Soccer Watch
By Nick Barbaro, Fri., Oct. 2, 2015
The UT Longhorns held their own throughout a challenging non-conference schedule, but they ran into a buzzsaw in their Big 12 opener Friday in Morgantown, W. Va., losing 2-0 to the third-ranked WVU Mountaineers, and being outshot by an eye-popping 31-5. The Horns are on the road again this weekend, at Kansas Friday evening, and Oklahoma State Sunday afternoon; the next home games are Fri., Oct. 9, against Iowa State, and Sun., Oct. 11, against TCU.
The St. Edward's men are up to No. 8 in the nation after their second straight 8-0 decision, this one on Sunday over Eastern New Mexico. The Hilltopper women dropped to No. 25 after losing, 2-0, at Dallas Baptist. They're both on the road for two games in Oklahoma this weekend... I'm always amazed at how short the college soccer season is, but they squeeze a lot in: Both St. Ed's squads play 10 games in the month of October.
LA Galaxy II knocked off the defending champion Sacramento Republic, 1-0, to move into a USL Western Conference semifinal against the top-seeded Orange County Blues on Saturday. The other semifinal: OKC Energy hosting the Colorado Springs Switchbacks.
It was looking like another terrible week for English soccer in the European Champions League, as Arsenal and Chelsea both lost on Tuesday, before both Manchester clubs pulled out come-from-behind 2-1 wins over German competition on Wednesday. At the moment, just two games into the six-game group stage, all five Spanish teams are in position to advance. The next games are Oct. 20-21.
The U.S. Open Cup is being decided as we go to press: Sporting Kansas City at Philadelphia.
The CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship kicks off Thursday in Kansas City, where the USA opens against Canada, and continues through Oct. 13, with the top two teams qualifying for next summer in Brazil.
FIFA on Friday confirmed the long-rumored news that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be hosted in November, the first time the international tournament hasn't taken place between May and July.
Countdown: Just nine days until the next international break, which will decide Euro16 qualifiers, plus the Confederations Cup playoff between the U.S. and Mexico, Oct. 10 at the Rose Bowl.
