SMU (1-0-1) vs. Stanford (1-0-0)  - The Mustangs from SMU travel to Stanford to square off with the Cardinal on Friday night.  The two teams were scheduled to face each other last year but the match was cancelled.  The last time they played was in the 2000 season during the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tourney.  SMU won that game 2-1 to advance to the College Cup.  Stanford goes into the contest ranked by most polls including the College Soccer News Top 30 poll as the number one team in the country.  SMU is ranked as the number eight team in the country in the College Soccer News and NSCAA polls.  

 

All-American midfielder Diego Walsh leads the SMU attack.  As in the past, the SMU midfield is very talented and very quick and they are capable of dominating play.  Kevin Hudson, David Chun, J.D. Johnson, Asher Hamilton and Kellen Zindel join Walsh as the Mustang linkmen.  Freshman Duke Hashimoto has played well up-top for SMU in their two matches to date. Toti Suarez and Tom Dolan are both veteran defenders who are outstanding soccer players.  Sophomore T.J. Tomasso was in the goal for SMU last week as they defeated UT Dallas 3-0 and tied Wisconsin-Milwaukee 1-1. 

 

All-American forward Roger Levesque leads the Stanford Cardinal attack.  He is joined up-top by Darren Fernandez.  Todd Dunivant, Taylor Graham, Aaron Maines, and Abe Geiger give Stanford a very solid backline.  Senior Johanes Maliza is an outstanding midfielder.  Midfielders James Twellman and Mike Wilson each tallied two goals for Stanford in their season opening 5-0 win over Sacramento State.  Andrew Terris and Robby Fulton split time between the pipes last week.  Terris is the starter but Fulton is also a very capable netminder. 

 

Give SMU the edge in the midfield and Stanford the edge up-top.  The backlines are even.  Tomasso is going to be an outstanding collegiate netminder but he does not yet have the collegiate experience that Terris has so give Stanford the edge there.  The Cardinals also have the home field advantage but that didn't help them back in 2000.  Look for it to be a very hard fought match between two of the best college soccer teams in the country.  This one could go either way. 

 

Indiana University (0-0-2) vs. William and Mary  (0-1-0) - This one will take place on Friday night in the St. John's Classic in Jamaica, New York.  Since St. John's is in the process of constructing a new soccer complex, the Classic will be played this year at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at King's Point.  The Hoosiers who are currently ranked as the number two team in the country by College Soccer News tied Rutgers 0-0 and Clemson 1-1 last weekend.  William and Mary is ranked as the number 27 team in the country in the most recent College Soccer News Poll.  The Tribe outshot Appalachian State 14 to 9 in their season opener but Appalachian State came out on top in the statistic that really matters as freshman Steve Mellor scored two goals for the Mountaineers for a 2-1 win over the Tribe.  

 

Indiana is lead by College Soccer News All-Americans Pat Noonan, Ryan Mack, and John Swann.  Look for senior Phil Presser, who has moved from midfield to sweeper, to be a key ingredient in any success that the Hoosiers have this year.  William and Mary is lead by College Soccer News All-American forward Carlos Garcia.  William and Mary retuned the bulk of their attack from the 2001 season but never really got their attack in full gear in their season opener.  Indiana looks much stronger than the Tribe and are the favorite to win this one.  However, the William and Mary attack is a "sleeping giant" that could awaken at any time.  If they play disciplined team defense and their attack comes alive then this could be  a very interesting and exciting game.  William and Mary Coach Al Albert and Indiana Coach Jerry Yeagley are two of the best and have contributed greatly to college soccer.

 

Indiana University (0-0-2) vs. St. John's (0-1-0) -  These two national powerhouses will face each other Saturday night in the St. John's Classic.   St. John's is ranked by College Soccer News as the number 7 team in the country.  St. John's lost their season opener 2-1 to Boston College.  The Boston College win put an end to St. John's 14 game win streak over Boston College.  Indiana and St. John's faced each other two times last year with St. John's getting the early season win over Indiana in Bloomington and Indiana returning the favor by defeating St. John's when the two teams met each other in a semi-final match at the College Cup.   Angel Rodriquez is among the players who will lead the St. John's attack.  All-American Chris Wingert anchors the Red Storm defense.  Both Indiana and St. John's play very good team defense so the winner of this one will likely be the team that stays organized and does not have any defensive breakdowns.  Indiana sophomore forward Mike Ambersley may not be able to play due to a back injury so that could hamper the Hoosier attack.  Those who get to see this one will likely be treated to an excellent college soccer match.  Both of these teams are well coached and will enter the match fully prepared.   

 

Virginia (2-0-0) vs. Virginia Commonwealth University (2-0-0) -  Both teams travel to College Park, Maryland to face each other Friday night in the Maryland Classic.  Virginia defeated Kentucky and Rhode Island to win the Virginia Soccer Classic.  VCU defeated Syracuse 1-0 and then blanked Hartwick 4-0 to claim the Nike/Alltel Soccer Classic.  Both teams have a balanced attack and can play very solid team defense.  From top to bottom Virginia is a stronger team but VCU will be up for this one and they are capable of pulling off the upset.  Virginia is ranked as the number three team in the country in the most recent College Soccer New Poll.  VCU in not ranked.    The Virginia attack is lead by All-American forward Alecko Eskandarian.  David Comfort is sound in the goal for the Cavaliers.  VCU's senior midfielder Carlos Garay was named the Tourney MVP in the Nike/Alltel Classic last weekend.  It may sound overly simple but the winner of this one is likely to be determined to a very large degree by which team wants it the most and comes prepared to take care of business. 

 

Creighton (1-0-1) vs. Kentucky  (1-0-1) - The Bluejays from the Missouri Valley Conference and the Wildcats from the Mid-American Conference travel to Greenville, South Carolina to face each other Friday night in a first round match in the Furman Invitational at Eugene Stone Soccer Stadium on the Campus of Furman University.   Creighton is ranked by College Soccer News as the number 22 team in the country.  Kentucky is ranked by College Soccer News as the as the number 25 team in the country.     Coach Bob Warming's Creighton squad defeated Oakland (Michigan) 1-0 over the labor day weekend and tied Notre Dame 1-1.  Coach Ian Collin's Kentucky Wildcats faced two Atlantic Coast Conference Teams last weekend.  They lost a heartbreaker to Virginia 3-2 but bounced back to defeat Maryland 2-1. 

 

Creighton played very good team defense last week led by the efforts of netminder Mike Gabb and defender Joe Wieland.  The Creighton attack is led by Mike Tranchilla, juco transfer Damien Westfield and midfielder

David Wagenfuhr who is a College Soccer News 2nd Team All-America selection.  Kentucky is solid from front to back but they are doing some rebuilding defensively.  Forward John Monebrake leads the Kentucky attack along with Chris McDaniel.  Nathan Fleetwood and J.D. Stephenson are solid midfielders and Senior Greg Raber is an outstanding netminder.  Both programs have been successful in the past but both are seeking to establish themselves this year.  Both teams have a proven finisher,  a talented core of midfielders, and both teams have very good netminders who are experienced.  The play of the backline may very well be the be the difference in this one.