Saint Louis puts big Robbie Kristo back in the starting lineup and he responds with the game's only goal against Denver. The Bills are 4-1.
Just to be clear, VCU did not breakdown the Zips defense. Their run of play threats came from counters after parking the bus. Most of the game they had 7 -8 defenders. The two dangerous long free kicks were well executed and they scored on one. Akron lost because they did not finish. Hats off to Giff and the Rams. They will be in the ix all season.
Akron beats San Diego State 2-1, AET. Stevenson with both, the winner off a cheeky short corner. The Aztecs played about 40 minutes down a man after a brutal tackle on Brenes for a second yellow. Akron seemed to play the first half in a sort of 4-2-4, which was awful for possession. That experiment should die a quiet death. Stevenson's first was off a corner. Ball popped out to about 22 yards out and he buried it. Less than a minute later, Akron's defense had a collective howler, playing the ball across the face of goal then inexplicably getting caught in possession. Ugly. They're going to have real trouble his year if they keep defending casually.
Memphis tops Charlotte 2-1. Charlotte scores with 15 seconds remaining the first half. It was their first shot of the game. Memphis scores in the 80th and 89th minutes.
Santa Clara (1-4) beat Central Arkansas 2-0 today, but their website is currently listing it as a 2-0 loss (oops!). Gonzaga doesn't look at all impressive but is up 2-0 on UNLV. The Rebels missed a PK that would've tied it.
Irvine outshot Indiana 16-4 in Bloomington but failed to win, heading home with a 1-1 tie. RPI-wise, that's likely to be a painful result for them.
UCSB over Penn 2-1 in 2OT. Both UCSB goals were on crosses from left back Ismaila Jobe to big target Charlie Miller, although somebody else got credit for the goal on the first one, redirecting the ball on its way into the net. Penn's GK Kinn is small, but this allowed him to get down quickly and make an incredible save in the first OT to keep his team alive. That one was on a close-range header from Campion.
Oregon St comfortably beating Air Force 2-0 in the second half. Both goals were scored by big left-footed forward Khiry Shelton, the first one very well struck from outside the box.
Stevenson was the man. I hope pro scouts watched him this weekend. Akron showed an uncharacteristic disdain for possession, playing direct at nearly every opportunity. Too much long ball. I can barely believe I said it in reference to Akron, but too much long ball. Zips have not played that much direct since Lolla. @Timon19. The howler you speak of; WTF. That was amateurish rubbish! I could see that developing from the stands. Not sure how Embick reacted afterward, but I certainly know how Porter would have reacted. It would have been neither comfortable nor quiet. Pina must direct traffic better.
This list is being updated frequently today... and includes record and raw RPI ranking! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0Ap50qE_fBUB-dHNuUDNaU3JMS0NhRHNDYmN5Y2Fvbmc&single=true&gid=15&range=K478:X528&output=html
Northridge up 2-0 on New Mexico at halftime. Lobos have been dominating the play, though, outshooting CSUN 11-4 and earning 7 corner kicks. If CSUN keeps trying to bunker, the Lobos will probably storm back.
CSUN hangs on to pull the upset in Albuquerque, 3-2. Northridge won despite being outshot 22-8 and having an 12-0 disadvantage in corner kicks. CSUN got two goals by David Turcios, and a goal by Brian Behrad (his 5th of the season). New Mexico scored on a penalty kick in the 65th minute and off a rebound in the 89th.
Jobe is at the perfect school. His last HS game ended in a brawl and his team had to withdraw from the Minnesota state tournament. So the annual UCSB drama will be very familiar. In all seriousness. he sounds like a great prospect. This would be a great team of they still had Ema Boateng. This school just always seem to produce forwards. Gordon, Findley, Ryan Johnson, Bryan Jordan (played forward in college), Emery Welshman. I suspect Shelton will join this list. The question is if it's after this season or next. He had a nice pedigree coming into HS but has had a slow start to his college career. But if he's healthy, he has all the tools to be a dominant college forward.
Postscripts: "Somebody else" was Adis Islamovic, who played for the San Diego Nomads U11 to U18 and had lengthy professional tryouts in Germany and Bosnia before deciding to come back and go to college. San Diego showed a lot in this game, in my opinion. They were missing three of their usual back line and a key midfielder, so a number of players with very little playing time stepped in and put in clutch performances to give UCLA a run for their money. Ironically it was the only remaining starting defender who put in an own goal in overtime to end the game.
UMKC follows up its tie with Tulsa by beating hapless SMU 1-0. The Mustangs are now 1-5 and if any coach in college soccer is on the proverbial hot-seat, it should be Tim McClement. He inherited a team that regularly made the quarterfinals and has a huge recruiting base with no legit in-state competition. But the team has mostly floundered under him and, as we've documented, hordes of players have transferred away.