Reeves' Army

John Rooney finally showed what his family is made of with a stellar effort in Orlando City’s 3-1 win over Old Dominion last night.

Rooney kicked off the scoring at 19′ with a strike off a header from Aaron Schoenfeld. He then notched two assists in the second half: to Dennis Chin at 59′, and Ian Fuller at 75′.

Orlando City will train the rest of the week. Their next scrimmage is next Wednesday, March 14, at Rollins College. The match will be played in downtown Winter Park at Cahall-Sandspur Field on Fairbanks Avenue.

UCF Knights women’s soccer opened their NCAA tournament run with a 2-0 win over FIU last night.

Goals were by Tishia Jewell (14′) and Emily Grider (77′). Aline Ries had two saves to register her ninth shutout of the season.

The second round in the D-I women’s tournament will be on November 18. Who and where we play is dependant on the result of the Florida/Florida Gulf Coast match tonight.

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The UCF men were eliminated in the semifinal of the C-USA Championship by UAB, 1-0. Currently ranked #20, they are expected to earn an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament. The bracket will be announced on Thursday, November 17.

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The Rollins Tars men were shocked in the first round of the D-II men’s tournament last night, falling 3-1 to Barry.

Matt Bauchle had the Tars’ only goal at 80′. Keneil Baker picked a bad time to have a bad night, giving up two goals and making one save before being pulled in the 71st minute.

The men finish the season as Sunshine State Conference champions. Ironically, they beat Barry for the title. Now they have the ignoble duty of hosting the second-round match between Barry and Lynn tomorrow afternoon.

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The Rollins Tars women finished the regular season as runners-up in the SSC after falling, 2-0, to Tampa in the title game last Sunday.

Still, they finished 14-2-2 for the season. They are ranked #11 in the country, and earned a #2 regional seed in the Division II women’s tournament and a first-round bye.

Tampa beat North Alabama last night, 1-0, in the first round. Rollins will host Tampa in the second round tomorrow, November 13, at Noon.

UCF Knights women’s soccer made themselves known last night with a 2-1 extra-time win over #19 Penn State at the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic.

Nicolette Radovcic had both Knights goals at 9′ and 104′. UCF goalie Aline Ries had six saves.

UCF will play Washington State tomorrow at 11am.

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Rollins got points in both matches against West Florida, with the #2 men winning 3-0, and the #20 women in a 0-0 draw.

Goals in the men’s match were by Rob Crowley, Nick Sowers and Marten Meuller. Keneil Baker had four saves, and has yet to give up a goal in regular-season play.

Ladies goalkeeper Michelle Dillingham only need a single save. Her 28 career shutouts are eighth-most in Division II history. The Tars ended up with seven saves.

The women host Florida Memorial on Sunday at 4pm, while the men hit the road next Friday against Saint Leo.

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Sponsor clubs return to action this week…

In the Premier League, Stoke City will host a resurgent Liverpool at 10am this morning. That match will be on Fox Soccer Plus.

In the Football League Championship, Burnley will host Middlesboro at 10am this morning.

In the Mexican First Division, Monterrey will visit Puebla tomorrow at 1pm. That match will be on WAU-TV channel 21, our local Azteca America affiliate.

The #2 Rollins Tars men got a 1-0 win over Coker last night. Rob Crowley got the lone goal at 25′. Sophomore goalkeeper Keneil Baker (you may recognize that name from the Central Florida Kraze) got four saves.

The Rollins Tars women were even more dominant with a 3-0 win on the road over Kutztown. Goals by Emma Jones (24′), Ali Schrader (35′) and Ashley Waplinger (90′).

The women and men will play a home doubleheader on Friday night, both against West Florida. It will start with the women at 5pm, with the men to follow thereafter. They play at Cahall-Sandspur Field on the Rollins campus in Winter Park.

If you enjoyed Orlando City’s epic 2011 season, I encourage you to support Orlando’s local collegiate and high school soccer teams. Our collegiate teams are building up for great years, with UCF’s and Rollins’ men’s soccer teams both nationally-ranked.

The UCF men’s soccer team beat Belmont, 3-1, last night at the UCF Soccer and Track Stadium. One goal scored by Ben Hunt, and a brace by McKauly Tullock.

The men’s Knights improve to 3-0-0 on the year. They host North Florida on Wednesday night at 7pm, then hit the road to play Mercer on Sunday. Admission for men’s soccer at UCF is $5 for adults, $3 for kids. Season tickets are available.

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The UCF women’s soccer team beat #24 San Diego last night, 1-0. The lone goal was by Kristina Trujic. This follows a 4-4 slugfest with #22 San Diego State on Friday that ended with two scoreless 10-minute overtime periods.

The Lady Knights are 2-1-1. They will participate in a classic hosted by the University of Virginia this next weekend, where they will play Penn State and Washington State.

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The Rollins Tars men are #2 in the nation after their Division II run last year, which led them to the national final. They opened their season on Friday with a 2-0 win over Florida Memorial. Goals were by Daniel Salazar (17′) and Nick Sowers (75′).

Rollins hosts Coker College today at 7pm at Cahall-Sandspur Field on-campus in Winter Park.

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The Rollins women beat Belmont Abbey, 3-0, to open their season at home on Friday. Goals by Allie Holly, Anita Cox and Charlotte Murrell.

They are on the road at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania tonight. The Rollins men’s and women’s teams will have a doubleheader on Friday, with both teams hosting West Florida. The action will begin at 5pm with the women. The men’s match will follow immediately after.

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Some good news for Orlando City: virtually the entire roster will return next year.

According to Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel, only Lawrence Olum and Jamie Watson are not under contract past 2011. Watson is currently in negotiations, while there are reports of MLS interest in Olum.

Of course, last week, the team announced that they signed Miguel Gallardo, Wes Allen and Jerome Mechack for next year and beyond.

Remember, today is the last day for introductory pricing for 2012 season tickets. Ticket prices begin at $125, but tomorrow the lowest tickets rise to $150. Call 855-ORL-CITY (855-675-2489) today to reserve yours. You can also e-mail tickets@orlandocitysoccer.com with your name, and the best way and time to return contact. All calls and e-mails received after-hours will be honored for the introductory prices.

Orlando City gave BK Häcken all they could handle last night, but ultimately fell, 3-2.

The Lions almost were shocked early when a questional penalty kick was called against goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo. Majeed Waris took the shot, but it clanked off the upper left corner of the frame for no goal. City came right back and got the first word in at 17′, with our new striker, Trinidadian national Devorn Jorsling, slamming in a good goal and running to The Ruckus to celebrate with the team’s fans.

Häcken did not take the early setback lying down, storming back to answer at 21′ with a goal from Emil Wahlstrom. Then Lions defender Demar Stewart twisted his knee and had to be swapped out. The Swedes quickly took advantage, with Majeed Waris knocking in the go-ahead goal.

City got good pressure on Häcken for the rest of the first half, but the more experienced European club quickly stamped out pressure before many shot attempts could be made. The action was pretty well back-and-forth in the second half, but Häcken was able to score the ultimately deciding goal at 67′.

But that was not the end of the Lions. Ian Fuller got a fortunate breakaway to Lewis Neal, who was able to nail in a distant goal at 75′ to pull City within one. The team continued to battle to the end.

City will now take a week off to do some more training before beginning their next run of matches at local colleges. Those matches begin with their friendly against Rollins next Wednesday, March 16, in Winter Park.

A link to the Google Translate version of Häcken’s match report will be linked to as soon as it is prepared.

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In other action, Stoke City were caught unawares at West Ham, suffering an improbably bad loss, 3-0, continuing their road woes this season. Their next match is the 6th Round Proper of the FA Cup, this time at home against West Ham next Sunday, March 13, at 10am EDT. (Why they’d move the game up one hour to accomodate U.S. Daylight Saving Time, I don’t know.)

Burnley came home for the first time in a month, and sunk Crystal Palace, 1-0. They rose to 7th place, the position just below the promotion playoffs, but are still 4 points out. They play at Hull City on Tuesday at 2:45pm.

Monterrey got an important win over Queretaro, 2-0. They are in a four-way tie for second in Group 1, but 7 points behind first-place UANL. They have advanced to the semifinal of the CONCACAF Champions League, however, taking 1-0 results over Toluca for a 2-0 quarterfinal aggregate, and facing Cruz Azul at home for the first leg on Wednesday, March 16, at 10pm EDT.

Orlando City has added another friendly to its list, this time against NCAA Division II runners-up Rollins.

The game will be at the Rollins College campus on Wednesday, March 16, at 7pm EDT. Rollins has a very small football stadium (only 500 permanent seats), so arrive early.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for kids, and only available at the Rollins box office day-of.

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Stoke City got another point as they drew West Bromwich Albion tonight, 1-1.

The Rollins College men’s soccer team ended up having to settle for runner-up as they fell to Northern Kentucky, 3-2, in the Division II championship game.

Northern Kentucky attacked quickly, with Jack Little scoring at 9′ and Jordan Grant following up at 33′. Rollins launched their comeback in the second half, with Adam New scoring at 48′ and Jack Clifford quickly drawing the Tars level at 51′.

The issues that cropped up on Thursday, however, reared their ugly head as the game continued. Michael Holder would score the game-winner for the Norse at 64′. Although they tried, Rollins was unable to get back into it. To add insult, Jack Clifford was ejected at 85′ on a second yellow (the first at 71′).

The Tars men will finish the season at 15-4-3.

The men’s soccer team of Rollins College beat Midwestern State, 2-1, to advance to the NCAA Division II men’s soccer championship game in Louisville, Kentucky.

They advance thanks to an unlikely brace by Jack Clifford. Clifford, a defender, headed in a corner kick by Kevin Boone at 30′ to start the game off.

Rollins could’ve opened a bigger lead early in the second half, but a shot by Nick Sowers sailed over the crossbar. Some time later, NSU got the equalizer at 57′ from Nathan Fitzgerald. Clifford answered back at 65′ on another corner by Kevin Boone.

Rollins could’ve easily coughed the game up, giving up three yellow cards after the second goal, but freshman goalkeeper Keneil Baker kept Rollins in the lead to the end, finishing with seven saves. The loss was Midwestern State’s first of the season. The team, ranked 2nd in the final HendrickCars.com D-II national poll, finished 19-1-2.

The 5th-ranked Tars (15-3-3) will now play against 4th-ranked Northern Kentucky (19-2-3). They beat Dowling, 4-1, in their semifinal match. The game will be Saturday at 3pm EST, and NCAA.com will have at least a live game tracker.

As it turns out, I wasn’t done talking about the Rollins Tars yet. And this might prove to be a VERY busy weekend.

As I was reading up on the exploits of the UCF teams and Rollins women, I decided to check the NCAA D-II men’s soccer bracket, and lo and behold, the Rollins men are in the Elite Eight! In addition, the game is going to be right here! Well, in Winter Park.

The #5-ranked Tars men will host Clayton State at Cahall-Sandspur Field on Saturday night at 7pm. The stadium is on Rollins campus, and is pretty cosy, with only 500 seats. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, and card-carrying high-school and college students. Children under 12 are free.

The Tars will be hoping to make the D-II Final Four in Louisville, KY.