Ohio Wesleyan's defense made Erika Howland's goal midway through the first half stand up, and the Battling Bishops claimed their second successive NCAA Division III women's soccer championship Saturday with a 1-0 triumph over Messiah at Geneva, N.Y.Howland, selected offensive MVP of the championships, finished off a loose ball following a corner kick as Ohio Wesleyan (23-0-1) extended its unbeaten streak to 45 games and became the first school to win consecutive D3 titles since UC San Diego lifted its third in a row in 1997.''I think it's just unbelievable what the [team has] accomplished, going through an undefeated season,'' …

Long Beach City College's women's soccer team seeks its third successive California State JC title next weekend in Lemoore, Calif., and archrival Cypress College could be the Vikings' stiffest competition.LBCC (22-0-1), the No. 1 seed from Southern California, will take Santa Rosa (19-3-2) in a semifinal on Saturday, Dec. 7, and Cypress (23-0-1) will meet Sierra (20-1-4), the top team from Northern California, in the other semi.The men's semifinals will pit Santa Rosa (20-1-2), the top team from the north, against Pasadena City (17-3-5) and Mount San Antonio (20-3-2) against Fresno City (21-2-3). Mount SAC upset defending state champion Santa …

NCAA DIVISION I Quarterfinals Friday, Nov. 29 North Carolina 3 (Ramsey 1, 54, Tomecka 52) Texas A&M 0Saturday, Nov. 30 Portland (17-4-2) at Stanford (21-1-0), 7 p.m. PST Penn State (18-3-1) at Connecticut (21-2-1), 1 p.m. EST Michigan (16-5-2) at Santa Clara (18-4-1), 1 p.m. PSTSemifinals Friday, Dec. 6, at Austin, Texas North Carolina (21-1-4) vs. Santa Clara-Michigan winner Stanford-Portland winner vs. Penn State-Connecticut winner Final: Sunday, Dec. 8NCAA DIVISION II Semifinals Friday, Dec. 6, at Virginia Beach, Va. Franklin Pierce (18-0-2) vs. Nebraska-Omaha (21-0-0), 5 p.m. EST Christian Brothers (23-1-0) vs. Metropolitan State, Colo. (19-2-2), 7:30 p.m. EST Final: …

North Carolina advanced to its 21st successive NCAA Division I women's soccer final four on Friday, routing visiting Texas A&M, 3-0, to advance to next week's College Cup semifinals in Austin, Texas.Alyssa Ramsey scored two goals and assisted on Maggie Tomecka's for the second-ranked Tar Heels (21-1-4), who have won 16 of 20 NCAA titles and also captured the 1980 AIAW championship.Carolina could face a rematch with Santa Clara in a semifinal game next Friday. The Broncos, who meet Michigan in a quarterfinal clash on Saturday afternoon, beat the Tar Heels, 1-0, on an Aly Wagner goal in last year's …

Defending champion Ohio Wesleyan and Messiah advanced on Friday to the NCAA Division III women's soccer championship game, capturing semifinal triumphs at Geneva, N.Y., in decidedly different fashions.The Battling Bishops (22-0-1) struck twice in the first nine minutes and coasted to a 3-0 victory over final-four host William Smith. Messiah (21-0-2) earned its second successive shootout win after a 0-0 draw with Trinity, Texas.Ohio Wesleyan and Messiah will meet in Saturday's title match at noon EST.Sarah Wall tallied in the third minute and assisted Erika Howland's goal in the ninth to give the Battling Bishops a quick 2-0 advantage in …

Two seeded teams fell in the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Tournament Wednesday.No. 6 seed Virginia fell to William & Mary, 3-2, on penalty kicks after their game ended in a 1-1 tie.Alecko Eskandarian scored a Cavalier-record 25th goal in the first half, but Graham Albert, son of Tribe coach Al Albert, tied the score in the 82nd minute. The Cavs played the last 60 minutes with 10 men after Hunter Freeman was red carded.Furman set an NCAA record with its 11th straight shutout. Paladins goalie Alex Maslow made 10 saves to hold off a onslaught …

SECOND ROUND (Nov. 27)Wake Forest 1 (White 88) Old Dominion 0.Boston College 2 (Arnault 74, Krause 78) Northeastern 1 (Cipriano 64).Connecticut 4 (Ralph 31, Thomas 34, Cuellar 38, Mordocco 84) Penn 0.Maryland 1 (Mediate 53) American 0.California 2 (Munoz 17, Berger 78) UC Santa Barbara 1 (McAthy 85).Indiana 1 (Plotkin 52) Notre Dame 0.Clemson 1 (Rhyne 8) Coastal Carolina 1 (Ngwenya 23)(Clemson wins 5-4 on penalties.)VCU 0 Furman 0.(Furman wins 4-2 on penalties.)Penn State 1 (Seavers 108) North Carolina 0.Virginia 1 (Eskandarian 20) William & Mary 1 (Albert 82).(William & Mary wins 3-2 on penalties.)St. John's 2 (Schmid 63, Carroll …

NCAA DIVISION I Quarterfinals Friday, Nov. 29 Texas A&M (18-4-3) at North Carolina (20-1-4), 3 p.m. ESTSaturday, Nov. 30 Portland (17-4-2) at Stanford (21-1-0), 7 p.m. PST Penn State (18-3-1) at Connecticut (21-2-1), 1 p.m. EST Michigan (16-5-2) at Santa Clara (18-4-1), 1 p.m. PSTNCAA DIVISION II Semifinals Friday, Dec. 6, at Virginia Beach, Va. Franklin Pierce (18-0-2) vs. Nebraska-Omaha (21-0-0), 5 p.m. EST Christian Brothers (23-1-0) vs. Metropolitan State, Colo. (19-2-2), 7:30 p.m. EST Final: Sunday, Dec. 8, 3 p.m. ESTNCAA DIVISION III Semifinals Friday, Nov. 29, at Geneva, N.Y. Ohio Wesleyan (21-0-1) at William Smith (14-3-6), 10 a.m. …

by Soccer America Executive Editor Mike Woitalla Kasey Keller's father couldn't fathom his son's desire to become a soccer star. At the time, career options in the United States didn't include professional soccer. The boy, it seemed, was squandering his superb athletic talents. That was a long ago. Before the King of Spain invited Keller for dinner with the President of the United States. Before Kasey's father, a baseball man, visited his son in England, where Keller's pro career began more than a decade ago. The length and success of Kasey Keller's European career was unimaginable …

Seeing the world thanks to soccer inspired some young Americans to found Grassroot Soccer, which is attacking the HIV crisis in Zimbabwe. Tommy Clark has seen the world. Now he wants to give something back to it. The Dartmouth star of the early 1990s grew up in Scotland, Zimbabwe and the United States. After college, he played in Africa, England, New Zealand and Albuquerque, N.M. Now in his second year of pediatric residency at the University of New Mexico, he might be expected to put soccer behind him. Instead, Clark is using the sport to educate youngsters thousands …

IN A SEASON OF CONTRACTION AND A WORLD CUP, PLAYERS AND FORMATIONS WERE JUGGLED and switched extensively as coaches sought the right mix. The imperfect science of ranking players for 2002 included the opinions of coaches and players and statistics with an emphasis on performances following the World Cup and in the playoffs. As always, the positional classification of players and exclusion of those who missed more than one half the season because of injury are somewhat arbitrary. GOALKEEPERS 1. Kevin Hartman (Los Angeles) 2. Joe Cannon (San Jose) 3. Jon Busch (Columbus) 4. Nick …

Anson Dorrance's teaching methods - along with his passion for his sport and his players - are grooming first-rate coaches for the women's game. Anson Dorrance, as he readily admits, didn't see much value in being a coach when he was starting out a quarter-century or so ago. ''I didn't think of it as a real job,'' he says. ''I was in training as a lawyer, and I thought that would be a real job. Coaching? That's something to do on afternoons and weekends. I didn't think it had the depth or the value of other professions.'' …

By most measurements, the 2002 MLS season was a success. MLS enjoyed its most exciting regular season ever with every team still in contention for the playoffs until the final week of the season. Attendance was up for the second straight year. The weekend games during the last two weeks of the regular season averaged 21,942 fans. MLS officials report good progress on the bottom line. And there's even serious talk of expansion in 2004. But interest in the playoffs remains minimal. If you throw out the crowds at the Rose Bowl, average attendance in the other …

There are two reliable ways to measure the progress of a country's soccer: national team results and the success of its players in foreign leagues. Start investigating the U.S. national team's rise to respectability, and you'll notice how closely the two are linked. In 1989, when the United States qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years, the goal that got it there came off the foot of Paul Caligiuri, who had moved to Germany in 1987. The national team's most notable steps forward came in the 1990s, when foreign-based players became the …

By Scott French, Senior EditorTexas A&M (18-4-3) at North Carolina (21-1-4)Friday, 3 p.m. EST.Freshman keeper Kati Jo Spisak has done amazing things the past two weeks, carrying the Aggies to shootout victories over SMU and UCLA. A&M didn't get off a shot against the Bruins, whose domination meant nothing against Spisak: She stopped two PKs, and the Aggies were back in the quarters. Carolina has talent (Tarpley, Ramsey, Chalupny, Reddick, Bush, McDowell, Randolph, etc.), depth (national-teamers coming off the bench) and history (never missed a final four) on its side.Our guess: North Carolina, 3-0.Portland (17-4-1) at Stanford (21-1-0) Saturday, 7 …