The Portland Timbers four supplemental draft picks all came from west coast schools as Gavin
Wilkinson and company went with players they had the opportunity to observe this college
season.
Ryan Kowaluk - D - University of Portland
A member of the 2010 and 2011 Portland Timbers U-23 sides, Kowaluk was a two time All-PDL
selection alongside his teammate Brett Richards.
Today has been an exciting day to be a Portland Timbers fan. First, earlier this morning, we
received confirmation that Colombian central defender Hanyer Mosquera has joined the squad. As a
big center back with experience he'll be invaluable in helping the Timbers shore up some of those
defensive gaffes that were far too prevalent last season.
cover image courtesy of Philadelphia Independence
Paul Riley and the Philadelphia Independence seemingly got everything they wanted in Friday's
WPS Draft. When I spoke to the coach on Wednesday, he said they would be looking for a striker,
some defensive depth and a goalkeeper, and in their six picks, the Independence added three
strikers, two defenders, and a goalkeeper.
The Philadelphia Independence coaching staff went into the 2012 WPS Draft with an offensive
mentality, picking up three attackers. They rounded out their league high six draft picks by
picking up two defenders and a goalkeeper. In a draft that focused heavily on midfield pickups,
Paul Riley and his staff were able to capitalize on picks made by other teams.
The Philadelphia Independence drafted six players in Friday's WPS draft, with University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee forward Sarah Hagen being the top pick. The big question is whether they'll get
her to move over from Bayern Munich, where she's under contract.
The Independence then took UC-Irvine defender CoCo Goodson and Florida State defender Toni
Pressley in the second round, Santa Clara goalkeeper Bianca Henninger and Portland forward
Danielle Foxhoven in the third, and Maryland forward Jasmyne Spencer in the fourth round.
And so comes to an end the 2012 Major League Soccer Combine.
Now comes the draft, which is only two days away. Who will the winners be? I don't think there
will be any clear winners as drafts are a gamble to begin with at least as far as I'm
concerned.
Over at ESPN LA Scott French brings us up to speed on UC Irvine midfielder Miguel
Ibarra.
3four3 camp pic (12/28/11)
There is nothing high-level available for this group of players during their off-seasons. That
hurts, and it must be fixed!
During the holidays we held a 4 day camp for them.
It was a pilot program really, as we have never done such a thing, but I was pleased with the
turnout.
St Mary's celebration after game winning goal in overtime.
Irvine, CA – Made the quick journey south to catch the UCI Anteaters hosting the St Mary's
Gaels in 2nd round NCAA tournament action on a rainy night. Yep, packed the umbrella, towels,
notebook, and camera and combatted the rain along with the other 656 people in attendance.
Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By JOHN BOSCHINI
We're getting down to the nitty gritty of the postseason as the Round of 16 in the NCAA
Tournament kicks off at campus sites around the country on Sunday.
With students still returning from Thanksgiving break, don't expect crowd support to be quite as
raucous as it has been during the season.
By JOHN BOSCHINI
When Boston College was announced as the fourth seed in this year's NCAA Tournament, more than a
few people raised their eyebrows in surprise. On Sunday, the rest of the college soccer world found
out why.
The Eagles were shocked at home by unseeded Rutgers with a penalty kick shootout loss, dumping
Boston College out in their first game of the tournament.
WVU faces a tough challenge in the opening round.. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo)
The 2011 College Cup kicks off later this week with plenty of good match-ups and potential
second round pairings. With no clear cut favorite in this year's tournament, several teams could go
the distance to win this year's tournament.
There are some big time matches in the 2011 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament. The 48-team bracket
was revealed today with UNC tabbed as the top seed in the tournament. The Tar Heels went 17-2-2 on
the season. Creighton, UCONN and Boston College were the other top four seeds.
Here is how the field breaks down (seeded teams have first-round byes, first-round games to be
played on Nov.
The 48-team field was announced for the 2011 NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament, and as is the case
every year, there were some surprises as well as some surprising omissions.
Here is how the field breaks down (seeded teams have first-round byes:
BRACKET 1
(1) North Carolina vs 1st-round winner of Elon vs.
The 48-team field for the NCAA men's soccer tournament will be announced this afternoon, and
there will be several teams sweating out the next few hours as they wait to see if they made the
cut.
With a total of 22 automatic bids awarded to conference champions, there are 26 spots at-large
bids available.
The St. John's Red Storm won their record ninth Big East title on Sunday as Jack Bennett
converted a turnover into a golden goal to give the Red Storm a 1-0 victory in the Big East
Championship Final at Red Bull Arena on Sunday.
St. John's was one of XX teams to secure conference titles and the automatic NCAA berths that
came with them on Sunday.
By CALEB SONNELAND
Fourth-seeded Indiana booked its place in the semifinals of the Big Ten conference tournament
after topping No. 5 Michigan State with a 2-1 win with goals on either side of halftime on
Wednesday.
Sophomore Nikita Kotlov opened up scoring with his seventh goal of the season in the 38th
minute, and senior Alec Purdie doubled the advantage just a minute after the restart with his
eighth of the year.
The way things are shaking out for Creighton, it would appear that the Bluejays are well on their
way to a top seed in the NCAA men's soccer tournament.
After finishing the regular season as Missouri Valley Conference co-champions, the Bluejays, who
are a perfect 9-0 at home this season, are set to host the league's tournament this week.
*Today's 64-team NCAA Tournament draw has immediately thrown up a Southern California coastal
clash: Long Beach State against Pepperdine at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Malibu.
Long Beach qualified for the tournament for the third time in four years after beating
24th-ranked UC Irvine Sunday and winning the Big West.
As the NCAA men's soccer regular season winds down, the game of musical chairs atop the NCAA RPI
rankings continues to go on.
Guided by Ethan Finlay and Tyler Polak, the reigning Missouri Valley Conference Offensive and
Defensive Players of the Week, the Creighton Bluejays are out to a 15-2-0 record and have wrestled
the top spot away from Maryland, one of the two teams to have defeated Creighton this season.
Today marks 25 days until MLS Cup kicks off at Carson's Home Depot Center.
*Tonight's Colorado Rapids-Columbus Crew MLS wild card game isn't televised, but will be
streamed live for free on MLSsoccer.com.
*Galaxy exec Tom Payne announced the newest stop on the tour earlier today at a press conference
in Asia.
Photo by Tony Quinn/ISIphotos.com
Connecticut's loss was Maryland's gain.
After a slip-up to West Virginia, the UConn men's soccer team fell off its perch atop the NCAA
RPI rankings, allowing Maryland to claim the top spot. Both teams sport 13-1-2 records, but
Maryland is coming off of a tie at now-No.
JOHN BOSCHINI
This weekend's game of the week in college soccer could quite possible be the game of the year
as two title contenders clash in Chapel Hill.
Newly minted No. 1 Maryland and No. 5 North Carolina have been the two leading contenders in the
chase for the ACC title and Friday's clash (5:30 p.
Photo courtesy of UConn Athletics
Considering how their season has unfolded, it's no surprise that the University of Connecticut
Huskies find themselves atop the initial RPI rankings released by the NCAA.
UConn (13-0-1) is one of two unbeaten teams in the country and deservedly holds the top spot
after thus far making it unscathed through a rigorous Big East slate that includes games against
St.
By JOHN BOSCHINI
The No. 8 Red Storm of St. John's gave further credibility to their claim as a top-10 team with
a 1-0 victory over No. 7 Louisville.
Pablo Battuto Punyed netted his second game-winner of the season while Rafael Diaz made four
saves in the shutout.
By FRANCO PANIZO
If you're a big fan of matches in between teams ranked in the top 10, this weekend is perfect
for you.
Louisville, currently ranked at No. 7 on Fox Soccer's Top 25, travels to take on No. 8 St.
John's in one of the weekend's marquee matchups.
Luis Silva
Santa Barbara, CA In a big time game for the famous RPI points, the Gauchos came from behind to
hand the Akron Zips their first loss of the season on national television. It was a huge game for
UCSB who was coming off consecutive conference losses. This morale booster needs to carry over to
conference play resuming this week.
By JOHN BOSCHINI
A couple of ACC matchups highlight this weekend in college soccer as teams jockey for position
in the country's most competitive conference.
No. 2 Maryland looks to continue their unbeaten start to the season with a trip to a Virginia
side desperate to become players in the regular-season title chase.
Creighton hopes to slow down Maryland. (Photo via Creighton Athletics Department)
In men's college soccer this weekend there is yet another big match that pits two of the top
teams in the country against one another. A defensive powerhouse against an offensive juggernaut.
For those who are keeping tabs of course I am talking about Maryland and Creighton's match
tonight.
By FRANCO PANIZO
Akron's homefield advantage once again proved to be too much for an opposing team, and this time
the victim was a familiar foe.
Akron extended its NCAA-record home winning streak to 43 matches with a 3-1 victory over
inner-state rival Ohio State on Wednesday night in a match played in front of a record crowd of
5,819.
By FRANCO PANIZO
The University of Connecticut just got to the top of the Fox Soccer/SBI NCAA Top 25, but the
Huskies could lose their No. 1 spot this weekend if they aren't careful.
No. 11 St. John's will be looking to knock UConn from the ranks of the unbeaten.
Christopher Santana and UIC battle South Florida this weekend. (Photo via UIC atheltic
department)
Conference battles begin to heat up but a looming West Coast match may prove to be the biggest
game in college soccer this weekend.
Below are some of the bigger games this weekend that I'll be keeping an eye on.
By FRANCO PANIZO
A loaded slate of quality soccer action is headlined this week by a battle that should go a long
way in determining just who has the best team on the West Coast.
UCSB, currently ranked No. 5 in the Fox Soccer/SBI Top 25 with a 4-0-1 record, takes on an
11th-ranked UCLA team that is beginning to bounce back from a dismal start to the year.
The University of Wisconsin men's soccer team was 4 minutes and 15 seconds away from seeing out
a result that would have added credibility to its solid start to the season.
And had the Badgers been able to hold on for a draw against UC Irvine, the ninth-ranked team in
the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, UW coach John
Trask wouldn't have left the McClimon Complex late Friday night still stewing over his
team's untimely errors.
Photo by Jeff Camarati/UNC Athletic Communications
After a few marquee matchups in the opening weeks of the college soccer season, a new team has
emerged to claim the top spot in the Fox Soccer/SBI NCAA Top 25 rankings.
North Carolina is the new No. 1 team in the land after a victory over Louisville, the team that
previously occupied the top spot.
Christian Hernandez celebrates his match winner
Irvine, CA- So the college season kicked off last Friday for most programs
across the country and I received a clear reminder of where we stand as a soccer nation with the
horrific display between UC Irvine and USD. Yes, the game was such a disappointment that it could
be considered a waste of a Friday night even to me with my 'soccer is life' mentality.
Akron players celebrate their National Championship
We have decided to do some detailed game analysis during the college season this fall. We will
do our best to cover a couple of games on a weekly basis live out of Southern California as well as
some games we see on TV (FSC game of the week) or online video feed.
Akron players celebrate their National Championship
We have decided to do some detailed game analysis during the college season this fall. We will
do our best to cover a couple of games on a weekly basis live out of Southern California as well as
some games we see on TV (FSC game of the week) or online video feed.
Chicago-Fire.com announced the release of 6 more trialists (10 total) and added 8. Let's take a
look at the players making their way to Florida for Phase 2 of preseason training:
Trialists from Phase 1 remaining:
Paraskevas Pantazopoulos - 22 year old forward, winner of the open tryout.
As I continue to catch up during my enforced break:
*Chivas USA announced Thursday afternoon that former defender and captain Claudio Suarez, one of
the most respected figures in Mexican soccer, has rejoined the club he retired from in 2009 in an
advisory capacity.
"Claudio is a true legend in the soccer world, and we're thrilled that he'll be working
with us again at Chivas USA," said Interim General Manager Jose Domene.
The MLS Supplemental Draft, which is really just more of the SuperDraft as far as I can tell,
kicks off at 11am Pacific today. We'll be documenting the developments here. No video for these Mr
Irrelevants. Keep in mind that Fucito was taken in the 4th (which would now be the first round of
the Supplemental) so it's possible to find players here.
