RSS
DU visits Portland on Friday
The University of Denver women’s soccer team will face Portland on Friday in the opening round of the NCAA tournament at the Clive Charles Soccer Complex in Oregon.
The Pioneers (17-5-1) earned their unprecedented fourth-straight Sun Belt Conference championship by beating Arkansas-Little Rock 1-0 on Saturday in Boca Raton, Florida. Denver has won the SBC tournament seven out of the past nine seasons, and the Pioneers have the seventh-winningest senior class in the nation.
The last time DU and Portland met, the Pilots won 5-0 in the NCAA tournament in Boulder in 2007.
The only loss for Portland (18-1-0) this season came when Texas A&M beat the Pilots in College Station, Texas. The Aggies will host the College Cup from December 4-6.
Washington and Mississippi will play in the other first-round game Friday in Portland, with the winners meeting in the second round on Sunday.
PIONEER HONORED: DU men’s soccer senior captain and midfielder Collin Audley was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation co-player of the week. Audley scored the winning goal in the first half against Seattle on Nov. 5 and followed it with a 79th-minute insurance goal on Saturday in a 2-1 win over Air Force, the only home loss for the Falcons this season. The victories lifted Denver to the No. 4 seed in this week’s conference tournament at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium. This marks the first player-of-the-week award for Audley, and he is the third Pioneer to earn the honor this season, following freshman forward Alex Tarnoczi and goalkeeper Joe Willis. Audley shared this week’s award with New Mexico forward Michael Green, who also scored a pair of goals. The Pioneers will host the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium Thursday through Sunday.
ARENA NAMED MLS COACH OF THE YEAR: Los Angeles’ Bruce Arena has been named the 2009 MLS coach of the year after leading his club to its first playoff berth since 2005 and a top seed in the Western Conference bracket with a 12-6-12 record and 48 points. Arena, now in his second season as Galaxy head coach, led Los Angeles to one of the most dramatic single-season turnarounds in MLS history. In 2008, the Galaxy finished at the bottom of the Western Conference with an 8-13-9 record and 33 points while also giving up a League-high 62 goals. One of Arena’s biggest priorities for 2009 was to solidify his team’s defense. Arena drafted University of Maryland defender Omar Gonzalez with the third overall pick in the draft and brought in U.S. national team veteran Gregg Berhalter to fill in the center of the back line. Arena also handed the goalkeeping duties to first-year MLS goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, a 32-year-old Jamaican international who spent most of his career in Europe. Berhalter, Gonzalez and Ricketts were a big reason the Galaxy cut their goals-against average in half, allowing just 31 this season, the biggest single-season goals-against reversal in league history. Arena also brought in a host of new players, meshed them together and helped reconcile the highly publicized differences between star players Landon Donovan and David Beckham.
SEATTLE’S MONTERO IS NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Seattle Sounders forward Fredy Montero has been named Major League Soccer’s newcomer of the year. Montero, 22, from Barranquilla, Colombia, burst onto the MLS scene in 2009, leading the expansion Sounders FC in scoring with 12 goals while recording seven assists. Montero joined the Sounders after four seasons with Deportivo Cali in Colombia. He spent the 2006-07 season on loan to Colombian squad Atletico Huila. The 2009 MLS All-Star was a key contributor to a Sounders FC team that found success on and off the field in its inaugural season.
MLS Newcomer of the Year Winners
2009: Fredy Montero – Seattle Sounders FC
2008: Darren Huckerby – San Jose Earthquakes
2007: Luciano Emilio – D.C. United
THORNTON IS MLS COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton has been named the MLS comeback player of the year. The former Colorado Rapids goalkeeper is adding another trophy to his collection after being named the goalkeeper of the year last week. The 36-year-old goalkeeper from Edgewood, Maryland, led Chivas USA to its fourth consecutive playoff berth in his first full season as a starter since 2006. After spending eight years as the starting goalkeeper for the Chicago Fire, Thornton spent the 2007 season with Colorado, playing just one game, and made no appearances with New York in 2008 before being traded to Chivas USA on Aug. 1 after Brad Guzan’s departure for Aston Villa. Working in the offseason with Chivas USA goalkeeper coach Leo Percovich, who also worked previously with the Rapids, Thornton came into 2009 slimmer and fitter, and his work paid immediate dividends. He led Chivas USA to a 13-11-6 record and posted a career-best 12 shutouts and 0.87 goals-against average. His 12 shutouts were one shy of the club record, and his goals against average ranks second all-time behind Pat Onstad’s 0.82 in 2007. Thornton led the League in goals against average, shutouts and ranked second in wins with 12.
MLS Comeback Player of the Year
2009: Zach Thornton – Chivas USA
2008: Kenny Cooper – FC Dallas
2007: Eddie Johnson – Kansas City Wizards
2006: Richard Mulrooney – FC Dallas
2005: Chris Klein – Kansas City Wizards
2004: Brian Ching – San Jose Earthquakes
2003: Chris Armas – Chicago Fire
2002: Chris Klein – Kansas City Wizards
2001: Troy Dayak – San Jose Earthquakes
2000: Tony Meola – Kansas City Wizards
Leave your response!