Columnist Nick Green has written 100 Percent Soccer
since 2005. A
native of England, he began writing about soccer in
the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat
in the stands for one in
the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home
Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas
USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer.
Married to a long-suffering soccer widow, he has a cat
named Pele.Bruins & Trojans College Soccer Saturday
Bruin Ball
UCLA striker Lauren Cheney broke the Bruins' single-season school record for points Friday, with a goal and an assist in a 2-1 overtime win over Virginia at Drake Stadium.She now has 55 points on the season, moving past the 52 Traci Arkenberg notched in 1997.
The UCLA men (8-8-3, Pac-10 runner-up) open NCAA Tournament for the 25th straight year at 7 tonight at Drake Stadium against New Mexico (12-4-2, MPSF champions).
The game pits the 2006 NCAA runner-up (UCLA) against the 2005 NCAA runner-up. The two programs last met in 2006, UCLA winning 2-0 on the back of two Maxwell Griffin goals in New Mexico.
Griffin leads UCLA this season with nine goals in 18 games.
Tickets to the game are $9 adults and $7 for students and youth and can be purchased at the door.
An audio broadcast along with live stats will be available at UCLABruins.com.
Trojans Tackle Florida
Making the first-ever trip to the NCAA Third Round, USC (16-3-2) is seeking to set a program record of 17 wins with a victory over No. 3 seed Florida (17-4-3) tonight at the Coliseum.It's the first USC women's game at the 92,000 capacity stadium in six years.
USC shutout Creghton and Missouri respectively in the first two rounds of the tournament, winning by a combined score of 4-0.
The game kicks off at at 7 p.m. with live stats and live video available at www.usctrojans.com.
Tickets are $10 adults and $5 for children, seniors and students. Parking will be available at Lots 4 and 5 (at the intersection of Martin Luther King and Hoover) for $8.
I plan to blog from the game.