SGF Soccer

Southwest Missouri's Soccer Resource

Archives for July 2007

Crowder College Considering Adding Soccer

This is great news. Crowder College, located in Neosho, MO, is considering adding a soccer team that would compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Neosho Daily News broke the story Saturday with a brief note in an update on Crowder College.

Heard a men and women’s soccer program proposal from dean of students Dr. Sonya Pearson. Next month, the board will consider adding a NJCAA men’s soccer team and women’s soccer club to Crowder.

I wonder if OTC is considering adding sports. We could begin the I-44 series with Meramec, East Central and pull in the other St Louis Community College programs along with Jefferson College and SWIC.

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PDL Conference All-Stars Named

USL News Release

TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues announced Friday the Premier Development League All-Conference Teams as voted on by team coaches and general managers, honoring 44 of the league’s top players for their play in the 2007 season.

Thirty teams were represented by the 44 players selected to the Central, Eastern, Southern and Western All-Conference Teams. The unbeaten regular season champion Hampton Roads Piranhas became the first team since the introduction of All-Conference Teams in 2003 to have five players honored on their respective All-Conference Team.

The Kansas City Brass and Michigan Bucks had the next highest number of honorees with three players selected. Kansas City opened the season with an 11-game unbeaten record only to see three consecutive losses leave the door open for St Louis to catch up and eventually take the second playoff spot. The defending champion Bucks also opened their campaign with an 11-game unbeaten run and went on to capture the division title. Seven teams had two players honored.

2007 Premier Development League All-Conference Teams

Central Conference
G – Stephen Paterson, Thunder Bay Chill
D – Mike Holody, Michigan Bucks
D – Josh Howard, Kansas City Brass
D – Josh White, Kansas City Brass
M – Tomas Boltnar, Des Moines Menace
M – Keith Gorzcyca, Kansas City Brass
M – Nate Jafta, Michigan Bucks
M – Jake Stacy, West Michigan Edge
F – Tommy Heinemann, St Louis Lions
F – Saidi Isaac, Indiana Invaders
F – Kenny Uzoigwe, Michigan Bucks

PDL: Springfield Demize vs Indiana Invaders In addition to the All-Conference Team selections, USL also announced for the first time the top vote recipient from each team that did not have any players honored on the All-Conference lists in 2007. They were:

Central Conference: Neil Hlavaty (Chicago), Jamie Fairweather (Toronto), Matthew Tudich (Cleveland), PJ Wilson (Fort Wayne), Josh Fallin (Colorado), Omar Shoucair (Springfield & Missouri State, pictured at left) and Adam Douglas (Sioux Falls).hot collection dubai escorts

MLS: Wizards Host Chivas Tonight

By Kurt Austin, special KC Wizards correspondent and President, Mizzou Soccer Club

KC Wizards Logo The Kansas City Wizards conclude a busy July on Sunday with their sixth game of the month, and fifth at home, with Hispanic Heritage Night in lieu of their opponent, Chivas USA. A homecoming promotion might have been more appropriate.

The game will feature the return of defenders Shavar Thomas and Alex Zotinca, both regular contributors to the Wizards backline last season. Zotinca also played for the Kansas City Comets, a professional indoor team, from 2000 – 2003.

Also returning to Arrowhead for the first time since his playing days is the single-most famous player in Wizards history: Preki. In his first season as coach of Chivas, Preki’s resume shows a Major League Soccer career in which he scored 89 goals and recorded 117 assists (totals include playoffs). He spent 9 of his 10 seasons in Kansas City, winning an MLS Cup in 2000, scoring championships in 1997 and 2003, and the MVP award in 1997 and 2003. He was also an 8-time all star.

Now he is in charge of a Chivas team that has never beaten the Wizards in their previous two seasons as an MLS club (losing twice in KC, tying twice in LA) and that are playing their second road game in four days, coming off at 2-0 win at New York on Thursday. Both KC and Chivas are in third place in their respective conferences, and this is the two teams first meeting this season.

Chivas is led in scoring by veteran Ante Razov (6 goals, 4 assists) and MLS rookie Maykel Galindo (7 goals, 5 assists). Razov is four goals away from the all-time MLS goal-scoring lead of 108, shared by D.C. forward Jaime Moreno and Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis. Galindo, who had to leave Thursday’s game early because of injury, gained political asylum in the US while playing for the Cuban National Team in the 2005 Gold Cup.

For the Wizards, as always, all eyes will be on Eddie Johnson. The league’s leading scorer with 12 goals in 11 games, EJ rejected a lucrative transfer to English-side Derby County in favor of continuing his strong season in the MLS (earlier this week, Blackburn manager Mark Hughes also expressed interest in striking a deal). EJ has scored nine goals in his last four games and is one game away from matching a league-best six consecutive games with a goal or assist. More importantly for the team, KC is 6-0-1 when EJ scores.

Check out the KC Star feature story on Eddie Johnson – Eddie Johnson’s Promised Land

However, Kansas City’s offensive options may be a bit banged up, if one is to believe the accuracy of the injury list. Scott Sealy is listed as doubtful with a hip flexor strain, Johnson is questionable with an ‘ankle inversion sprain’ suffered after his first goal of the game last Sunday, and Yura Movsisyan is also questionable with an ankle contusion sustained in his 8 minutes of action as a second-half substitute.

Johnson and Movsisyan’s injuries were suffered in a physical, controversial match last Sunday. The game’s referee, Tim Weyland, was the focus of criticism both during and following the Wizards 2-2 tie against Colorado (from which no fines or suspensions were handed down by MLS except for Jose Burciaga Jr.’s mandatory one-game suspension from the red card he received). And despite Sunday’s popular post-game sentiment that MLS needs more experienced referees, Shane Moody will be the man in the middle against Chivas. Moody has had the whistle just three times in his MLS career, and in those three games, he has given two reds, a penalty kick, and averaged an amazing 38.7 fouls per game. For contrast, the season average coming into this week is 28.2 and even a heated game like last Sunday’s Wizards-Rapids affair only had 32 fouls called.

A Wizards win would allow them to bypass idle New York and keep pace with Eastern Conference leader New England, who are four points ahead of KC after their victory over Salt Lake on Saturday.

The game kicks off at 6 pm and will be televised on Direct Kick, MetroSports, and MLSLive.TV, and broadcast on 1340 AM in Spanish. It is a Family Four Pack promotion.morocco escorts

Beyond the Endline

Just a few items from the sports world I thought were worth pointing to…

Were you aware Alan Webb set a new American record in the mile? He did it at a small Belgium meet last week, after 8 years of preparation. Pretty cool little soccer facility as well.

The Amputee Football Federation of Liberia is providing a means for some of the 100,000 former soldiers, many of them former child soldiers, to heal and reconcile.

On New Year’s Eve, LASA played its inaugural match, against a team from Sierra Leone, and was soundly trounced. But the team placed second of five teams at a tournament in February, and, after they returned home in glory, the U.S. government donated $30,000 in uniforms, cleats, crutches and other goods. The league has since expanded to 150 players and six teams, including the Brewerville Young Invaders, the Monrovia Giants and the Island Warriors of Bushrod Island.

Former Southwest Missouri State basketball Coach Steve Alford, now at the University of New Mexico, isn’t impressing Richard Stevens – With a name like Alford, Lobos expect attention – as he removes Iowa from the Lobo’s basketball schedule and is trying to take Texas Tech off of it as well. Who knew he was so shy.

And finally, a TV suggestion – Following Sean a son who meets the obligations of adult life as his father, a hippy from Haight-Ashbury chronicled with his then 4 year old son in 1967, shakes his head over the turn his son’s life has taken. P.O.V. offers this updated documentary on OPT Channel 13 Tuesday at 9:30 pm. escorts directory

Ozark Christian College Adds Soccer

I’m a bit late on this one but the Joplin Globe offers an interview with coach Cassie Tritthart who has been named as the coach of the new women’s college soccer program at Ozark Christian College. Located in Joplin, the team has recruited goalkeeper Julia Alford (Joplin & College Heights HS) as well as Celeste Brown from Devil’s Elbow (near Ft Leonard Wood).

Practice at the 800-student school begins August 17th. The season-opening match is at 3 p.m. on Aug. 28 at Conway, Ark., against Central Baptist College. The 13-game schedule includes four home matches, the first at 4 p.m. on Sept. 20 against Rogers State from Claremore, Okla.best dubai escorts