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College Soccer Professor: The Race Is On
Late season pushes will make the end of the NCAA season intriguing.
Oct 20, 2009 8:10:02 PM
By J.R. Eskilson
Dwindling days of college soccer are upon us; most teams are left with a handful of games to prove to the NCAA committee that they belong in the big tournament. There are plenty of league clashes this weekend that could prove significant come tournament time.
Goal.com’s Top 25
Rankings thru Oct. 20
1.) Akron 13-0-0 (Next up: Michigan, Oct. 20) Previous Rank:1
2.) UCLA 8-1-2 (Next up: California, Oct. 23) PR: 3
3.) North Carolina 9-2-2 (Next up: Virginia Tech, Oct. 24) PR:2 4.) Wake Forest 9-2-2 (Next up: South Carolina, Oct. 20) PR:5 5.) Maryland 9-3-1 (Next up: Seton Hall, Oct. 20) PR: 8
6.) UCSB 11-3-1 (Next up: CSU-Fullerton, Oct. 24) PR: 6
7.) South Florida 9-2-2 (Next up: Dartmouth, Oct. 21) PR: 9
8.) Connecticut 8-2-3 (Next up: Yale, Oct. 20) PR: 18
9.) Harvard 9-2-1 (Next up: Providence, Oct. 20) PR: 7
10.) Monmouth 12-0-1 (Next up: Robert Morris, Oct. 23) PR: 10
11.) Charlotte 8-1-3 (Next up: La Salle, Oct. 23) PR: Unranked
12.) Virginia 8-3-1 (Next up: Howard, Oct. 20) PR: 12
13.) Louisville 9-2-2 (Next up: Indiana, Oct. 21) PR: 13
14.) Northwestern 7-2-4 (Next up: Loyola Chicago, Oct. 20) PR: 14
15.) Butler 9-1-1 (Next up: DePaul, Oct. 21) PR: UN
16.) Dartmouth 8-2-1 (Next up: South Florida, Oct. 21) PR: 17
17.) Stanford 8-3-1 (Next up: San Diego State, Oct. 23) PR: 11
18.) California 8-5-0 (Next up: UCLA, Oct. 23) PR: 4
19.) North Carolina State 9-3-1 (Next up: High Point, Oct. 21) PR: 19
20.) Ohio State 8-3-3 (Next up: West Virginia, Oct. 21) PR: 20
21.) Duke 8-4-0 (Next up: Navy, Oct. 20) PR: 21
22.) San Diego 9-3-0 (Next up: Loyola Marymount, Oct. 22) PR: UN
23.) Brown 7-1-4 (Next up: St. John’s, Oct. 20) PR: 23
24.) William and Mary 9-4-0 (Next up: UNC-Wilmington, Oct. 21) PR: UN
25.) Tulsa 8-3-2 (Next up: SMU, Oct. 21) PR: UN
Team of the week:
GK- David Meves, Akron, his goals against average for the season is .15
Def- Sean Alvarado, UCLA scored a goal against SDSU, and shut down the Cal attack
Def- Anthony Arena, Wake Forest, game winning goal vs College of Charleston
Mid- Danny Barrera, UCSB two goals, one assist vs UC Davis
Mid- James Cohn, San Diego, one goal vs Santa Clara
Mid- Austin da Luz, Wake Forest, one goal, three assists vs North Carolina State
Mid- Sebastien Thuriere, South Florida, one goal, one assist vs Syracuse
Forward- Lucas Szabo, Marist, four assists vs Saint Peter’s
Forward- Phil Bannister, Loyola (MD), three assists vs Niagara
Forward- Carlos Alvarez/ Alan Ponce, UCONN, two goals, one assist each vs Harvard
Forward- Jason Herrick, Maryland, two game winning goals vs Georgetown and Clemson
Game of the week: Northwestern vs Indiana, Friday Oct. 25, 4:00 PM ET, Big Ten Network
A game that could determine the Big Ten league championship, both teams will be looking to grab full points for this clash. Indiana are currently second in the Big Ten at 2-1-0, Northwestern is fifth at 1-1-1. Indiana beat Northwestern 2-0 last year in Bloomington.
Star Northwestern forward Matt Eliason (pictured) told goal.com via email interview on Monday that “Indiana is a very talented team so we will have to be very organized defensively in order to stop their attack from scoring.” As for how to attack the Hoosiers, “On the offensive end we will need to take advantage of our scoring opportunities and work hard pressuring their backs and midfielders so they don't have too much time on the ball.”
Indiana goalkeeper Luis Soffner is going to have to be on his game in order to keep Eliason from finding the back of the net, he has ten goals in thirteen games.
J.R. Eskilson writes a weekly NCAA column on Tuesday for Goal.com. Follow the College Soccer Professor at twitter.com/NCAAsoccer
Dwindling days of college soccer are upon us; most teams are left with a handful of games to prove to the NCAA committee that they belong in the big tournament. There are plenty of league clashes this weekend that could prove significant come tournament time.
Goal.com’s Top 25
Rankings thru Oct. 20
1.) Akron 13-0-0 (Next up: Michigan, Oct. 20) Previous Rank:1
2.) UCLA 8-1-2 (Next up: California, Oct. 23) PR: 3
3.) North Carolina 9-2-2 (Next up: Virginia Tech, Oct. 24) PR:2 4.) Wake Forest 9-2-2 (Next up: South Carolina, Oct. 20) PR:5 5.) Maryland 9-3-1 (Next up: Seton Hall, Oct. 20) PR: 8
6.) UCSB 11-3-1 (Next up: CSU-Fullerton, Oct. 24) PR: 6
7.) South Florida 9-2-2 (Next up: Dartmouth, Oct. 21) PR: 9
8.) Connecticut 8-2-3 (Next up: Yale, Oct. 20) PR: 18
9.) Harvard 9-2-1 (Next up: Providence, Oct. 20) PR: 7
10.) Monmouth 12-0-1 (Next up: Robert Morris, Oct. 23) PR: 10
11.) Charlotte 8-1-3 (Next up: La Salle, Oct. 23) PR: Unranked
12.) Virginia 8-3-1 (Next up: Howard, Oct. 20) PR: 12
13.) Louisville 9-2-2 (Next up: Indiana, Oct. 21) PR: 13
14.) Northwestern 7-2-4 (Next up: Loyola Chicago, Oct. 20) PR: 14
15.) Butler 9-1-1 (Next up: DePaul, Oct. 21) PR: UN
16.) Dartmouth 8-2-1 (Next up: South Florida, Oct. 21) PR: 17
17.) Stanford 8-3-1 (Next up: San Diego State, Oct. 23) PR: 11
18.) California 8-5-0 (Next up: UCLA, Oct. 23) PR: 4
19.) North Carolina State 9-3-1 (Next up: High Point, Oct. 21) PR: 19
20.) Ohio State 8-3-3 (Next up: West Virginia, Oct. 21) PR: 20
21.) Duke 8-4-0 (Next up: Navy, Oct. 20) PR: 21
22.) San Diego 9-3-0 (Next up: Loyola Marymount, Oct. 22) PR: UN
23.) Brown 7-1-4 (Next up: St. John’s, Oct. 20) PR: 23
24.) William and Mary 9-4-0 (Next up: UNC-Wilmington, Oct. 21) PR: UN
25.) Tulsa 8-3-2 (Next up: SMU, Oct. 21) PR: UN
Team of the week:
GK- David Meves, Akron, his goals against average for the season is .15
Def- Sean Alvarado, UCLA scored a goal against SDSU, and shut down the Cal attack
Def- Anthony Arena, Wake Forest, game winning goal vs College of Charleston
Mid- Danny Barrera, UCSB two goals, one assist vs UC Davis
Mid- James Cohn, San Diego, one goal vs Santa Clara
Mid- Austin da Luz, Wake Forest, one goal, three assists vs North Carolina State
Mid- Sebastien Thuriere, South Florida, one goal, one assist vs Syracuse
Forward- Lucas Szabo, Marist, four assists vs Saint Peter’s
Forward- Phil Bannister, Loyola (MD), three assists vs Niagara
Forward- Carlos Alvarez/ Alan Ponce, UCONN, two goals, one assist each vs Harvard
Forward- Jason Herrick, Maryland, two game winning goals vs Georgetown and Clemson
Game of the week: Northwestern vs Indiana, Friday Oct. 25, 4:00 PM ET, Big Ten Network
A game that could determine the Big Ten league championship, both teams will be looking to grab full points for this clash. Indiana are currently second in the Big Ten at 2-1-0, Northwestern is fifth at 1-1-1. Indiana beat Northwestern 2-0 last year in Bloomington.
Star Northwestern forward Matt Eliason (pictured) told goal.com via email interview on Monday that “Indiana is a very talented team so we will have to be very organized defensively in order to stop their attack from scoring.” As for how to attack the Hoosiers, “On the offensive end we will need to take advantage of our scoring opportunities and work hard pressuring their backs and midfielders so they don't have too much time on the ball.”
Indiana goalkeeper Luis Soffner is going to have to be on his game in order to keep Eliason from finding the back of the net, he has ten goals in thirteen games.
J.R. Eskilson writes a weekly NCAA column on Tuesday for Goal.com. Follow the College Soccer Professor at twitter.com/NCAAsoccer
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