GROUP A In Rome: Lazio 1 Bayer Leverkusen 1 Goals: Nedved 1; Kirsten 43. In Maribor: Maribor Teatanic 1 Dynamo Kiev 2 Goals: Balajic 50; Rebrov 37, 84 pen. TEAM GP W L T GF GA P Q-Lazio 5 3 2 0 12 3 11 Dynamo Kiev 5 2 1 2 8 7 7 Bayer Leverkusen 5 1 3 1 7 7 6 Maribor Teatanic 5 1 0 4 2 12 3 Remaining games: Nov. 2 Bayer Leverkusen vs. Maribor Teatanic Dynamo Kiev vs. Lazio GROUP B In Barcelona: Barcelona 5 AIK …

POSITION/PLAYER G Chuck Connelly (Old Dominion) (1) Made 6 saves in narrow win over VCU D B.J. Snow (Indiana) (1) First collegiate goal in 2-1 win over Ohio State D Ryan Lee (UCLA) (1) Filled in for injured Bocanegra at left back, scored M Jamal Seale (Wake Forest) (1) Winner in OT against Maryland M Wes Hart (Washington) (1) Scored against Cal and Stanford M Roberto Najarro (UAB) (1) Goal beat SLU in overtime M Garrett Marcum (Portland) (1) Goal and an assist vs. San Diego F Giuliano Celenza (UMBC) (2) 5 …

POSITION/PLAYER G Cami Varnadore (Texas) (1) 16 saves vs. Missouri for 15th career shutout D Kara Brown (Notre Dame) (1) 2 assists in wins over UConn and Miami D Jill Davis (East Carolina) (1) 5-11 co-captain's goal ties James Madison M Ronnie Fair (Stanford) (1) Converts PK vs. UCLA, hits free kick vs. USC M Emily Janss (Maryland) (3) Her 9-yard strike stuns Wake Forest M Anne Makinen (Notre Dame) (2) Finn scores golden goal against UConn M Becky Myers (Stanford) (1) Freshman hits gamewinner against USC F Jennie Ondo (South Carolina) …

æThe worst part of being versatileÆ Second-year defender Carey TalleyÆs versatility has kept him busy all over the field for D.C. United; his strong performance in D.C.Æs playoff-opening 2-0 win over Miami came in relief of injured Carlos Llamosa. SOCCER AMERICA: A fine start to the playoffs. CAREY TALLEY: It was good to win after those two losses [in D.C.Æs final two regular-season games]. We wanted the momentum coming into the playoffs, and we didnÆt get it. I think we showed everyone that we came out to play against Miami. SA: Just about everyone figures the …

WOMENÆS NCAA DIVISION II Central Region 1 North Dakota State 13-1-1 DA North Dakota 2-1, DH Morehead State 6-0 2 Northern Kentucky 16-2-0 DA Bellarmine 3-0, DH IPFW 11-0, DH Kentucky Wesleyan 5-0 3 St. JosephÆs 13-4-1 DA UMSL 4-2, DA Quincy 2-0 4 Winona State 13-3-0 DH MN-Morris 4-0, DH Northern State 8-1 5 UMN-Duluth 12-2-0 DA Southwest State 4-3, DA Wayne State 5-2 6 Truman State 9-4-1 DA MO-Rolla 1-0 7 SIU-Edwardsville 10-5-0 DH Lewis 6-0, DH WI-Parkside 3-1 8 Southern Indiana 8-5-1 DH WI-Parkside 1-0, TH Lewis 0-0 9 Indianapolis 12-6-0 LA Quincy 0-2, DA UMSL 3-1 …

WOMENÆS NCAA DIVISION III Central Region 1 Macalester 14-2-0 DA St. MaryÆs 3-0 2 Wheaton 15-2-0 DA Westmont 2-1, DA Cal. Lutheran 3-0, DA Elmhurst 4-1, DH WI-Stevens Point 2-1 3 WI-Stevens Point 14-3-0 LA Wheaton 1-2, DA WI-Platteville 3-0 4 Chicago 11-2-3 TH Emory 1-1, DH NYU 1-0 5 Washington U. 13-3-0 DH NYU 2-1, LH Emory 1-2 6 Gustavus Adolphus 12-2-2 LH St. Benedict 1-2, DA Cornell 4-0 7 St. Benedicts 11-5-0 DA Southwestern 1-0, DA Gustavus A. 2-1 8 Carleton 9-3-2 DA St. Thomas n/a 9 St. MaryÆs 9-4-1 LA Trinity 0-6, LH Macalester 0-3, DA WI-Eau …

Micah Cooks of Washington, D.C., became the first Project-40 signing of the class of 2000. The 18-year-old forward becomes the 36th member of the 3-1/2 MLS and U.S. Soccer initiative. "Micah Cooks is among those young players who we feel will bring American soccer and MLS into the next millennium," executive vice president Ivan Gazidis said. "MLS is committed to keeping our players in the United States and to develop the talent as we see in Micah." In March 1999, Micah, the younger brother of D.C. United Project-40 defensive midfielder Judah Cooks, participated in a 10-day tryout with famed First …

MENÆS NCAA DIVISION I SCHOOL RECORD PTS. 1 Duke 9-0-3 476 2 Indiana 13-2-0 451 3 UCLA 13-1-0 439 4 Wake Forest 10-0-4 400 5 Penn State 13-2-0 359 6 SW Missouri 14-0-1 355 7 Furman 13-1-1 283 8 CS Fullerton 13-3-0 275 9 Maryland 11-4-0 263 10 Creighton 10-2-1 261 11 Connecticut 10-4-0 251 12 St. Louis 12-2-1 248 13 Santa Clara 11-2-1 204 14 Akron 10-3-2 149 15 St. JohnÆs 9-3-3 113 16 Old Dominion 12-2-0 105 17 SMU 10-3-0 60 17 Brown 9-4-0 60 19 Washington 9-4-2 50 20 UMBC 15-0-1 48 …

Colorado Rapids defender Marcelo Balboa is more concerned with his team's horrible scoring slump than frenzied Los Angeles fans angry after the U.S. national veteran was involved in another controversial incident with a Galaxy player. Homecomings should be heartfelt, not hostile, yet Marcelo Balboa had much more on his mind than the boos and whistles that greeted his every touch at the Rose Bowl Oct. 17. Galaxy fans, not without reason, vented their wrath on Balboa after a collision between him and L.A. midfielder Simon Elliott resulted in a second yellow card and ejection for Elliott in the …

Group E Oct. 26 in Madrid Real Madrid 3, Olympiakos Piraeus 0 Goals: Raul 20, Morientes 63, Roberto Carlos 82. Oct. 26 in Oporto Porto 3 Molde 1 Goals: Deco Sousa 1, 27, Jardel 57; Hestad 82. TEAM GP W T L GF GA P Q-Porto 5 4 0 1 9 5 12 Q-Real Madrid 5 3 1 1 14 7 10 Olympiakos 5 1 1 3 8 12 4 Molde 5 1 0 4 6 13 3 Remaining Games Nov. 3 Olympiakos vs. Porto Molde vs. Real Madrid Group F Oct. 26 in Eindhoven PSV …

William Fisher Palo Alto, Calif. I see so many suggestions on how MLS can improve itself. Most sound trivial to me. The major goal of MLS should be to make itself attractive to a nice television contract. I think eliminating schedule uncertainties in the playoffs could help. A solution exists that is even soccer-centric. To the shorten the playoffs and add creditability to the determining the champion, how about using a home-and-away aggregate score playoff? Then you'd know the winner will be decided in two games. It also assures the two finalists would get a match at their home stadium. …

The following are quotes from the Oct. 26 MLS media teleconference, which featured MLS executive vice president of player relations and operations Ivan Gazidis, D.C. United coach Thomas Rongen, D.C. United defender Jeff Agoos, Columbus Crew coach Tom Fitzgerald and Crew defender Mike Lapper. Fitzgerald Opening Comments: "We are obviously excited to be in the Eastern Conference Finals again this year with D.C. United ... "It has shaped up to be tremendous rivalry between these two teams ... We have battled it out all year for first and second place with D.C. ... Juergen Sommer has completed his surgery on …

Here is the Soccer America women's Top 20, taking into account games played through Oct. 24: Rank/Team Record Last Week 1. Santa Clara 17-0-0 1 2. North Carolina 15-2-0 2 3. Florida 16-1-0 3 4. Nebraska 16-1-1 4 5. Penn State 14-2-1 5 6. Notre Dame 13-3-0 6 7. Stanford 13-3-0 8 8. USC 12-4-0 9 9. Connecticut 12-5-0 10 10. Virginia 11-6-0 7 11. Wake Forest 11-4-0 11 12. William & Mary 13-3-0 13 13. Kentucky 14-2-1 14 14. Clemson 12-4-1 15 …

The U.S. men's national team will play a friendly match against Morocco on Nov. 17. The match will be played in Casablanca or Rabat, pending confirmation from the Moroccan soccer federation. The friendly against Morocco will mark Coach Bruce Arena's eighth test against a nation that played in France '98. Morocco advanced to France '98 and looked impressive with a 1-1-1 record. However, it failed to advance in a group that included Norway, Brazil and Scotland. Morocco, seeking to host to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, is preparing for the 2000 African Cup of Nations at the end of January. …

Here is the Soccer America men's Top 20, taking into account games played through Oct. 24: Rank/Team Record Last Week 1. Indiana 13-2-0 1 2. UCLA 13-1-0 2 3. Duke 9-0-3 7 4. SW Missouri 14-0-1 5 5. Wake Forest 10-0-4 9 6. Furman 13-1-1 8 7. Penn State 13-2-0 11 8. Maryland 11-4-0 6 9. Creighton 10-2-1 12 10. Saint Louis 12-2-1 3 11. Connecticut 10-4-0 14 12. UMBC 15-0-1 17 13. SMU 10-3-0 18 14. Santa Clara 11-2-1 16 15. Portland 10-3-2 NR 16. Washington 9-4-2 NR 17. Yale 9-3-0 NR 18. San Diego 11-3-0 …