That said, I do try to
watch the playoffs and Final Four every year to at least have some idea of the potential names that
could be coming to MLS.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Generation adidas tag typically translates into high MLS SuperDraft
position, but for three of this year's nine signings, that did not turn out to be the case.
Not like it matters all that much. All three fell into pretty ideal club situations from
individual perspectives.
North Carolina playmaker Enzo Martinez signed has signed a Generation adidas contract, becoming
the sixth member of the 2012 Generation adidas class, but teammate Billy Schuler passed on the
final MLS offer, and ultimately signed with Hammarby.
Schuler's decision to bolt for Europe has opened the door for MLS to expand the class, with the
league extending Generation adidas offers to Creighton fullback Tyler Polak, South Florida striker
Dom Dwyer and UConn centerback Andrew Jean-Baptiste.
Thursday marked yet another MLS Super Draft, but it was one with huge significance throughout
Revs Nation: the players selected would be the first under new head coach Jay Heaps. Massive
amounts of excitement were attributed to the fact that the Revs had their highest pick in almost a
decade at #3, and with several holes to fill, this year's Super Draft was of utmost importance.
The MLS Combine resumes action today as MLS Draft prospects look to give scouts and coaches more
to think about as we draw closer to the MLS Draft on Thursday.
Day One saw several players boost their stock, while some others struggled to make an impact.
UCSB playmaker Luis Silva, UCLA striker Chandler Hoffman, Marquette midfielder Calum Mallace,
Louisville's Austin Berry and Indiana's Tommy Meyer were just some of the players who enjoyed
strong first days.
The MLS Generation adidas class will feature nine players after the league secured the signings
of three players on Wednesday night.
South Florida striker Dom Dwyer, Creighton fullback Tyler Polak and UConn central defender
Andrew Jean-Baptiste were all signed to Generation adidas contracts after being made offers on
Tuesday.
Andrew Ribeiro (Green Bay Notre Dame) moved back on the soccer field this season and his career took a huge leap forward.
After playing in the midfield for Creighton for his first three seasons – and even seeing time as a forward during the spring exhibition season – Ribeiro ended up being one of the nation's top center backs this fall.
The Akron Zips were eliminated from the NCAA Championship this afternoon by Creighton on penalty kicks. After 110 minutes, the two found themselves locked at 1-1. Wil Trapp missed one penalty kick for Akron, while Creighton made all five to upset the fifth ranked Zips.
Dynamo Academy standout goalkeeper Fernando Pina plays for Akron, but did not seen action in 2012 as a freshman.
Enzo Martinez has signed with MLS. (Photo via UNC Athletics)
The Generation adidas class for 2012 is nearly complete. UNC midfielder Enzo Martinez has signed
his GA deal with the league but his former Tar Heel teammate Billy Schuler declined his offer from
the league to go to Europe.
Reports out of Sweden say that Hammarby IF (yes, Greg Berhalter's new club) is close to signing
the Tar Heel to a deal.
