November 11, 2008 - As a big fan of women's soccer, this is one of my favorite times of the year. Last night, the NCAA announced the field of 64 teams, that will compete for the 27th Division I Women's Soccer Championship. Only four of the teams will remain when the action rolls into Cary, North Carolina next month [. Click to continue reading...

Real Salt Lake rookie defender Tony Beltran has undergone a successful operation for a sports hernia in Munich, Germany, the club announced today. He has missed RSL's last five league matches due to the injury, but will return to Salt Lake City tonight and should be ready to return in 2-3 weeks.

"We are pleased that Tony's surgery was successful, and we look forward to Tony fighting his way back into our back-line rotation and contributing down the stretch," said Real Salt Lake GM Garth Lagerwey. Click to continue reading...

Men's games:
UCLA 3 UC Riverside 0 (Palos Verdes Estates' Kyle Nakazawa had two assists for the Bruins).
Loyola Marymount 2 St. Louis 2 (Manhattan Beach's Jack McCormick made his LMU debut in goal).
Cal State Northridge 2 Alabama A&M 0

Women's games:
USC 2 Portland State 0.

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Briefly:
*UCLA playmaker Kyle Nakazawa of Palos Verdes Estates was named a Soccer America magazine first team pre-season All-American

Recently named to the Hermann Trophy watch list, last year's team MVP has started every game of his collegiate career (45 starts) while notching seven goals and 15 assists.

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Episode #53 of the Major League Soccer Talk podcast is now availible via ITunes or Direct Download Goalkeeper Eric Reed joins us on the latest edition of the Major League Soccer Talk podcast to discuss his career at UCLA where he started for three years along with such standouts as Sal Zizzo, Benny Feilhaber, Kamani [. Click to continue reading...

The non-stop running of Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan was the subject of this Olympic preview story.

And UCLA goalkeeper Brian Perk and Chivas USA midfielder Jorge "Sueno" Flores of Anaheim were named to the U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team that will play in the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland beginning Monday.

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Matt Reis was another of the players who did not care much for the field. In fact, none of the Revs players I heard had anything but negatives to say for the field.

Reis of course is a local guy, a UCLA product, and he was on the Galaxy before when the Galaxy played games here on a somewhat regular basis. Click to continue reading...

Briefly:

*As expected, Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan seems finally on his way to Aston Villa.

*The mighty Galaxy reserves got their first victory today of the season, beating Chivas USA 5-3 on a brace apiece from Carlos Ruiz and Alan Gordon, while young Izzy Sesay got the final goal.

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UCLA goalkeeper Valerie Henderson and midfielder Tina DiMartino were named today to the U.S. Under-23 Women's National Team roster for the eight-team Nordic Cup scheduled for July 15-21 in Sweden.

DiMartino has five appearances and two goals for the U-23 team and has also played on the full national team; Henderson has made 10 appearances with the U-23 team.

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Just got word of this year's Generation adidas class: MF Eric Avila, 20, UC Santa Barbara D Tony Beltran, 20, UCLA GK Josh Lambo, 17, Middleton, Wis. D Chance Myers, 20, UCLA F Alex Nimo, 17, Portland, Ore. F Patrick Nyarko, 22, Virginia Tech MF Ciaran O'Brien, 20, UC Santa Barbara MF Brek Shea, 17, College Station, Tex. Click to continue reading...

Nick Green's blog, 100 Percent Soccer, has UCLA's Kyle Nakazawa as a guest blogger. That's a very cool idea, frankly, getting a perspective from one of the top college programs throughout the season. Click to continue reading...

Interviewing Alan Gordon today, I caught sight of the tattoo on his right arm. I asked about it, and he turned slightly so I could read it for myself: Zaher.

"That's my buddy, who died in college. His name was Joe Zaher. (UCLA's) Mike's brother. He was my good friend and he passed away in a car accident. That's just my way of remembering him. Click to continue reading...

CHI's NCAA Men's Preseason Division I Top 25 (in all honesty it's an aggregate of Top Drawer Soccer's and the NSCAA's) Updated Aug. 14, 2007 CHI Rank) Average-TDS Rank-NSCAA Rank School [2006 Record] 1) 2.5-1-4 UCSB [17-7-0] The Gauchos - as returning NCAA champions - take the honor of pre-season #1 knowing full well that a hard season lies ahead. [. Click to continue reading...

A humble reference to the popular segment of Encyclopedia Dramatica. Good, old fashioned sophmoric humor, that site.

Anyways, pop quiz. In 2003, who became a star midfielder for the UCLA Bruins after being accepted as a walk-on?

Benny Feilhaber.

Who did the same thing for the Bruins' defense in 1996?

Jimmy Conrad. Click to continue reading...