Olympic Soccer is coming to a close this week, with the Women’s finalist having been determined this morning (no spoiler’s here for those who have taped it or are watching online later). The Women’s Gold Medal game is Thursday morning at 8:00 am CT, with the Bronze Medal game at 5:00 am. I’m thinking I may be able to watch it at the new Library downtown on USA. Hmmm.

The Men’s Semifinal games are tomorrow. Nigeria vs Belgium at 8:00 am while Argentina vs Brazil at 5:00 am. The Bronze medal game will be played Friday at 6:00 am it looks like while the Gold Medal game will be at 10:00 pm Friday night. Sounds like a good reason to hang out in Coester’s again. Who’s interested in joining me for that one?

Continuing on the International front, the US Men renew their World Cup 2010 qualification effort with a game on Wednesday evening in Guatemala. The game is being broadcast live on ESPN2 at 9:00 pm. I will be at Coester’s, come out and join me.

There are a pair of Missouri State Women’s games this weekend to enjoy. The Bear’s open their regular season with a pair of opponents from Arkansas. Friday evening at 7:00 pm the Arkansas Razorbacks visit Plaster. Watch for #10 Kelly O’Connor, a Bentonville grad who played in the Kickapoo Shootout a couple of times. Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojanssquad is the opponent.

Just an FYI – the Men have games in Des Moines at the end of August but won’t play at home until Sep 5-6.

UPDATE – another unlisted Drury game has hit my radar. Southwest Baptist is hosting the Lady Panthers on Wednesday this week at 4:00 pm. It should be an excellent match, with the Bearcats reaching the MIAA Final last year . I’m going to have to scramble on this one…

By the way, Drury hasn’t only recruited a player in Hillary Cockrell, they also got a photographer. Her father Mitch is an accomplished soccer photographer as you can see here in his shots of the Men’s game on Saturday. He makes his photos available for free (I’m going to have to chat with him about that one)