Soccer Watch
St. Edward's women No. 6 in the country, and more
By Nick Barbaro, Fri., Sept. 21, 2012
The St. Edward's women, unranked at the beginning of the season, jumped to No. 6 in the country this week, after destroying previously ninth-ranked Dallas Baptist, 5-1, on Saturday. The Hilltoppers host UT-Permian Basin at 1pm this Thursday, Sept. 20, and then McMurry at noon on Saturday.
The UT Longhorns ended their nonconference schedule on a high note, beating Fresno State, 3-0, and tying Denver, 3-3; the six goals broke a 280-minute scoring drought for the Horns, and marked the debut of freshman goalkeeper Abby Smith, just back from winning a world championship at the U-20 World Cup. Smith takes over from Ava Vogel, the sophomore who played very well overall in the first eight games, but may not see much playing time from here on. The Horns open Big 12 play this weekend at Iowa State and Oklahoma.
It's that hectic season in world football when league play, Champions League play on various continents, and World Cup qualifying all overlap. The Euro Champions League group stage opened this Tuesday-Wednesday with no huge surprises... On this side of the pond, the CONCACAF Champions League group stages are down to their last couple of games, with a couple of MLS teams facing decisive games as we go to press.
Brazil has decided on an as-yet-unnamed three-banded armadillo to be the mascot of the 2014 World Cup. Brazilian citizens will vote on the mascot's name: either Amijubi, Fuleco, or Zuzeco. "The fact that the three-banded armadillo is a vulnerable species is very fitting," said FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke in a carefully prepared statement.
