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Fox Soccer Channel comes to Greeley
UNC’s Alexsys Tamayo, right, clears the ball away from Creighton’s Brittney Neumann on Sunday at Jackson Stadium. (photo by George Tanner/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
It was funny. When University of Northern Colorado soccer coach Tim Barrera spoke of this Sunday’s game, he didn’t call it the Wyoming game. Or this Sunday’s game. Or “our next game.” Or the Front Range Derby.
He called it the Fox Soccer Channel game.
That’s right, Fox Soccer Channel, the American soccer fan’s lifeline to the world’s game, is coming to Greeley.
For the fifth consecutive season, NCAA Division I men’s and women’s players will have an opportunity to shine on national television. Under an agreement with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, Fox Soccer Channel’s will telecast eight women’s and 12 men’s matches this season.
Check out some of the teams in the lineup: Indiana, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Santa Clara, Georgetown, Notre Dame, USC, UCLA, Texas A&M. …
And Northern Colorado vs. Wyoming.
“It will be interesting when I watch the video of the Carolina vs. Wake Forest match. Last week, they were hyping No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 7, or whatever, Wake Forest. Now we’ll see what they have to say about No. 182 vs. No. 147,” Barrera said. “It’ll be good because they don’t always show a lot of the mid-major conferences, and it gives us an opportunity to show off this facility.”
Jackson Stadium (check out our driving directions to the stadium here) is a beautiful facility, and it will be difficult for the TV audience to see just how nice it is. Any team in this state would be happy to play in it, and many would be proud to call it home.
But it’s the Bears who call it home, and they are expecting company on Sunday. It’s not too long a drive to UNC from Laramie, so the hardcore fans will show up. And Barrera said he believes Wyoming is organizing a road trip on a bus for those who want to carpool or who don’t have other transportation.
UNC’s marketing folks have been working overtime to get the word out about the game in an attempt to fill the stands. Barrera said the 3 p.m. kickoff helps UNC’s efforts because students will be out of bed by that time, people in the community will be out of church (as opposed to the 11 a.m. starts) and some people who leave Greeley for the weekend will be able to return in time for the match.
The coach said the crowd will be in for a good match.
“Last year we won our game against them in the last minute,” he said. “The year before, I think they beat us. The last five years it’s been a 1-0 game except for one year.”
And to fuel that competitive spirit, the Cowboys and Bears have decided to start a tradition. They have had a cup made, and they’ve dubbed the friendly rivalry the Front Range Derby. The trophy will sit on a table between the teams’ benches during the telecast.
The teams are familiar with each other. Wyoming’s roster has eight women from Colorado (and only two from Wyoming, oddly), and Barrera said some of the players from each team know each other. And the coaching staffs are no strangers. Danny Sanchez, in his second year at the helm at Wyoming, was the women’s head coach at Metropolitan State College for six seasons. He led the Roadrunners to Division II national championships in 2004 and 2006 and was the 2004 Division II coach of the year. He also oversaw the Metro State men’s program from 2004-07.
Fox Soccer Channel’s college broadcast team consists of Dean Link, play-by-play; Keith Tabatznik, color commentary; and Kyndra de St. Aubin, color analysis.
Linke is radio voice of the United Soccer Leagues’ Carolina RailHawks. Tabatznik recorded 220 victories in 22 years as the men’s soccer coach at Georgetown. And de St. Aubin is a former collegiate soccer player at the University of Minnesota who has covered professional and collegiate sports in Milwaukee for ESPN and the Big 10 Network.
And because of those broadcast guests and the national viewing audience, Barrera said UNC is excited: “If you come to one game all year, make it this one.”
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