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Linder, Marshall, Casey, high hopes at Metro State, Rapids playoff hunt, more
Lots of notes, many of them from Boulder. Let’s get to ‘em. …
GOALKEEPER HONORED: University of Colorado senior goalkeeper Kara Linder was named the Big 12 defensive player of the week for games played Aug. 21-23, the conference office announced. Linder led Colorado to a 1-0 win over then-No. 11 Oklahoma State on Saturday. She made three saves, helping the Buffaloes to their first regular-season and conference victory, while claiming the seventh shutout of her career.
BUFFS RANKED: After the victory against Oklahoma State, Colorado made its first appearance in the Top 25 of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, checking in at No. 18. The Buffs are ranked No. 2 in the central region, behind Texas A&M, which unfortunately does not play a game in Colorado this season.
TWO DOUBLEHEADERS AT DU: The Buffaloes and the University of Denver women’s team will play a pair of games against Illinois and St. Mary’s on Friday and Sunday. Friday’s schedule: Buffs-Illiniois at 4 p.m. and DU-St. Mary’s at 6:15; Sunday’s schedule: CU-St. Mary’s at 11 a.m. and Pioneers-Illini at 1:15 p.m. Illinois moved up in the most recent NSCAA poll after one game, climbing from 17th to 13th. The tournament marks the first time CU has faced Illinois and St. Mary’s. Then, next week, DU and CU will play Oregon and Colgate in the Buffs’ tournament in Boulder.
OUR PLANS FOR THE WEEKEND: ColoradoSoccerNow.com will be covering Friday’s games at DU. We’re working on a plans for coverage of Sunday’s matches, but I’ll be at the Rapids’ fixture against Houston. We’ll write about that, and we’ll cover the DU men’s exhibition against Stanford on Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
MORE HONORS FOR MARSHALL: CU senior Nikki Marshall has been named one of 30 nationwide candidates for the 2009 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. The award, presented annually to the NCAA Division I student-athlete of the year in nine sports, is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School; it was started in 2001 to honor student-athletes who remain committed to their university through their senior season.
ROADRUNNERS, THE MAVERICKS ARE AFTER YOU: After losing only two games and reaching the NCAA semifinals last season, the Metropolitan State College women’s soccer team is aiming high in 2009. All-America goalkeeper Becca Maloney makes a bold prediction at the Web site of The Metropolitan, the Metro State’s excellent student newspaper. Go to The Met’s site, then click on SPORTS on the left side to get to a link to the story. Metro hosts Nebraska-Omaha at 5 p.m. Friday at the Auraria fields and Angelo State at 11 a.m. Sunday. Metro’s men’s team opens the season at 1 p.m. Saturday at home against the University of Mary.
IF THE MLS REGULAR SEASON ENDED TODAY … the Rapids would be in line for the final wild-card spot and would play in the Eastern Conference bracket. The final two wild-card teams would be chosen via a tie-breaker between the Rapids (8-7-6), Toronto (8-8-6) and New England (8-6-6), all tied with 30 points. Based on points per game vs. each other, Toronto and the Rapids would qualify. So keep an eye on the results for Toronto and New England, which will be as critical for the Rapids as many of the Western Conference results. And on Sept. 5, TFC visits Colorado. On Sept. 12 the Rapids head to Toronto. then New England makes its only appearance at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Oct. 3.
CASEY PICKED BY NATS: Colorado Rapids striker Conor Casey has been named to the United States’ 24-man roster in advance of World Cup qualifiers against El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago. The U.S. hosts El Salvador on Sept. 5 in Sandy, Utah, and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN Classic and TeleFutura. Four days later, the U.S. travels to Hasley Crawford Stadium to take on Trinidad & Tobago. The match kicks off in Port-of-Spain at 5 p.m. MT, with live coverage on ESPN Classic and Galavision. The U.S. will begin gathering Aug. 30 in Utah for training. Real Salt Lake midfielder Kyle Beckerman and forward Robbie Findley are making their first appearance on a World Cup qualifying roster.
UNITED STATES
GOALKEEPERS: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton FC)
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Jonathan Spector (West Ham)
MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca)
FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore (Hull City), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Charlie Davies (FC Sochaux), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake)
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