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Good Friday evening to you all, tonight I'm in Greensboro, North Carolina on my way to somewhere warm and sunny. I'll be on until 10 p.m. EST after which our West Coast correspondent Jahmal Corner will take the reins. We have folks all over the country sending us updates and we want you to weigh in as well, send us your emails at LIVE@topdrawersoccer.com and tell us what you think or ask us what you want to know about. Our first live update comes in just a few minutes.

 

7:05 p.m. - OK, starting off with the men, Jorge Salcedo's #21 UCLA Bruins have beaten in-state rivals UC Davis. You can read about it HERE.

Do you think the Bruins are showing the chemistry to go with the talent they put out on the field? How good can the Bruins be this year?

I see a couple of freshmen scored tonght. Evan Raynr, veteran of the great national championship Real So Cal teams, and Chandler Hoffman of a somewhat less known club background in Alabama, yes Alabama, showed signs of being ready to contribute immediately to the program at Westwood.

 

7:17 p.m. - Big matchup on the women's side, #6 Wake Forest vs. #17 Penn State in Connecticut at the Huskies' tournament. JF texts us to say the match is scoreless after 32 minutes, with Wake holding an advantage in shots and corners in the rain at Storrs.

 

7:20 p.m. - Text from SoCal Watcher to say Cal State Fullerton leads Michigan 2-0 midway through the 2nd half. Both teams are down to 10 women after a fight in the first half led to straight reds for both perpetrators.

7:23 p.m. - Tim from WVU tells us the #11 Mountaineers and #7 Cavs are scoreless at halftime of a women's game in Charlottesville. WVU had the edge in shots and corner kicks after 45 minutes.

7:25 p.m. - OK - catching up on my emails, Wake has beaten Penn State 1-0 on a 1st half winner from Jill Hutchinson. Danielle Toney was denied by Wake goalkeeper Laura Morse on a late bid to equalize. The Demon Deacons are now 7-0 and looking good! Another tough, close loss to a ranked team from Penn State.

7:30 p.m. - Fullerton hung on to win that match 2-0 over Michigan, The Fullerton women pick up their first win of the season. Thanks for the emails.

 

7:35 p.m. - In a transcontinental women's matchup featuring a couple of teams making strong bids to be in the postseason tourney, Mauricio Ingrassio's Long Beach State 49ers defeated Harvard 2-0 in Cambridge, Mass. Good win for the 49ers. Read about it HERE.

7:40 p.m. - #51 Denver has defeated #19 Kansas 2-1 at the Colorado College event in Colorado Springs. HERE is a match report.

 

I'm starting to see the women's game mirror the men a bit in terms of parity. It seems each new season there are more teams capable of beating the established top teams, which can only be a good thing for fans of the game.

7:42 p.m. Matt Eliason continues to show he is one of the top forwards in the men's game, banging in a pair of goals to lead Tim Lenahan's #9 Northwestern Wildcats this afternoon at the NIU tournament vs. Oakland University. Read the full story HERE

 

7:47 p.m. - Lauren Hill continues her strong early-season form for the #14 Michigan State Spartans, scoring twice in a 2-0 win over Illinois State. HERE is the match report. 

Any Spartans' fans out there? This team has really thrown the gauntlet down in the Big Ten. How far can they take it?

 

7:55 p.m. - End of the hour rant: Thinking about the double ejection mentioned earlier in the women's game. I'm a little surprised we don't see more of this. The level of physical play allowed in both the men's and women's college game is unlike just about anywhere in the world. I think the trend away from skill and toward graft over the years has run a logical course to where a lot of games ride on the edge when it comes to temper and even violent conduct. Couple that with an almost chronic lack of respect for referees in American soccer and you have a recipe for something pretty volatile, especially in the men's game. I'd like to see this addressed in the college game through the coaches and institution of stiffer enforcement of the rules of the game when it comes to hard fouling and violent play.

What do you think?

 

8:05 p.m. - It's not exactly the Beanpot, but a good men's matchup tonight in Boston with Harvard beating #40 Boston U in a game of unbeatens. Austin Harms got the shutout for the Crimson as they send a message that they are a bona fide tournament contender. Read about it HERE.

8:12 p.m. - Talk about a statistic that is hard to fully appreciate: Michigan State goalkeeper Avery Steinlage recorded another shutout in goal today for the Spartan men, leading his team to a 2-0 win over Lipscomb. With the 90 minutes of clean sheet, Steinlage has now kept the ball out of his net for a staggering 1,088 consecutive minutes. That's more than 12 full matches, and yes, that's an NCAA record.

8:20 p.m. - Akron, the #1 men's team in our TDS Tournament 48 National Ranking, has remained unbeaten with a 4-1 win over High Point tonight.

8:22 p.m. - Penelope from Georgia writes regarding college soccer:  "My reaction to college soccer is that I'm a little afraid to have my son play it in a couple of years.  When my son was eight he was going to goal and was taken out from behind.  I told the coach how nervous that made me, and he said, "Just wait until he gets older, then it gets really vicious".  Now he is older (15) and I see exactly what he meant."

 

8:27 p.m. - The tough start for John Trask's #17 UIC Flames continues tonight with a 2-0 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats at the Louisville Invitational. Former Reston FC goalkeeper Dan Williams records his 15th career shutout for the Wildcats. I remember watching a game Williams played in during his senior year in high school and listening to two dads who had never played soccer breaking down the keeper's goal kicks and surmising that since they weren't (in their opinion) traveling far enough, Williams was never going to amount to anything as a college player. How do you like him now dads? Read about him HERE.

 

8:34 p.m. - Mike Freitag's Indiana Hoosiers bounce back from a tough weekend with a 3-2 win over #38 New Mexico at Notre Dame's Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament. HERE is the match report. The Fighting Irish play Seattle in the next game at South Bend.

 

8:45 p.m. - #11 West Virginia and #7 Virginia finish deadlocked at 1-1 after 110 minutes in Charlottesville. It was the first overtime game in 11 meetings for the two respected women's programs. Nikki Izzo-Brown of WVU and Steve Swanson of Virginia are two of the nicer coaches you'll meet in the women's game - definitely the kind of coaches who really care about their players.

 

8:58 p.m. - The #34 Georgetown men pick up a good win tonight, as you can see HERE.

 

9:03 p.m. - George Kuntz's #25 UC Irvine Anteaters were upset tonight by the DePaul Blue Demons. Read about it HERE.

 

9:08 p.m. - Text from Jodi at Maryland, the #11 Terps lead the #22 Boston College men 1-0 at halftime, with Jason Herrick scoring in the 7th minute on assists by Casey Townsend and Matt Kassel. I still laugh at the notion that Wake Forest and Maryland were going to be down this year. Just watch.

 

 9:13 p.m. RSM from Virginia texts to tell us James Madison's men's team has defeated St. Joseph's 1-0, the CAA squad besting the A10 team tonight; Also - Charles texts to tell us Colin Mitchell and Danny Mawanga scored, with Brian Ramsey getting an assist, to help Oregon State defeat Detroit 2-0. Thanks.

 

9:22 p.m. - On the women's side, the #13 Cal Golden Bears win again. Read about it HERE.

 

Just 38 minutes until you get the tanned rested and ready Jahmal Corner to take over for road-weary me. I hope you've enjoyed our 2nd offering of Friday Night Live. Remember Jahmal will be with you until 1 a.m. EST, going over all the finals, including the west coast games as they roll in.

 

9:32 p.m. - Dara texts to tell us the #15 Dartmouth and #19 Connecituct men's squads are playing overtime now in the pouring rain at Dartmouth.

 

9:40 p.m. - And it's a final, The Big Green get the advantage in corners and shots, but the match with the Huskies ends up even. 

 

9:46 p.m. - Winding down my portion of Friday Night LIVE. So far we've seen #1 Akron stay undefeated on the men's side, with Wake Forest and Michigan State continuing in good form on the women's side. Last night we were surprised to see Florida State drop a match to in-state rival UCF, but watch out for the Golden Knights.

 

I wanted to ask Jahmal Corner if he is in fact the "Jahmal" from the old disco song lyric "I love Jahmal, he's the greatest dancer....." - Were they talking about you?

 

9:55 p.m. - In a men's ACC opener, #7 Virginia and #14 Duke are scoreless at the half at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville.

 

10:00 p.m. - 72 minutes in, Maryland still leads BC 1-0 behind a Jason Herrick goal. And with that I bid you a fond adieu. Follow Jahmal for the next three hours, and we'll have the new rankings and Team of the Week Sunday night overnight. Until then, this is Rob signing OUT.

 

10:06 p.m. - Sorry I'm late, I teach a two-hour dance class every Friday ... Rob, that should answer your question.

10:14 p.m. - And we've got a final from the George Mason men who knocked off Presbyterian College 2-0. It's tough to root against a university named after a founding father - that's just un-American.

10:23 p.m. - The No. 25 Indiana Hoosier women made a nice comeback from two goals down to clip Hofstra 3-2. At 6-0-0, the Hoosiers are off to their best start in school history.

10:35 p.m. - Big matchup on the men's side between Connecticut and Dartmouth, two teams we've got ranked in the top 20 of our poll. It just ended in a 1-1 draw.

10:40 p.m. - AND ANOTHER GOAL!!! Former TDS Rookie of the Year Michelle Enyeart just scored her second goal of the match in the 28th minute where Portland is taking Illinois to the woodshed 3-0. 

10:45 p.m. - (Random anecdote #1) Speaking of Portland, I miss Megan Rapinoe a little. She was my favorite women's college player last season, and after chatting with her a bit at the WPS Draft in St. Louis last year, where she was taken by the Chicago Red Stars, I think I developed a little crush. 

10:55 p.m. - text message from Maryland: Kevin Tangey caps the scoring with a late goal and defending NCAA champion Maryland knocks off Boston College 2-0 in a high profile matchup. 

11:02 p.m. - The Pac-10 prevails over the Big Ten in a women's showdown between Stanford and Purdue. To read, click HERE

11:07 p.m. - (Random anecdote #2) The earlier discussion about two women's players being ejected brings to mind a story that has little relevance but I'm going to tell anyway. I was at a U.S. national team camp a few weeks back and they happened to be having a coach's symposium running at the same time. So these two coaches (whose names will remain anonymous) get into an argument. Coach A, argues that players should be pushed to compete at all costs and that ethics and sportsmanship has to determined on a player's individual basis. Coach B countered that leaving a gray area was dangerous, and that a coach's responsibility is to draw the line between competing and being reckless. Any thoughts?

11:19 p.m. - UPSET CITY BABY!!! That was my best Dick Vitale impression ... I'm not actually sure if he's ever really said that, but it feels right. Anyway, on the women's side Miami knocked off No. 22 Washington 1-0 on a goal from Ashlee Burt. Not the biggest upset in the world, but coming from a Washington State grad every Huskies loss is a big deal. I think I'll toast to this special occasion. And link to it too, HERE

11:30 p.m. - Final from the Duke men's SID, Duke 1, Virginia 0. Details to follow ... 

11:32 p.m. - Here is the link to the Maryland victory HERE

11:33 p.m. - As scores flood in I'm falling behind a little ... mostly on my nachos, they're now room temperature. Here's an update on a few interesting finishes: Notre Dame men easily handled Seattle 3-0; Stony Brook managed an impressive tie against St. John's 1-1; Missouri women beat Auburn 2-1. 

11:45 p.m. - Here's a closer inspection of the St. John's men, who survived a scare tonight against Stony Brook. Click HERE 

11:48 p.m. (Random anecdote #3) Speaking of St. John's, they're getting a gem recruit in Irvine Strikers midfielder Kovi Konowiecki who will attend in 2010. He recently spent some time with the SuperElite Discover Europe team and played well. Nice kid. Nice hair.

11:52 p.m. - Penelope from Georgia writes yet again regarding Random anecdote #2: "I think I overheard the same two coaches talking about a player at the ManU Cup in Portland in May.  One thought you shouldn't have a 'problem child' on your team while the other thought that all great players are 'problem children' and they should be dealt with, but it was worth it in the end."

12:03 a.m. - As promised, more details on the Duke men HERE 

12:10 a.m. - RUNNING OF THE BULLS: The South Florida men beat Virginia Tech 1-0 which presents me with a fine opportunity for self promotion. Here's a recent college preview we posted on South Florida. Enjoy, HERE

12:16 a.m. - One more plug and I promise I'll stop. Although the SMU men lost to Brown 1-0, when TopDrawerSoccer.com produces quality college previews like this ONE everybody's a winner!

12:25 a.m. - Klockner Stadium in Virginia has turned into the venue where evening plans go to die! Three matches there tonight, all overtime games. Dartmouth women beat Seton Hall 1-0 in OT, followed by the Virginia women tying West Virginia 1-1 in double OT. And last but not least, in a don't-turn-your-head-for-a-second-because-you-might-miss-another ... save, thriller, Duke men beat Virginia 1-0 as we reported earlier. Now that's some good soccer under one roof. Unless you have plans.

12:39 a.m. - (Random anecdote #4) I'm a big fan of the Stanford women's freshman class this year, particularly defender Rachel Quon and striker Courtney Verloo, two ladies I saw a lot of at the U.S. National Team camps in Carson, CA. Quon was a Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year and has a neat story having come back from a dreaded ACL injury a year ago. Click HERE to read.

12:56 a.m. - DOWN GO THE FIGHTIN IRISH! Santa Clara women drop No. 7 Notre Dame and their 15-game road winning streak along with them. READ HERE. That might be the headline of the night. We go out with a bang. 

1:05 a.m. - Well, it looks like that's my time. It's been fun. I'd like to give a special shot out to Penelope in Georgia, and of course my muse, Megan Rapinoe. Goodnight everybody.

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