Damaged Goods

OUT - Charles Alamo (R-Knee Surgery)

DOUBTFUL - None

QUESTIONABLE - Ely Allen (R-Hamstring), Edson Buddle (R-Hamstring), Landon Donovan (R-Calf), Alvaro Pires (L-Knee), Carlos Ruiz (R-Knee Surgery), Peter Vagenas (R-Quad)

PROBABLE - Ante Jazic (R-Ankle Surgery)

Jazic played for the first time since December on Tuesday against Vancouver and will continue to train this week. All other injured players, with the exception of Alamo, are schedule to take part in portions of training this week in the lead up to the game against FC Dallas this weekend.

Meanwhile, Alamo continues on the second phase of his rehabilitation process

Barca Back

Barcelona played CD Guadalajara at the Coliseum in 2006, as part of a three-game U.S. tour, drawing 1-1 in front of 92,650.

Olympic Run-In

"It's always good to get great games before you go to the Olympics and what better team to play than Brazil," said U.S. midfielder Shannon Boxx of Torrance, who has started 12 of the 14 games the USA has played this year. "It's always an exciting game playing Brazil so these will be good tests to give us confidence heading into the Olympics. Obviously, we didn't do well against them in the World Cup so it will be beneficial for our team to play them a few times beforehand in case we do meet them in China."

UCLA Schedule

The Bruins will have nine games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

Here are the home games at Drake Stadium:
Date Opponent
Aug. 29 Maryland
Aug. 31 UC Riverside
Sept. 12 Indiana
Sept. 20 Santa Clara
Sept. 28 Cal State Northridge
Oct. 1 UC Santa Barbara
Oct. 5 San Diego State*#
Oct. 17 Washington*
Oct. 19 Oregon State*
Oct. 31 California*#
Nov. 2 Stanford*#
Nov. 5 Cal Poly
* Pac-10 Conference game
# Doubleheader with UCLA women's soccer team

Posted by Nick Green at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Galaxy lost to the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 in Edmonton Tuesday with David Beckham nursing a sore foot by game's end.

Great.

And where is Peter Vagenas?

A helluva less pointless game is Wednesday's Glasgow Rangers-Zenit St. Petersburg UEFA Cup Final.

Locally, there's a free viewing party for Rangers fans at downtown Torrance's best dive bar The Crest.

Kickoff is at 11:30 a.m. on Fox Soccer Channel.

Lastly, UCLA has signed U.S. youth international midfielder/forward Eder Arreola (Chino Hills/Edison Academic Center), forward Prince Lapnet (Silver Spring, Maryland) and defender Victor Yanez (Riverside/Patriot High) to national letters of intent

Posted by Nick Green at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

*U.S. Soccer has announced that tickets for the first U.S. World Cup qualifying match June 15 in Carson against Barbados go on sale at noon Sunday.

Tickets are $19-$66. Call (213)-480-3232.

*The TV schedule for Euro 2008 is out.

There will be five games on ESPN Classic, 17 on ESPN2 and seven on ESPN. ABC will broadcast two matches - a quarterfinal June 21 and the Euro 2008 title match June 29.

Games are generally at 8:50 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. daily. Time to take the month off?

The title game will be preceded by the noon Galaxy-D.C. United game.

*Fox Soccer Channel will show all 16 games over the 10-day Toulon International Tournament May 20-29 including the three U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team games.

The U.S. games:
6:30 a.m. May 21 Vs. Turkey
9:30 a.m. May 23 Vs. Ivory Coast
9 a.m. May 25 Vs. Italy

With their final game of the season sadly only available on the pricey Setanta channel, American soccer fans will still be pulling for Fulhamerica to make an unlikely escape from relegation. The team will ensure their safety with a win Saturday over Portsmouth. Here's a preview.

Loyola Marymount announced the signing of three more players: defender Adam Jackson (Palos Verdes High); goalkeeper Max Young (South Torrance High); and midfielder Fernando Barba (Animo).

Finally, W-League expansion team Pali Blues have announced the signing of 2006 Big East Defender of the Year Carrie Dew (Notre Dame).

The Blues open their season Saturday in Ventura.

I'll have more later today on all the local soccer action in an around LA this weekend.

Plus, more Britpop!

Posted by Nick Green at 8:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nothing earth-shattering here, but the Galaxy's Chris Klein spoke with The Kansas City Star about what its like to play with David Beckham.

Also, U.S. Soccer announced all the Under-23 Men's National Team games at the annual tournament in Toulon, France will be aired on Fox Soccer Channel.

The nine-day, eight-team tournament runs from May 20-29

The U.S. opens against Turkey on May 21 before facing two Olympic-bound teams in Italy on May 23 and the Ivory Coast on May 25.

Closer to home, the U.S. boys Under-14 team is currently in camp at the HDC in Carson.

Locals participating include goalkeeper Josh McNeely (Hidden Hills), midfielders Eric Gonzales (Corona), Alejandro Guido (Chula Vista), Aldo Magana (Ontario), Oscar Ortega (San Ysidro), and forwards Esteban Rodriguez (Bell Gardens) and Sebastian Velasquez (Los Angeles).

Lots of Latino surnames in a sign U.S. Soccer is belatedly tapping that demographic group for talent.

Cal State Dominguez Hills has honored Sandy Lloyd (Fountain Valley) with the Hal Charnofsky CSUDH Memorial Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.

And how's this for the stat of the week: Through 39 contests in 2008, no MLS team has lost after scoring the first goal. Teams that score first have gone 32-0-7. Last year, the teams that scored first went 134-21-34 overall.

Finally, the 100 Percent Soccer blog continues its salute to BritWeek, which culminates with the Galaxy game Saturday, with the following two little-known Britpop gems.

First up is the aptly-named Lush with its minor U.S. hit "For Love" from the early 1990s.

And as a bonus, here's England's Sunscreem, a band that predated Britpop, but nonetheless earned props for managing to find a word in the English language that rhymes with "purple".

On a completely unrelated note, the chronic technical glitches that have plagued this blog for months are now history or so I'm told. Those whose comments have been lost into the ether should feel free to resubmit them. Or not.

Posted by Nick Green at 7:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Even though the Galaxy and Chivas USA are on the road this weekend, there's still plenty of live soccer on tap in the Southland this weekend.

And Becks is excited anyway.

The Ventura County Fusion open their season tonight against the Bakersfield Brigade, who include Eric Wynalda in their squad.

The San Fernando Valley Quakes play their home opener Sunday in Calabasas against the Southern California Seahorses

The Earth Quakes feature the likes of Palos Verdes Estates' UCLA playmaker Kyle Nakazawa and former Galaxy player Benjamin Benditson.

Meanwhile, the PDL Los Angeles Legends play Orange County Blue Star

Posted by Nick Green at 1:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I get paid to worry.

As in today's column, which takes a look at the dominance of David Beckham and Landon Donovan and the implications for the Galaxy's season.

For those who haven't seen it yet, here are the highlights of Becks and Donovan dismantling Chivas USA.

Not surprisingly after that performance, Galaxy forward Landon Donovan was named the MLS Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters, for the second consecutive week.

Elsewhere, Long Beach State has announced its 2008 recruiting class including defender Nicole Hubbard (Lakewood/Mayfair High) and U.S. Under-17 international midfielder Shawna Gordon (Rancho Cucamonga/Los Osos High) as freshmen, while Marissa "Bo" Rael (Rancho Cucamonga/Los Osos High), who played last semester at the University of Oregon, is at LBSU.

Posted by Nick Green at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

There's a full slate of soccer this weekend in Southern California, with both the Galaxy and Chivas USA playing home games at Home Depot Center in Carson.

The Galaxy are up first, kicking off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against defending MLS champions, the Houston Dynamo. With the Beckham buzz apparently wearing off, tickets are discounted 35 percent, a free Galaxy hat is on offer and pop-punk band The Burning Tree Project play a pre-game concert.

Check out the band below.

Want to see the Galaxy free? The reserve team plays at 1 p.m. Sunday against their Houston counterparts at the HDC.

Injury-riddled Chivas USA, meanwhile plays FC Dallas at 5 p.m. Sunday.

Want to see Chivas USA for free? The club's Under-16 and Under-18 teams play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday against Real So Cal at Agoura High School in Agoura Hills.

Incidentally, the Galaxy, which has been slow to get its youth programs going as required by MLS, launches two teams in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy program this fall.

Also progressing at a glacial pace has been the Galaxy's entry into the new Women's Professional Soccer league that aims to start play next year. Rumors a month ago that Galaxy parent company Anschutz Entertainment Group was looking to sell the unnamed team before it even starts play are apparently false. The team is accepting $25 deposits for season tickets.

In other women's soccer news, Loyola Marymount University Thursday announced the signing of two more players: Midfielder Jaide Timm-Garcia (Desert Christian High, Lancaster) and goalkeeper Katie Graul (Santiago Canyon College).

Finally, MLS Commissioner Don Garber belatedly joins the blogging party, penning "The Commissioner Speaks" every other Friday beginning at noon today. But will he actually say anything?

And, if you only watch one game this weekend, check out Manchester United against Brad Friedel's Blackburn Rovers at 9 a.m. Saturday on Fox Soccer Channel.

I'll be blogging from the HDC at both MLS games this weekend, as usual, by the way.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here's Tuesday column on why American soccer fans should be backing EPL team Fulham.

Also:
*The Galaxy signed two developmental players Monday - defenders Vardan Adzemian (Ventura County Fusion) and Scott Bolkan (Stanford) - and promptly shipped both to the USL Portland Timbers to gain experience.
*Former Cuban Under-23 National Team players Yordany Alvarez, Yenier Bermudez and Jose Manuel Miranda, will continue to train with the Galaxy through the end of this week at least after impressing the coaching staff.
*The San Jose Earthquakes signed Loyola Marymount University senior defender Adam Sloustcher to a developmental deal after watching him play in a reserve game against the Galaxy earlier this month.

Posted by Nick Green at 7:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The trio of Cubans who defected during Olympic qualifiers last month have turned up at the Galaxy. Guess LA doesn't want another Maykel Galindo to get away.

David Beckham, meanwhile, offers his insiders view (ahem) of the Galaxy season so far in his latest blog post.

The ramifications of a potential all-England UEFA Champions League final when it comes to playing EPL games overseas (remember that proposal?) are explored here.

Finally, the Long Beach State Women play the U.S.Under-20 National Women's Team in a scrimmage that's free to watch at 11 a.m. Saturday at Home Depot Center.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Crunch Time in Mexico

The U.S. plays Costa Rica, a nation that has never beaten the Americans in four tries, at 6 p.m. while Mexico faces Canada in the nightcap.

Costa Rica features Torrance's Vanessa Rojas on its squad, while the U.S. has Torrance's Shannon Boxx.

“We haven’t played them since 2004, but it looks like they have improved," said U.S. defender Kate Markgraf. "They have really technical players and they look more athletic then they have in the past. We will have to see how much they try to attack or if they sit back, but we can adapt and play our style according to the flow of the game.”

The Americans handily beat Costa Rica 4-0 the last time the nations met.

There's no TV coverage.

Chivas USA Youngsters with USA

Flores played in all five U-20 games in January, including three as captain; Mayen, who signed with Chivas USA on March 27, will be with the U.S. U-20 squad for the first time.

Milestone for Matt

Reis, who has has started 72 consecutive regular season games for the Revolution, the longest current active streak in MLS, has played the last 6,480 minutes for the club, just shy of Pat Onstad's record 6,648 minute stretch set from 2005-2007.

Hamilton Honored

Hamilton, a former Torrance resident, was Galaxy GM when he died in March 2006 from heart complications at the age of 43. He is also the brother of Chivas USA Vice President of Soccer Operations Stephen Hamilton. Proceeds from the game benefit Hamilton's son Aedan.

Posted by Nick Green at 7:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Galaxy wins, Chivas USA loses and Long Beach State cancels.

Back Monday.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The USC women play Mexico tonight at the Coliseum, while up the coast in San Luis Obispo the Earthquakes play the Columbus Crew in the MLS Central Coast Showcase.

Mexico also plays Cal State Long Beach Sunday.

Swiss international Raphaël Wicky has started training with Chivas USA after off-season ankle surgery, while they're down to the last 60 players for Sueño MLS: The Dream Continues.

Plenty of high school soccer on tap from the Daily Breeze here and here, the Daily News and Long Beach Press-Telegram.

Finally, if you've got $10,000 (or so) to burn all this could be yours. Bucks for Becks, I guess.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Quickly: Chivas USA lost 4-0 to the Japanese Under-23 team Saturday at Home Depot Center and supposedly had 13 players missing because of injury. Sounds like a great way to start the season.

Chivas USA line-ups: (first half; 4-4-2): Brad Guzan, Omar Becerra, Alex Zotinca, Jorge Flores, Jim Curtin, Keith Savage, John Cunliffe, Jesse Marsch, Sasha Kljestan, Arnolfo Salazar, Atiba Harris.

(second half; 4-4-2): Brad Guzan, Omar Becerra, Gerson Mayen, Trey Lee, Darren Spicer, Chukwudi Chinjiju, Kraig Chiles, Dan Paladini, Steven Kaufman, Eric Ebert, Justin Braun.

Chivas USA plays D.C. United Monday at Home Depot Center in a game I plan to attend.

Also: Fontana's Maurice Edu put two shots past Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman (Peninsula High) as Toronto FC disposed of the Wizards 2-0 over the weekend.

Long Beach State women's soccer hosts the Mexican National Team Feb. 24 at 11 a.m. at George Allen Field, two days after the Mexicans play USC at the Coliseum. Tickets are $7 adults, $5 kids.

Plenty of prep soccer from the Daily Breeze is here and here; from the Daily News here and here; and the Long Beach Press-Telegram here.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Defender Jay Needham was cut from training camp today, Galaxy officials said. Although he plays in the USL his MLS rights were owned by D.C. United and the Galaxy obviously didn't feel he was much of an upgrade.

Brazilian defensive midfielder Alvaro, last seen playing in Russia, is in camp. Aussie goalkeeper Chris Sharpe, who played in Denmark and for the Vermont Voltage (is that a great name or what?), was let go earlier in the week.

Excellent camp update is here.

The Galaxy also announced today they have entered into a multi-year broadcasting agreement with ESPN Deportes Radio KWKW 1330 AM to provide coverage of all 30 Galaxy games this season including a weekly program Saturdays from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Over at Chivas USA, draft pick El-Hadj Cisse (North Carolina State University) picked up a knock on Tuesday against the Red Bulls and hasn't trained the last couple of days. Chivas USA plays Saturday against the Japanese Under-23 National Team in a game in the main Home Depot Center stadium that's only open to the media.

U.S. Women's National Team update (such as it is) is here.

Mexican Olympic Team head coach Hugo Sánchez announced the roster for 2008 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifiying today as well as warm-up games against Australia March 2 in Oakland and against Finland March 6 at Pizza Hut Park.

The squad: goalkeepers Guillermo Ochoa (Club América), Jorge Villalpando (Puebla) y Jonathan Orozco (Monterrey); defenders Omar Esparza (Chivas), Luis Robles (Atlas), Julio César Domínguez (Cruz Azul), Rodrigo Iñigo (Club América), Luis Omar Hernández (Necaxa), Hugo Ayala (Atlas), Francisco Gamboa (Toluca) y Efraín Velarde (Pumas); midfielders Jorge Hernández (Atlas), Patricio Araujo (Chivas), Alan Zamora (Atlante), Gerardo Rodríguez (Pachuca), Juan Carlos Silva (Club América), Edgar Castillo (Santos), César Villaluz (Cruz Azul) Sergio Ávila (Chivas); forwards Enrique Esqueda (Club América), Pablo Barrera (Pumas), Edgar Andrade (Cruz Azul), Santiago Fernández (Toluca), Luis Ángel Landín (Morelia) y Omar Arellano (Chivas).

Finally, UCLA men's soccer coach Jorge Salcedo today signed seven players to national letters of intent: goalkeeper Joseph Scachetti (West Torrance High), midfielder/defender Chris Cummings (Chatsworth/Crespi High), midfielder Daren Flitcroft (Great Falls, Va.), defender Oscar Reyes (Santa Ana, Saddleback High), midfielder/defender Andrew Rose (Bristol City) and midfielder Christian Vazquez and defender Zach Zerrenner (both Santa Barbara High). In addition, striker Fernando Monge (Bellevue, Wash.) graduated from high school early and will join the 2008 freshman class.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Chivas USA officials said today that Japanese World Cup veteran Takayuki Suzuki has left camp, while Frenchman Marko Muslin has arrived.

In other camps, it sounds like there was a nasty collision at U.S. Women's National Team training today in Carson.

In Bradenton, Fla. today, Rolling Hills Estates Robbie Rogers scored a 26th minute equalizing goal from the middle of the box in what ended as a 3-2 Fire win over the Columbus Crew in a preseason scrimmage.

Closer to home, there's less than a week left to buy tickets for the Crew-Chivas USA charity game in the Santa Clarita Valley at $5 off the regular prices of $20 for adults and $15 for youths. The Feb. 23 game is at College of the Canyons' Cougar Stadium, 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road.

Proceeds benefit the nonprofit Michael Hoefflin Foundation that provides financial and emotional support to children and their families facing childhood cancer in the Santa Clarita and surrounding valleys.

Details here.

UCLA signed seven players to letters of intent today: Camarillo High midfielder Hannah MacKechnie, the younger sister of Bruin midfielder Caitlyn MacKechnie; defender Amelia Mathis from Ventura; Canadian Under-19 international striker Sydney Leroux; Canadian Under-17 international defender Robyn Dutton from Calgary, Alta.; midfielder Summer Williams from Orinda, Calif.; U.S. Under-17 international defender Whitney Sharpe from Iowa; and goalkeeper Yiana Dimmitt from Redwood City, Calif.

Incidentally, former Chicago Fire Coach Dave Sarachan, last seen at the recent U.S. Men's National Team camp in Carson was appointed scouting manager for U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy. One of two scouts just hired: former MLS striker Raul Diaz Arce.

The always suspect FIFA Rankings were released today. Here are the rankings for CONCACAF. Looking forward to those CONCACAF Champions League games involving clubs from Belize?

Finally, because sheer stupidity is always worth blogging about, there's this. Ditch the names maybe?

Posted by Nick Green at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Galaxy, apparently failing to learn from last year's grueling schedule designed to wring every dollar possible from the presence of you-know-who (no, not Canadian defender Ante Jazic), are at it again.

Today the club announced a May 13 (that's a Tuesday) rematch against the USL Vancouver Whitecaps in Edmonton, Alberta sandwiched between a home date against New York the preceding Saturday and a road game in Dallas the following Sunday.

Assuming the Galaxy return to LA before heading to Texas, that's three games in nine days covering 5,222 as-the-crow-flies miles in two states and two nations.

Almost as curious is the Galaxy press release. There's no mention of the main reason for the Canada game (and no, it's not so fans can see Jazic):

“We have a tremendous relationship with the Vancouver Whitecaps and share their view of growing the sport throughout North America,” said Galaxy Assistant General Manager Tom Payne. “The first time that we played the Whitecaps the game ended in a draw, this time we are looking to score goals, entertain the fans of Edmonton and come away with a victory.”

This will be the Galaxy’s second friendly against the Whitecaps in a six month span, with the two sides having played to a 0-0 draw in Vancouver on November 7. A crowd of 48,172 was in attendance at BC Place Stadium for that match, making it one of the biggest crowds ever to see a soccer game in Canada.

“We are extremely excited about the opportunity to play the Galaxy in Edmonton,” said Whitecaps President Bob Lenarduzzi. “One of our club’s mandates is to grow the game of soccer and this match will allow us to showcase two of North America’s most storied soccer franchises. Alberta has successfully hosted some of the biggest soccer events in Canada and I am positive that this match will be no different.”

The Whitecaps play in the 11-team United Soccer Leagues First Division (USL-1) and boast a formidable roster, which includes a mix of youth and experience. Long-time veterans include Canadian international Martin Nash, Jeff Clarke and Steve Kindel. Nash, the 2007 Whitecaps team MVP, has won three USL-1 titles and earned 38 international caps. All three members were key contributors to the Whitecaps 2006 USL-1 championship season.

And let's hope the snow is off the ground in Edmonton by then. It usually is, but late season blizzards are not unheard of. (There's a reason the city's CFL team is called the Eskimos).

In other Galaxy news, the club announced today they had unearthed a goalkeeper from the just-ended open tryouts: former Gonzaga goalkeeper Vito Higgins.

From the (edited) Galaxy press release:

Higgins, who played four years at Gonzaga University, will begin training under the tutelage of goalkeeper coach Ian Feuer on Wednesday.

“Vito had an outstanding career at Gonzaga and was somebody whose talents we were well aware of in advance of this week’s open tryouts,” Galaxy Director of Soccer Paul Bravo said. “He came into the tryouts and impressed us with his play and has without a doubt earned his chance to train with the Galaxy.”

The 22-year old Hawaii native appeared in 69 games during his four years with the Bulldogs, including 38 in his last two seasons when he played every minute of every game for the school. As a senior in 2007, Higgins compiled a 9-6-4 record along with a 0.70 goals against average, which is the second best single season mark in club history. Higgins helped the Bulldogs reach the NCAA Tournament last year and recorded a career-high 14 saves in the Bulldogs 1-0 loss to SMU, with the game’s lone goal coming via a late penalty kick.

Higgins will train with the Galaxy for the rest of the week in the hopes of earning a spot on the club’s trip to Honolulu as part of the inaugural Pan Pacific Championship, which begins a week from today.

How cool would it be for a long shot to make a pro roster in that fashion and then possibly end up playing a tournament with the team in your home state? Good luck, Vito.

Finally, the Galaxy announced today that half season and six-game mini-plans are now on sale. One of the games included in the mini-plan is the Red Bull game, incidentally, presumably so fans can see the team before everyone is exhausted (again).

From the (edited) press release:

These plans are currently the only way for fans to purchase tickets to multiple Galaxy games this season without buying a season ticket and offer a significant discount over single game ticket prices.

Fans who order the Big Six plan, which range in price from $75-$420, will receive tickets to the Galaxy’s home opener against San Jose on April 3, the first installment of the SuperClasico against inter-city rival Chivas USA on April 26, the May 10 visit of the New York Red Bulls, the Galaxy’s annual July 4th fireworks match against New England, an MLS Primetime Thursday meeting with the Chicago Fire on August 21 and the 2008 MLS Cup at The Home Depot Center on Sunday, November 23.

Fans who select the half season plan, which range in price from $125-650, will receive tickets to all of the games in the Big Six plan, including the 2008 MLS Cup, as well as the Galaxy’s game against the two-time defending MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo on April 19 and three other matches.

Posted by Nick Green at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Galaxy Goodies

The big winner: the Galaxy. If memory serves players paid $150 apiece for the ultra long-shot Galaxy "trial," which works out to $60,000.

In Torrance today, defender Ante Jazic is signing autographs, getting his picture taken with fans and getting asked the question, "when are you getting traded?" (I kid about the last one) from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at a Sports Authority store at 3610 Torrance Blvd. Galaxy gear is 40 percent off and they're handing out free tickets to games. The Redondo Beach resident is one of the most approachable Galaxy players.

Finally, Sydney FC was confirmed Friday as the fourth and final participant in this month's Pan-Pacific Championship. Despite the name, neither the Galaxy nor Sydney are champions of anything, of course.

Chivas USA Preseason Schedule

Camp Cutdown

Incoming: defender Stephanie Cox, a starter at last year's Women’s World Cup, after being given last week off to rest and recuperate from the college season (she was the only player on the World Cup team to go straight into a collegiate season); Under-23 defender Rachel Buehler; and midfielder Kacey White, who Sundhage has likely seen playing in Sweden with AIK in Stockholm.

Outgoing: goalkeeper Cori Alexander; defenders Amy LePeilbet, Brittany Taylor, Lindsay Huie and Manya Makoski; midfielders Jen Buczkowski, Tina DiMartino, Sarah Huffman, Noelle Keselica and Joanna Lohman; and forwards Tiffany Weimer and Christie Welsh.

Full camp roster:

Goalkeepers Nicole Barnhart (Gilbertsville, Pa.), Kristen Luckenbill (Paoli, Pa.), Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.); defenders Rachel Buehler (Del Mar, Calif.), Stephanie Cox (Elk Grove, Calif.), Keeley Dowling (Carmel, Ind.), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Kate Markgraf (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Heather Mitts (Cincinnati, Ohio), Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant, N.J.), India Trotter (Plantation, Fla.), Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala.); midfielders Shannon Boxx (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), Angela Hucles (Virginia Beach, Va.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Leslie Osborne (Brookfield, Wis.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Kacey White (Arlington, Texas), Angie Woznuk (El Cajon, Calif.); forwards Lauren Cheney (Indianapolis, Ind.), Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), Heather O’Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Amy Rodriguez (Lake Forest, Calif.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).

The 26 players train though Feb.17 at the HDC before Sundhage chooses a 20-player roster for the Algarve Cup, set for March 5-12 in southern Portugal.

College Notes

USC head coach Ali Khorsoshahin served as an assistant to Mexico head coach Leonardo Cuellar at the 1999 Women’s World Cup and continues to serve on Cuellar’s staff.

Loyola Marymount announced Friday they have received letters of intent from teammates at Punahou School in Hawai¹I, defender-midfielder Brittney Sanford and striker Erin Rementer, along with midfielder-forward Caroline Helfrich (Moraga, Calif.) and defender Marissa Zamora (Danville, Calif) to join the Lions in the fall of 2008.

"Although Erin and Brittany have taken the same path to LMU, individually they will impact our team in separate ways," Coach Joe Mallia said. "Erin is a dynamic athlete who has the ability to change games in the attack. She is a great one-vs.-one player going towards the goal. Brittany¹s biggest impact will be felt on defense, where she is strong in tackles and tremendous in the air. She is also a leader with a great work rate and technically poised on the ball."

Helfrich spent a year living in Florence,Italy, where she played for the boys Rondinalla Scuola di Calcio, the soccer school that feeds players to Italian club Fiorentina.

Preps Press

Posted by Nick Green at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Super (International) Wednesday

The undefeated streak against Mexico has hit 10 games despite their speed threatening to overpower the U.S. at times, Josi Altidore keeps justifying the hype and Coach Bob Bradley gave promising youngsters valuable experience in a hostile environment that will serve the U.S. well in the World Cup qualifying games to come.

Video highlights are here.

Speaking of ... the U.S. was no closer to discovering which opening World Cup qualifying match opponent it will face in Carson after Barbados and Dominica tied.

And former Galaxy defender Tyrone Marshall popped up at the last moment to save Jamaica against Costa Rica. (Reuters got his club wrong you'll note; Marshall was traded to Toronto).

MLS Training Camp Update

College Notes

From the (edited) press release:

Arena was an assistant coach at George Mason last season and a volunteer coach for the University of Virginia in 2006.

Arena was responsible for player development, recruiting and scheduling at George Mason in 2007. At Virginia in 2006, he helped the Cavaliers advance to the NCAA Semifinals, where they lost to UCLA.

Arena played three seasons in MLS, spending the 2003 and 2004 seasons with the MetroStars and the 2005 season with DC United. In 2002, Arena was a member of the U.S. Under-23 National Team and was also a member of the U.S. Under-20 National Team from 2000-2001.

At the University of Virginia, Arena started in 65 of 78 games played at midfield from 1999-2002, totaling 24 career points off seven goals (including three game-winners) and 10 assists.

“Kenny Arena arrives with a great deal of experience both as a player and as a young coach who comes from a great soccer pedigree,” said UCLA head coach Jorge Salcedo. “Our players are looking forward to learning from the great experiences he has had in Major League Soccer with New York and DC United.”

In addition, UCLA goalkeeper Val Henderson and USC captain Ashley Nick were selected for the U.S. Under-23 team that will play three games in Spain Feb. 11-16 against England, Norway and Germany.

Finally, UCLA defender Lauren Barnes and USC’s Kasey Johnson and goalkeeper Kristin Olsen received call-ups to the U.S. Under-20 National Team that will play three games in Chile, site of the 2008 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup Nov. 20-Dec. 7. The U.S. takes on England Monday, Norway Feb. 13 and Chile Feb. 15.

Posted by Nick Green at 1:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Light and late blogging today.

Briefly: Former Creighton goalkeeper Matt Allen, picked by the Galaxy in the third round of the MLS draft, has become the latest young American to spurn the generally low salaries on offer from the league in favor of trying his luck in Europe.

Former Galaxy Coach and longtime South Bay resident Sigi Schmid has acknowledged he is on the hotseat in Columbus after two lackluster seasons with the Crew.

The Crew, by the way, is one of two MLS teams to set up preseason exhibition games later this month with the minor league Ventura County Fusion.

Finally, UCLA product Tony Beltran is making an impact at Real Salt Lake's training camp.

Posted by Nick Green at 5:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Supplemental Draft

The Galaxy's moves today from the team's (edited) press release:

The LA Galaxy made four selections in this afternoon’s 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft, selecting a pair of defenders, as well as a goalkeeper and a midfielder in the four round draft. These four selections, as well as the six players drafted by the Galaxy in last week’s MLS SuperDraft are scheduled to arrive at The Home Depot Center early next month when the club begins preseason training for the 2008 campaign

In the first round of the Supplemental Draft, the Galaxy selected defender Michael Gavin from Portland with the fourth overall pick. A four-year starter for the Pilots, Gavin appeared in 76 games during his four years in Portland, tallying four goals with two of them being game winners while helping his team reach the NCAA Tournament twice.

The Galaxy used their second round pick (16th overall) to select 2007 Big West Goalkeeper of the Year, Charles Alamo, from University of California–Riverside. A four-year starter for the Highlanders, Alamo had six shutouts as a senior and finished his college career with more than 300 saves.

One round later, the Galaxy took UCLA defender Greg Folk with the 32nd overall selection. An honorable mention All-Pac-10 defender as a senior in 2007, the former captain of the U.S. Under-18 National Team started 64 of his 72 career games with the Bruins, including the 2006 College Cup Final.

With their final pick of the Supplemental Draft, the Galaxy selected midfielder Daniel De Geer from the University of San Francisco. De Geer scored a career-high two goals as a senior and played 44 career games for USF where he was a teammate of Brandon McDonald, who LA drafted in the fourth round of the MLS SuperDraft.

Chivas USA picked: San Diego State University forward Kraig Chiles, UC-Berkeley midfielder Javier Ayala-Hill, North Carolina State midfielder El Hadj-Cisse and UNC defender Andre Sherard .

UCLA defender Brandon Owens was selected by D.C. United. The (edited) UCLA press release:

Owens, who was chosen as the 10th pick in the first round, was a starter on three Pac-10 Championship squads. Owens was team captain for the U.S. Under-17 National Team at the 2003 World Youth Championships and has 36 career caps with the U-17s and U-20s.

Bob's (and Pete's) Boys

Local participants in camp include Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin (0 caps/0 goals), Landon Donovan (97/35) and soon-to-be-ex-Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan (5/0).

Coach Peter Nowak's picks included UCLA products Kamani Hill (Vfl Wolfsburg), Patrick Ianni (Houston Dynamo), Chance Myers (Kansas City Wizards) and Chad Barrett (Chicago Fire).
Also in camp: Mike Randolph (Galaxy) and Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew).

Chivas USA-Columbus Crew in Santa Clarita

London-Bound

Best Vets

It's disgraceful that former LA Aztec (and Hermosa Beach bar owner) George Best is still not a member.

Your vote doesn't count, but presumbably you can send a message here.

Posted by Nick Green at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Goes the old British soccer saying. And in blogging.

Here's a quick recap of the last week while 100 Percent Soccer was 100 Percent Frozen in the white wilds of Canada.

With the Galaxy set to reintroduce Carlos Ruiz to the local media today, reports out of Newcastle, England suggest the Magpies' former Nigerian left back Celestene Babayaro is apparently heading to the Galaxy to link up with his former Chelsea manager Ruud Gullit, according to reports out of Newcastle and confirmed by Galaxy beat reporter Billy Witz.

Chris Albright sounded none too pleased with the Galaxy's devious move that ended with him heading to New England on draft day telling goal.com:

They could have dealt my rights [before they re-signed me]. They negotiated an offer with me to help them on their cap. It’s a bit of a slap in the face. I felt that I’d done enough to deserve that consideration.”

Read the entire interview here.

So with left back Ante Jazic out injured (again) and right back Albright traded it looks like two new outside defenders for the Galaxy next season then?

A recap of the UCLA contribution to the MLS draft is here.

Meanwhile, Chivas USA continued its policy of picking up journeymen MLS pros by picking up Chicago's Jim Curtin.

Kudos to Torrance's Shannon Boxx for her role in leading the U.S. to a win in the Four Nations Tournament.

Dumb ass quote of the (last) week goes to Carson Mayor Jim Dear who told the LA Weekly as he talked about the 2003 Women's World Cup held in part at Home Depot Center: "You remember the woman who took her blouse off (during the games)? She did that in Carson."

Um, that would be Brandi Chastain. In 1999. In Pasadena.

Doh!

Hawthorne-based AYSO has folowed the Galaxy's lead and signed a sponsorship deal with Herbalife, which has a significant presence in the South Bay. The clue as to why the deal was done is at the bottom of the (edited) press release:

The American Youth Soccer Organization and Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), a global nutrition and direct selling company, announced a first-ever four-year agreement that makes Herbalife the Official Nutrition Advisor and Official Health and Wellness Provider of the country’s leading youth soccer organization.

Similar to Herbalife’s agreement with the Los Angeles Galaxy Major League Soccer club, the AYSO sponsorship gives Herbalife the rights to display its name and logo on the front of AYSO jerseys, a first for the non-profit national organization. The agreement also includes Herbalife’s presence on the AYSO Web site, signage at games, an on-site presence at national and sectional events, and a nutrition column in Play Soccer, AYSO’s online publication.

“With child obesity on the rise, it is imperative to educate children and their parents about proper nutrition and how to have a healthy, active lifestyle,” said Herbalife Chairman and CEO Michael O. Johnson. “Herbalife is on a mission for nutrition, while AYSO provides children, adolescents and teens an outlet to be active.”

“It’s a natural fit as our two organizations are engaged in improving the health of today’s youth,” said AYSO National President Mike Wade. The AYSO National Board of Directors unanimously approved the agreement. “We’re excited about our partnership with Herbalife and the role we’ll play together to reach out to kids and help educate them and their parents about the importance of healthy choices.”

The AYSO was started in Los Angeles in 1964 with nine teams. Today, the organization has more than 80,000 teams, in 1100 regions serving approximately one million kids located across the U.S. Its activities are based upon its five philosophies: Everyone Plays, Balanced Teams, Open Registration, Positive Coaching, and Good Sportsmanship.

According to the United States Department of Health & Human Services, “Childhood obesity has nearly tripled for adolescents in the past two decades The U.S. government agency points to lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns or a combination of the two as the leading factors in the rise of these frightening statistics.

In July 2006, Herbalife announced the launch of the Herbalife Kids™ line of nutrition products that includes shakes and multivitamins with protein, fiber, and 100 percent of key nutrients kids need daily.

Lastly, UNICEF ambassador David Beckham made a three-day trip to Sierra Leone that ended Sunday:

Posted by Nick Green at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Kansas City Wizards just chose defender Chance Myers as the top pick in the MLS draft.

Posted by Nick Green at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First, let's get the rumor out of the way: The New York Times soccer blog, Goal, is reporting that Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan is on his way to Fulham.

Considering how many Americans Fulham has on its squad, that's a little like linking CD Guadalajara with every Mexican player that's available.

Still, it's clear Guzan is going overseas sooner rather than later and deservedly so. Bet he would prefer Arsenal to Fulham, though, given their relative positions in the EPL.

Now onto Friday's underwhelming MLS Superdraft, although no-one actually calls it that largely because it's not so super. It is in fact the least important draft held by any U.S. sports league. (As if to confirm that, ESPN2 will show the first hour only beginning at 11 a.m.).

For a start, relatively few people actually pay attention to college soccer. Unlike the pointy-ball version of football that saturates the airwaves in the fall, college soccer is relegated to obscure cable channels. So while NFL draft analysts can hyperventilate about the latest running back prospect from Weber State and the average follower of college football understands the excitement (or at least recognizes the name), did anyone get pumped about the Galaxy drafting goalkeeper Tally Hall last year out of San Diego State? Probably Hall's mom.

And where is Hall these days anyway? Not with the Galaxy. For that matter how many of the Galaxy's No. 1 draft picks over the years are still with the team? Zero. And only two of last year's draft picks are still with the Galaxy, slow defender Ty Hardin and the hirstute Josh Tudela who got surprisingly few minutes last season given the extent of the Galaxy's casualty ward.

The draft is likely to decline in importance in the coming years even further as the gap between MLS and the college game widens, as it should if MLS is to continue to improve.

This year's draft is particularly weak as Michael Lewis pointed out earlier this week in the (New York) Daily News with New York Red Bulls Coach Juan Carlos Osorio pretty much writing off the process as a non-event, considering his team doesn't have a pick until the second round of the fourth round draft:

"If I am honest with you without criticizing or hurting anybody, I don't think there will be enough players to wait around for the second round," Osorio said.

The new coach said he felt that there were five players at the MLS combine in Fort Lauderdale that were good enough to compete for a starting position and not more than 10 players who could make a team.

"I'm not just speaking on behalf of my own opinion but on behalf of the all the coaches as part of a general consensus," he said. "This time around doesn't have as many players as previous ones."

Drafts it seems are all about stats. And soccer is not about stats as much as other American sports. There are more intangibles involved. It's subtler, it's about vision and reading a game.

It's not about how fast you can run a 40-yard dash. Or whether being 6 foot-1 is tall enough for a goalkeeper.

Soccer is more than athleticism or physical attributes (or should be; soccer in the U.S. is still struggling with this concept). No one cared how fast Carlos Valderrama was or whether Kevin Keegan was tall enough. It's about touch, anticipation and whether a player possessed a soccer brain.

So you can keep your player rankings, mock drafts and endless speculation. Especially since virtually every player picked will be trundled out to interviews afterwards and say a variation on "I'm really pleased to be picked by blank and will try my hardest to make the squad." Even if they're not.

Not particularly enlightening, but what do we expect?

Remain unconvinced of the draft's dubious value?

Then check out the draft history here.

And follow along here.

Wake me when it's over.

Still, at least the draft provides a modicum of publicity for U.S. soccer.

Check out the guest list for the two-hour show that begins at 8 tonight on Fox Soccer Channel (from the edited FSC press release):

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber, NSCAA President Steve Malone, United Soccer Leagues President Francisco Marcos, Women’s Soccer Initiative Chief Executive Officer Tonya Antonucci, Houston Dynamo Head Coach Dominic Kinnear, U.S. Youth Soccer Technical Director John Ellinger and Wake Forest University Head Men’s Soccer Coach Jay Vidovich. Moderated by Fox Soccer Channel’s Max Bretos, the program will also feature network personalities Christopher Sullivan and Mark Rogondino and Fox Soccer Report’s Bobby McMahon.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

USC striker Amy Rodriguez scored twice in the 4-0 U.S. win overnight in China against Canada to stake her claim for a spot replacing the pregnant Kristine Lilly on the forward line alongside Abby Wambach. The story is here.

“I coached Kristine Lilly with the Boston Breakers and I’ve seen her play many times," Coach Pia Sundhage said after her first game in charge of the team. "That is a great player, one of the best in the world, so I would love to see her on the field. But she is pregnant and I am happy that she will have a great family. That means that other players will have to step up and today we saw two goals from (Amy) Rodriguez and two goals from (Lindsay) Tarpley and that’s how it will be in the future, new players stepping up to become leaders and goal scorers.”

“(Rodriguez') speed is exceptional and the fact that she scored two good goals today is good confidence for her and for the team," Sundhage added. "There will be different players stepping up at different times and I think that can be one of our strengths. It’s not about one player, it will be about the whole team."

“The first half was a little bit quiet, there was not a lot going on," Rodriguez said. "Abby and I were trying to look for the ball and we didn’t get as much of the play as we’d like to. In the second half, things turned around. We definitely played a lot more offense and Abby and I were able to get in, I was making runs in behind and luckily the midfielder and defenders were able to play me in.”

Incidentally, the AP reporter in China was wrong that this was Rodriguez' first appearance for the U.S.; this was her sixth cap, but first start.

Galaxy beat writer Billy Witz has more on Tuesday's trade that sent striker Carlos Ruiz back to the Galaxy, observing that LA has tied up half their salary cap on just three players.

Sounds like a helluva gamble to me for a team that hasn't made the playoffs the last two years, but U.S. international Jimmy Conrad was ready with the conspiracy theory:

"The league likes to make sure the large markets have as much an advantage over everybody else as they can," Kansas City captain Jimmy Conrad said. "It's an important year - I know the final is at the Home Depot Center this year and they want to make sure they have a good team. It's interesting they all end up there - they've got three Designated Players on their team."

Lastly, the Daily News explores the dilemma for top prep soccer players who must choose between playing for their high school or elite club team here.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Christie Rampone was named to succeed the pregnant Kristine Lilly as captain of the U.S. Women's National Team today.

Meanwhile, the Under-23 women's team has opened its camp at Home Depot Center. UCLA and USC both have players on the roster.

Didn't know there was a women's U-23 team? U.S. Soccer has realigned its youth teams. More details here in this (edited) U.S. Soccer press release:

The U-21 WNT has been changed to a U-23 age group as a result of the Nordic Cup becoming a U-23 competition. As a result, the U.S. U-21s, who dominated the Nordic Cup for the past decade, will become a U-23 squad with no overage players for the summer tournament that brings the USA together with Europe’s top youth teams.

The U-23s serve a valuable purpose giving players on the fringe of the full WNT player pool, some of whom have finished their college soccer, a chance to keep training at a high level in National Team camps and international matches. This year the U.S. U-23s, led by head coach Bill Irwin, will compete in the Nordic Cup in Sweden against Europe’s top U-23 teams.

The U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team, under head coach Dean Duerst, who coached the U.S. U-17s last year, is being reinstituted (after having existed from 1998-2001). The purpose is to give international competition to players who have just finished a cycle with the U.S. U-17s, but are a year away from the next U-20 cycle. The U-18 WNT provides a transition for a number of those players that could possibly make up the core of the team that would attempt to qualify for the following U-20 Women’s World Cup. FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups are held every two years.

In addition, the U.S. Under-16 Girl’s National Team will be absorbed by the U.S. U-17s, much in the same way the Men’s U-17 Residency Program features two age groups of players every year.

Club America won InterLiga Saturday night in Carson before a capacity crowd on penalty kicks and fellow local blogger Luis Bueno was still excited about what he had witnessed at 1 a.m.

Playing a little weekend catch-up, Chivas USA has signed Coach Preki to a new contract, while Maykel Galindo and Jonathan Bornstein habe both undergone successful surgeries.

The Galaxy have released details of the open tryouts scheduled for next month. If you've got talent and $150 click here for details.

Prep action from the Daily News is here and from the Long Beach Press-Telegram here.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MLS hopefuls have begun gathering in Florida for the MLS Combine, which features more than 60 players, including a trio from South America. The combine, which runs through Tuesday, precedes the Superdraft scheduled for a week from today.

Nine of the most promising attendees have already signed MLS contracts as part of the Generation adidas program, which usually identifies the top draft prospects.

They include Bruins defender Chance Meyers of Thousand Oaks and UCLA midfielder Tony Beltran of Claremont.

More details from the (edited) MLS press release:

Highlighting this year’s class are seven players that have experience with the U.S. Youth National Teams and a finalist for this year’s MAC Hermann Trophy, college soccer’s version of the Heisman Trophy. Six of the nine players are leaving college early to enter the MLS SuperDraft - Eric Avila (UC Santa Barbara), Tony Beltran (UCLA), Chance Myers (UCLA), Patrick Nyarko (Virginia Tech), Ciaran O’Brien (UC Santa Barbara) and Rob Valentino (Univ. of South Florida). Three players – Josh Lambo (Chicago Magic FC), Alex Nimo (FC Portland) and Brek Shea (Texans FC) – are high school students who are foregoing their college eligibility to sign professional contracts.

Avila and Myers are currently training with the U.S. Men’s U-23 National Team while they prepare for Olympic Qualifying to begin in March. Beltran was a member of the U-20 Men’s National Team that advanced to the quarterfinals of last year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada.

Lambo, Nimo and Shea were members of the U-17 World Cup Team that competed in last year’s Youth World Championship in Korea.

Nyarko, a forward from Virginia Tech, led the Hokies to their first ever NCAA Final Four appearance in 2007 where they fell to eventual NCAA Champion Wake Forest. He recorded seven goals and 10 assists during the season, was named to the 2007 NSCAA/adidas NCAA Men’s Division I All-America Team and is a finalist for the Mac Hermann Trophy, honoring the country’s top Division I collegiate soccer player. The award will be announced today.

OC resident Jurgen Klinsmann has taken the coaching job with German powerhouse
Bayern Munich.

A capacity crowd is expected in Carson Saturday for the InterLiga finals:

The first match begins at 6:00 p.m. and features InterLiga newcomer San Luis versus Guadalajara-based club Atlas, followed by the match-up between Mexico City rivals América and Cruz Azul beginning at 8:30 p.m.

Call 1-877-CHIVAS-1 for tickets.

The Galaxy have announced they will hold open tryouts Feb. 9-12 at Home Depot Center. Registration forms will soon be available at lagalaxy.com.

Kids should stick with a Galaxy-sponsored indoor tournament set for Feb. 16-17 at the Home Depot Center velodrome. There are six age groups for boys ranging from Under-8 to Under-13 (girls can play on the teams, too). Register here.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LA is a college football town. Here's proof.

A-Rod, pictured on the penultimate day of camp Monday, is the top picture here. Cheney is seen in the two lower photos.

Two WNT coaching notes from U.S. Soccer:

Phil Wheddon, the Women’s National Team goalkeeper coach since the end of 2006, and also from 2002-2004, has been retained by Sundhage and will handle all the goalkeeper training duties. Sundhage has also hired fellow Swede Helena Andersson as the team’s strength and fitness coach. Rounding out her staff is former U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team head coach Erica Walsh, who will be with the WNT on a part-time basis. Walsh, who is the head women’s soccer coach at Penn State University, was also an assistant for the USA at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup in Thailand.

The full Four Nations Tournament roster:

goalkeepers - Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.); defenders Stephanie Cox (Elk Grove, Calif.), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Ali Krieger (Dumfries, Va.), Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant, N.J.), Becky Sauerbrunn (St. Louis, Mo.), Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala.); midfielders Shannon Boxx (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), Tina DiMartino (Massapequa Park, N.Y.), Angela Hucles (Virginia Beach, Va.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Leslie Osborne (Brookfield, Wis.), Angie Woznuk (El Cajon, Calif.); forwards Lauren Cheney (Indianapolis, Ind.), Heather O’Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Amy Rodriguez (Lake Forest, Calif.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).

Lastly, prep action from the Daily Breeze is here, a brief Bay League preview after preseason games is here.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

They throw you out of journalism clubs if you don't write at least one list story per year.

Here's mine.

Happy New Year!

Posted by Nick Green at 7:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Galaxy's David Beckham makes nice with new England manager Fabio Capello, his former coach at Real Madrid, in a BBC radio interview scheduled to air Christmas Day (right after the Queen's annual address just in case you didn't think Becks is treated like royalty in England). Details here.

And the latest rumor involving a new Galaxy striker names Darren Huckerby of England Championship team Norwich City as a potential target.

The reliability of the original unnamed source is always open to question when it comes to the English press, but the Galaxy's need for a striker will be the subject of my Christmas Day column in the Daily News and Daily Breeze.

Down the hall at Home Depot Center, Chivas USA has given local soccer players another reason not to over-indulge during the holidays by holding open tryouts next month. The cost: $15 a player.

Meanwhile, Loyola Marymount University Assistant Women's Soccer Coach Michelle Myers has apparently been named the new coach of expansion W-League franchise the Ventura County Fusion. Details here.

Finally, the weekend's prep action from the Daily Breeze is here and here.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Awards here and here

Preps here and here.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Salt Lake Tribune reported today that Real Salt Lake traded midfielder Atiba Harris to Chivas USA, although as of now his stats remain on the RSL Web site. No confirmation from Chivas USA, although their PR staff are on vacation right now.

Former Galaxy great Mauricio Cienfuegos, meanwhile, has apparently taken his first coaching job back in his native El Salvador.

And USC's first year Coach Ali Khosroshahin was named Soccer America Coach of the Year.

From the USC press release today:

In his first year as head coach of the USC women’s soccer team, Ali Khosroshahin wasted no time in making an impact. He not only turned heads at Troy in pushing the Trojans to a number of new program records, he capped off the season by capturing the nation’s top prize – the 2007 NCAA Championship. For his outstanding efforts in leading the Women of Troy to their first-ever national title and a record-breaking 20-3-2 season, Khosroshahin has been named the Soccer America Coach of the Year. Four Trojans also were honored with postseason awards by Soccer America. Sophomore goalkeeper Kristin Olsen continues to rack up accolades, as the Honda Award finalist was named to the Soccer America MVPs First Team. Three USC freshmen – defender Kasey Johnson and midfielders Megan Ohai and Ashli Sandoval – have been named to Soccer America All-Freshman teams. Johnson has earned a First Team nod, and Ohai and Sandoval are Second Team selections.

Finally here's Wednesday's prep action from the Daily Breeze (Mira Costa-Animo) while a roundup is here.

The Long Beach Press-Telegram has a Moore League preview.

Posted by Nick Green at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lots of soccer news today, so let's get to it.

Olympics in Carson

Here on the West Coast it's Canada, Guatemala, Haiti and Mexico at Home Depot Center with doubleheaders on March 12, 14 and 16.

Series tickets, by the way, go on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday priced between $36 and $195. Call 213-480-3232. Individual match day tickets will go on sale at a later date, if they're still around.

Two teams from the eight qualify for the Olympics in China.

MLS Tweaks Rules

The moves mean:
* Teams can have eight internationals on the roster. This year teams were allotted seven international spots per team, four of them so-called senior international and three youth International slots. That distinction has now been removed.
*Donovan, striker Eddie Johnson of the Kansas City Wizards and Carlos Ruiz of FC Dallas who had big buck contracts before the adoption of the designated player or Beckham rule, will not become DP's, which simplifies things greatly for the Galaxy since they would have to trade for another slot.

MLS also released its (early) 2008 calendar.
The highlights:
Jan. 11- 15 - MLS Combine in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Jan. 15 - April 15 - Transfer window.
Jan. 18 - MLS SuperDraft.
Jan. 24 - Supplemental draft.
Jan. 26 - Pre-season training camps may begin.
March 29 - Season opens

Awards, Awards and More Awards

Cheney led the Pac-10 with 23 goals, a UCLA single-season record.

Olson had 12 shutouts and allowed a record-low 13 goals for USC.

Also nominated: Ashlee Pistorius of Texas A & M and Mami Yamaguchi of Florida State.

Galaxy Update

Meanwhile, tickets to the Pan-Pacific Championship in Hawaii in February went on sale Tuesday starting at $10. Details here.

Finally, this link is a couple of days old, but new Galaxy Coach Ruud Gullit riffs on England and David Beckham here.

Posted by Nick Green at 7:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From the (edited) UCLA press release:

Striker Lauren Cheney became the first women's soccer player in UCLA history to be named a finalist for college soccer's most prestigious honor today, one of three contending for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy.

The other two finalists for the national player of the year award are Ashlee Pistorius of Texas A&M and Mami Yamaguchi of Florida State.

Cheney, a sophomore from Indianapolis, Ind., led UCLA to its fifth straight NCAA College Cup in 2007. She ended the season ranked second nationally in points per game (2.48) and third nationally in goals per game (1.0). She was named the 2007 Pac-10 Player of the Year after leading the conference in points (57), goals (23) and game-winning goals (9). She also ranked second overall in assists (11).

Cheney's 57 points and 23 goals on the year were both single-season school records.

"I'm obviously extremely happy for Lauren because it's a wonderful honor to be named a finalist for this award," said UCLA head coach Jillian Ellis. "She's a tremendous player who has had an exceptional year so I think it is fitting that she is being recognized in this manner. It's a reflection of the type of season she has had."

The winner will be announced live on ESPNews at 4 p.m. Jan. 11 at the Missouri Athletic Club in downtown St. Louis.

Posted by Nick Green at 7:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fabio Capello has yet to sign on the dotted line as the new England coach and already there's speculation he has made up with a certain player the then Real Madrid coach once vowed would never play for him again (although he did anyway with Real's season going south last season). Yup, David Beckham, it's said, will captain England on Feb. 6 against Switzerland and earn his century of caps. But will he make it to 101 England appearances?

Local Manchester United fans hoping to see former Red Devils midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron grace the Home Depot Center field (albeit playing for D.C. United) are apparently out of luck. Or maybe not.

At the other end of the soccer spectrum, here are today's prep soccer stories ripped from the pages, um, Web sites of the Daily Breeze, Daily News and Long Beach Press-Telegram.

Finally, while no local schools are involved, the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament has come down to the final four. Wake Forest plays Virginia Tech at 2 p.m. today on ESPN2, while the Ohio State-Massachusetts game follows at 4:30 p.m. on ESPNU.

Still, if you can only see one game this weekend on television make it Arsenal against Chelsea at 8 a.m. Sunday on Fox Soccer Channel. Manchester United take on Liverpool the same day, but that 5:25 a.m. game is on the more expensive Setanta. Here's a preview of the match-ups between the big four of the EPL.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bruins defenders Brandon Owens of Murietta and Mike Zaher, as well as Cal State Northridge U.S. Under-23 international Sean Franklin of Palmdale were named today to the initial list of 54 college players invited to attend the annual MLS Combine.

Other college players will be named later. The combine takes place Jan. 11-15 in Florida, just before the Jan. 18 MLS Superdraft.

Other players invited, according to the MLS press release, include:

"seven seniors who are semifinalists for the 2007 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, NCAA soccer’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. Leading the way is the 2006 award winner Joseph Lapira (Notre Dame), and Andy Iro (UC Santa Barbara), Julius James (University of Connecticut), Stephen King (University of Maryland), Peter Lowry (Santa Clara), Julian Valentin (Wake Forest University) and Michael Videira (Duke University). The 2007 MAC Hermann Trophy finalists will be announced on Dec. 14, 2007 and the winner is announced on Jan. 11, 2008.

Also, Galaxy spokesman Patrick Donnelly confirmed today that reports linking Celtic striker Maciej Zurawski with LA are false.

Two lessons here: never believe the agent of a player (the source of the "story" in this case), who desperately wants to improve his situation. And don't believe an English tabloid desperate for a story (especially one that if memory serves claimed then England Coach Steve McClaren was trying to line up a job with the Galaxy).

Posted by Nick Green at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A couple of quick notes before I head off to the U.S. Women's National Team camp at Home Depot Center:

ESPN has belatedly realised what's missing from its schedule. No mention of the U.S. broadcast rights, but can it be far behind?

The Cerritos College women also won a championship Sunday.

The U.S. Under-17 ’92 Men’s National Team fell 2-0 to Turkey Sunday in its third and final international match of the Development Academy Nike Friendlies in Bradenton, Fla.

From the (edited) U.S. Soccer press release -

The U.S. finished the weekend with two wins and a loss, taking 2-0 wins over Russia on Thursday and Brazil on Saturday. Carlos Martinez and Stefan Jerome each scored two goals on the weekend, while Earl Edwards added two shutouts in Wilmer Cabrera’s international coaching debut.

It's getting to be that time of year when everyone makes a list. There's two soccer names on this one.

Finally, the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Group will be inaugurated today as the first-ever accredited FIFA Medical Center of Excellence in the U.S.

From the (edited) U.S. Soccer press release:

The vision behind creating a community of medical centers across the world is to ensure that players on all continents know where to go for expert care in football medical care, such as the prevention of injuries, early detection of risk factors for sudden cardiac death, as well as state-of-the-art diagnosis and therapy services.

“FIFA is committed to protecting and improving the health of football players worldwide,” said FIFA Sports Medical Committee chair Michel D’Hooghe. “We consider effective prevention and accurate diagnosis as top priorities and make a strong commitment by offering the football community Centers of Excellence. What is more, these centers will also be generally open to every player looking for therapy or a second opinion on a specific illness or injury.”

Building on the success of the first FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence opened at the Schulthess Clinic in Zurich in May 2005, the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Group will be the first of five medical centers to receive accreditation as an official medical center in the coming months. The St Marianna University School of Medicine in Kawasaki, Japan, will be inaugurated next on Dec. 14, followed by three more in New Zealand, South Africa and Germany in early 2008.

"This is an incredible honor for our multidisciplinary center to be recognized as a FIFA Medical Center of Excellence,” said Dr. Bert Mandelbaum. “Having the opportunity to be a part of the FIFA’s focus on research and education for prevention, injury care and rehabilitation, and performance optimization in soccer players here in the U.S. is a mission we are excited to be involved in.”

Mandelbaum has been a part of U.S. Soccer's Sports Medicine initiatives since 1990, working with thousands of athletes and virtually every U.S. National Team in that time. He has worked four World Cups for the men's and two for the women in that time.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

USC (19-3-2) got its fifth consecutive shutout in six NCAA Tournament games and beat Florida State University 2-0 to win its first-ever national title today with goals from Marihelen Tomer and Janessa Currier.

More details here.

Updated: here.

Posted by Nick Green at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

At 11 a.m. today the Trojans will attempt to put a cherry atop their very unlikely season when they meet Florida State in the NCAA Tournament final on ESPN2.

Both teams see themselves as underdogs. FSU has a bunch of foreign imports. USC Coach Ali Khosroshahin is only the second-ever coach to take a team to the tournament final in his first season.

Plenty of story lines. Let's hope there's plenty of action. A preview is here.

New U.S. Women's National Team Coach Pia Sundhage was in Texas for the tournament and gave this update ahead of her first camp with the team in Carson. I'll head out to Home Depot Center Monday to meet Pia and will have more Tuesday in my weekly column in the Daily News and Daily Breeze.

USC isn't the only local college still playing soccer; so are the Cerritos College women, who play at 10 a.m. in the COA Women's Soccer Championship title game.

Finally, here are the highlights of Saturday's prep games.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Trojans beat the Bruins 2-1 in a come-from-behind victory Friday in Texas and will meet Florida State at 11:30 a.m. Sunday on ESPN2 for the national championship.

"We get measured on national championships at USC," said first-year Coach Ali Khosroshahin. "Until we do that this means nothing."

Which is exactly what he said after the Florida game at the Coliseum a couple of weeks back. Wonder if the ex-Cal State Fullerton coach is going to need a new sound bite after Sunday?

Almost as important though: USC snapped an 11-game winless streak against the Bruins again using its smothering defense against the much-vaunted, high-powered UCLA offense.

Here's the game story.

More details are here.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Semifinal Shootout in Texas

I linked to the Daily Bruin and Daily Trojan previews of today's semifinal between the two schools Thursday; here's the Daily News' version.

There's more info here.

Sophomore USC starting goalkeeper Kristin Olsen of Orange has recorded 11 solo shutouts and three shared this season, equaling last year's program record program of 14 for the Trojans.

Here's a Q & A with Olsen.

For those of you playing hooky from work on a gray and rainy Friday in LA, the USC-UCLA semi begins at 4 p.m. on ESPNU (and will be replayed at 9 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2); the Notre Dame-Florida State semi precedes it at 2 p.m., also on ESPNU.

The weather is better in Texas.

Youth is Served II

Midfielder Carlos Martinez of Las Vegas and Stefan Jerome scored for the U.S.

The U.S. next faces Brazil at 11:30 a.m. Saturday live on Fox Soccer Channel.

Back in the South Bay, Red Bull starlet Jozy Altidore blogs for the New York Times about the U-23 USMNT Training Camp in Carson.

South Bay prep scores are here.

Solo Speaks

I plan to head out to training camp Monday, so look for more on the team's first training camp under new Coach Pia Sundhage then.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No, not today's pointy-ball game.

UCLA and USC will meet in the semifinals of the women's soccer final four for the first time ever Dec. 7 in Texas after the Bruins beat Portland 3-2 at chilly Drake Stadium Friday night in a double overtime thriller and the Trojans improbably won 1-0 on the road in usually virtually impregnable West Virginia.

Freshman Kasey Johnson of Sierra Madre must feel she's living a dream, having scored the winner for USC for the second consecutive game.

Forward Danesha Adams, who scored the Bruins' winning goal sounded giddy:

“To get that goal at the end was an amazing feeling,” said Adams, who tied the UCLA career record for game-winning goals with her 25th. “It’s my senior year and I don’t want to go home. I don’t want this to ever end. I want to always wear this UCLA Bruin jersey.”

UCLA Coach Jill Ellis was proud of the way her team came back from the confidence-battering tying goal so close to the final whistle in regulation:

“Giving up that goal feels gut-wrenching,” she said. “But to come back, that’s the greatest lesson for these guys at this point. They showed that they can bounce back. I told them before the overtime period, that we just controlled the second half of the game and now we have to finish it. This was tremendous.”

Over in New Zealand, the David Beckham-led Galaxy disposed of the Wellington Phoenix, 4-1.

Two vastly differing reactions are available including this soccer version from an enthusiastic AP writer infatuated with Becks the player (although he does get Galaxy striker Carlos Pavon's last name wrong).

The writer from the New Zealand Herald seems more infatuated with the crowd's reaction to Beckham's chest than the game.

The two reports contradict each other over whether the game sold out, too.

Lastly, here are the highlights of the visit from a locals' perspective.

Posted by Nick Green at 5:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The UCLA women's team plays at 7 tonight at Drake Stadium (kick off was pushed back an hour to accommodate TV in the Pacific Northwest, although there's no local broadcast) against Portland with a place in the final four at stake.

The two teams are arguably the hottest in the country right now with the Bruins taking a 16-match winning streak into the game, while the Pilots have won 11 in a row.

The Daily Bruin has a preview.

Tickets are $10 adults and $8 for youths and students.

The USC women face the tall order of beating West Virginia on the Mountaineers' home turf today in their bid for a place in the final four.

The Daily Trojan has a preview.

David Beckham continues to wow the Kiwis in advance of Saturday's game against the Wellington Phoenix.

He'll impress even more if he can duplicate the goal he scored against Sydney:

Meanwhile, ESPN has announced it will televise the Euro 2008 draw at 6 a.m. Sunday on ESPN2.

The draw details:

The draw will place the 16 teams, set to compete in the 2008 championship for Europe’s national teams, into four groups of four teams. Austria and Switzerland automatically qualified as hosts and the remaining 14 teams are broken into four pots and will be drawn from each pot into one of the group. The winner of EURO 2008 will represent the UEFA at the 2009 FIFA Confederations in South Africa where the U.S. Men’s National Team will represent the CONCACAF region having won the 2007 Gold Cup in Summer.

Pot 1: Austria (host), Greece (defending champions having won Euro 2004), Netherlands, Switzerland (hosts).

Pot 2: Croatia, Czech Republic, Italy, Sweden.

Pot 3: Germany, Portugal, Romania, Spain.

Pot 4: France, Poland, Russia, Turkey.

ESPN will air all 31 games from the June 7 through June 29 tournament.

Finally, FIFA has announced its three World Player of the Year finalists.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The season has ended for the UCLA men's team after a 3-1 loss to Santa Clara in the NCAA Tournament.

The Galaxy and David Beckham receive a New Zealand welcome.

And MLS holds its waiver draft later today. Carlos Pavon anyone? Didn't think so.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While much of the media coverage today about USC's threat/negotiating ploy to leave the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has centered on USC fooball, it should be noted that the venerable stadium is the second most important soccer venue in Southern California, after Carson's Home Depot Center.

It's practically the second home of the Mexican National Team and has been part of America's soccer history since the days of the now-defunct North American Soccer League.

I've been there both as a fan (most recently for the Manchester United tour a couple of years back) and as a reporter (I was one of a handful at the USC-Florida women's NCAA Tournament game Saturday) and was reminded on both occasions of how much the stadium blows in pretty much every respect

It's an embarrassment on the scale of the LAX terminals.

USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett summed up the (minimal) needed improvements:

1. Complete replacement of concession facilities to afford modern food and beverage services like those offered at all major stadiums.
2. Replacement of, and additions to, the currently inadequate restroom facilities.
3. All new, state-of-the-art video and score boards.
4. Replacement of the grossly inadequate sound system.
5. Improved access through renovated and replaced stairs, elevators and escalators.
6. Repair of crumbling concrete stairs, walkways and infrastructure.
7. Replacement of all seats.
8. Reconfiguration of entry gates in order to move fans in and out of the stadium safely and efficiently.

Even the parking is poorly signed and incredibly tight and inconvenient. And you have to leave the stadium to reach (or get back from) the (tiny) press conference room.

To turn down $100 million in renovations from a private school requires more explanation even if there are significant strings attached (sounds like it comes down to control of the venue).

I dread going there and I know most soccer journalists do.

A fix is direly needed.

Still, Pasadena shouldn't get smug.

The Rose Bowl is a 50,000-seat stadium masquerading as a 90,000-seat stadium (have you ever sat in those seats?) and access through those residential neighborhoods is a task.

While I'm at it, shouldn't the city of Pasadena have updated their Web site by now that observes "the Rose Bowl is home for the UCLA Bruins Football team and the Galaxy Soccer team."?

The Galaxy, of course, haven't been tenants since 2003.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Galaxy are in New Zealand readying for their next loss, um, game on Saturday.

Actually, they should have a chance of winnning this game since the Wellington Phoenix are an A-League expansion team currently lying seventh in the eight-team league.

Among their roster is former UC Santa Barbara defender Tony Lochhead who was drafted, but never played, for the New England Revolution.

UCLA plays today in their second round NCAA tournament game against Santa Clara.

The Daily Bruin has a preview here.

Finally, The (London) Times opines that OC resident Jurgen Klinsmann is not the man to become the next England coach.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Despite a trademark David Beckham goal from a free kick, the Galaxy lost 5-3 to Sydney F.C. before more than 80,000 in Australia where Tuesday night has come and gone.

New Galaxy Coach Ruud Gullit saw midfielder Kevin Harmse sent off in the supposed friendly and shaky goalkeeper Joe Cannon was pulled at half time.

Full details here.

Back here in LA I devoted Tuesday's column to the USC women's soccer program, enjoying its best season in history, and defender Amy Massey from Manhattan Beach.

More information on the nonprofit mentioned in the story is here.

Steven Goff over at The Washington Post said two sources have told him Chivas USA Coach Preki is interested in the New York Red Bulls about its coaching vacancy

But that didn't stop Chivas USA from trading reserve goalkeeper Preston Burpo to expansion team San Jose Earthquakes for a fourth round draft pick. The (edited) Chivas USA press release:

“This was a key trade for us ahead of next year’s SuperDraft,” Preki said. “We also hope it represents a good opportunity for Preston to compete for a starting spot in a new environment in San Jose.”

Burpo, 35, was a member of Chivas USA for two seasons, in which he accumulated a 1.18 goals-against average (GAA) in 22 regular-season games played (all starts). However, Burpo played just three of those games in 2007, when he served primarily as a backup to Panasonic MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Brad Guzan.

Burpo was originally acquired by Chivas USA in March 2006 as a discovery pick from United Soccer Leagues Division I side Seattle Sounders.

The trade raises the possibility Chivas USA will have an entirely new goalkeeping corps in 2008 if Guzan heads to Arsenal of the English Premier League when the European transfer window opens in the New Year.

And Lawndale's Kei Kamara is heading back to California after being traded to San Jose from the Columbus Crew. The (edited) Crew release:

The Columbus Crew announced today that it has acquired midfielder Brian Carroll from the San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for forward Kei Kamara. Carroll, a member of D.C. United’s 2004 MLS Cup-winning squad who has earned six caps with the U.S. National Team, appeared in 121 games over five seasons with D.C. before being selected by San Jose in Wednesday’s MLS Expansion Draft.

“We are excited to acquire someone of Brian Carroll’s ability and experience,” said Head Coach Sigi Schmid. “He is someone who has been a part of an MLS championship and he will help bring that mentality to our team. At the same time, we thank Kei for his efforts on behalf of the Crew and wish him the best of luck in San Jose.”

Carroll, a 26-year-old native of Springfield, Va., was originally selected by D.C. United in the second round (No. 11 overall) of the 2003 MLS SuperDraft out of Wake Forest University. In 2007, the defensive midfielder saw action in 28 games (19 starts) and collected a career-high four assists. He has two goals and 11 assists in his career. Carroll also represented the United States at the Under-20 and U-23 levels, prior to his six appearances at the senior level.

Kamara, a native of Sierra Leone who played collegiately at Cal State Dominguez Hills, spent two seasons with the Crew after being selected by Columbus in the first round (No. 9 Overall) of the 2006 MLS SuperDraft. He scored five goals in 36 games (13 starts) in Black & Gold.

Finally, the U.S. Under-15 Girls National Team wrapped up a three game series in Florida over the weekend with two losses and a win.

Southern Californians on the roster were Michelle Cruz of Thousand Oaks, Natalia Ledezma of La Mirada and Haley Rosen of Palos Verdes.

The U-15s end the year with a 5-2-4 overall record, the most-ever international matches played by the U.S. U-15s in a calendar year.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is Kyle's fifth post.

Wow!

What a year for UCLA men's soccer.

I haven't blogged in a while, so for those who haven't been following our season closely, I'll try to catch you up.

We ended up finishing our season with a 8-8-3 record; not particularly what we were hoping for, but we all knew we needed to have at least a .500 record to have any hope of qualifying for the playoffs.

With our fingers crossed, we anticipated the day of the draw to find out that we did, in fact, make the playoffs and were going to have a first round home game.

We were all very relieved to hear the news and for an entire week prepared for our first round game against New Mexico, anxious to get the playoffs started.

The one point we all made before going into the Saturday night game was that the past is history.

We all knew that we did not have the season we had hoped for, but each individual learned something important from every setback we encountered this year. We did not look at the season as a failure, but as a learning experience.

Most importantly, we discussed how important it was for us to act now, and that the present is a gift.

So, why not take advantage of the opportunity that we are given?

With that mindset, we came out with a win in our first playoff game in front of a large, supportive crowd. We set the past behind us and focused on what was at hand.

The playoffs are a second chance to showcase to the nation our great ability as a team. I believe we truly did accomplish that with our win against New Mexico, with great performances by everyone on the team.

With the first win behind us, we are looking forward to our second round game against Santa Clara on Wednesday at Santa Clara.

If anyone is not aware, we lost to Santa Clara earlier this year in overtime.

We are seeking revenge.

Go Bruins!

Kyle is apparently too modest to talk about his contribution in the win against New Mexico.

Bend It Like Naka — Sophomore midfielder Kyle Nakazawa's bending free kick for a goal with 1:39 remaining in regulation provided a dramatic finish for the Bruins in a 1-0 victory over New Mexico in the NCAA first round. Nakazawa earned the free kick when he was taken down just outside the penalty box. His curled his free kick around the Lobos wall and into the back of the net for his third goal of the year and first off a free kick.

"It was an unbelievable way to finish the game," Nakazawa said. "When I first lined it up, I didn't see an angle, but then I found a little hole and thought I could bend it in. I couldn't have hit it any better. It was one of the greatest feelings I have had in my college career."

It was Nakazawa's second game-winning goal of the season. Both have come in the final two minutes of the game. On Oct. 21 at Washington, he scored the game-winner with 53 seconds left in regulation in a 3-2 victory. Nakazawa ranks second on the team in goals (3) and points (13) and is the team and Pac-10 leader in assists with seven.

Posted by Nick Green at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

USC qualified for the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in its history tonight, beating SEC Champion Florida 1-0 and earning the right to play West Virginia Friday, Saturday or Sunday. It's unclear yet whether the game will be played here or back East; USC and UCLA have a pointy ball game Saturday at the Coliseum.

McAlister Field, the usual home field for USC, has a capacity of just 1,000 and is considered inadequate for tournament play; the Trojans drew a crowd of 1,469 tonight.

Florida's 14-game undefeated streak - and its season - ended on a Kasey Johnson header from seven yards out in the 47th minute. The freshman from Sierra Madre got on the end of a Ashley Nick free kick to score her first-ever collegiete goal.

"It was really shocking," Johnson said."I didn't think it was going to happen."

USC dominated Florida, which had lost its second-leading scorer KeLeigh Hudson to a season-ending knee injury last weekend, out-shooting their tiring opponents 9-2 in the second half.

USC could have made it two, but top scorer Amy Rodriguez put the ball wide of the next from seven yards with only the goalkeeper to beat with just six minutes left in the game.

Updated: USC Coach Ali Khosroshahin, who joined a program in turmoil at the start of the season when his predecessor, Torrance resident Jim Millender, was fired, was shocked at how far his team had come.

"If you would have told me at the beginning of the season we'd be in this position, I'd have asked you what drugs you were on," he said. "We weren't a very cohesive unit at the start of the season."

"They're believing in us, they're believing in the plan," he added when asked what had changed for his players. "We're really starting to enjoy being around one another, which at the start of the year that wasn't the case at all."

Khosroshahin still sees plenty of room for improvement, though, even though the team had spent plenty of time slogging up and down the Coliseum steps.

"Our finishing could have been better and it wouldn't have been as nail biting as it was," he said. "Our fitness level still isn't very good, but it's better than it was."

Florida Coach Becky Burleigh said her team was disjointed this evening and observed the difference was a well-worked free kick.

"It was a good goal that they scored on a set piece," she said. "We were a little bit out of rhythm in terms of connecting passes in the final third."

Here's how Scott French saw the game for The Gainsville Sun.

Here's the complete tournament bracket.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bruin Ball

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

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.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The top-seeded UCLA women (18-1-2) and fourth-seeded Virginia (13-3-6) meet at 6 o'clock tonight at Drake Stadium to battle for a spot in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.

A preview is here.

Tickets for the game are $10 for adults and $8 for youths and students.

Meanwhile, Franz Beckenbauer is talking up Orange County resident and one-time Galaxy advisor Jurgen Klinsmann for the now-vacant England coaching job.

Finally, Chivas USA has announced a Dec. 2 benefit game in Orange County for victims of the devastating floods in Mexico against a team that includes former Galaxy stars Carlos Hermosillo and Luis Hernandez.

From the (edited) Chivas USA press release:

After finishing atop Major League Soccer’s Western Conference with a 15-7-8 regular-season record, Chivas USA will close out 2007 in style, as it plays for the very first time in the city of Santa Ana, Calif., against a team of Mexican Soccer Legends featuring Carlos Hermosillo, Luis Hernández, Alberto García Aspe, Jose Manuel ‘Chepo’ de la Torre and many other Mexican futbol stars in a special benefit match at Santa Ana Stadium next Sunday, Dec. 2 at 4:00 p.m.

Tickets, costing $20 for adults and $15 for kids go on sale at noon Monday via Ticketmaster or by calling 1-877-CHIVAS-1.

All proceeds from next Sunday’s Chivas USA vs. Mexican Soccer Legends match will go to victims of recent flooding in the southeastern Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, which has destroyed countless homes and prompted the evacuation of over a million inhabitants. In turn, Banamex’s disaster relief fund will match dollar-for-dollar all monies collected by Chivas USA during the match.

This will be Chivas USA’s second benefit match in two weeks dedicated to the residents of Tabasco and Chiapas, but the first in the United States; on Nov. 17, Chivas USA faced parent club Chivas de Guadalajara in an historic Tabasco and Chiapas relief match at Guadalajara’s Estadio Jalisco.

Chivas USA’s opponent, an all-star team of Mexican Soccer Legends, includes key stars from the Mexican National Team and the Mexican First Division during the last 10 years.

Confirmed particpants include Carlos Hermosillo, Luis Hernández, Manuel Negrete, Jose Manuel ‘Chepo’ de la Torre, Adolfo Ríos, Adrián Chávez, Alberto García Aspe, Alfredo Tena, Martín Zúñiga, Daniel Osorno, Jesús Ramírez, José Luis Salgado and Joaquín del Olmo.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I talked to Paul Bravo, the Galaxy's director of soccer, in what I believe was the first in-depth interview he has given since his appointment in late August for my weekly column.

A couple of things left out of the column for space reasons:
*Bravo said the team is looking for a consistent goal scorer (goodbye Carlos Pavon?), a holding midfielder to protect the back line (goodbye Pete Vagenas, Kevin Harmse?) and some pace wide in left midfield.

Meanwhile, the English player Croatia said they fear most in Wednesday's European qualifier is David Beckham, which probably tells you how mediocre this England team is than anything else.

The UCLA men Monday were awarded a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

More details here.

Finally, U.S. Men's Paralympic Team midfielder Marthell Vazquez, originally from Long Beach, was named the Most Valuable Player of the recently-concluded 2007 Cerebral Palsy International Sports & Recreation Association World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Vazquez was the leading scorer for the U.S. with four goals. The U.S. team finished in 10th place.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A quick update before I head off to the Galaxy practice this morning:
England players are gathering ahead of Wednesday's crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia.

And while England wants no repeat of the last-gasp David Beckham free kick it needed six years ago to qualify for the 2002 World Cup there are calls to bench Becks against Croatia.

Meanwhile, the UCLA and USC women both made it through Sunday to the next round of the NCAA tournament.

Playing for 76 minutes a man down, the Loyola Marymount men (3-16-1) suffered their eighth one-goal loss of the campaign and lost 2-1 to Saint Mary’s Sunday in their last game of the season.

Finally, the Galaxy host their annual Thanksgiving meal in the Stadium Club this afternoon for more than 200 local children and their families:

Several Galaxy players and front office members, as well as staff from The Home Depot Center and Albertsons, will be on hand to help serve meals, which will include all of the traditional Thanksgiving fare. Galaxy players including Landon Donovan, Quavas Kirk, Mike Randolph, Troy Roberts, Peter Vagenas and more, as well as other special guests, including actress Bianca Kajlich, the star of the CBS comedy “Rules of Engagement” and the wife of Landon Donovan, will also be signing autographs and taking photos with the children.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

U.S. Escapes South Africa With 1-0 Win

Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan came on at the half to preserve the shutout, while his club teammates Sascha Kljestan and (briefly) Jonathan Bornstein also saw action in the last U.S. game of the year.

Freddy Adu started in attack for the U.S., while Fontana's Maurice Edu, the MLS Rookie of the Year, acquitted himself well and earned an assist on Steve Cherundolo's goal.

Next for the U.S.: a game against Sweden Jan. 19 at Home Depot Center in Carson.

Next for armchair soccer fans, especially those of English descent, the 9:55 a.m. game on Fox Soccer Channel between Israel and Russia. England need help from Israel if they are to qualify for Euro 2008, remember.

Program notes

How did I hook up with a soccer show from the Great White North?

Turns out the show's host is married to a daughter of my Canadian-born wife's father's cousin. Hey, I'll take the distant nepotism.

I'll chat with host Soccer Steve, a former player with England's not so mighty Port Vale (it's apparently some sort of rule that old pros from England must host soccer radio shows judging by how many there are) just after noon.

Those so inclined can listen here.

Also, longtime South Bay resident and Columbus Crew Coach Sigi Schmid will guest-blog for 100 Percent Soccer later today, sharing his views on the MLS season.

Chivas USA Update

Billy Witz and Ivan Orozco took a look at what the offseason holds for Chivas USA today.

College Update

In other games, San Francisco scored twice in each half Friday to defeat the Loyola Marymount men, 4-0.
LMU fell to 3-15-1 and closes out their season Sunday.

Finally, the Cal State Northridge men clawed back to a .500 record in their last game of the season with a 2-1 win over UC Irvine Friday. Northridge ended its season at 7-7-6.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MLS suits will discuss the David Beckham rule today. Whatever happens, it's the first domino to fall in what will be a busy Galaxy off-season.

Meanwhile, Becks has returned to the England midfield for today's noon game against Austria (it's only available on closed circuit television in pubs and bars locally).

And not everyone is happy about the move.

College beat writer Chris Jackson takes a look at the local women involved in the NCAA Tournament, which starts today.

Here's more on the USC game and the UCLA match.

I'll be back later today with more on the England game, MLS Cup activities and the U.S.-South Africa contest, which will be televised at 6 a.m. Saturday on Fox Soccer Channel.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Despite taking the lead off a goal from Palos Verdes Estates' (and 100 Percent Soccer blogger) Kyle Nakazawa, the UCLA men could only tie 1-1 Wednesday with San Diego State in their last game of the regular season, leaving their NCAA tourney hopes hanging by a thread. The Bruins learn their fate Monday.

Ahead of Sunday's MLS Cup, Steven Goff over at The Washington Post profiles former Galaxy forward Nate Jaqua, reminding us he scored just one goal in 10 appearances in L.A., but a more respectable eight goals in 15 games since his trade to the Houston Dynamo.

The MLS MVP will be announced today at 1 p.m. live on ESPNews.

MLS reminds us that while Jaqua is not up for the award, these players are:

Juan Pablo Angel (New York Red Bulls) – The Colombian striker was a terror to defenses as he scored 19 goals in 24 games this season. The first-year player recorded five multi-goal games and helped lead the Red Bulls to the playoffs. He came to MLS from Aston Villa of the English Premier League as one of the League’s first crop of Designated Players.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Chicago Fire) – One of the most loved soccer players in Mexico came to the League as Chicago’s Designated Player and set the League ablaze with his play for the Fire. Blanco helped turn the season around for the Fire, leading them to the playoffs and Eastern Conference Championship game.

Luciano Emilio (D.C. United) – The Brazilian born Emilio was the 2007 Budweiser Golden Boot winner, as the League’s leading goal scorer. He tallied 20 goals in 28 games, tied Angel for the most multi-goal games and helped lead D.C. United to its second consecutive Supporters’ Shield trophy. Emilio is the first MLS player to reach the 20 goal mark in one season since 2002, when current FC Dallas forward Carlos Ruiz scored 24 goals for the Los Angeles Galaxy and Twellman scored 23 for New England.

Meanwhile, the latest American investors to eye an English team is reportedly Burbank-based Shamrock Holdings, founded by Walt Disney's nephew, Roy, which is supposedly chasing Derby County. And, yes, the "Mickey Mouse team" quips have started.

The CONCACAF suits met Monday to fiddle with the format of their largely irrelevant competitions and award Mexico the qualifying competition for women's Olympic soccer.

From CONCACAF:

Among the most important items under consideration was a detailed proposal from the CONCACAF Secretariat to end the existing club championship, the CONCACAF Champions Cup™, and introduce a new Champions League-style annual event. The proposed new competition, which will see 24 teams participating, received the approval of the Executive Committee and will commence in August 2008 with the first CONCACAF Champions League winner to be crowned in May of 2009. Therefore, the current CONCACAF Champions Cup™ will cease to exist after its next edition, taking place from February-May 2008, has concluded.

Finally, while the performance of the U.S. women at the World Cup was roundly criticized, at least they don't have to survive on less than $100 a day.

Posted by Nick Green at 7:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Cal State Dominguez Hills women open the playoffs tonight in Seattle against UC San Diego.

In her fourth post for 100 Percent Soccer, she previews the game:
Last week, we played in the CCAA Tournament, where we fell to the Chico State Wildcats, 2-0, in the second semifinal match on our own home field, Toro Stadium.

It was not the outcome I was looking for, but it was a game that our team has learned from.

I am now in Seattle waiting to play against UCSD once again in the NCAA playoffs.

We played UCSD two years ago in Seattle and lost to them 1-0 in the first round of the NCAAs.

It was a close game and the goal was scored off an own goal.

It seems like a repeat from last year because the scenario is the same, however I am hoping that this year's result will be different. If we win tonight, we will face top-seeded and second-ranked Seattle Pacific on Saturday afternoon, whose record is a perfect 20-0 this season.

The whole team has worked so hard all season and we have grown from every game we played whether we won or lost.

It is time for us to really step up for playoffs.

We are pumped up to play UCSD and it is always a competitive game. No matter the end result, I just want to play my heart out.

Although I hope we come out with a win, I realize this game could be the end of my college career, and I plan to leave everything on the field.

Wish us luck.

Go Toros!

Posted by Nick Green at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

B.C. Beckham

The on-line versions of The Province and Vancouver Sun follow. Advantage The Province for its depth of coverage. The Sun has videos, though.

The game kicks off at 7 p.m. on Channel 22 and GOLTV.

Preki Coach of the Year; Edu Top Rookie

For those keeping track, it's the second consecutive year Chivas USA took the coaching award and the second successive year a Southern Californian has won the rookie title.

The full MLS press release:

Major League Soccer today announced that Chivas USA’s first-year coach, Preki, was voted MLS Coach of the Year after leading his club to a first-place finish in the Western Conference. Also announced today, Toronto FC midfielder Maurice Edu earned the 2007 Gatorade Rookie of the Year award after starting all 25 matches he played, logging four goals and one assist while showing poise beyond his years in a defensive midfield role.

In his first season as a head coach, Preki, 44, directed Chivas USA to their best finish in the club’s three-year history. Chivas USA finished at the top of the Western Conference and were just two points behind D.C. United in the race for the Supporters’ Shield. The Western Conference leaders lost only one home game at The Home Depot Center this season.

Preki, who spent the 2006 season with Chivas USA as an assistant coach under Bob Bradley, is the only two-time MLS Most Valuable Player to date. He was an eight-time MLS All-Star and is one of the most celebrated players in MLS history. Preki has been a part of MLS since its inception in 1996, playing ten seasons and earning a spot in the top ten all-time in career goals (79), assists (112), and shots on goal (323).

Preki was born in Belgrade of the former Yugoslavia and became a U.S. citizen prior to the 1998 FIFA World Cup, when he represented the United States. He took over the Chivas USA in January 2007, after Bradley left to become the U.S. Men’s National Team coach. In 2006, Chivas USA finished third in the Western Conference with a 10-9-13 record. Preki led this season’s Coach of the Year voting over Houston’s Dominic Kinnear and D.C. United’s Tom Soehn.

Edu, 21, a native of Fontana, Calif. and former Maryland Terrapin, was a dazzling performer throughout his rookie campaign. As the recipient of the 2007 Gatorade Rookie of the Year, he follows in the footsteps of some of Major League Soccer’s most exciting talents. Edu also holds the distinction as the first No. 1 pick overall in the MLS SuperDraft to win Rookie of the Year honors.

Edu displayed an aggressive style of play this year and generated many shots on goal. He ranked behind only one player, forward Colin Samuel, in shots taken for Toronto FC and ranked second on the team in goals scored behind striker Danny Dichio.

Edu began the season recovering from a fractured pelvis and missed the first two games of the season, but came back strong to start all 25 games he played. He recorded four goals and one assist from his defensive midfield role. The past three Gatorade Rookie of the Year winners – Jonathan Bornstein, Michael Parkhurst and Clint Dempsey - each used MLS to launch a career with the U.S. Men’s National Team. Edu recently received his first call-up to the National Team and first career appearance.

The MLS Coach of the Year and the Gatorade Rookie of the Year winners were determined by equal voting from the media, MLS players and MLS coaches and general managers.

Women Bruins Seeking Undefeated Season

Posted by Nick Green at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My column Tuesday for the Daily Breeze and Daily News: Frank Yallop leaving the Galaxy.

But you knew that.

Noted: Sunday College Roundup and Toros repeat.

The CSUDH women face fourth-seeded UC San Diego on Thursday in Seattle in the NCAA Far West Regionals.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the benefit of Beckham

Still, apparently England Coach Steve McClaren is taking it seriously enough to check out David Beckham's status.

With England's European Championship hopes barely afloat the long, long trip isn't surprising.

But this piece of apparently drug-addled journalism (without citing a shred of evidence or source to back it up) is worth linking to just for its sheer lunacy. After all, the Galaxy has already employed a former national team coach who was tactically inept and had the player management skills of Archie Bunker, so we don't need England's cast offs.

The Galaxy have officially announced the game rosters.

Remember, tickets are $20, parking is free and firefighters get in free by showing their badge.

Besides, it's the last chance for Southern Californians to see the Galaxy and Becks in action until next year.

Here are one person's nominations for the Galaxy's top 10 goals of the season, although it's missing the incredible SuperLiga strikes made by Beckham and Chris Klein:

College Update

Posted by Nick Green at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With their two starting strikers injured, Chivas USA will need all the magic they can muster to claw back from a 1-0 deficit against the Wizards tonight.

Beat writer Ivan Orozco has the game preview, while Billy Witz profiles the heart and soul of a young Chivas USA team, midfielder (and infrequent blogger) Jesse Marsch.

Allegedly the Wizards plan to attack tonight.

The winner meets the Houston Dynamo in the Western Conference finals. The Dynamo defeated FC Dallas 4-2 on aggregate Friday night, scoring two goals in extra time to go through.

Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan sat down for a Q&A session ahead of the game with ussoccerplayers.com.

Carson firefighters dispatched to the recent wildfires in San Diego and Orange counties will conduct the honorary coin toss before the game.

Led by Battalion Chief Jack Ricci and Captain David Martinez, members of Fire Station 116, which is located across Victoria Street from Home Depot Center will do the duties.

A portion of the proceeds from the game will go to the American Red Cross for wildfire relief efforts.

I'll blog from the game as usual.

Posh Place?

College Update

In women's soccer, the undefeated and top-ranked UCLA women got first-half goals from Lauren Cheney and Danesha Adams to win 3-1 Friday evening over visiting Arizona State.

Lauren Barnes added an insurance goal in the 52nd minute for the Bruins (13-1-2, 6-0-0 Pac-10). Kyleyn Felts scored the lone goal for the Sun Devils (9-8-1, 3-3-1) in the 73rd minute. Valerie Henderson had three saves for UCLA.

UCLA plays its final home match of the regular season at 1 p.m. Sunday, hosting Arizona.

No. 4 USC (12-2-2, 4-1-1 Pac-10) achieved a come from behind win to beat Arizona 3-1, Alyssa Davila scoring in the 66th minute to propel the host Trojans to victory and preserve their home unbeaten streak.

Analisa Marquez scored in the 59th minute to put the Wildcats (6-11-1, 1-5-1 Pac-10) ahead before Ashley Nick tied it up just two minutes later. Amy Rodriguez added an insurance goal in the 75th minute for USC.

Next: Arizona State at 1 p.m. Sunday at McAlister Field in the last home game of the season for USC.

Long Beach State beat Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 3-1 with Manhattan Beach freshman Lindsay Bullock (Mira Costa High) one of three different 49ers to score. Game details are here.

Cal State Northridge defeated UC Santa Barbara 1-0, with Kristy Krohn scoring in the 15th minute and freshman goalkeeper Ivette Esqueda recording eight saves to post her first career shutout victory as the host Matadors (5-10-2, 2-4-1 Big West) defeated the Gauchos (6-9-4, 3-3-1) for the first time in six years.

In men's soccer, Maxwell Griffin's team-leading eighth goal of the season in the 66th minute wasn't enough as UCLA (5-4-5, 2-2-2 Pac-10) lost 2-1 at Stanford. UCLA remains in first place in the Pac-10 with a one-point lead over both California and San Diego State.

Still, the Bruins' first loss to Stanford in seven years sets up a must-win game for UCLA on Sunday at California. A Bruin victory would give UCLA a four point lead over the Golden Bears, while a loss would drop the Bruins behind Cal in the standings.

U.S. Loses at Beach Soccer World Cup

Posted by Nick Green at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

D.C. Done

Chivas USA plays at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Home Depot Center trailing 1-0 to the Kansas City Wizards.

With strikers Ante Razov out and Maykel Galindo doubtful, Chivas USA will be lacking the firepower fans saw this season:

Adding fuel to the rumors of goalkeeper Brad Guzan heading to England's Arsenal in the New Year, Jens Lehmann fears he's played his last game for the Gunners.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy have announced their exhibition game in Vancouver will be shown live at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 22.

College Update

Reduced to 10 men in the second half, the Loyola Marymount men (2-12-1) lost 2-0 to Oregon State Thursday in a non-conference game in Corvallis, Ore.

FIFA Beach World Cup

The U.S. begins tournament play today against Spain in a game to be shown delayed at 8 tonight on Galavision.

The lone Southern Californian on the team is forward Raphael Xexeo of Lawndale, a city not exactly known for its beaches.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MLS Melodrama: Playoff Formats

No, I don't mean that the first MLS playoff series of the opening round between D.C. United and the Chicago Fire concludes at 4:30 p.m. today on ESPN2, although there's that, too. (The Fire leads 1-0 in the total goals two-game series, by the way).

I meant that as predicted here with lower seeds holding 1-0 leads in three of the four series over opponents who finished higher in the regular season standings (as United did over the Fire), cue the annual angst over the MLS playoff format.

The New York Times weighs in here, while Yahoo's Martin Rogers has his say here.

Sorry, NYT but one table is never going to work in MLS because 13 teams is too many already (and MLS, of course, wants to add more franchises) to create meaningful games for those occupying the bottom rungs of the table. (At least until we have more than one division with tense relegation battles).

Meanwhile, Rogers' solution is novel, but will never happen (try explaining that one even to soccer fans).

As I have opined before, there are simpler solutions.

Break the long season into two with an Apertura and Clausura, as occurs in many Latin American countries, which also has the added benefit of giving a sense of familiarity to the season to those Mexican-Americans the league covets.

The two winners of the pair of shortened 15 to 16 game seasons meet at the MLS Cup to decide the grand champion. No playoff games, which are often more poorly attended than regular season games anyway because of the lack of time needed to promote them, should be held at all.

If not having playoffs is unAmerican then have the top two teams (or top four if you must) in each season playoff for the "title." That format reduces the likelihood of upsets and gives more consistent teams more opportunities to advance to MLS Cup (you would of course eliminate the Apertura winner from the second season playoffs).

It's a topic MLS has long wrestled with. Alternate ideas welcomed.

The Next U.S. Women's National Team Coach?

With his wife, former national team star Carin Gabarra (Jennings) coming from the area, there was an element of truth to that one (as there is to any good rumor).

The only problem: U.S. Soccer hasn't even conducted any job interviews yet.

Which leaves us free to continue to speculate over potential candidates.

The Daily Bruin talks up Jill Ellis, coach of top-ranked UCLA.

UCLA (12-1-2; 5-0 Pac-10), which has yet to concede a goal in five Pac-10 games so far, can all but wrap up the conference title this weekend with a pair of home games at Drake Stadium.

UCLA plays at 7 p.m. Friday against Arizona State (9-7-1; 3-2-1 Pac-10) and 1 p.m. Sunday against Arizona (1-4-1; 6-10-1 Pac-10).

Matador Update

Youth Soccer

From the press release:

The new position will head the US Youth Soccer Technical and Coaching Education Department and will be responsible for designing and systematically implementing player development and coaching education programs to improve the overall standard of play within the United States.

Ellinger will be responsible for all aspects of the association's coaching initiatives, including a renewed focus on player development with consistent themes and coaching education.

Before joining MLS, Ellinger was coach of the U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team for seven years.

Finally, the two Chivas USA players Coach Thomas Rongen took to the Limoges Tournament in France where the U.S. Men's Under-18 National Team is playing saw limited action Tuesday in the opening game against host France.

Forward Mario Ledezma of Sylmar played the final seven minutes in the 3-1 loss; defender Omar Elmasri of Arcadia never made it off the bench.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Preki Profiled

Preki reveals he was miffed the Wizards didn't come calling when he went into coaching. And like the Galaxy's Cobi Jones, Preki conceded he didn't initially know what he would do after his playing days ended.

The profile is here.

Meanwhile, the Wizards are auctioning off goalkeeper Kevin Hartman's pink game worn (and now signed) jersey with the proceeds going to breast cancer charities. (Fortunately pink doesn't clash with the black fingernails Hartman was sporting the last time I saw him).

Hartman, the former Galaxy, UCLA, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Peninsula High product, had a grandmother survive breast cancer.

He wore the jersey Oct. 5 in a 1-1 tie against D.C. United in observation of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The auction ends Nov. 16. Those with more than $400 to spare (that's the most recent bid as of this post) may bid here.

By the way, Chivas USA hosts a fan rally Thursday ahead of this weekend's game from 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at Plaza Mexico, 3100 E. Imperial Highway, Lynwood.

Becks for England?

Long Beach State Must Go Long

Complete conference standings are here.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A week is a long time in soccer.

In the last week Chivas USA have gone from Western Conference champions to looking like a team unlikely to survive the opening round of the MLS playoffs.

And Galaxy Coach Frank Yallop has gone from "dead man walking" to looking like he will be around next season after all.

I took a look at both stories in this week's column.

Meanwhile to no-one's surprise, Brazil today was awarded the 2014 World Cup, while Germany snagged the women's version in 2011.

Finally, the basement-dwelling Loyola Marymount men, without a West Coast Conference win this season, lost yet again Monday, succumbing 2-0 at San Diego for their second loss to the same team in four days.

The 2-11-1, 0-7-0 WCC Lions travel to Oregon Thursday to meet Oregon State and on Sunday play at Santa Clara.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Crunch time is approaching for local colleges.

The UCLA men lost their home unbeaten record Sunday to Washington despite out-shooting their opponents 15-4.

UCLA remains first in the Pac-10 by one point.

Three second half goals by the Loyola Marymount women was enough to defeat visiting San Francisco 3-0 in a West Coast Conference match Sunday at Sullivan Field.

The win keeps LMU third in the West Coast Conference with one game remaining on the season.

The Cal State Northridge women (4-10-2, 1-4-1) and UC Irvine (8-5-2, 2-1-1) played to a scoreless draw Sunday afternoon at Matador Soccer Field.

With the draw, Cal State Northridge remains in the Big West conference basement with two games remaining on the season.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills men clinched a berth in the CCAA Championship with an 8-0 mauling of Cal State Bernadino Sunday in Carson. Sophomore Mario Guerrero scored a hat trick.

The CSUDH women beat CSU SB 3-0 with two goals coming from junior forward Yvonne Vasquez in their regular season finale.

Tournament play begins Friday in Carson with the men playing at 7:30 p.m. against Cal State LA and the women playing at 1:30 p.m. against an opponent to be determined.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A fire in a house across the street from mine delayed blogging this morning (no one was hurt), but at least the structure didn't get fully involved.

Much the same can be said of Chivas USA, which slumped to an impotent 1-0 loss Saturday in Kansas City and without their starting striking tandem of Maykel Galindo and Ante Razov never really looked like scoring.

"We have to find a way to get results," Chivas USA Coach Preki told The Kansas City Star with the team's lack of attacking depth dramatically exposed in the loss.

Former Long Beach Press Telegram Chivas USA beat writer Matt Zimmerman, who quit to go back to graduate school in Missouri, was on hand to provide the Southern California perspective.

Noteworthy:
* Should Chivas USA advance from its series against Kansas City, as the highest seed in the West the club would host MLS’s Western Conference Final the following Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (Nov. 10) against the winner of the Houston-Dallas series.

*Chivas USA midfielder Lawson Vaughn, red-carded in Chivas USA’s final regular-season game on Oct. 20 against the Houston Dynamo, served his one-game suspension and did not play in Kansas City, but is eligible to return for the second leg at home.

*On Thursday, a special Chivas USA Fan Rally will be held at 7 p.m. at Plaza Mexico in Lynwood.

*Former Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman (Peninsula High) set numerous marks Saturday including a 246-minute scoreless streak that enabled him to equal the all-time postseason shutout record of 13 with Zach Thornton.

Hartman also extended his all-time records in wins (22), minutes played in goal (3,682), saves (141), games played in goal (40) and games started in goal (40).

He now ranks second all-time in games started among all players, trailing only former teammate Cobi Jones of the Los Angeles Galaxy (43).

Despite the loss, Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch remains bullish on the return game.

"We feel good about tonight's result. I thought we dominated the match. We were able to dictate the game the way we wanted. We didn't give them any chances tonight, and we were unfortunate that the free kick glanced off the wall."

CSUN Beached in Santa Barbara

Northridge returns to Big West action at 2 p.m. Wednesday against Cal Poly at Matador Soccer Field.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MLS Playoff and Awards Update

Just as the NFL is making excursions into England, could we see the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United facing off at the Home Depot Center?

Meanwhile, the MLS awards season is cranking up with announcements of every stripe gradually dribbling out (I'm looking forward to that club PR department award).

You can check out why D.C. United's Luciano Emilio won the Golden Boot below:

And fan voting for the MLS Goal of the Year has just begun.

Fans are asked to choose the best 10 from 34 nominees in the first of the three-phase process, which lasts until Oct. 31.

Fans can vote here.

U.S. Nats Changes

Under-17 Men's National Team Coach John Hackworth has been named an assistant coach to Bob Bradley at the full national team level.

From the U.S. Soccer press release:

In addition to joining Bob Bradley’s national team staff, Hackworth will also serve as the Development Academy Director in U.S. Soccer’s new player development initiative that launched earlier this year. The program which launched this fall is designed to improve the environment for elite players throughout the country, in many ways emulating the successful U.S. Soccer Under-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla., which Hackworth has been a part of since 2002.

“Joining Bob Bradley’s staff as that team gets focused on World Cup qualifying in 2008 is a great next step as a coach,” said Hackworth. “I’ve known Bob for many years and we have a great connection in terms of how we see the game, both technically on the field and in the ways you can help prepare a team off the field. I’m greatly looking forward to being a part of his staff on the road to South Africa.”

(Am I alone in thinking that's an unfortunate name for an elite soccer coach?)

This morning U.S. Soccer introduced Hackworth's replacement, new U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team head coach Wilmer Cabrera to the media.

From the U.S. Soccer press release:

Cabrera, who holds a USSF A Coaching License, is a veteran of two World Cups with Colombia (1990 & 1998) and joins the U-17 Residency Program after serving as an assistant with the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team this year. Cabrera moved to the U.S. in 2003 to play with the Long Island Roughriders and most recently worked with the MLS Futbolito and Verano MLS grassroots programs of Major League Soccer.

A demographically smart move by Gulati given the numbers of emerging Latino players the U.S. needs to ensure don't fall through the cracks.

College Update

*The No. 1-ranked UCLA women's soccer team (11-1-2; 4-0 Pac-10) hosting one of its biggest matches of the year as No. 9 USC (11-1-2; 3-0-1 Pac-10) visits at 7:30 p.m. at Drake Stadium. Tickets for the match are $7 for adults and $5 for youths and students. UCLA students are admitted free with a valid Bruin Card. Friday is a doubleheader with the UCLA men's team, which plays at 5 p.m. against Oregon State.

*The Cal State Northridge women’s soccer team (3-10-1, 1-4-0) returns home for the rest of the 2007 season after playing six of its past seven matches on the road and plays at 2:30 p.m. against Cal State Bakersfield (4-10-1).

*In a scheduling change, the wildfires have forced the kickoff of the UCLA-Washington men's soccer game at Drake Stadium to be moved from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. That's because San Diego State's game against Oregon State on Sunday has been moved to Los Angeles. The Aztecs and Beavers will play at 1 p.m. at UCLA's North Athletic Field.

Updated 3 p.m.: Long Beach State announced this afternoon that poor air quality from the wildfires has forced the postponement of tonight's game at UC Irvine. The game has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Torrance's Corrie Hirokawa, Cal State Dominguez Hills' top scorer with nine goals and seven assists, sees her college soccer career coming to an end in her third post for 100 Percent Soccer:

The season has gone by quickly leaving me only two more regular season games.

These next two games are important, because it's coming down to the wire for CCAA playoff bids. We only need one win to guarantee our spot in the CCAA tournament, which we are hosting.

With this being my last year, I’ve already realized how important this season is, but as we have just two games left and need one to win to make the conference tournament, I know how important it is for all of us to give it our all this weekend.

There is no "next year" for me.

There is only "right now" and right now I have an opportunity to take my team to playoffs and I am ready to shed blood, sweat and tears.

When you have been a part of a team for four years it is hard to accept that it is coming to an end.

I have made many life-long friendships and have created memories that I will never forget. Now I want to add to those memories as much as I can with these last few games.

I love playing soccer and I love the team I play for. I couldn't have asked for a better season thus far and I am anxious to see how my season will end. Wish us luck!

GO TOROS!!

Posted by Nick Green at 4:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Imploding Galaxy

Wynalda's acronym makes even more sense when you learn that the suits at AEG apparently believe Coach Frank Yallop has more to do with the Galaxy's ghastly season than their greedy marketing decisions that sapped the team of any vitality.

Incidentally, Wynalda observed that after he made the AEG crack to GM Alexi Lalas, his former U.S. international teammate didn't talk to him for five days.

Lalas isn't talking to beat writer Billy Witz about Yallop either.

I wouldn't put it past the Auditioning Executives Group to fire Yallop though; after all this is the same company that fired Sigi schmid with the Galaxy in first place in MLS.

Chivas USA Flees Fires

Crummy air quality has physicians advising even elite athletes not to exercise.

Chivas USA will fly out this afternoon after a light training session.

“After training (Wednesday) morning at The Home Depot Center we decided that it is in the best interest of our players for us to depart a day early for Kansas City ahead our crucial playoff game on Saturday,” said Chivas USA Head Coach Preki. “At the same time, as residents of Southern California, I want to say that our hearts go out to the thousands of families who have lost their homes, as well as to the brave men and women who are fighting on the front lines to help contain the fires.”

Who's The Biggest Hunk

Askmen.com readers have just voted David Beckham as their No. 1 choice in the Web site's annual survey of the year's 49 top men. Allegedly the voters were mostly male.

Meanwhile, trashy NBC celebrity gossip show Extra has pronounced Chivas USA's (injured) striker Ante Razov a "soccer hottie" "with gorgeous green eyes."

He also has a reputation as being a generally moody type (team officials recently tried to convince me Razov is just terribly shy, but on this video evidence I'm not buying that).

Oh, and because enquiring minds will want to know, Torrance's Jack Stewart (latterly of Real Salt Lake) did not win Cosmo's Bachelor of the Year contest.

College Shorts

Northridge returns to action at 7 p.m. Saturday when they travel to UC Santa Barbara, in what many consider the most heated rivalry in the Big West.

The NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Committee has released its first soccer regional rankings of the season and Cal State Dominguez Hills, ranked No. 16 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), finds itself 3rd in the NCAA Far West Region poll.

From the (edited) CSUDH press release:

The Toros, winners of five straight and seven of their last eight, boast a 14-3 overall and 10-2 CCAA record, and sit eight points ahead of Cal State L.A. in the CCAA’s south division.

CSUDH is led by a potent 1-2-3 offensive punch in seniors Sammy Rivas (Long Beach, CA/CS Fullerton) and Jose Serpas (Costa Mesa, CA/Orange Coast College), and sophomore Mario Guerrero (Riverside, CA/La Sierra HS), who have combined for 20 goals, 11 assists and 9 game-winning scores, a stellar defensive line in senior Devin Toohey (Santa Paula, CA/Ventura College) and sophomore Kevin Gallaugher (Walnut, CA/Rio Hondo JC) that has blanked opponents in eight contests and has allowed just 13 goals all season, and stellar play in net by sophomore Derby Carrillo (La Mirada, CA/St. John Bosco HS), who recently picked up his second Brine/CCAA Player of the Week Award and leads the conference in shutouts, save percentage and goals against average.

Seattle University, which the Toros bested 2-0 on September 2, sits atop the NCAA Far West poll with a No. 6 ranking in the NSCAA, and is followed by Sonoma State, ranked No. 11 by the NSCAA.

The Toros conclude their regular season with two home games this weekend, hosting Cal Poly Pomona at 7:00 pm on Friday, followed by a 5:00 pm match-up against Cal State San Bernardino two days later, which will also mark the final regular season home game for eight Toro seniors.

Posted by Nick Green at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Of Razov and Playoffs

Just don't expect to see him in Kansas City Saturday night for Chivas USA's opening game. The game is live at 5 p.m. on Prime.

The MLS playoffs start Thursday, by the way, when D.C. United plays the Chicago Fire live at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2. Details on all the playoff series are here.

FIFA Rankings Released

The World Cup winners got knocked off the top, despite playing just one game - and winning it. That sort of thing just increases the irrelevance of the ranking system.

Still, for what it's worth the U.S. stayed in 18th spot, Croatia was unchanged at 10th, England dropped two places to 11th, Scotland rose one place to 13th and Mexico dropped two places to 15th, after losing to Guatemala at the Coliseum.

The entire list is here.

Soccer and Fire

Loyola Marymount's men's team have been forced to move Friday's game in San Diego to Sullivan Field.

Here's the full release from LMU:

LMU's men's soccer games versus the University of San Diego have been rescheduled and moved due to the wildfires and smoke in San Diego County.

The Lions and USD will now play at LMU on Friday at noon and on Monday night at 7 p.m. in San Diego.

The women's soccer games against St. Mary's and San Francisco will go ahead as planned.

LMU will play St. Mary's at 3 p.m. on Friday following the men's match.

Sunday's game against USF that was originally part of a doubleheader will now be a single game at 11 a.m.

Still, the fires didn't stop Cal State Dominguez Hills from snagging the right to host the CCAA men's and women's championship games next week.

Here's the full press release:

Cal State Dominguez Hills has been selected to host the 2007 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships, commissioner Robert J. Hiegert announced on Tuesday.

The CCAA Championships are scheduled for Nov. 2-4 at 8,000-seat Toro Stadium in Carson, Calif. The event will feature four men’s and four women’s teams competing over three days with the winners claiming the conference title.

Cal State Dominguez Hills will be hosting the championships for the fourth time and first since 2004 when its women’s team captured the conference title and them men lost in the title match.

Heading into the final weekend of the regular-season, Cal State Dominguez Hills’ men’s squad has secured a postseason berth while its women’s team remains in contention.

The CCAA consists of a North and South Division and each division winner advances to postseason play along with the next two teams with the highest point totals.

Currently on the men’s side, Sonoma State, which leads the North Division with a 13-0 conference mark, has clinched a berth along with Cal State Dominguez Hills (14-3, 10-2). Cal State L.A., Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Monterey Bay are still in contention.

On the women’s side, Chico State (11-5-1, 9-3-1) and UC San Diego (12-2-1, 9-2-1) lead their respective divisions and have clinched spots in the championships. Cal State Stanislaus (9-8-2, 7-4-2), Cal State Dominguez Hills (12-3-3, 7-3-2) and Cal State L.A. (9-5-1, 6-4-1) remain in contention.

The complete bracket for both tournaments will be announced late Sunday, following the completion of the regular season. The tournament format will have the women playing during Friday’s first session with match times scheduled for 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The men will play at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday.

The women’s championship match is slated for 11:30 a.m. on Sunday and the men’s title match will kickoff at 2 p.m.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ryan Out

No mention of Ryan being on the call, so whether he resigned or was fired you gotta figure he's gone.

The Washington Post's Steven Goff is already speculating about Ryan's successor here.

College Roundup

Not mentioned in the roundup: The Cal State Northridge women’s (3-10-1) lost 3-1 to Cal State Fullerton (9-6-1) Sunday night at Titan Stadium, the Matadors' seventh consecutive loss to the Titans.

As for the men, Palos Verdes Estates' Kyle Nakazawa scored the game-winning goal in the last minute of the game to lead UCLA to a 3-2 win Sunday over Washington and lift them to first place in the Pac-10.

Nakazawa's clutch goal was his first of the season and the sophomore midfielder also had an assist in the game, which saw UCLA extend its unbeaten streak to four games.

The Bruins’ win, coupled with San Diego State’s 2-0 loss at Oregon State, gave UCLA (7-5-2) the Pac-10 lead with 10 points at the season's halfway mark.

Despite a Michael Clegg goal after just 62 seconds Sunday, Northridge and Maryland tied 1-1. Northridge dropped to 4-3-5 and Maryland to 6-4-4.

Cal State Dominguez Hills won 2-0 over visiting Chico State Sunday to improve to 14-3, 10-2 CCAA.

Sophomore forward Mario Guerrero out of Riverside's La Serra High scored the game-winner, while sophomore goalkeeper Derby Carrillo of La Mirada got his eighth shutout as CSUDH posted its fourth-consecutive win.

Loyola Marymount (2-9-1, 0-5-0 WCC) out-shot Saint Mary's 17-9, but still lost their fifth-straight game in a 1-0 defeat Sunday in a West Coast Conference game at Sullivan Field.

Chivas USA Playoff Tickets on Sale

Tickets start at $14 and fans who purchase them by calling (1-877) CHIVAS-1 receive a limited-edition Chivas USA Road to Glory Playoffs T-shirt.

Rogers Rips D.C.

"Two really big wins," Rogers said to The Columbus Dispatch. "So now it's, 'Gee, if we just could have got that other point here or that one there..."

Incidentally, in contrast Lawndale's Kei Kamara ended the season on a down note, reportedly getting dropped for the game by Crew Coach Sigi Schmid

Posted by Nick Green at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MLS Down To The Wire

Chivas USA beat writer Ivan Orozco has more on Chivas USA's motivation.

I have another commitment tonight so Ivan will guest-blog from the HDC.

The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy doesn't play today, but it's still the most important day of their season, too. Galaxy beat writer Billy Witz will spend the day following the Galaxy's playoff fate on MLSnet.com

He breaks down what needs to happen (and what doesn't) here.

Ryan's Hope

Estranged former first-choice goalkeeper Hope Solo didn't dress for the first game (in a supposed gesture of reconciliation), and third-choice Nicole Barnhart got the start in the second, so it will be interesting to see what happens today.

Cynical observers might say Coach Greg Ryan will get fired after the final whistle no matter who plays in goal, but U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati isn't known for pulling the trigger quickly.

Still, the soap opera gives extra resonance to the accompanying magazine cover as well as the fact that before the tournament Ryan told me he thought Solo would be the most likely player on the U.S. team to emerge from the tournament as a star. I'm guessing he didn't mean like this.

The USA has outscored Mexico, 9-1, in the previous two games so there's unlikely to be much suspense about the outcome.

Still, since there's no TV, the curious can check out the MatchTracker at ussoccer.com

Kick off is at 3:30 p.m.

College Update

In another college game, the Cal State Northridge women’s team (3-9-1) defeated UC Riverside (8-6-1), 3-1, Friday afternoon at the UCR Soccer Stadium in Riverside.

A frightening collision between Northridge goalkeeper Ivette Esqueda and Riverside’s Jill Del Rosario delayed the final 12 minutes of the game for nearly half an hour.

Esqueda, making her fourth start of the season for the Matadors, left the field under her own power; Del Rosario had to be carted off the field by ambulance.

The win snapped the Matadors’ five-game losing streak and was their first win in 2007 on the road and in the Big West Conference.

The Matadors wrap up the road portion of their 2007 schedule at 6 p.m. Sunday against Cal State Fullerton.

Posted by Nick Green at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

El Tri Time

Ivan Orozco has a preview.

Former Galaxy striker Carlos Ruiz is on the Guatemala roster, by the way.

No Time For Beckham Thursday?

Beck's (still) isn't talking to local soccer writers, but Galaxy beat writer Billy Witz takes a look at the pros and cons of that decision.

Prediction: Expect Beck's to come off the bench if needed.

Meanwhile, columnist Paul Oberjuerge has more on the Galaxy's resurrection.

Finally, Barefootballer.com, a site run by D.C. United's Jamil Walker that focuses on training methods and soccer drills posted this video interview with the Galaxy's Kyle Martino.

Swiss Time

• A total of 11 players on the roster, which has an average age of 24, are age-eligible for the 2008 Olympic Games : Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Robbie Findley, Tally Hall, Steve Purdy, Chris Seitz, Danny Szetela, Preston Zimmerman and Sal Zizzo.

The U.S. has never beaten the Swiss in seven attempts. The Swiss warmed up for the game with a 3-1 victory Oct. 13 against fellow 2008 European Championship hosts Austria.

Up to the minute info, including the starting line-up, will be posted just before kick off here.

Hope Time?

Striker Abby Wambach will be recognized before the game for reaching 100 caps (which actually occurred in the World Cup quarterfinal against England).

Naturally, there's no mention of goalkeeper Hope Solo's status on the U.S. Soccer Web site.

Will she be on the bench this time, get a start or just not worry about the whole thing since Coach Greg Ryan could be fired after the third Mexico game anyway?

College Time

Posted by Nick Green at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MLS Playoff Update

Four teams – the Chicago Fire, Kansas City Wizards, Colorado Rapids and Los Angeles Galaxy – are vying for the two remaining playoff spots as the regular season enters its final week, while Chivas USA still has a shot at the top seed in the Western Conference.

Over the weekend D.C. United clinched the Supporters’ Shield, given to the team with the best regular season record, becoming the first team to earn the honor two years in a row.

For Chivas USA and the Galaxy the permutations come down to this:

Chivas USA will clinch first place in the Western Conference if Houston loses to Real Salt Lake today or the Goats tie or defeat the Dynamo Saturday.

A Houston draw against Real Salt Lake tonight will set up a showdown with Chivas USA Saturday night for the top seed in the Western Conference.

Wins over New York Thursday and Chicago Sunday will see the Galaxy qualify for the playoffs. The Galaxy are eliminated if they tie New York and fail to win in Chicago.

For the rest: A Kansas City win against host FC Dallas Saturday sends the Wizards to the postseason regardless of other results.

Colorado must win against Real Salt Lake Saturday and get help from other results.

Chicago are in with a win over the Galaxy. A tie against the Galaxy means Chicago will also be looking at the scoreboard seeking help from other teams.

The playoff standings are here.

Sigi Safe

Despite beating the New England Revolution 3-2 Saturday, the Columbus Crew exited the playoff race.

But the job of coach and longtime South Bay resident Sigi Schmid is apparently safe, with the 8-11-10 Crew opting to pick up his one-year option.

Schmid told the Columbus Dispatch:

"If they decide to come back and say they want to go another direction, that's fine. I think the club right now is in a much better position than it was when I came."

College Update

Palos Verdes Estates' Kyle Nakazawa got the assist.

Sophomore Lauren Cheney got two goals and junior Caitlyn Mac Kechnie added another as the top-ranked UCLA women beat Oregon 3-0 Sunday at Drake Stadium. The Bruins, who have won six in a row, improved to 9-1-2 overall.

The Loyola Marymount men (2-7-1) took the lead twice Sunday, but Portland scored four times in a 16-minute second half span to win 5-2 in Oregon.

Next: San Francisco at Sullivan Field 4 p.m. Friday.

The LMU women (9-3-1) won their West Coast Conference opener 1-0 over Pepperdine (3-5-5) Sunday afternoon. The Lions extended their school-record winning streak to nine games, while halting the Waves' seven-match unbeaten run.

The Cal State Northridge women (2-9-1) lost to 3-1 Long Beach State Sunday afternoon at Matador Soccer Field, despite taking a second minute lead. The Matadors have lost five straight games, while Long Beach remained in first place in the Big West Conference with three straight road wins.

Senior Julio Madrigal scored the game-winner with 11 minutes left to propel 18th-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills (12-3) to a 2-1 win at Cal State L.A. Sunday giving the Toros their third-straight win and the Golden Eagles their third straight loss.

Cal State Dominguez Hills lead Cal State L.A. by three points in the South Division.

Next: CSUDH plays 4:30 p.m. against Cal State Stanislaus at Toro Stadium.

The CSUDH women (11-2-3) lost 1-0 to Cal State L.A. in only their second conference defeat.

With the victory Cal State L.A. pulled to within four points of Cal State Dominguez Hills for the fourth and final spot in the CCAA Championship Tournament.

Guzan's Reward

Posted by Nick Green at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Razov Crocked

The Rapids must win to stay alive in then playoff race, but even then the post-season is a long shot.

But Chivas USA will have to do it all without veteran striker Ante Razov.

The game is on Prime.

I'll be blogging as usual from Home Depot Center.

Hope Springs in St. Louis

The U.S. crushed Mexico 5-1, by the way, with Abby Wambach getting two goals and Kristine Lilly another after the Americans had fallen behind to an early goal.

U.S. Coach Greg Ryan, who many observers believe will be fired as soon as this three-game series with Mexico is over, made nice, too:

“I think Hope has shown tremendous courage by coming in and initiating reconciliation with the team. I’m proud of her and she’s shown a lot of courage. I think she has done the right thing, and that’s hard to do. All athletes, it’s passionate, it’s emotional, but I think she’s making the right decisions and I’m proud of her.”

The next game against Mexico is Wednesday.

Matador Singh remembered

Posted by Nick Green at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Galaxy are set to feast on Canadian cutlets shaped like Toronto FC soccer players at Home Depot Center tonight with LA seeking a five-game winning streak against the worst team in MLS.

(The last time the Galaxy won five regular season games in succession: the magical 1998 season when a free-scoring front line with such strikers as Welton, Carlos Hermosillo and Clint Mathis were racking up 5-1 and 8-1 victories).

Toronto are weakened yet further by the loss of Carl Robinson (Wales); Andrew Boyens (New Zealand); and potential Rookie of the Year candidate Maurice Edu (USA), who are all on international duty this weekend.

At least Toronto may feel slightly at home on what will likely be a cool night in Carson.

Beat writer Billy Witz has a preview that focuses on the Galaxy's maturing (and inexpensive) youngsters.

Kick off is at 7:30 p.m. and I'll blog from the game as usual.

Meanwhile, the suspicion is Chivas USA's Ante Razov is gone for the rest of the season (although the club is awaiting the results of an MRI) and there's more soap opera out of the U.S. Women's National Team camp ahead of today's (non-televised) game against Mexico. More details here.

In college soccer, the UCLA men and Stanford tied 0-0 Friday. With the tie, UCLA moves to 4-5-2 on the year and 0-1-1 in the Pac-10. Stanford moves to 4-2-5 overall and 1-0-2 in the Pac-10. The Bruins play at 2:30 p.m. Sunday against California.

In the other game of the doubleheader, a goal in the 82nd minute by Bruin midfielder Christina DiMartino helped the top-ranked UCLA women’s team to a 1-0 victory over Oregon State before 1,492 fans at Drake Stadium. With the win, the Bruins move to 8-1-2 overall and 1-0 in the Pac-10. UCLA also extended its home winning streak to 33 matches, the longest streak in the nation. The Beavers fell to 7-4-1 and 0-1 in conference action.

Notable: Bruin goalkeeper Valerie Henderson broke the school record for career shutouts. She now has 32.

UCLA hosts Oregon at noon Sunday at Drake Stadium.

Also, Gonzaga struck twice in the second half to win 3-1 over the Loyola Marymount men in a West Coast Conference match Friday in Spokane, Wash.

Next for the the 2-6-1 Lions is a game Sunday in Portland.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With both its starting strikers hobbled with injuires, Chivas USA tied 0-0 with 10-man Dallas Thursday night.

Here's the Dallas perspective.

Double headers at UCLA's Drake Stadium today and Sunday sees the top-ranked UCLA women's soccer team (7-1-2) open Pac-10 Conference at 5 p.m. against Oregon State (7-3-1), while the men's game follows at 7:30 p.m. against Stanford (4-2-4, 1-0-1), who are unbeaten in their last five games.

UCLABruins.com will host Gametracker live stats and a free internet audio broadcast for both games.

The popularity of user-generated video content on the Web has prompted MLS to hold a competition for the best goal captured on a camcorder. The deadline is Oct. 26.

Finally, Torrance's Jack Stewart, who (formerly) played for Real Salt Lake, is a finalist in Cosmo's Bachelor of the Year contest.

According to his profile, Jack likes women who "kiss me on the lips, then pull away and leave me wanting more.”

Good thing the former South High star ditched the scruffy beard.

Updated 11:30 a.m. - Stewart, who found his first-team opportunities limited this season after several defensive errors, has left the team although he is officially still on the roster.

"He hasn't been training with the team for about 10 days," said club spokesman John Koluder. "We're essentially letting him explore other options."

Updated: I did end up chatting with Jack late Friday afternoon and he sounded none too happy at his treatment by RSL, Coach Jason Kreis et al and his rapid descent down the team pecking order. It all makes his glowing RSL profile sound more than a little gushing in retrospect.

The team essentially fired him in a move that came after MLS rosters were frozen, meaning he couldn't hook on with another team this season.

Stewart is exploring his options as they say: playing in Europe, getting a job with his Notre Dame degree or, um, modeling (no calls yet, he said) are possibilities.

Short term: He was off to Chicago for the Notre Dame game this weekend and New York next week for a Cosmo party.

Jack sounded like he was enjoying the whole Cosmo thing (and no, he has no idea who nominated him) with his mother already fielding calls from women who want his cell phone number.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Former U.S Under-17 National Team member Jay Singh has died, prompting the postponement of Wednesday's Cal State Northridge game against UC Santa Barbara.

Singh, 21, died at his San Bruno, Calif., home late Sunday night of unspecified causes.

Tully Vogt, a deputy coroner with the San Mateo County Coroner's Office, said Monday evening the cause of death remains under investigation. No further details were available.

Singh was in his first year at CSUN after transferring from LMU where he played 12 games during his 2005 rookie season, starting four.

Recruited by UCLA, St. John's, Indiana, Santa Clara and UC Santa Barbara, Singh was a 2004 NSCAA High School All-American.

LMU's media guide lists his parents as Nita and Jaywant Singh; he also has a brother, Jason.

Further details are in a CSUN press release.

Updated Tuesday: the Daily News had more details in a story that ran today.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's how the UCLA, Cal State Northridge and Pepperdine women did in Sunday's games.

Meanwhile in Westchester, late goals from freshman Gabby Parisella and junior Michelle Kanama lifted Loyola Marymount to a eighth consecutive victory, a 2-0 win over Sacramento State.

Next: The 8-3-1 Lions play Pepperdine at 1 p.m. Sunday in Malibu.

Also, Long Beach State (9-4-0, 2-0-0 Big West) defeated host UC Davis 1-0 Sunday.

Next: The 49ers play noon Sunday at Cal State Northridge.

Chivas USA's reserve team lost 2-1 Sunday to their Real Salt Lake counterparts. Sueño MLS Winner Jorge Flores of Anaheim scored for Chivas USA in a game that also featured former UCLA striker Matt Taylor, who has returned after being waived by the Goats earlier this season.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Chivas USA, who finished their year with a 7-2-3 record.

The Colorado Rapids clinched the MLS Reserve Division title for the second straight year Sunday with a 3-0 victory over Toronto FC.

Also noted: The U.S. Under-17 '91 Men’s National Team beat the Chivas USA Under-18 team 3-0 over the weekend at Home Depot Center as part of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Fall Showcase, which concludes today in Carson.

Updated 11:25 a.m. The Times (of London) chatted with Huntington Beach resident Jurgen Klinsmann about why he didn't take the Chelsea job and his next career move.

Not a word is mentioned about the U.S. national team or MLS, in case you're wondering.

The story is here.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

*Former Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman (PV High, CSUDH, UCLA) got his 1,000th save Friday in the Wizards 1-1 tie with D.C. United, but Kansas City didn't seal a playoff spot.

Here are the playoff standings heading into this weekend's games.

*Brazilan Kaka was voted the FifPro’s (Federation Internationale des Footballeurs Professionels) Player of the Year by his 57,500 fellow pros around the globe.

*Sophomore Kristina Larsen scored two goals Friday as the second-ranked UCLA women's soccer team defeated San Diego State, 5-1, at the SDSU Sports Deck. The Bruins improved to 6-1-2 on the season.

UCLA hosts No. 5 Santa Clara at 1 p.m. Sunday at Drake Stadium.

*Junior Jackie Chavez (Peninsula High) tapped in the game-winner Friday to lead the 25th-ranked Cal state Dominguez Hills women to a 2-0 road win at Sonoma State.

CSUDH (9-1-3) next plays Sunday at Humboldt State.

*The Cal State Northridge women's soccer team (2-7-1) lost its 2007 Big West opener to UC Davis (5-5-0) Friday.

Next for the Matadors: a Sunday game at Pacific.

*The Loyola Marymount men fell 1-0 to defending West Coast Conference champion and fourth-ranked Santa Clara in the teams' conference opener Friday at Sullivan Field. Jamil Roberts scored the games' only goal in the 35th minute while both teams were reduced to 10 men in the second half.

*Long Beach State (8-4) won 3-2 in its conference opener Friday over host Pacific.

The 49ers travel to UC Davis Sunday for another Big West match-up.

*Redondo Beach native David Vanole, the former national team goalkeeper who died earlier this year, was honored Friday at the National Training Center in Carson.

The (edited) U.S. Soccer press release:

The U.S. Soccer Federation dedicated one of the team’s primary training fields at the organization’s National Training Center as the David Vanole Field at a commemoration ceremony attended by family and friends on the eve of the first U.S. Soccer Development Academy “Showcase Weekend.”

"David was one of the pioneers at the start of a new era for U.S. Soccer," said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. "I remember very well his impact on the team at the 1988 Olympics and in helping the United States end a very long World Cup drought in 1989. He should be remembered for that right alongside the other early stars of the sport in our country. Having a field named after him that will help create the future stars of our game is immensely appropriate."

Vanole, a longtime player and coach at the highest levels of the sport in the United States, passed away in January at the age of 43. In addition to being part of the U.S. National Team's 1990 FIFA World Cup team, Vanole started all three games for the United States at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

As a coach, Vanole represented the United States again at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, serving as goalkeeper coach for the silver-medal winning U.S. Women's National Team. He most recently served as goalkeeper coach of the New England Revolution, a position he also held with D.C. United in MLS, and was an assistant coach for the Washington Freedom in the WUSA. He was also a coach at various youth national team levels, including a stint under Sigi Schmid with the U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team at the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1999 in Nigeria.

Vanole earned 13 caps with the U.S. National Team from 1986-1989, recording three shutouts.

Vanole also played nine times for the U.S. Olympic team, helping the team qualify for the 1988 tournament and then starting all three matches in Seoul, South Korea. A member of UCLA's 1985 NCAA championship team, Vanole served as the goalkeeper coach for the UCLA men's and women's teams in the late 1990s.

*Meanwhile, 36 teams from 18 elite clubs will join two U.S. Youth Men's National Teams to play 38 matches during the first U.S. Soccer Development Academy Fall Showcase this weekend at the HDC.

From U.S. Soccer:

The showcase matches are the second weekend of a nine-month campaign in which 122 teams will compete in over 1,800 matches in conference play. With 2,440 players, 244 coaches and more than 200 referees participating in individual conference games, travel partner weekends and showcase weekends, the Academy boasts the most comprehensive platform for youth competition in U.S. Soccer history.

Full details and schedule here.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Late posting today since I spent most of the day at the 17th annual Honda Player of the Year Award at the Biltmore in downtown L.A. The award is given to the best U.S. Men's National Team player of the year as voted by 203 soccer journalists, including yours truly.

To no one's surprise, Galaxy playmaker Landon Donovan won for an unprecedented fourth time in a landslide, collecting 413 points. In comparison, Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard came second with 122 points and Fulham defender Carlos Bocanegra third with 105 points.

"For U.S. Soccer players, this is the biggest honor we can receive," Donovan said.

The Galaxy PR folks pointed out that in 2007 Donovan:
*Leads the Galaxy with seven goals and nine assists in 21 games.
*Leads the national team with nine goals scored, including a hat-trick against Ecuador and four goals during the CONCACAF Gold Cup this summer.
*Scored a penalty kick against Mexico to win the U.S.’s fourth Gold Cup title with his 34th career goal, tying him with Eric Wynalda as the top scorer in U.S. National Team history.
*Broke Cobi Jones’ 2000 record for points in a year, collecting 22 points (nine goals and four assists).
*Is the all-time assist leader for the United States with 27 in 96 appearances.

"He's the most talented player 99 percent of the time when we step on the field with the Galaxy and the national team," said Galaxy defender Chris Albright. "There's certainly nobody better in this country as far as what he can do technically."

Full details from the story in Saturday's newspaper available here.

Meanwhile, here's a quick catch-up on the rest of the soccer news.

The Galaxy's playoff rivals appear to be collapsing around them at the worst possible time. New York, which could have clinched a playoff spot Thursday with a win over Toronto instead lost, 2-1, to the worst team in MLS.

From Ives Galarcep of the (New Jersey) Herald News:

The loss marked the Red Bulls' fifth straight match without a victory and dropped them to 1-4-3 in their past eight matches.

The Red Bulls (11-11-6) could still qualify for the playoffs this weekend if the Chicago Fire lose to New England and if the Columbus Crew fail to beat FC Dallas.

The victory was Toronto's first in 12 matches, and the first against the Red Bulls after two losses earlier in the year.

Best lead of the night though came from The Toronto Star:

The last time Toronto FC won a game the loonie was worth less than the U.S. dollar, Britney Spears had custody of her kids and the Canadian Soccer Association had a president.

Next to try tonight are the Wizards, which can reserve a playoff spot with a win over D.C. United in K.C. and losses this weekend by the Galaxy and Columbus Crew. The Wizards have just one win the last six games though, while D.C. can clinch home-field advantage in the playoffs with a win and a New England loss Saturday at Chicago.

Meanwhile, Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber Thursday suspended Houston Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark nine MLS games and fined him $10,000 for violent conduct directed toward Carlos Ruiz in the 89th minute of Houston’s game against FC Dallas last Sunday. It's the longest suspension in MLS history.

You can see the incident here.

The Loyola Marymount women recorded their second consecutive shutout Thursday and extended their school-record winning streak to seven games with a 2-0 win over Hawaii at Sullivan Field. The Lions got goals from senior Katie Osborne and sophomore Jessica Sharpe.

Next for 7-3-1 LMU is a home game at 1 p.m. Sunday against Sacramento State.

The Cal State Northridge (4-2-2) men tied 1-1 Cal State Fullerton (4-4-2) Wednesday. The Titans played with 10 men for the last 13 minutes of regulation and during overtime after German Moreno was sent off.

The Matadors travel to UC Irvine for a 7 p.m. Saturday game.

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Posted by Nick Green at 4:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is Kyle's fourth post:

I'm sure almost everyone is aware we suffered a very disappointing 3-0 loss last weekend against Cal State Northridge.

There were many negative aspects of the game we played, so it was very difficult for us to gather anything positive from the experience. However, like every team in the world, we experience triumphant wins as well as disappointing losses. It's how you bounce back from those setbacks that really defines a team.

With dampened spirits, we went into several days of training looking forward to Tuesday's San Diego game.

After our last practice before the USD game we came together as a team. We discussed the negative outcome of the Northridge game, how disappointing it was and how important it was for us to get a result in the next game. The only way we would be able to accomplish that goal, we said, was to have every single player on our team in the exact same mindset, that no matter what obstacles we faced as a team every individual player would support each other. With that focus, we all went into the game determined to win.

The San Diego game marked the first at home since the start of the fall quarter.

So with a lively crowd behind us, we stepped onto the field with adrenaline and excitement dripping from our sweat. We ended up winning the game 1-0 on a David Estrada goal in the first half.

However, what was most impressive was how every player on the team supported each other. Whether it was the guys standing on the sideline cheering words of encouragement or the guys on the field battling for every ball, it was apparent that everyone on the team had the same focus and mindset for the game. It all showed in our performance as a team and the great result.

The loss to Northridge served not only as a learning experience but also as a real gut check. It showed what kind of team we really are here at UCLA. If we can experience such a disappointing result and then bounce back the next game to pull off a remarkable win, then we can overcome any obstacle as a team.

Go Bruins!

Posted by Nick Green at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

U.S. Open Cup Final Preview

The game airs live at 5 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel, by the way.

Here's the Dallas perspective. (No equal treatment: The Boston Globe annoyingly requires you to register.

Chivas Downs D.C.

College Roundup

UCLA's record improves to 4-4-1, while San Diego drops to 3-5-0. The Bruins begin Pac-10 play Saturday at San Diego State.

Forwards Corrie Hirokawa (North Torrance High) and Norwalk's Yvonne Vasquez (Santa Fe High) both scored as 25th-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills came from behind to beat Western Washington 2-1 Tuesday at Toro Stadium.

CSUDH hits the road for CCAA Conference play the next two weekends before returning home Oct. 19 to host Cal State Stanislaus for the second-to-last weekend of the regular season.

The Cal State Northridge men open Big West play at 7 tonight against (4-4) Cal State Fullerton at Titan Stadium.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Cal State Dominguez Hills women checked in at No. 25 this morning in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s poll in the wake of five-consecutive shutouts and a six-game unbeaten streak, including a double-overtime 0-0 draw Sept. 19 against then No. 2-ranked UC San Diego.

The women’s team plays at 7 o'clock tonight against Western Washington in Carson, so it's an apt time for Corrie to pen her second blog post for 100 Percent Soccer:


The Sept. 19 game against second-ranked UC San Diego was, as expected, a tough battle from start to finish with both teams creating scoring opportunities, but not capitalizing on them.

Our goalie Alyssa Congdon played an amazing game and tallied ten saves ,winning the CCAA player of the week award.

We also played Cal State L.A. and Cal State San Marcos, winning each by 3-0 scores to give us a six-game unbeaten streak where we’ve out-scored those six opponents by a 12-1 count.

Right now we are second in the south division and I believe that as a team we are starting to peak and beginning to play to our potential. I know there’s not a lot of time left in the regular season, so the game at UC San Diego on Oct. 10 will be huge.

But before we can start to look toward that match-up, there’s a lot of work to be done over this coming weekend.

We travel up to Sonoma State and Humboldt State and being a senior I know first hand that playing on the road is tough. As a captain I need to make sure that we are focused and ready to play our game.

Sitting in a bus for 6 to 12 hours, and then dealing with the opposing parents is horrible. Everyone loves playing in the comfort of their own facility. However, being a senior I am now realizing that even though traveling is at times tiresome, I am going to miss road trips.

Spending time in the hotel with my teammates and going out to team dinners is a lot of fun, and over the course of my three-plus years, I know that road trips bring teams together. I just hope that we use this weekend to create an even stronger bond on and off the field.

As one of the five four-year seniors on the team, I know the newcomers are looking to us to lead by example both in practice and in the games. All of the returning players are doing an excellent job day in and day out and the newcomers are really stepping up to the challenge and it’s great to see.

We have a solid team this year and I can’t wait to see what the second part of this season will bring.

Go Toros!

Posted by Nick Green at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Galaxy's slim playoff hopes as seen through the lens of their unlikely 2005 MLS Cup run was the subject of today's column that appears weekly in the Daily News and Daily Breeze.

Incidentally, the David Beckham effect continues without Beckham; the Galaxy's game in Houston Sunday is reportedly sold out, a first for the team since the former Earthquakes moved to Texas.

Finally, for what it's worth English tabloid the Daily Mirror is reporting today that former Manchester United teammate Roy Keane, now boss of EPL team Sunderland, is offering Beck's a six-month loan deal during the MLS off-season. And it's apparently not worth much.

Meanwhile, the UCLA men's soccer team (3-4-1, ranked 18th by Soccer America) hosts the University of San Diego (3-4-0) in a mid-week non-conference game at 7 o'clock tonight at Drake Stadium before starting up Pac-10 play at San Diego State (4-2-2) Saturday. UCLA fans wearing blue receive $2 off admission at the ticket booth at the main entrance.

UCLA are drawing in the fans at away games, according to their media relations office:

UCLA road games this year (five away, one neutral) have averaged 4,007 fans. School attendance records were set at Indiana (7,423) and at Creighton (5,812), and the Bruins played in front of an over-capacity crowd of 3,143 at San Francisco. In addition, the team played in front of season-best crowds of 2,333 at Santa Clara and 1,095 at Cal State Northridge. Overall this season, the Bruins are playing in front of crowds averaging 3,258.

The UCLA media relations office also offered this injury update:

The Bruins' leading scorer in 2006, David Estrada, returned to the lineup last weekend, making his season debut at Cal State Northridge and playing 76 minutes. Estrada had missed the Bruins' first seven games with a fractured metatarsal. Last season, Estrada was Soccer America's Freshman of the Year after scoring 12 goals and four assists for 28 points, the second-most goals and points ever scored by a UCLA freshman.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Galaxy Still Glowing

A brief game summary is here.

The Crew perspective is here.
Improbably, the Galaxy are now just two wins away from catching Chicago for the eighth and final playoff spot. (Scroll down to see the league as one division, giving the clearest view of the playoff race).

Here's a playoff update from MLS that provides a little perspective:

With only three weeks left in the 2007 MLS regular season four teams have clinched playoff berths, while the remaining four spots are up for grabs in a tightly contested race to the finish. FC Dallas, Kansas City and New York can punch their tickets to the playoffs this week, while Real Salt Lake was eliminated and Toronto FC’s chances hang by a thread.

Heading into the last weekend of September, FC Dallas and New York had a chance to clinch a playoff berth, but could not overcome tough opponents as FC Dallas lost 3-0 to Western Conference-leading Houston Dynamo and the New York Red Bulls tied Real Salt Lake – a team eliminated from playoff contention, but trying to end the season on a strong note.

The Red Bulls travel to face Toronto FC on Thursday, Oct. 4 in the ESPN2 primetime match at 7 p.m. ET, and they could clinch a playoff berth with a win, or if Columbus and Los Angeles fail to win over the weekend.

FC Dallas will clinch a spot with a win or tie over Columbus on Saturday, as Columbus is the only team that could catch them in the overall standings with 40 points. The Crew sits in ninth place with 31 points, but can earn a maximum of 40 points if they win the remainder of their games. The Wizards are the only other team that can clinch a spot this weekend, but they need to win and hope that the Crew and the Los Angeles Galaxy both fail to win.

When the regular season ends Oct. 21, the team with the most points will win the Supporters’ Shield and will qualify for the 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup. Ten MLS teams have three games remaining and three teams have four games left, including the Los Angeles Galaxy who are 3-0-1 in their last four games.

I'll have more on the Galaxy in Tuesday's weekly column in the Daily News and Daily Breeze.

World Cup Comment

College Roundup

I'm feeling a little under the weather today, so to find out most of Sunday's scores click on the appropriate college link to the right.

But one e-mail that made it through observed that the Cal Sate Northridge women's team fell 3-1 to Pepperdine Sunday afternoon in Malibu. With the loss, Cal State Northridge fell to 2-6-1, while Pepperdine improved to 2-4-3.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blanco en Fuego

It will be no where near as friendly as at LAX Thursday when Blanco was greeted by Club America fans.

I'll blog from the press box as usual.

Chivas USA beat writer Ivan Orozco filed this Blanco profile and game preview.

World Cup Final Preview

Torrance's Shannon Boxx is suspended for the game after her red card that really wasn't in the loss to Brazil.

Meanwhile, Ajax America Coach Brian Boswell provides the pregame analysis of the enticing Brazil-Germany matchup in the final set for 4:55 a.m. Sunday on ESPN that's mandatory viewing for any soccer fan:

Current champions Germany, with four wins, a tie and most importantly, no goals conceded, are extremely well organized.

Prediction: Brazil will win 2-1 or 3-2.

Friday's College Roundup

Lang, whose last game college game happened to be against Portland (7-2) in the 2005 NCAA Final, opened the scoring after just eight minutes with a 30-yard strike. Portland equalized eight minutes from time, but Lang scored her second seven minutes into overtime.

UCLA (5-1-2) extended their home winning streak to 31 matches.

Next: San Diego State Friday in San Diego.

Senior Jamie Bell continued her goal-scoring binge for the Lady Lions, finding the net for the third consecutive game as Loyola Marymount defeated 3-1 Friday afternoon at Sullivan Field. The Lions have won five straight to post the program's longest winning streak since 1998 and tie the school record.

The 5-3-1 Lions can break that record 1 p.m. Sunday against UC Riverside at Sullivan Field.

No. 14-ranked USC (7-1-1) beat Long Beach State (6-4-0) 3-0 Friday before a record crowd of 954 for a women's soccer match at LBSU.

Posted by Nick Green at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Galaxy Find Yellow Brick Road and Win

Notable: The Galaxy took just one shot on goal and scored, meaning that former UCLA goalkeeper Kevin Hartman remains stuck on 999 career MLS saves.

Defender Ante Jazic, out of the lineup since sustaining an injury against New York Aug. 18, came on as a second half sub. Can fellow full back Chris Albright be far behind?

Here's the view from Kansas City.

Next for the Galaxy: A visit Sunday to former Coach Sigi Schmid's Columbus Crew that FSN will air on tape-delay at 5 p.m.

Weekend College Games

The Loyola Marymount women (4-3-1), winners of four straight games, play at 4 p.m. today against Idaho (4-3-0) and 1 p.m. Sunday against UC Riverside (5-3-0). Both games are at Sullivan Field.

The Long Beach State women (6-3-0), winners of four in a row, host two games this weekend First up at 4 p.m. today is No. 14-ranked USC (6-1-1), while at 11 a.m. Sunday it's Wyoming (4-4-0) in town.

Etc.

Are the Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros big in Uzbekistan? The revamped Cal State Dominguez Hills Athletics’ Web site has surpassed 14,000 hits since it was launched one month ago with visitors coming from 42 different countries including South Korea, Kenya, Uzbekistan and Turkey.

Finally, former UCLA soccer player and avid supporter Jonathan Moore died at his Los Angeles home Wednesday, just days after his 60th birthday.

A member of the UCLA soccer team in 1968 and 1969, he led the team in scoring in his first season. After graduation, he was a fixture at UCLA soccer games.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Light (and late) Monday post after a busy weekend. Chivas USA veteran Jesse Marsch blogs later today with his first post. Until then here are a few weekend left-overs:

MLS Playoff Update

“By defeating the Kansas City Wizards Saturday on a dramatic, stoppage-time goal, Chivas USA became the fourth MLS team to secure a berth in the playoffs, which begin Oct. 25 on ESPN2. D.C. United, Houston Dynamo and the New England Revolution had previously clinched passage to the postseason.

Chivas USA, led by Ante Razov’s two-goal performance against Kansas City, moved to the top of the Western Conference and closed within two points of D.C. United, the current overall leader in the MLS standings. When the regular season ends on Oct. 21, the team with the most points will win the Supporters’ Shield and will qualify for the 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup. Most MLS teams have just four regular season games remaining.

FC Dallas and New York can book playoff slots this week, while Real Salt Lake and Toronto could be eliminated.

College Roundup

Next for UCLA: at home at 7 p.m. Friday against No. 3-ranked Portland.

Meanwhile, second half strikes from senior Jamie Bell and junior Stefanie Baduria lifted the Loyola Marymount women to their fourth consecutive victory in a 2-0 win over visiting Fresno State Sunday afternoon at Sullivan Field in Westchester. The Lions (4-3-1) got their record above .500 for the first time this season, while handing the Bulldogs (3-4-0) their second straight defeat.

LMU continues its five-game home stand at 4 p.m. Friday against Idaho and 1 p.m. Sunday against UC Riverside.

In men's soccer, LMU and Columbia battled to a goalless draw Sunday in the finale of the LMU Invitational at Sullivan Field. The LMU Lions (2-4-1), despite going 1-0-1 in the tournament, finished second to champions UC Santa Barbara on goal difference.

Next: The West Coast Conference home opener Oct. 5 against Santa Clara.

Best in the Galaxy

With two virtually completely different teams fielded this year, a ghastly season and so many injuries that Coach Frank Yallop has fielded the same lineup just twice, this was a crap shoot.

My picks are below. Discussion and ridicule welcome and expected.

MVP: Chris Klein - An ever-present this season starting 15 of 15 MLS games since joining the Galaxy from Real Salt Lake, the veteran utility man deserves the award for sheer perseverence if nothing else, filling in wherever needed. As a bonus he scored two of the most spectacular Galaxy goals seen this year, including that stunning SuperLiga equalizer that sent the final to penalty kicks.

Runner-up - Cobi Jones, not for his four goals in 18 games (12 starts), but for a sparkling 12-year MLS career (hey, the Oscars are often lifetime achievement awards).

Third - David Beckham. (What this isn't for the richest player with the most valuables?). Beck's gets it for sheer guts in trying to play through serious injuries and the exposure he brought to MLS. His goal in the SuperLiga semifinal and two assists in the 5-4 loss to New York in one of the most exciting MLS games ever weren't bad either.

Defender of the Year - Goalkeeper Joe Cannon. He has the worst goals against average in the league, has lost more games than any other goalkeeper, is clearly not the player he once was and yet is the Galaxy's best defender? That tells you more about anyone else than Cannon. But he's played more games than any other Galaxy player and frankly was given virtually no support from the back four. Cannon made some fine saves and without him things could have been far, far worse.

Runner-up - Chris Albright. Played in just seven games (including two in the U.S. Open Cup) before going down with a season-ending torn hamstring. He's blameless. And he's also apparently in the last year of his contract; give him lots of money to return, Galaxy front office.

Third: Are you kidding me?

Posted by Nick Green at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Donovan and Denilson

To that end, Galaxy beat writer Billy Witz breaks down the importance of Landon Donovan to the team.

The none too surprising conclusion: he's important.

Still, since Galaxy fans often fall into two camps - those who think he's the greatest American player ever and those who think "Landycakes" is an over-rated, often-invisible and sometimes lazy playmaker - that's sure to spark a discussion or two.

The biggest point of interest at today's game for the visitors is not ex-Galaxy forward Carlos Ruiz, but the first appearance in L.A. of Denilson, the Brazilian who was once the world's most expensive player, but never lived up to his potential. Which is why he's in MLS, of course, but still this is a player you expect to tear the league apart, dominating opponents on the level of a Juan Pablo Angel.

Here's the Denilson details.

By the way, fans who do decide to go to the game have three reasons to go early (in no particular order):
* The first 5,000 fans through the gates get a Galaxy soccer ball.
* The 10 Miss Galaxy candidates are introduced at 3:30 p.m. on the main concourse.
* And you can record a personal video tribute to retiring Galaxy great Cobi Jones from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Cobi's Corner at the plaza below the Stadium Club. All the different Galaxy jerseys he has worn are on display, too, just to remind you how bad the designs were in MLS' early years.

Or you can just stay home and watch on FSN.

Here's a brief summary of Saturday's World Cup and MLS action.

College Roundup

I'm sure Kyle will agonize over that one in his on-going blog for 100 Percent Soccer later this week.

Meanwhile, this came in from Loyola Marymount regarding today's games:

“The Harvard-UC Santa Barbara match in the LMU Invitational scheduled for Sunday, September 23 at 1:30 p.m. at Sullivan Field has ben moved to Santa Barbara. The two LMU games on Sunday will go ahead as scheduled. The women's game against Fresno State will be at 11 a.m. with the men facing Columbia at 4 p.m.”

World Cup Final Four Set

Norway beat hosts China to meet the Germans in the semifinals.

Here's a breakdown of the action from FIFA.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Boxx Goal Clinches U.S. Win Over England

Abby Wambach (her fourth in four World Cup games) and Kristine Lilly also contributed goals in the 3-0 victory.

"Cat actually got the tackle in," said Boxx of her decisive left-footed shot for the second goal. "It popped right in front of me and my thought was just to take a quick shot. I hit it low ,which is what the midfielders have been working on, and the field, I think, helped. It skipped in. It was nice and quick.”

Boxx and Leslie Osborne combined well in midfield and England threat Kelly Smith was largely shut down.

“Something just clicks with us, our communication," Osborne said of the partnership. "We feel comfortable with each other out there. We read off each other really well, and we played offense and defense tonight. We’re not just two defensive midfielders. We can keep the ball for us, possess, and we’re not going to let anything past us. It’s just fun out there, and we enjoy being out there together.”

All three U.S. goals aptly exemplified the style of the player who scored: Wambach crashed in for her goal off a corner, Boxx won the ball and then quickly attacked for her 16th international goal while Lilly poached her's.

Nice to see ESPN belatedly get commentators J.P. Dellacamera and Julie Foudy to China, too.

In the day's other game, Germany disposed of North Korea.

Saturday Sorcery

Here's a preview.

And even if Chivas USA takes a lead against the Wizards, the team shouldn't automatically assume K.C. can't come back, The Kansas City Star suggests. Chivas USA are unbeaten at home this season, but at times have looked (more than one critic has suggested) brittle at the back.

Meanwhile, Chivas USA opens its first American retail store Sunday in Huntington Park.

From the press release:

“The ChivasPop store, the first of its kind in the U.S., will carry official adidas Chivas USA merchandise, as well as official Reebok merchandise from Chivas USA’s Mexican parent club Chivas de Guadalajara, including jerseys, posters, soccer gear and a whole lot more.

ChivasPop stores, which in recent years have opened across Mexico’s largest cities, derive their name from ‘Chivas Popular’, a tribute to Mexico’s most beloved soccer brand. The ChivasPop store, the first of its kind for a professional soccer team in Los Angeles County, bears the same layout and feel of all existing ChivasPop stores in Mexico.

Chivas USA captain Claudio ‘El Emperador’ Suárez, as well as midfielder Francisco Mendoza and forward Maykel Galindo, will be on hand at Sunday’s Grand Opening, where Chivas fans will have the opportunity to meet and greet all three players, plus the ChivaGirls and Chivas USA officials.”

College Roundup

Posted by Nick Green at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Don't forget to set up that TiVo (or get up early for the U.S.-England World Cup game Saturday morning).

Read the previous post for a complete game preview, but here's what else is going on in soccer-related news locally today.

No season ticket increase for Galaxy games in '08

That's what the club announced today - for current season ticket holders - in a press release.

And considering the quality of soccer on the field this year, even the Galaxy wouldn't have the chutzpah to shaft their most loyal supporters.

Still, from what I've been hearing, long-time fans have been slowly drifting off ever since former Coach Sigi Schmid was fired.

Not surprisingly there's a lively debate on a couple of message boards among fans discussing whether to renew or not.

Here's the (edited) press release:

“As a sign of our appreciation for our season ticket holders continued support and loyalty, they are being given the exclusive opportunity to purchase 2008 season tickets at the 2007 prices if renewed by October 19, 2007,” said LA Galaxy President and General Manager Alexi Lalas. “The results to date have not been what our fans expect or deserve, but there is much to be excited about for 2008 and beyond. As always, we remain committed to giving our season seat holders a successful and entertaining team and one that fans can be proud to support, on and off the field.”

In response to requests from fans that the club confirm next season’s seat locations as early as possible, the Galaxy are asking for the commitment of returning full season ticket holders for the 2008 season by October 19, 2007. After that date, any unsecured seating locations will be released to people wishing to relocate or purchase new season tickets, and the 2007 season price will no longer be available.”

U.S.-Catalonia Friendly Officially Cancelled

In the day's least surprising news, U.S. Soccer formally announced what most fans knew a couple of weeks back: the U.S.-Catalonia game set for Oct. 14 is off after the Spanish FA nixed it.

Here's the (edited) press release

“No replacement match will be scheduled, and the U.S. will face 2008 European Championship co-host Switzerland on Oct. 17 in Basel. Kickoff at St. Jakob Park is set for (11:30 p.m. PT) live on Fox Soccer Channel and Galavision.

U.S. Soccer spent two weeks negotiating with the Catalonian Federation and the RFEF trying to reach a positive resolution. The Spanish Federation, who has authority for sanctioning any match played in Spain, ultimately chose not to allow the match to take place.

"We are disappointed that the match will not be played, since we believe playing Catalonia would be an excellent experience for our players,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “Nonetheless, we respect the decision of the Spanish Federation.”

The U.S. will now focus on playing Switzerland on Oct. 17 in Basel.

Switzerland finished in first place in Group G of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, ahead of eventual runners up France. Falling to Ukraine in the Round of 16 in penalties after a 0-0 draw in regulation time, the Swiss became the first team in World Cup history to be eliminated from the tournament without surrendering a single goal. As co-hosts, Switzerland is automatically entered into Euro 2008, which will take place from June 7-29 across eight venues in Austria and Switzerland. ”

LMU Women & Bruins Men Win

Soccer is Good For You!

Posted by Nick Green at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Galaxy Can't Hold Lead

Torrance's World Cup Fern

I'll have a preview on Friday of the U.S. Women's quarterfinal Saturday against England including a pre-game analysis from one of the top women's soccer coaches in the world, Ajax America's Brian Boswell.

School Is In

The LMU women look to extend their two-game winning streak with a pair of matches this week. First, LMU seeks revenge for last year's NCAA first round loss against Cal State Fullerton at 7 o'clock tonight at Titan Stadium. Sullivan Field is the site for the first match of a five-game home stand against Fresno State at 11 a.m. Sunday.

The CSUDH men ran their win streak to seven Wednesday beating UC San Diego 3-0 at Toro Stadium. The Toros (7-1, 5-0 CCAA) continue their homestand Friday with a 4:30 p.m,. game against cross-town rival and Far West Finalist Cal State L.A.

Freshman keeper Alyssa Congdon (South Torrance High) tallied 10 saves the as the Cal State Dominguez Hills women drew 0-0 with UC San Diego in double overtime Wednesday at Toro Stadium. CSUDH plays at 7p.m. Friday against Cal State L.A.

The sixth-ranked UCLA women's soccer team (3-1-1) has a pair of matches this week, traveling to Pepperdine (1-4-1) for a 3 p.m. Friday game and hosting Hawaii (5-0-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday. UCLA boasts a 10-match winning streak over Pepperdine.

Long Beach State (4-3-0) participate in the Oklahoma Sooner Classic this weekend playing Middle Tennessee (3-2-1) Friday and North Texas (6-0-0) on Sunday.

U.S. Head to 2010 World Cup Hosts in November

“The U.S. Men’s National Team will make their first-ever trip to South Africa when they take on the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosts on Nov. 17 in Johannesburg as part of the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup. Kick off at Ellis Park Stadium, which will host one World Cup semifinal match in 2010, is set for 7 a.m. PT, with the television schedule yet to be determined. Fans can follow the match live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker.

The Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup, an annual one-off event typically hosted in South Africa, began in 1994 and has seen South Africa face opponents like Brazil, Argentina, Holland, Nigeria and a host of others.

“It is a great honor to be invited to participate in the Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup,” said U.S. head coach Bob Bradley. “South Africa has always had a talented team, and the match represents an excellent opportunity for our players to travel and play in South Africa.”

The United States will make a rare trip to Africa, playing on the continent for just the third time in their long history. Their last visit came eight years to the day before the November match, a 1-2 loss to Morocco on Nov. 17, 1999 in Marrakech. The only other trip to Africa was also against Morocco in 1992, when the U.S. suffered a 3-1 loss in Casablanca. As the 2007 Gold Cup Champions, the U.S. will represent CONCACAF in the 2009 Confederations Cup to be held in South Africa one year prior the World Cup.

In the only prior meeting between the two sides, the U.S. beat South Africa, 4-0, on June 3, 2000, in Washington, D.C. Cobi Jones tallied twice that day, with Earnie Stewart and Claudio Reyna rounding out the scoring as Kasey Keller earned the shutout.

Under the leadership of Bradley, the United States has posted an impressive 10-5-1 record in 2007. Bradley, who took the reigns in December of 2006, became the first coach in U.S. history to record victories in his first three games with wins against Denmark, Mexico and Ecuador. Leading the charge on the field has been two-time U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year Landon Donovan, who has already amassed nine goals in 12 games played this year. With his strike in the Gold Cup final, the 25-year-old moved into a tie for first place on the USA’s all-time leading goal-scoring chart with 34 goals.

Eight days after the Nov. 17 match, South Africa will host the Preliminary Draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The event, held in Durban, will determine the qualifying schedule for 156 countries spanning five confederations. The South American qualifying competition begins Oct. 13 with all ten teams in action.”

Updated 2 p.m.

China out, Carlos Ruiz in against Mexico in LA?

Tickets, starting at $25, go on sale Friday.

The (edited) press release:

“The game will mark the Los Angeles debut of Hugo Sánchez as head coach of “el Tri”, closing out Mexico’s 2007 U.S. Tour.

Three of the four matches so far have been played in front of sold-out crowds across the country, from San Diego to Oakland to Boston.

The last time the Mexican National Team played in Southern California was May 2006, when Mexico defeated Venezuela in front of more than 50,000 fans at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl. Guatemala drew large crowds in Los Angeles during the recent 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup including a sold-out match day at the Home Depot Center when the Central American national faced its rival El Salvador on June 9th.

The match in Los Ángeles will be the first meeting between both sides since 2006 World Cup qualifying when México beat Guatemala in San Luís Potosí, México 5-2 on October 8, 2005. In its history, Mexico has a record of 17-3-6 against the Central American country.

“Futbol Fiesta,” a pre-game fan interactive zone that spans more than 100,000 square feet at every game that includes live music and thousands of promotional items, will be part of the event.

Youth Is Served in Carson

"The U.S. Under-14 and Under-15 Girl’s National Teams are participating in the second annual Women’s Nike Friendlies, which began Wednesday evening and run through Sunday at Home Depot Center.

The Under-14 squad, all born in 1993, will match up against the top Under-16 club teams from all over the country, while the Under-15 team will be pitted against the nation’s best Under-17 clubs.

Under-15 head coach Tad Bobak named a 23-player roster for the friendlies last week, and will also be watching the U-14 GNT in their first-ever competitive matches to get an early start on picking next year’s player pool.

Southern Californians on the roster include: (for the U.S. U-15 team) goalkeeper Makenna Henry (Fountain Valley); defender Mia Bruno (Rancho Palos Verdes); midfielders Michelle Cruz (Thousand Oaks) and Natalia Ledezma (La Mirada).

(For the U.S. U-14 team): midfielders Jennifer Gonzalez (Alta Loma), Lo’eau LaBonta (Rancho Cucamonga), Vania Robles (Arcadia), Haley Rosen (Palos Verdes).

Here's a game schedule.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kyle's third post:

It was an exciting weekend for UCLA men's soccer as we went into the weekend without a win under our belts for the beginning of the season but came away with two wins.

The first match played on Friday night against Ohio St. was a very eventful night game where we tallied three goals.

The first goal resulted from a through ball I played to Maxwell Griffin, who nicely placed it past the keeper. Soon later, we were awarded a penalty kick from a handball in the box, and Mikey Stephens converted it with ease.

The first half involved some impressive play from our side, as we were able to connect numerous combinations and present a style of soccer that is very enjoyable to watch.

The third goal came from a corner in the second half that I hit to Jason Leopoldo, who jumped above every defender to perfectly head the ball in the back of the net. The win against Ohio State really gave us some momentum going into Sunday's game.

Sunday's game was another great showing for us against our opponent Penn State, ending 4-1 in our favor, which concluded a very promising weekend for us.

The game showed an exciting display of offensive-minded soccer from us, but defensively we were very efficient in ensuring the win. The game was highlighted by Maxwell Griffin's hat trick where all three goals began with great build-ups from the back to the front. What a way to top off the weekend!

We are off to San Francisco Wednesday to play USF on Thursday night and then Santa Clara on Saturday night. It will be two very challenging games, but we are up for the challenge.

Go Bruins!

Posted by Nick Green at 9:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is her first post:

Finishing the weekend with two CCAA victories was the perfect way to celebrate my 21st birthday.

We played San Francisco State University on Friday, which also happened to be my birthday. My team gave me the best birthday present, helping me score a goal and two assists in the 3-0 victory over the Gators and another goal in the 2-0 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay two days later.

Before last weekend we were 0-1-1 in conference play with an overtime loss to Cal Poly Pomona and a 1-1 double-overtime tie against Cal State San Bernadino, but as a team we stayed composed, kept our heads up and every player worked together to accomplish getting two much-needed wins this past weekend.

We now will start preparing ourselves for No. 2 ranked San Diego, which we face this Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in Toro Stadium. The Tritons are undefeated this season, so we have a lot to work on this week.

I think with this team having so many experienced players, including five four-year seniors, we are as ready as we have ever been to take on UC San Diego. The glue holding our team together is our stellar defense lead by Sandy Lloyd, Krista Rojas and Fawna Waldo. Those girls really do not get enough credit for the awesome job they do every game.

Our team has bonded together to form one unit that is ready to work hard for one another to accomplish our goals. Although we are taking it one game at a time, we want the end result to lead us to another CCAA Championship and NCAA bid.

I can’t believe this is my last season playing college soccer, but I’m excited to see what the rest of the season has in store for me.

GO TOROS!

Posted by Nick Green at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Despite what it says below Kyle's picture, this is his second post:

This weekend we traveled to Omaha, Nebraska to play Creighton on Saturday night.

We arrived on Friday afternoon to get in a short training session in Creighton's state-of-the-art college soccer stadium. The stadium resembled a first division English soccer stadium but was equipped with field turf. Fortunately, the majority of our team had prior experience on the surface, so playing a game on it was not too unfamiliar.

The game against Creighton was a memorable one. We set our opponent’s attendance record for the second time in just two weeks (we did the same at Indiana), and we played before a crowd of nearly 6,000 loud spectators.

The atmosphere was amazing as we battled Creighton for 110 minutes. We nearly clinched the win with minutes left in the game when we had a corner. We managed to hit the crossbar twice and the post once in the exact same play. What luck! Well, the game concluded in a draw, and we left for home the following day.

This week we have been preparing for this weekend's games against Ohio State and Penn State. Come check us out on Friday night. Go Bruins!

UCLA plays at 7 o'clock tonight against No. 14-ranked Ohio State (3-0-1) and 2 p.m. Sunday against Penn State. Both games are at Drake Stadium.

Posted by Nick Green at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Galaxy beat writer Billy Witz has more on the challenges facing new Chivas USA CEO Shawn Hunter.

As expected, Torrance resident Simone Carmichael remained on the bench for New Zealand today, blasted 5-0 by Brazil at the World Cup.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills Men's Team, winners of four straight games, moved up to No. 13 from No. 22 in this week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s Top 25.

Finally, the Long Beach State Women's Team (2-3-0) suffered their third-straight loss to a top-25 team Tuesday, losing 1-0 at No. 24-ranked Brigham Young. Long Beach played played the final 20 minutes with 10 players after freshman defender Tara Corcoran received a red card. The 49ers return home to play at 5 p.m. Friday against Oklahoma and 1 p.m. Sunday against Baylor.

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Last Gasp Galaxy

Galaxy beat writer Billy Witz has the preview of tonight's game in Carson against the Colorado Rapids, a six-point game if there ever was one.

Former Galaxy defender Ugo Ihemelu is looking forward to his first game against his former team at Home Depot Center since his trade.

Going to the game tonight? Get there early. The first 2,500 fans to enter the gates get the third and last of a trio of commemorative T-shirts designed by Manhattan Beach artist Terry Davis.

College Roundup

The sixth-ranked UCLA women's team picked up its first victory of the season Friday, beating Illinois 4-2 in the first match of the 2007 UCLA Women's Cup at Drake Stadium. UCLA (1-1) saw senior Danesha Adams grab a hat trick, while junior Christina DiMartino added the other goal.

Next: San Francisco at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

Despite being outshot 21-10, a lone goal from a free kick by junior midfielder Brad Stisser in the ninth minute was enough to give the LMU men (1-1-0) their first win of the season Friday over No. 17-ranked New Mexico. The loss was the Lobos' first home defeat of the season and came in the opening night of the 2007 TLC Plumbing & Utility Invitational.

LMU plays for the tournament championship Sunday morning against Central Florida, which downed Cincinnati 2-1 in the day's first match.

Senior goalkeeper Joslyn Slovek recorded her first shutout of the season and the 19th of her career as the LMU women battled to a 0-0 tie at Indiana in the teams' opening game at the Hoosier Classic in Bloomington. The Lions improved to 0-2-1.

LMU concludes play at the Hoosier Classic Sunday against Maryland, which lost 2-1 in overtime Friday to No. 13-ranked USC.

The No. 23-ranked Long Beach State women (2-2-0) could not overcome two Clemson goals in the first 21 minutes Friday and fell 2-1 to the No. 20-ranked Tigers (3-0-0).

Next: at Brigham Young Tuesday.

Dubious New Award of the Week Award

"This honor will be bestowed annually to reward new acquisitions that do not qualify for the league’s Rookie of the Year award, which is limited to players without previous professional experience," the league announced in a press release.

MLS provided a list of possible winners:
Juan Pablo Angel – forward, New York Red Bulls.
Cuauhtémoc Blanco – forward, Chicago Fire.
Conor Casey – forward, Colorado Rapids.
Luciano Emilio – forward, D.C. United.
Fred – midfielder, D.C. United.
Maykel Galindo – forward, Chivas USA.
Carlos Marinelli - midfielder, Kansas City Wizards.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto – midfielder, Columbus Crew.
Juan Toja – midfielder, FC Dallas.

David Beckham was not on the list.

School Starts for U.S. Under-17 Players

Since its inception in 1999, about 200 players have gone through the program with 70 turning pro and 14 going on to become full U.S. internationals.

Southern California locals on the residency roster:
Arevalo, Estanilao, defender, Oxnard (Valley United Blast).
Arreola, Eder, midfielder-forward, Chino Hills (FC Barcelona).
Cruz, Pablito, midfielder, Azusa (FC Barcelona).
Gyau, Joseph-Claude, forward, Lake Forest, (West Coast FC).
Lemus, Edson, midfielder, Wilmington (Stampede FC).
Orozco, Emilio, forward, Oxnard, (Rampage FC).

From U.S. Soccer:

“The 48 players live on campus at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla., and train daily under the guidance of Hackworth and assistant coaches Keith Fulk, Raul Diaz Arce, Tim Mulqueen and Brian Maisonneuve. The players train at IMG in the morning and attend classes at Edison Academy in the afternoon."

Posted by Nick Green at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This weekend I traveled with my UCLA soccer team to Indiana for the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic, a prestigious tournament that Indiana University has hosted for several decades.

The four teams invited to thee tournament were all top ten national-ranked teams, including Indiana, Maryland, Notre Dame, and of course us, UCLA. We fortunately had the opportunity to play Notre Dame and Indiana, two teams that we did not play during my freshman season. The emotions were felt by everyone as we were all anxious to get our season under way.

The Notre Dame game ended with a disappointing loss. We actually tied the game with only seconds left to take the game into overtime. Our left back Mike Zaher from Las Vegas hit a great cross to Chance Myers, who volleyed the ball into the side netting. With the momentum behind us, we entered overtime but were unfortunately defeated, 2-1.

With one loss behind us, we were still looking forward to the next game against Indiana to redeem ourselves. In front of a record crowd on a blistering hot Sunday afternoon, we displayed a great first half of soccer on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately, we came away on the short end of the stick, as we were scored on with nearly fifteen minutes to go. We were never able to overcome the deficit.

With two disappointing results this past weekend, we returned to LA with dampened spirits. However, we took away many lessons from this weekend.

As much as we all hate to lose as a team, it is now important for us to prepare for this weekend's game at Creighton.

Go Bruins!

- Kyle Nakazawa

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Prime Time Preki

It's the first of four games in 11 days that the Coach, Preki, understands could go along way in defining his team's season. And he was a lot more concerned about that than the, um, media attention that goes along with going top of the Western Conference if Chivas USA wins.

"All the eyes are going to be on us because D.C. has already been there," he said. "It's not about (making) statements for us. We control our own destiny in the next 10 days."

Veteran Mexican defender Claudio Suarez is relishing a big game in a league that needs more of them and hopes for more fans in the stands. Only the Kansas City Wizards are drawing fewer fans than Chivas USA's average of 12,789.

"It's a good opportunity for us to prove we are a team that aspires to win a championship," Suarez said. "We expect more support from the fans."

Chivas USA is riding a club-record three game winning streak, but has never beaten D.C. Here's a brief preview.

Donovan's Pitch

More than 30,000 tickets have been sold. Coach Bob Bradley called in Kansas City Wizards midfielder Kerry Zavagnin Wednesday, replacing the ill Pablo Mastroeni.

The U.S. faces a daunting task against a Brazilian team packed with some of the most famous names in the game: goalkeepers Doni (Roma), Julio Cesar (Inter Milan); defenders Maicon (Inter Milan), Daniel Alves (Sevilla), Alex Silva (São Paulo), Lúcio (Bayern Munich), Juan (Roma), Alex (Chelsea), Kleber (Santos), Gilberto (Hertha Berlin); midfielders Gilberto Silva (Arsenal), Mineiro (Hertha Berlin), Josué (VfL Wolfsburg), Fernando (Bordeaux), Elano (Manchester City), Kaká (AC Milan), Julio Baptista (Real Madrid), Diego (Werder Bremen); forwards Ronaldinho (Barcelona), Robinho (Real Madrid), Vagner Love (CSKA Moscow), Afonso (SC Heerenveen).

On Wednesday, the three finalists were announced for the 17th Honda Player of the Year Award: Carlos Bocanegra, Landon Donovan and Tim Howard. The winner will be announced Oct. 5 here in L.A.

Beach Bounced

Posted by Nick Green at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Labor Day weekend traditionally sees the college soccer season get under way in earnest. Here's a program by program look at what's going on where.

Bruins Rule

Next up Sunday is seventh-ranked Indiana.

UCLA has 22 returning players, including 17 with starting experience this season.

They include the team's top two goalscorers from last year, sophomore forward David Estrada (12 goals) and junior midfielder Jason Leopoldo (8 goals).

Also back is junior forward Maxwell Griffin, who was leading UCLA in scoring with five goals before going down in the eighth game of the year with a knee injury; Palos Verdes Estates' Kyle Nakazawa (4 goals 8 assists); U.S. Under-20 National Team starter Tony Beltran; and 2006 UCLA Rookie of the Year Michael Stephens.

The major loss was Sal Zizzo who turned pro after the U-20 World Cup in July, forgoing his final two years of eligibility.

Zizzo made his debut with the full national team Aug. 22 in Sweden.

Detailed preview here as well as Cal State Northridge and LMU.

More Roaring

LMU then hits the the road for two consecutive tournaments, returning home for the LMU/UCSB Tournament that also features Ivy Leaguers Harvard and Columbia.

LMU's season preview is here.

Meanwhile, the LMU women lost 1-0 away to UC Santa Barbara Friday night on Joe Mallia's head coaching debut.

LMU hosts Dayton 1 p.m. Sunday in its home opener.

Beach beats Bakersfield

The CSU Long Beach women’s program is coming off a 14-5-1 season, the best in school history.

Their toughest schedule to date sees Beach face six of last year's NCAA Tournament teams, including Utah in its home opener 9 a.m. Sunday at George Allen Field. It's the only home game for Beach in the first five.

Toro Tech

Details at the newly-redesigned site.

Lakewood's Kelly Matosian scored two goals to lead the CSUDH women Thursday to a 4-0 win over host Grand Canyon University.

Also, the first of four soccer web casts on www.toroslive.com. is set for 6 p.m. Sunday against Seattle University. The others: 7 p.m Sept. 24 against Cal State San Marcos; 11 a.m. Oct. 21 against Chico State; 5 p.m. Oct. 28 verses Cal State San Bernardino.

CSUN Downs Detroit

Trojans Trounce Weber State

Millender, a long-time Torrance resident and former El Camino College and LMU head coach, did not have his contract renewed last November after 11 seasons.

Here's a belated season preview.

No Waves

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Crunch Time

And this link has been up on CNN.com for a while, but it's worth noting just for the headline as some copy editor strains mightily to get this T. Rex verses Bex story read. Guess it worked.

Toros Tie

CSUDH travels to Phoenix to take on Grand Canyon on Thursday, before returning home for a 7 p.m. Tuesday kickoff against Marine Cano's Biola.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Former U.S. Soccer president Alan Rothenberg, former Cosmos defender Bobby Smith and retired U.S. internationals Julie Foudy and Mia Hamm donned red jackets Sunday for their induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Guess which one Tuesday's column pays tribute to.

No Beckham, no SuperLiga title

Updated 3:45 p.m.
Beck's will play Wednesday after all.

Turns out the weekly Galaxy update issued every Monday had old info on players' injuries. Naturally, our reporter assumed a current press release contained current information. Not so, apparently.

Wonder when the last time Beckham played in front of just 12,500 people (the stadium's capacity was cut for the game because school has just resumed on the CSUDH campus)?

Harbor Hopes

Posted by Nick Green at 8:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)