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[Frank Cunha]

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4. MAKING A LIST: 2004 NCAA Division I men's Conference Champions

ACC -- Virginia.
America East -- Boston Univ.
Atlantic Soccer -- FIU.
Atlantic Sun -- UCF
Atlantic 10 -- George Washington.
Big East -- Connecticut.
Big South -- Coastal Carolina.
Big Ten -- Michigan State
Big West -- UC Santa Barbara.
CAA -- Hofstra.
Conference USA -- Memphis.
Horizon -- UW-Milwaukee.
Ivy -- Dartmouth.
MAAC -- Marist.
Mid-American -- Akron.
Mid-Continent -- Western Illinois.
Missouri Valley -- SMU.
MPSF -- New Mexico.
Northeast -- Long Island.
Pac-10 -- UCLA.
Patriot -- American.
Southern -- College of Charleston.
WCC -- San Francisco

4. BY THE NUMBERS: NCAA Division I women's tournament upsets

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Six seeds fell in the first two rounds of the NCAA Division I Women's
Tournament:
2-Penn St. (lost to Maryland, 1-0, in second round)
3-Virginia (lost to Duke, 3-0, in second round)
8-Kansas (lost to Nebraska, 2-1 in second round)
9-Texas A&M (lost to Illinois, 2-1, in second round).
10-Florida (lost to Central Florida, 3-2, in first round)
13-Arizona (1ost to Colgate, 1-0, in first round)

[Frank Cunha]

they will have the selection show at 4:30 EST.

[Frank Cunha]

some of the field of 48

Seton Hall to host Hofstra the winner will face powerful Maryland

Boston U vs Dartmouth the winner will face St John's

Conn vs Marist the winner to play seeded Boston College

I will have the whole list later

[Frank Cunha]

4. BY THE NUMBERS: NCAA Division I men's seeds (vs. tournament teams)

Seed. Team (record vs. 2004 tournament teams)
1. Wake Forest (7-5-1)
2. Indiana (6-4-0)
3. Maryland (6-4-0)
4. Virginia (6-2-0)
5. Notre Dame (5-1-2)
6. UCLA (4-2-1)
7. SMU (4-1-0)
8. UNC Greensboro (4-0-0)
9. UC Santa Barbara (4-1-1)
10. Penn State (5-3-5)
11. St. John's (3-4-2)
12. Old Dominion (2-3-1)
13. New Mexico (4-0-0)
14. Creighton (3-2-1)
15. Boston College (6-2-0)
16. VCU (4-4-1)

[Frank Cunha]

Making His Move
Fresno City's Raul Rivera, 22, hopes to pursue a pro career.

By Margaret Slaby
SPORTS EDITOR

11/18/04 09:35:22

Fresno City College's Raul Rivera bursts across midfield, his bright blue Puma cleats a blur in the afternoon sun as he deftly dribbles a soccer ball as if it were tethered to his toes. With a defender shadowing him like Sherlock Holmes, Rivera slices a pass to a teammate, who promptly launches a shot well wide of the goal.


(Scott Adams / Neighbors CityView)

Raul Rivera gets a head on the ball as the Rams' men's soccer team trains on a Wednesday afternoon.

No harm done. This was just a 15-minute, non-contact intra-squad scrimmage during a Monday afternoon team practice. But just like in a real match, Rivera, a 22-year-old sophomore team captain and left striker, figured prominently in Fresno City's offense.

"He's our go-to guy," says Rams' head coach Eric Solberg, whose team just won its sixth straight Central Valley Conference title. "If we're down or we need a goal, everyone starts looking to him."

The Rams, 11-6-1 overall and 5-3-1 in the CVC, earned a No. 4 seed and first-round bye in the 12-team Northern California Regionals. Fresno City will host a second-round match Saturday.

Rivera was the Rams' leading scorer last season, when he was voted the CVC's Most Valuable Player and an All-American for a team that tied for third in the state and was ranked No. 5 in the final National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll. He leads the Rams in goals again this year and, again, was voted the CVC's MVP.

"His No. 1 strength is speed," Solberg says. "And at this level, one of his biggest strengths is experience."

Rivera, a left-footer who can accelerate on a dime and make cuts that leave defenders twirling like ballerinas, has played soccer for 13 years. He played three years of varsity at Tulare Union High and spent his junior season in Florida with the under-17 youth national team. Come February, Rivera will enter his third season with the semi-pro Fresno Fuego, where he lines up at left midfielder.

"I just love everything about soccer," Rivera says. "I love coming out here and putting on your shoes before a practice or a match. I love the game. I love to compete."

Loves to compete. Hates to lose. Rivera is the kind of athlete you don't approach after a loss -- or even a tie.

"I'm a sore loser," Rivera says. "It upsets me most when we lose games we shouldn't lose."

That's happened this year to the Rams, who got off to a rocky 2-4-1 start before winning 11 of their last 13 matches.

Rivera, mild-mannered and easygoing off the field, helped pull the Rams out of their early slump with a dogged determination and focus.

"He's a leader by example on the field," Solberg says. "In two years, he's never made me mad; yes, he's frustrated me ... he does whatever you tell him to do. He's a very intense guy on the field."

He's also a guy who can juke with the best of them, is extremely dangerous in the open field and has a deadly cross.

"He can run with anybody," Solberg says. "He has [Major League Soccer] talent."

Playing professionally is exactly what Rivera wants.

"That's my main goal," he says, "but at my age my time is short. This is my last hurrah, if you will."

And then what? Where will this athlete, who has a passion for hot rods (he hopes to paint his primered 1970 Cavalier midnight blue) and playing Metallica on his acoustic guitar, go if soccer doesn't work out? Rivera says he'd like to get a degree in criminology and continue to be involved in soccer.

"I'll play soccer or coach," Rivera says. "I'd like to play as long as I can.

"I just have to thank God for everything He's done for me. Without him, I'd be nothing."

Other members of Fresno City's team are Tad Patrick, John Camarena, Oscar Solis, Jose Martinez, Felix Perez, Francisco Jalomo, Steve Zachary, Tim Gutierrez, Nick Casagrande, Santiago Elmassian, Raul Gomez, Antonio Gonzalez, Miguel Juarez, Noel Oregon, Jake Howard, Andy Ayers, Carlos Hernandez, Rajdeep Singh, Tyson John, Ricardo Paredes, Gabriel Rojas, Daniel Perez and Nathan West.

Readers may e-mail sports editor Margaret Slaby at mslaby@fresnobee.com.

[Frank Cunha]

St. John's big win against UCLA

http://redstormsports.collegesports....112804aaa.html

[Frank Cunha]

http://www.soccer365.com/US_NEWS/Bre...31_86223.shtml

here is the future superdraft picks

[revolutionfan]

Taylor Twellman's brother, James Twellman, didn't make the list probably because he's out with an ankle injury.

[Frank Cunha]

Michael Radano: Kelly's courage shines bright

Sunday, December 5, 2004

Injured shoulder can't slow down St. John's senior in loss to Maryland


COLLEGE PARK, Md.


It didn't matter who the opponent was, Ryan Kelly was getting back into this game.

After having his shoulder popped back into place, the St. John's University senior ran down the sideline holding his right arm with one objective - to get back into an NCAA Elite Eight soccer game Saturday afternoon against Maryland.

It didn't matter that this was for a chance to play in the Coaches Cup next weekend in Los Angeles.

This game could have been a regular-season Big East game, a club contest or Shawnee High School against his alma mater, Cherokee, Kelly always has one goal in mind - to get back on the field.

"I knew he was coming back out," Kelly's father, Vince, said after the Red Storm fell to Maryland 1-0 on the Terps' Ludwig Field, in front of 4,404 fans. "It's not so much his last college game as he'd come back into any game."

That has been Kelly's approach from the start.

Consider this: Kelly's natural position is defensive midfield. It's where he's at his best. It's the one spot on the field he's most comfortable and the one spot he hopes to play.

Only, this has been a season of injuries for St. John's, and Kelly was asked by coach Dave Masur to move back.ADVERTISEMENT - CLICK TO ENLARGE OR VISIT WEBSITE

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So that's what Kelly did, being moved from sweeper to outside back for much of Saturday's contest.

Then, with the Red Storm down a goal, Masur moved Kelly up to the front line, where he was taken down with 10 minutes to play after a solid hit forced his right shoulder out of its socket.

"Same one as last year," Kelly said. "I've had surgery. It's just something I have to live with. I don't really need it. As long as my legs and foot are OK, I can play."

Not that it's easy.

Kelly came off the field and hung on the advertising board that surrounds Ludwig Field and had the shoulder popped back in. He got up, ran to the scorer's table and played the final 9:23 of the game.

"Well, I knew he wasn't going to stay out of this game," Maryland freshman and Shawnee graduate Stephen King said. "He's always been the type to play no matter what."

This was a matchup that was 19 or so years in the making. This was a game that has been played out many times before, even if the two never met in high school.

Let's face it, if you play soccer in Medford, Marlton or Evesham, you're acquainted. Kelly graduated from Cherokee when King was in eighth grade, but that doesn't mean much.

"The soccer family is small and tight," Kelly said earlier this week. "Every game you play, you know somebody if not most of the other team. I played with his brother and we're all pretty close."

Close, but not close enough to let it change the game.

King was a constant thorn in Kelly and St. John's side, even if he never got a great shot on net. King was a thorn because he wanted to score, and Kelly was all about stopping that. This wasn't man-to-man coverage, but Kelly has made the Red Storm's defense his own, and King was there to ruin the day.

"He's a great player," Kelly said. "We knew they would come out on the attack, and we had to weather that storm."

With 17:57 left, Kelly's defense broke down, and Maryland got the only goal of the afternoon. Not that it really came as a surprise - one can only ask a defense to do so much. And at the moment of the header by A.J. Godbolt, the Terps held advantages in shots (9-4), corners (5-2), and saves (1-4).

A frantic final 10 minutes - in which Kelly played with a limp right arm - yielded nothing.

On one side, that meant King has a trip to Los Angeles and the Final Four next weekend. For Kelly, who headed for the locker room right away but was stopped by several Maryland players, it's time to rehab and prepare for the next level.

"Ryan will recover pretty quick," Vince Kelly said. "He's got a couple of weeks of school left, and then we'll think about the next step."

That next step could be on the professional level, since Kelly is one of 50 seniors to be invited to the Major League Soccer combine.

"I'm excited just to be invited," Kelly said earlier this week.

And why not? He's just trying to get on the field, which is all he's ever done.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reach Michael Radano at (856) 486-2424 or mradano@courierpostonline

[Frank Cunha]

This weekend in Santa Barbara, there was an estimated 11,000 people on hand to watch UCSB take out VCU 4-1 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA College Tournament. After the game, the ecstatic (and no doubt largely inebriated) crowd poured onto the field and carried away the goals

[Lemmy]

Now if only the Portuguese average attendances could be that good and consistent.

[BethlehemFC]

That's an impressive number. I don't really follow college soccer, but I did see the end of the women's title match.

Frank how much did you watch of the tourney?

[Soccerdad]

I watched the ND VS UCLA Womens final, good game, thought ND out played UCLA and deserved the win. The freshman goalie for UCLA was impressive.
Going to our first HS game tomrrow of the season.

[BethlehemFC]

Originally posted by Soccerdad
I watched the ND VS UCLA Womens final, good game, thought ND out played UCLA and deserved the win. The freshman goalie for UCLA was impressive.
Going to our first HS game tomrrow of the season.

From what I saw she did look impressive.

[Ricochet]

Originally posted by BethlehemFC
From what I saw she did look impressive.

I thought she was very impressive.