Category: soccer

soccer

U.S. Women’s Open Cup 2012: Quest for results!

Posted on by Beau Dure

Yes, there is a Women’s Open Cup. No, you don’t know most of the teams involved.

But I started digging around a bit in the past two weeks, and so did some folks at BigSoccer. Here’s what we’ve found so far, and any crowd-sourcing is welcome.

The finals for this and the other USASA Cups (men’s open, men’s amateur, men’s over-30, men’s under-23, women’s under-23) will be at the Chicago Fire’s Toyota Park (Bridgeview, Ill.) July 20-22.

REGION I

First round – April 22
at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh United (W.Pa.) 7-0 Maryland Capitols FC (WPSL)

Second round – May 17
at New York
Battle Row (E.NY) 8-1 Pittsburgh United
at Rochester
Rochester Lazers (W.NY) 4-0 United German Hungarians Fury (E.Pa.)

Semifinals – June 7
at New York
Battle Row 1-0 Rochester Lazers
New York Athletic Club (WPSL) 4-0 Peninsula Aztecs (NJ)

Final – June 17
at New York
New York Athletic Club 5-0 Battle Row

NYAC
New York Athletic Club

I got some details on this game: scorers were Princeton’s Liana Cornacchio (2), Duke’s Laura Weinberg (2) and Stanford’s Allison McCann. The team picture is at right. Both courtesy Charles Spingler at NYAC.

New York Athletic Club advances

REGION II (PDF)
at Fort Wayne, Ind.

June 15
Chicago Red Stars (WPSL) 2-0 Croatian Eagles (Wisc.)
Fort Wayne SC (Ind.) 2-2 United Metro (Kansas)

June 16
Chicago Red Stars 3-0 United Metro
Croatian Eagles 2-2 JB Marine (Mo.)
Chicago Red Stars 2-0 Fort Wayne SC
JB Marine 5-0 Fort Wayne SC
Croatian Eagles 3-0 United Metro

June 17
JB Marine 2-1 United Metro
Croatian Eagles 3-1 Fort Wayne SC
Chicago Red Stars 0-0 JB Marine

Round-robin scores: Chicago Red Stars 10,  JB Marine 8, Croatian Eagles 7, United Metro 1, Fort Wayne SC 1

Chicago Red Stars advance

REGION III

May 25
Houston Challengers 2-1 Houston Aces
Turbo D’Feeters (S.Texas) 2-1 San Antonio FC

May 26
Turbo D’Feeters 3-0 Houston Challengers
San Antonio FC 5-0 Lazers (Ga.)
Houston Aces 4-1 Turbo D’Feeters
Houston Challengers 4-1 Lazers

May 27
Houston Aces 7-0 Lazers
Houston Challengers 1-1 San Antonio FC

May 28
Houston Aces 0-0 San Antonio FC
Turbo D’Feeters 6-0 Lazers

Round-robin scores: Turbo D’Feeters 9, Houston Aces 7, Houston Challengers 7, San Antonio FC 5, Lazers 0

Turbo D’Feeters advance

REGION IV

Haven’t found results; region hasn’t had qualifying tournaments in recent years.

Continue reading →

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AmWoSo (WPSL, W-League) Power Rankings: June 19

Posted on by Beau Dure

Some order is settling into the W-League, and our rankings include the top two teams in every division along with a couple of third- and fourth-placed teams in the strongest divisions.

The WPSL Elite had an interesting week: The Philadelphia Fever became the first amateur team to take a point off a pro team, holding Western New York 0-0. And the Boston Breakers had a win scrubbed off their record.

Here’s what we have so far (at the bottom, check out the games to watch — or follow on Twitter — this week):

1. Pali Blues (7-0-0, W-League Western; Last Week: 1) – roster
Beat the WPSL San Diego SeaLions in an exhibition without several of their top players. 

2. Chicago Red Stars (6-1-0, WPSL Elite; LW: 2) – roster
Lost 3-0 at Western New York; took out frustration with 4-0 win over New England. Also advanced with split squad in U.S. Open Cup.

3. Boston Breakers (5-2-0, WPSL Elite; LW: 3) – roster
Technically dropped to fourth place in the league due to an eligibility issue, but that says more about draconian player transfer regulations than it does about the team.

4. Western New York Flash (5-1-2, WPSL Elite; LW: 5) – roster
Up-and-down week — handed Chicago its first loss, beat Chesapeake, then couldn’t get past Philadelphia defense in 0-0 draw the next day.

5. New York Fury (5-2-1, WPSL Elite; LW: 4) – roster
Won 2-0 at Chesapeake.

6. Seattle Sounders Women (5-0-1, W-League Western; LW: 6) – roster
Routine rout over LA Strikers.

7. D.C. United Women (6-0-0, W-League Atlantic; LW: 7) – roster
Lost 1-0 in exhibition vs. Paul Riley’s Supergroup (we’ll soon be forming a band by that name); won 5-1 in league play against Northern Virginia.

8. Atlanta Silverbacks (6-0-1, W-League Southeast; LW: 8) – roster
Routed VSI Tampa and moved into Southeast driver’s seat with 2-2 draw at Charlotte.

9. New England Mutiny (3-3-1, WPSL Elite; LW: 9) – roster
Won 3-0 at FC Indiana, then fell prey to Chicago. Just signed experienced pro Tiffany Weimer.

10. Santa Clarita Blue Heat (2-2-2, W-League Western; LW: 10) – roster
Modestly successful Colorado trip — 0-0 at Rapids, 1-1 at Rush.

11. Colorado Rush (3-2-1, W-League Western; LW: NR) – roster
Defended turf with 1-1 draw vs. Santa Clarita.

12. Charlotte Lady Eagles (7-0-2, W-League Southeast; LW: 11) – roster
Draws in back-to-back division showdowns: 2-2 at Central SC, 2-2 vs. Atlanta.

Continue reading →

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AmWoSo (WPSL, W-League) Power Rankings: June 11

Posted on by Beau Dure

Rankings may not usually shuffle unbeaten teams, but Pali Blues had an impressive road swing through Colorado to move up to #1. They still have to go through the rest of the stacked W-League Western Division, though.

Here’s what we have so far (at the bottom, check out the games to watch — or follow on Twitter — this week):

1. Pali Blues (7-0-0, W-League Western; Last Week: 3) – roster
Unscathed in busy week — 8-0 home win over Victoria, 2-1 win at Colorado Rapids Women, 3-0 win at Colorado Rush. Liz Bogus and Nikki Washington had first-half goals in the last of those wins.

2. Chicago Red Stars (5-0-0, WPSL Elite; LW: 1) – roster
Beat NY Fury 2-1 and wiped out Chesapeake 5-0 behind a Lauren Fowlkes hat trick. Big road test this week at Western New York.

3. Boston Breakers (6-1-0, WPSL Elite; LW: 2) – roster
Got back into action late Sunday with 1-0 squeaker at Philadelphia. Aussie Kyah Simon had the lone goal.

4. New York Fury (4-2-1, WPSL Elite; LW: 4) – roster
Fell 1-2 at Chicago; won 1-0 at FC Indiana.

5. Western New York Flash (2-2-1, WPSL Elite; LW: 5) – roster
Turned in a convincing 3-1 win against New England.

6. Seattle Sounders Women (4-0-1, W-League Western; LW: 6) – roster
Cruised in showdown with Colorado (3-0 at home) but lost perfect record with 0-0 draw against Vancouver when national teamers left. Still drew 4,500 fans.

7. D.C. United Women (5-0-0, W-League Atlantic; LW: 7) – roster
Turned back challenge in division, winning 3-2 at Fredericksburg with Joanna Lohman and Lianne Sanderson starting.

8. Atlanta Silverbacks (5-0-0, W-League Southeast; LW: 8) – roster
Won 3-0 at FC Jax.

9. New England Mutiny (2-2-1, WPSL Elite; LW: 10) – roster
Still a good claim to be the “best of the rest” after the four WPSL teams with WPS ties, but lost 3-1 at Western New York.

10. Santa Clarita Blue Heat (2-2-0, W-League Western; LW: 11) – roster
Won 6-0 over Victoria.

11. Charlotte Lady Eagles (7-0-0, W-League Southeast; LW: NR) – roster
Three days in Florida, three wins — 4-1 and 3-1 over VSI Tampa Flames, 2-1 over FC Jax Destroyers.

12. New Jersey Wildcats (3-1-2, W-League Northeast; LW: NR) – roster
Two goals and an assist for Yael Averbuch in 4-1 win vs. New Jersey Rangers.

ALSO CONSIDERED (alphabetical order)

Beach Futbol Club (1-1-0 WPSL Pacific South) – roster
Lost 2-0 at home to San Diego. Too much talent to drop all the way out.

Colorado Rapids Women (2-2-1, W-League Western) – roster
Lost 3-0 at Seattle and 2-1 at home vs. Pali Blues.

Colorado Rush (3-2-0, W-League Western; LW: 9) – roster
Suffered a 3-0 home loss to Pali Blues.

FC Dallas (5-0-0, WPSL Big Sky South) – roster
Scored 31. Allowed 2. Scored 17 goals in two games over the weekend, apparently without Casey Nogueira or Kerri Hanks. Yikes.

Fredericksburg Impact (3-1-0, W-League Atlantic) – roster
Respectable showing in 3-2 loss against loaded D.C. United Women.

Hamilton FC Rage (3-1-1, W-League Central) – roster
Had the weekend off after 2-0 win Wednesday at Rochester Ravens.

Ottawa Fury (3-1-0, W-League Central) – roster
Routine 6-1 dispatching of visiting London Gryphons.

San Diego SeaLions (3-0-0 WPSL Pacific South) – roster
Big road win — 2-0 at Beach FC — could push them toward top 12.

Toronto Lady Lynx (3-2-1, W-League Central; LW: 12) – roster
Disastrous road trip — lost 1-0 at Quebec City Amiral and 3-0 at Laval Comets. Still leading division.

GAMES TO WATCH (times Eastern and possibly incorrect)

Wednesday, June 13

WPSL Elite: Chicago Red Stars at Western New York Flash; 7 p.m.; Rochester, N.Y.

Thursday, June 14

W-League Western: Santa Clarita Blue Heat at Colorado Rapids Women; 8 p.m.; Commerce City, Colo.

Saturday, June 16

W-League Southeast: Atlanta Silverbacks at Charlotte Lady Eagles; 5:30 p.m.; Charlotte, N.C.
WPSL Elite: New England Mutiny at Chicago Red Stars; 7 p.m. CHECK; Evanston, Ill.
W-League Western: Santa Clarita Blue Heat at Colorado Rush; 9 p.m.; Highlands Ranch, Colo.

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AmWoSo (American Women’s Soccer) Power Rankings: June 4

Posted on by Beau Dure

Which teams are best in the post-WPS American women’s soccer scene? We’ll tell you (at least, we’ll give a consensus opinion) in our AmWoSo Power Rankings. This is a joint project of The Equalizer, All White Kit and SportsMyriad.

Comparing between the W-League and WPSL Elite — or even comparing WPSL Elite to regular WPSL — is difficult because teams don’t have many common opponents. One exception: The WPSL Elite’s Boston Breakers won 1-0 at the W-League’s D.C. United Women when the Breakers were nearly at full strength. United had just flown in Joanna Lohman and Lianne Sanderson, and Becky Sauerbrunn wasn’t available.

So to some extent, the rankings are based on players who have built reputations elsewhere. A team that has 7-8 players with WPS experience is going to be ranked higher than one built entirely on unknown players — until results convince us otherwise.

The results, though, can be confusing. Consider the W-League Northeast. The Long Island Rough Riders beat the New Jersey Rangers 10-0 and 7-0. Then the Rangers beat the New York Magic 2-0. Then the Magic beat Long Island. Go figure.

We do have one great resource on the W-League, though: AWK’s Chris Henderson did a lot of roster-crunching in the preseason and named seven favorites: Ottawa Fury, D.C. United Women, Atlanta Silverbacks, Pali Blues, Santa Clarita Blue Heat, Seattle Sounders Women and Vancouver Whitecaps. Vancouver has been disappointing, though its division is stacked. Ottawa suffered a surprising loss but should be watched the rest of the way.

The WPSL Elite is more clear-cut. Four teams are stacked with WPS talent. Four aren’t, though one of those teams (New England) has what appears to be a competitive squad. Yet we still have a question at the top — Boston has run off some terrific early wins but lost on the road to a well-rested Chicago team. Chicago takes the top spot for now, but Boston may easily claim it at some point.

Here’s what we have so far (at the bottom, check out the games to watch — or follow on Twitter — this week):

1. Chicago Red Stars (3-0-0, WPSL Elite) – roster
The Red Stars moved down from WPS after the 2010 season and kept a handful of experienced players. They also added WPS stars Lori Chalupny and Jen Buczkowski. The Boston game was their first real test, and they passed, winning 1-0.

Continue reading →

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Single-Digit Soccer: What age for travel? Tryouts?

Posted on by Beau Dure

We’re in the midst of travel tryouts, in between massive thunderstorms. That means a bunch of second-graders are out showing their stuff, hoping to make the cut for U9.

Of course, we’re not supposed to be doing that, according to … well, everyone. No one seems to be making the case for starting travel soccer at the U9 level, and yet everyone’s doing it.

Consider the U.S. Soccer “Best Practices” guide (PDF). They recommend “a few organized matches per season” and “little or no travel” through U10. (I’m not saying I agree with everything here. They say 9-year-olds should NOT be organized and hold their positions. The reality: Competitive 8-year-olds with a real interest in soccer want to play real games. They’re sick of “magnetball” — particularly if they’re little guys who don’t fare well in a scrum.)

SoccerIndiana.org did a neat state-by-state survey (PDF) asking when “competitive play” begins. Most states started around 10 or 11. Most directors surveyed said they’d rather start a little later.

Then there’s this essay based partly on the book Game On by Tom Farrey, which suggests that we Americans are the only ones pushing our kids to play such organized sports so early in life. (The English parent on my team would disagree.) It points to a real issue with having travel tryouts so early — the “early bloomers” could end up getting all the coaching attention. I think my club is trying to address this problem by having programs geared toward House players as well as Travel players, which is one reason I like my club!

I can see a couple of advantages to having tryouts and travel soccer early. Some kids really want that level of competition. And serious players can get serious coaching without being bogged down by the daisy-pickers who drive us U8 parent coaches to distraction.

But can we do that without putting 8-year-old kids through a meat-grinder tryout at an age in which it’s really difficult to spot the best players?

I think so, and the answer may be what some local clubs are doing at the U8 level. Offer additional programs to your House league. And don’t have tryouts for them. The most serious players — who, not coincidentally, will usually be the best players as well — will sign up.

Give everyone the “free play” so treasured by the youth soccer cognoscenti these days. Then give the most soccer-savvy players a chance to do a little more.

At least, that’s the hypothesis I’m sticking with for now. That might change tomorrow. These aren’t easy questions with easy answers. But the good news is that no one’s listening to me.

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The U.S. Open Cup, women’s soccer and “data points”

Posted on by Beau Dure

U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati is an economist by trade — which is good, because if you see the financial documents linked later on, you’ll remember that he doesn’t get paid for his role with the federation. (Perhaps it’s a little unfair that the person making the big bucks, CEO Dan Flynn, rarely has to face the media while we pester Gulati all the time. But I digress.)

So when we pestered Gulati before Sunday’s USA-China women’s game, he made one telling statement: “I’ve been doing this too long to get too up or down by individual data points.”

Whether you agree with everything Gulati does or not, this statement is one thing that separates his thought processes from most of us who yap about soccer on the Internet. We in the virtual soccer community can “prove” lots of things from single data points:

  • Hey, it’s 50 degrees in Chicago today! That proves MLS can play through the winter!
  • The Rochester Rhinos won the Open Cup! That proves the A-League is better than MLS!
  • We sold a lot of tickets for one exhibition game between Manchester United and Real Madrid! That proves that if MLS teams simply spent themselves silly, we’d have crowds like this every game!
  • The WPS games immediately after the World Cup drew huge crowds! That proves WPS has made it!
  • The U.S. men won in Italy! Why aren’t we ranked in the top 10?

In the long run, it’s a good thing the powers that be don’t make decisions based on isolated data points. They might see a few hundred people gathered for one of last spring’s WPS games and figure women’s soccer is dead. They might see empty seats in MLS cities — even in places like Toronto where the seats are apparently sold but not occupied — and figure MLS is struggling. They might notice that ratings trumpeted as big numbers for European broadcasts are in the same ballpark as the numbers that have fans of The Ultimate Fighter on edge.

Let’s look at a couple of data points and see how the situation is a little more complicated than it appears:

Continue reading →

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You want U.S. Soccer involvement in elite women’s game? Here you go …

Posted on by Beau Dure

I don’t see the press release at USSoccer.com yet, but there was a second announcement today in addition to Pia Sundhage’s roster for the Olympics. Here’s the key excerpt:

Following the FIFA Women’s World Cups for the Under-17 and Under-20 age levels this coming fall, the head coaching positions for those teams will become full-time for the first time. In addition, U.S. Soccer will hire another full-time coach whose main focus will be on enhancing the player development environment for young players from coast to coast.

So before today’s game against China, U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati held a press conference with women’s technical director April Heinrichs and women’s development director Jill Ellis.

Does this sound boring so far? In some respects, it’s not a huge announcement. But these little announcements — like the hiring of Heinrichs and Ellis a while ago — are adding up to something, and the press conference led to a wide-ranging talk on women’s soccer.

So in the 20 minutes before this game starts, I’ll try to sum up:

– Heinrichs and Ellis say they’re trying to shift the focus of U.S. development from physical and psychological to tactical and technical.

– Will we see the women duplicate the U.S. U17 men’s Bradenton residency? Heinrichs and Ellis weren’t enthusiastic about that. Heinrichs says it’s a good way to win a U17 World Cup, but she and Ellis want to cast a wider net for players at that age for future national team development.

– Heinrichs says an 18-year-old American recently had to choose between college and a lucrative deal with Lyon in France.

– Might we see a national B team to keep more players in active international play? Gulati thinks it’s possible and said Heinrichs once drew up some similar plans.

– The big news you’ve already seen us tweet: In 30-45 days, U.S. Soccer will convene a meeting of various stakeholders in the women’s game: USL, former WPS teams … and yes, MLS, either teams or league staff or both. (I forgot to ask if Dan Borislow was invited.)

– An interesting WPS post-mortem piece: Gulati says U.S. Soccer offered 12 months ago to help WPS with league administration. They were turned down.

I’m thinking regular readers here might have some thoughts. Have at it.

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Random bits of U.S. women’s pro soccer history

Posted on by Beau Dure

This week, I participated in a roundtable discussion (sort of — we didn’t see anyone else’s answers until today) on WPS’s demise, and Julie Foudy sent us scrambling down Memory Lane with an espnW column about the next steps in pro women’s soccer.

Taking the roundtable first: It’s a little humbling to answer a question and then have someone closer to the situation give a diametrically opposite answer. That’s what happened when I was asked about the effect the WPS’s folding will have on youth soccer. I said none. Melissa Henderson, who actually plays, said millions of little girls will have their dreams crushed.

In the tangible sense, I’m right. Millions of girls play soccer, and even if WPS had eight healthy teams, only a couple hundred of them would be playing in the league. In WPS’s last season, I think the league had fewer American pro players than my local club had at the U8 level. Thousands of women are currently in college on at least a partial scholarship; maybe 100 have any reasonable hope of getting paid to play anywhere. Generally, kids aren’t playing sports or participating in activities in the hopes of going pro. I never thought of being a professional piano player, even though I nearly wound up a professional music-type person. (My college music department loved me for reasons I can’t fully explain.) My elementary school’s chess club isn’t full of people hoping to be the next Nakamura — I doubt they even know who he is.

But in the intangible sense, Melissa’s right. Seeing women playing pro soccer gives a sense that anything’s possible. Losing that is a disappointment.

Over to Foudy’s piece: There is a small contingent of keyboard warriors (that’s the MMA term for guys who act tough behind their computer keyboards) who will never forgive Foudy for comments they’re not even sure she actually made back in 1999 at the height of Women’s World Cup mania. Let’s ignore that and focus on actual facts.

But there were some conflicts between the women’s stars and the U.S. Soccer establishment at that time. And that’s led to some interesting historical research in some quarters of the Web.

Summing up, randomly:

1. After the ’99 Cup, the USWNT sought to get paid a bit more. There was a player boycott for a 2000 tournament in Australia before the team and U.S. Soccer made a deal.

2. MLS’s Mark Abbott, the key man behind the single-entity structure and other aspects of MLS’s ultimately successful business plan, helped draw up a business plan for the WUSA, which the investors rejected. (Also interesting in that story: WUSA appealed to Phil Anschutz, who at the time owned several MLS teams, before it closed up shop in 2003. If only we could interview the famously reclusive Anschutz to ask why he said no.)

3. MLS made a late bid of its own to counter the eventual WUSA proposal, though details were sketchy. You can see the reaction here.

4. Women’s players had two reasons not to go with MLS at the time. First, they had a fresh dispute with USSF. Second, MLS was far from the juggernaut it is today. You might be able to dispute Point A. If you want to dispute Point B, talk to the lawyers who spent 2000 arguing for the league’s life in court or talk to your local Tampa Bay Mutiny fan.

All of this came about in the context of where women’s soccer goes from here. Foudy’s column suggested that MLS involvement would make more sense today than it would have in 1999.

Hard to see why that’s a controversial point. The disputes between the women’s national team and U.S. Soccer are largely a thing of the past. And MLS has come a long, long way from contracting two teams in 2001.

And yet, MLS and its teams have a right to be wary. They’re still not swimming in profit. A women’s league could be done cheaply — you could fund several good teams just on David Beckham’s salary — but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a good investment.

That leads to one curious point, though. If MLS isn’t quite to the point at which it can support a small-scale women’s league today, why was arrogant of the WUSA founders (players and executives) to spurn MLS involvement when the league was in a downturn in 2001?

Starting a women’s sports league is difficult — only the WNBA is still around, and it might not be here if not for the NBA’s support. And starting a soccer league is difficult — the American pro landscape is littered with failed leagues, of which only two (the ASL of the 1920s/30s and the NASL of the late 60s-early 80s) made any impression.

So starting a women’s soccer league is doubly difficult. It requires a bit of trial and error. And it hardly seems fair to load it down with baggage from old conflicts few people fully understand.

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Video: D.C. United Women vs. Virginia Beach Piranhas interviews

Posted on by Beau Dure

Still testing various video editors. The Flip video editor did some unnecessary transitions, and I lost the caption for D.C. United Women goalkeeper Didi Haracic.

The topics covered here:

1. Mikaela Howell, a youth teammate of Lianne Sanderson’s back in England, scored both goals for D.C. United Women. (Sanderson and Joanna Lohman weren’t eligible to play in this one. Marisa Abegg also was out because her boyfriend is briefly back from Afghanistan. And Becky Sauerbrunn is still busy with the national team.) The first was a beautiful turn at the top of the box. One day, I’ll get a goal on video. D.C. United Women had highlights from the Breakers exhibition, so maybe they’ll post these highlights later.

2. The Piranhas have a diverse roster, to say the least. They have a couple of players from Sweden and three Nigerian players — goalkeeper Marbel Egwuenu and skilled speedsters Linda Chukwuji and Esther Anyanwu. Coach Wendy Waddell’s comments are recruiting them sight unseen are interesting.

3. After seeing the United-Breakers exhibition a week ago, the physicality of this game was stunning. I counted three blatant Piranhas fouls in the first 80 seconds. United adjusted and started to shove back as well. The ref was generally consistent, at least, and she started to take more control with a few whistles late in the first half.

4. D.C. United Women have three talented college goalkeepers on the roster. Didi Haracic (Loyola, Md.) was fantastic against the Breakers last week, and she played well in the first half in this game. Danielle DeLisle (Virginia) played the second half. Britt Eckerstrom (Penn State) was unable to play Saturday. As you’ll see in the video, the team plans to rotate to make sure the players are developing.

5. For about 10 minutes, no matter where I stood on the sideline, the ball followed. I trapped one, and another whipped past me to the wall of the bleachers. It was a little eerie, like I had a magnet for the ball or something.

Anyway, here are a few comments on video …

(And yes, I’m aware of the glitch in which the video freezes on Jorden’s face. The interviews that follow: Haracic on goalkeeping at 2:30 mark, Jorden on rotating goalkeepers, Haracic on rotating goalkeepers)

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