Moline's Musings

Soccer Tuesday

Posted by: Brian Moline

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 4:34 PM

It was a rough weekend for the Illinois soccer team, as they lost a pair of matches at the Nike Portland Invitational.  Friday night saw the Illini give up three goals in the first twelve minutes on their way to a 4-1 loss to the #2 Portland Pilots.  Sunday's match against the Washington Huskies was a defensive struggle, with the Huskies converting the only goal in the 83rd minute of a 1-0 contest. 

As a result, the Illini dropped out of the NSCAA Top 25, after being ranked #11 heading into the weekend.  The Illini are the first team receiving votes in this week's poll.  Big Ten teams in the NSCAA poll are led by Purdue at #11, down four spots from last week.  Despite their first loss of the season at St. John's on Sunday, Indiana moves up three spots to #22.  Ohio State is the only other Big Ten team in the rankings, as they enter at #25.  Minnesota and Michigan State, like Illinois, are receiving votes.  Penn State is unranked for the first time that I can remember, and they're not even receiving votes.  

Soccer America (subscription required) also has three Big Ten teams in its rankings this week, led by Michigan State, who checks in at #11, up eight spots from a week ago.  Purdue falls three spots to #15, while Indiana falls ten spots to #22 this week. 

The Soccer Times coaches poll is a bit kinder than the rest to Illinois after its two losses, as the Illini are still ranked at #20, which is down seven slots from last week.  Purdue leads the way for the Big Ten at #11, down three spots.  Michigan State is the other conference team represented, as the Spartans fall one spot to #23.  Penn State, Indiana and Ohio State all received votes here.

Finally, we'll check in with the Top Drawer Top 64, which attempts to project the NCAA Tournament Field.  The Illini are also represented here, as they fall eight spots to #35 this week.  Michigan State is ranked at #11 here, which is a move up of three spots.  Penn State falls six spots to #23, Purdue drops ten spots to #28, while Indiana is down five slots to #36.  Ohio State enters these rankings for the first time this year at #41, while Minnesota drops out for the first time.

Let's review the weekend for conference teams:

Friday September 11

Michigan State 2 Illinois State 0

Cal State Fullerton 2 Michigan 0

#8 Wake Forest 1 #23 Penn State 0

#25 Indiana 3 Hofstra 2 (2 OT)

Northwestern 2 Penn 1

Ohio State 6 Youngstown St 0

Iowa 4 Loyola IL 1

Wisconsin 1 North Dakota St 0

#24 Minnesota 3 Milwaukee 2

#3 Stanford 2 #7 Purdue 1

#2 Portland 4 #11 Illinois 1

Sunday September 13

#23 Penn State 3 Boston U 0

St. John's 2 #25 Indiana 1

Northwestern 1 Yale 0

Iowa 4 Milwaukee 0

Wisconsin 2 DePaul 1

Washington 1 #11 Illinois 0

USC 2 Michigan 1

Marquette 1 #24 Minnesota 0

Santa Clara 2 #7 Purdue 1

Best weekend: Iowa.  The Hawkeyes' opponents this weekend (Loyola and Milwaukee) have dropped a peg from where they were a season ago, but this is an Iowa team that has struggled to score goals in recent seasons.  They tallied four goals in each game this weekend, and look to be much improved on the offensive end.

Worst weekend: Illinois.  This is a tough one, as there were no real surprising losses for the conference this weekend.  The Illini's loss to Washington on a neutral field probably comes closest, as an offensively challenged Illini team handled the Huskies 3-0 last season in Champaign, while this year's more dangerous Illinois squad was shut out with very few quality chances.

I'll be talking with Janet Rayfield after today's practice, and will share our conversation with you this week.  Thanks for reading.

bmoline@wdws.com

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