2014 NCAA Division I Mens Soccer

[VictoriaGooner]

Another reputable and trusted college soccer news outlet, College Soccer News, has been steadily releasing Division I team and recruiting class reviews for the upcoming 2014 season. A nice teaser prior to league kickoff in August.

http://www.collegesoccernews.com/index.php/2013-team-recruiting/2014-team-recruiting-2

[illwauk]

I'll follow this thread. I've been following college soccer for a couple years now... partially because it's the only sport where UWM cracks the Top 25 on a somewhat regular basis, and has a winning all-time record against Wisconsin and Marquette.

[VictoriaGooner]

I'll follow this thread. I've been following college soccer for a couple years now... partially because it's the only sport where UWM cracks the Top 25 on a somewhat regular basis, and has a winning all-time record against Wisconsin and Marquette.

Thanks for the follow illwauk...UWM does have a good performance in college soccer.

[illwauk]

It's also the only chance we actually get to brag about having one of the nicest facilities in the NCAA.

[VictoriaGooner]

I agree Engelmann Field is one of the nicest soccer stadiums in NCAA. Very nicely tucked into the campus but creating a big atmosphere look. Big selling points is the four-pole lighting system and the FIFA 2-star rating of the pitch. I am hoping for a pitch like that here in Victoria when we finally build our soccer-specific stadium (dreaming and hoping). I would love to catch a match at UWM for sure.

Have you gone to many matches at Engelmann Field? Looks like they have some amazing vantage points.

Another beautiful college soccer stadia is Michigan's U-M Soccer Stadium. Nicely enclosed too and has a bigger soccer-specific stadium feel wrapped into size it actually is (holds 2200 supporters). Plus UM has a supporter's group called the Michigan Ultras...love supporter groups.

Your men's side has a pretty decent schedule, with meeting Marquette at home on September 17th. Should be in contention for the Horizon League title and a berth into the NCAA tourney.

[rams80]

Plus UM has a supporter's group called the Michigan Ultras...

Expel them all immediately.

[Seadragon76]

2 star pitch? Meh... I present you, VictoriaGooner, with the only Recommended 2-Star pitch in the entire NCAA

UNO (That's Nebraska-Omaha, in case you're curious) had to bring in soccer to make up for the loss of football and wrestling, but soccer has helped in some ways.

That, and they're the only team in the area that has men's soccer. Of course, when talking about where I live now, it's all about U-Dub.

[VictoriaGooner]

Wow Caniglia Field is pretty nice, at least from the one angle on the link you gave me. But I think it was listed on the UWM site that Engelmann Field was the fifth pitch in the US given the FIFA 2-star rating. Go to any matches at Caniglia Field Seadragon76?

Another beautiful NCAA soccer specific stadia is Fifth Third Bank Stadium belonging to Kennesaw State Owls our of Georgia. The pitch is natural grass but it has amazing vantage points and amazing player facilities included under the seating.

[Seadragon76]

Never did go to a game. I know about the field because that used to be the football field for the Mavericks. If I do go back, I wouldn't mind going to a game (considering that UNO managed to get big name teams like Santa Clara and Stanford to come to Omaha, that's a huge coup).

[illwauk]

I agree Engelmann Field is one of the nicest soccer stadiums in NCAA. Very nicely tucked into the campus but creating a big atmosphere look. Big selling points is the four-pole lighting system and the FIFA 2-star rating of the pitch. I am hoping for a pitch like that here in Victoria when we finally build our soccer-specific stadium (dreaming and hoping). I would love to catch a match at UWM for sure.

Have you gone to many matches at Engelmann Field? Looks like they have some amazing vantage points.

Your men's side has a pretty decent schedule, with meeting Marquette at home on September 17th. Should be in contention for the Horizon League title and a berth into the NCAA tourney.

Unless you're stuck in one of the seats directly to to side of the Engelmann Hall facade, there's not a bad seat in the house. Being surrounded by all those tall campus buildings can easily make a crowd of 3,000 sound like one of 10,000; and occasionally, the ball will fly off the pitch and smack one of the windows.

Everyone is definitely looking forward to the game at Marquette... it was a rare loss for us the last time we played there. Their coach Louis Bennett also left UWM to go to MU, which has since bumped the rivalry, and their level of play up a notch. Maybe not so good for us, but good for the sport. UWM-MU is one of the few examples of a true derby on this side of the pond, and I'd like to see it become a much bigger deal in the community than it is right now.

[VictoriaGooner]

That's what I love about college soccer within the last 10 years, the derbies forming throughout the US. It's even better about UWM-MU derby is that the universities are only separated by 4.5 miles, just like a crosstown club derby. I think that would be great to see that match. I might just have to keep my eye on for an online stream of the UWM-MU match in September. Does UWM stream soccer matches? If they do, do you need to pay a subscription?

Noticed on the UWM soccer page that they are highlighting the Panthers 2013/14 season

[illwauk]

I'm not seeing anything on the website right now. I do know that someone covered the game last year (TWC Sports, I believe), but no idea on whether or not it was streamed. Since MU is the host club this year, I'd check to see if they're streaming.

As far as UWM soccer highlights... the goal here at 0:11 is one of the best plays I've ever seen at any level of soccer.

[VictoriaGooner]

That UWM volley goal at 0:11 was a thing of beauty. You see strikes like that plus some amazing buildup toward the goals being scored week in week out in college soccer.

MU released their schedule but it doesn't have any online streaming coverage info associated with the MU-UWM match. I guess I will wait closer for the match and check back.

[VictoriaGooner]

A report, released through The Soccer Observer on Monday July 21, says there are plans to expand college soccer season over the entire academic year. This would entail splitting the college soccer season between fall and spring sessions with a 25-match season including conference championships being played in May and with the College Cup scheduled in June. College coaches want to replicate the Development Academy formula with more training sessions and less matches. The USSF and MLS senior officials are supportive of the plans. US Soccer president Sunil Gulati gave his backing to the representative of Division I soccer programs during a meeting in January's NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia. The current structure has strict limitations on out of season contact between players and coaches. Expanding the season would curtail those holds and offer a better environment for players to train year round. There are still multiple hurdles to clear and the NCAA is not an easy governing body to dance around. Financially, this would add to the cost of a non-revenue sport. No matter how you look at it, there is a growing voice about the state of college soccer from every level.

This is great to hear from the NCAA! Changes, if adopted by the NCAA, will take affect August 2016 at the earliest.

http://thesoccerobserver.com/2014/07/20/college-soccer-looks-to-full-year-schedule-to-bolster-its-relevance

[rams80]

A report, released through The Soccer Observer on Monday July 21, says there are plans to expand college soccer season over the entire academic year. This would entail splitting the college soccer season between fall and spring sessions with a 25-match season including conference championships being played in May and with the College Cup scheduled in June. College coaches want to replicate the Development Academy formula with more training sessions and less matches. The USSF and MLS senior officials are supportive of the plans. US Soccer president Sunil Gulati gave his backing to the representative of Division I soccer programs during a meeting in January's NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia. The current structure has strict limitations on out of season contact between players and coaches. Expanding the season would curtail those holds and offer a better environment for players to train year round. There are still multiple hurdles to clear and the NCAA is not an easy governing body to dance around. Financially, this would add to the cost of a non-revenue sport. No matter how you look at it, there is a growing voice about the state of college soccer from every level.

This is great to hear from the NCAA! Changes, if adopted by the NCAA, will take affect August 2016 at the earliest.

http://thesoccerobserver.com/2014/07/20/college-soccer-looks-to-full-year-schedule-to-bolster-its-relevance

And then reality throws a huge wet blanket on the notion.

http://www.athleticscholarships.net/2014/07/21/proposed-college-soccer-changes-face-uphill-battle.htm

For the record, that's written by John Infante, who is both a soccer fan and someone who has a damn good idea about the method to the NCAA's madness.

[Raysfan12]

It's also the only chance we actually get to brag about having one of the nicest facilities in the NCAA.

I agree with you as well, but it won't be as nice as the new Louisville soccer stadium when it's finished.

Hopefully, this is the year the Cards get over the hump and wins a National Title with the #9 preseason ranking.

[VictoriaGooner]

That's a pretty nice soccer-specific stadium the Louisville is building. From what I can find on the venue: The new stadium, with a capacity of 5,300, is set to open for the 2014 season, and will be known as Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium, after the married couple who donated $5 million toward the $17.5 million project. As for the Cardinals pushing for that elusive men's national soccer title, they are getting closer and closer each year that rolls by. Their RPI is helping their national rankings with the last few years. If they can be a strong force in the ACC as well in the national rankings, they could either get into the College Cup tournament by winning the ACC tournament or be seeded by at-large bid. But unfortunately the ACC is full of soccer powerhouses like UNC, Wake Forest, Virginia and current holders Notre Dame. Best of luck mate in the season.

In other college soccer news, longtime UMass men's soccer coach Sam Koch past away in his family home on Sunday after a two year battle with sinus cancer. Koch had a 280-235-61 record in 29 NCAA seasons coaching at both UMass and Standford. He won four regular-season Atlantic 10 Conference titles and two A-10 tournament championships, reaching the NCAA tournament three times (including a College Cup Semifinal berth in 2007).

In some older college soccer news, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel (PROP) approved changes to its end-of-match protocol and penalty-kick shootouts in men’s and women’s soccer. PROP approved a slight rule change to address end-of-game situations in which the final horn doesn’t sound. The new rule will end the game when the clock strikes 0:00 in the event that the horn malfunctions. Previously, if the horn didn’t sound, the match was ended when the referee blew his or her whistle. The timekeeper will still audibly count down the final seconds and will say “zero,” to indicate that time is officially over. PROP also approved a change involving penalty-kick shootouts. Once 10 kicks have been attempted, coaches will now be permitted to change the order of the next 10 kickers. Previously, the order of the kickers remained the same after the first 10 penalty kicks.

I myself still don't understand why the NCAA still doesn't institute both FIFA Laws of the Game with respect to both: 1) a counting up match clock instead of using a counting down clock; 2) I believe overtime or extra time should not be decided by golden goal but the result at the end of both 15 minute extra time halves.; 3) Taking away the ability away from the referee to stop the game clock whenever it goes out of play, either on throw in or goal kick/corner kick. It slows the game down and that's why FIFA instituted stoppage time at the end of the halves.

[dfwabel]

A report, released through The Soccer Observer on Monday July 21, says there are plans to expand college soccer season over the entire academic year. This would entail splitting the college soccer season between fall and spring sessions with a 25-match season including conference championships being played in May and with the College Cup scheduled in June. College coaches want to replicate the Development Academy formula with more training sessions and less matches. The USSF and MLS senior officials are supportive of the plans. US Soccer president Sunil Gulati gave his backing to the representative of Division I soccer programs during a meeting in January's NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia. The current structure has strict limitations on out of season contact between players and coaches. Expanding the season would curtail those holds and offer a better environment for players to train year round. There are still multiple hurdles to clear and the NCAA is not an easy governing body to dance around. Financially, this would add to the cost of a non-revenue sport. No matter how you look at it, there is a growing voice about the state of college soccer from every level.

This is great to hear from the NCAA! Changes, if adopted by the NCAA, will take affect August 2016 at the earliest.

http://thesoccerobserver.com/2014/07/20/college-soccer-looks-to-full-year-schedule-to-bolster-its-relevance

And then reality throws a huge wet blanket on the notion.

http://www.athleticscholarships.net/2014/07/21/proposed-college-soccer-changes-face-uphill-battle.htm

For the record, that's written by John Infante, who is both a soccer fan and someone who has a damn good idea about the method to the NCAA's madness.

ncaa

Sorry, VictoriaGooner, but I do not think that this new NCAA soccer proposal will be addressed in two weeks.

On August 7, the NCAA Board of Directors has much a bigger issue regarding Division I governance to vote on, and the financial impact of the additional cost to soccer will likely be tabled until the annual NCAA Convention in mid-January. When the majority of the Power 5 do not currently play men's soccer, the membership is not likely to vote on a whole Division issue.

Plus, typically* a 2/3rds majority is needed for such changes and extending a season falls into what is considered action on a "Legislative Provision (Dominant)".

Also, in May/June around the time of the College World Series, the NCAA Championships still has an issue in chartering enough qualified aircraft. Currently, the NCAA needs over 10,000 plane seats in May alone for their Championships.

*-Worked in an Athletic Department or along side one (Student Affairs/Campus Life) for a decade and still have the NCAA Division 1 Manual on my computers.

[pcgd]

It's also the only chance we actually get to brag about having one of the nicest facilities in the NCAA.

I agree with you as well, but it won't be as nice as the new Louisville soccer stadium when it's finished.

Hopefully, this is the year the Cards get over the hump and wins a National Title with the #9 preseason ranking.

Still not sure why Louisville City Towne isn't playing there...

[VictoriaGooner]

dfwabel,

I agree with everything you have said with respect to passing this proposal in the next two weeks. But this will not be chaired to the NCAA Goverance Board for proposal in the next two weeks. Due to the complexity of the proposal, the earliest the new split season will take effect is August 2016. Which I stated at the end of in the original post on this subject. As for the mid-January NSCAA Convention, it was already tabled at the 2014 convention with senior personnel from USSF, MLS and NCAA coming to an agreement on the proposal and way ahead for the future. It will most likely go in front of the NCAA Goverance Board sometime in 2015 so that it will take affect for 2016 onwards. As for chartering enough qualified aircraft for the NCAA championships, that is another hurdle that the NCAA and the proponents to this proposal will have to look at. Myself nor the author of this article have said this will occur steadfastly and it will be easy. It was a report that was released on Monday stating the intentions of NSCAA in looking into expanding the college soccer season for being based entirely on player development.

pcgd,

As for the reason why Louisville City Towne isn't playing at the new Louisville Cardinals soccer stadium, the Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium will be officially opened on August 29th in a UL double-header. The women's team plays host to Ole Miss and the men's team plays host to against division rival Maryland.