Regional Odds & End Briefs From The Southeast USA

Soccer In Arkansas

The University of Arkansas has released its 2013 women’s soccer schedule and it features six NCAA Tournament teams from 2013 and a number of new opponents. Arkansas’ 2013 opponents were a combined 40 games over .500 a year ago with Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Utah State all advancing to the NCAA tournament. Arkansas opens the fall season on Aug. 14 with a preseason exhibition game against Creighton in Omaha, Neb….Arkansas Soccer will hold USSF “F” coaching certificate courses in Bentonville (Aug. 3), Conway (Aug. 10) and Jonesboro (Aug. 24). Online information at www.arkansassoccer.org….Arkansas Little Rock will open its 2013 season with a preseason match at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tenn., on August 21. The regular season opens four days later at home against Southern University on Aug. 25…..Central Arkansas men’s head coach Ross Duncan has added two more players to his signing class, bringing the number of new players for 2013 to nine. The new signees are defender Curtis McRae from Norman, OK, and Alejandro Moquete Martin, a forward from Madrid, Spain.

Soccer In Kentucky

Former Lindsey Wilson College All-American Shaun Francis is back in Major League Soccer, recently getting a start at left back for the Chicago Fire against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Fire is Francis’ second stop in MLS, after signing with the Columbus Crew. [show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’]Before signing with Chicago, Francis had been playing with the Charlotte Eagles of the USL PRO league where he scored three goals with a pair of assists in 12 appearances this season….The University of Kentucky women have been picked by the SEC coaches to finish second in the SEC East….Kentucky Youth Soccer has announced the winners of the 2013 Annual Awards, who will be honored at the association’s Awards Luncheon and Hall of Fame induction in conjunction with the AGM, Aug. 10 at the Marriott Griffin Gate in Lexington. Among the awards are Girls Player of the Year: Kennadi Corbin-Green (Javanon SC) and Boys POY: Thomas Ueland (Lexington FC). Young Referee of the Year winners are Kathyrn Dishion (Girls) and Daniel Barber (Boys). Lori Kim from the Northern Kentucky Soccer Academy has been selected as Administrator of the Year….Arin Gilliland (Lexington), Kayla King (Louisville) and Ashley VanLandingham (Asheville, NC) have been named captains for the 2013 University of Kentucky women’s soccer team….Former Louisville Cardinal Paolo DelPiccolo has signed with the Montreal Impact of MLS. He was selected #27 overall in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, but decided to begin his professional career in Germany where he played on Eintracht Frankfurt II, the team’s U-23 side…..A year after hosting a berth in the NCAA tournament, the University of Kentucky men’s soccer team will open a new stadium with 11 home games. The Wildcats open with two home exhibition games against Dayton on Aug. 20 and Wright State on Aug. 30, both at the new UK Soccer Complex….Louisville’s Charlyn Corral (Mexico City) scored a goal for Mexico in her teams 6-2 loss to Great Britain in the championship game of the 2013 World University Games in Kazan, Russia. Mexico earned the silver medal, while Brazil took bronze. Corral scored 10 goals in six matches and was the leading scorer in the tournament.

Soccer In Louisiana

The 97 Louisiana Fire Navy girls Under 16 team became the first Louisiana club team to ever win a Region III championship and advance to the US Youth Soccer National Championship. The Fire Navy knocked off two-time defending regional champion Dallas Sting 97 from North Texas in the semifinals. The team is a five-time winner of Louisiana State Cup titles, and in 2011 was invited to represented the United States at the One Nations Cup in Bremen, Germany…..LSU Alexandria, a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is expanding its athletics program and will field soccer teams for men and women in the fall of 2014.

Soccer In Maryland

Maryland’s Christos FC captured the United States Adult Soccer Association’s 2013 Under-30 National Cup championship with a 4-2 win over Nomads SC from California South…… The Baltimore Bohemians have announced that the club has signed a partnership agreement with Bohemian Football Club of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The partnership will allow for an exchange of talent between the two clubs. The Baltimore Bohemians play in the USL Premier Development League. Bohemian Football Club, based in Dublin, is the oldest Irish club in continuous existence and the oldest fan-owned club in Ireland. It was founded in 1890……US Soccer, the Delaware Youth Soccer Association, the Maryland State Youth Soccer Association and Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association, will host a national C License Coaching Course in New Castle, Delaware, at the Kirkwood Soccer Club, August 1-4 and August 8-11. This is considered to be a commuter course, but local hotel accommodations are available. Tuition cost for this national course is $750. Registration will close July 1. Questions regarding this course are to be directed to Lew Atkinson at coaching@dysa.org.

Soccer In Mississippi

The Mississippi Brilla closed out it’s 2013 season in the USL Premier Development League with a fifth-place finish in the league’s Southeast Division. The Brilla posted a 6-7-1 record, good for 19 points, two points better than fifth-place IMG Academy Bradenton….Senior Bethany Roberson (Collierville, Tenn.) was Mississippi College’s recipient of the American Southwest Conference Scholar-Athlete Medal of Honor Award this past spring. She was a team captain as a senior and All-ASC….Former Southern Mississippi women’s soccer standout Caitlin Leumas (Mandeville, La.) was one of 12 recipients of the Jim Castafieda Postgraduate Scholarship, awarded by Conference USA. She was a four-year starting defender for the Golden Eagles…..Ole Miss will have 10 home games this fall and open the season in Oxford against Louisiana-Lafayette on Aug. 23. The Rebels are coming off a 13-9 season, two wins shy of a program-best record, and return a solid nucleus of players including senior Mandy McCalla, (Fayetteville, GA), the SEC Offensive Player of the year…..Mississippi State will open its fall season under new head coach Aaron Gordon on Aug. 16 with a preseason game at the University of South Florida. He got his first look at the Bulldogs in the spring with Mississippi State went unbeaten with three wins and a pair of ties.

Soccer In West Virginia

West Virginia University men’s soccer coach Marlon LeBlanc will have nine newcomers to his program this fall, including Pitt transfer Lee Johnston (Newberry, Fla.), and return 14 letterwinners, including junior forward Andy Bevin (New Zealand), a second team All-MAC choice last fall…..West Virginia Soccer and Northern Panhandle will host an E Coaching license course July 26-27 at the JC William Soccer Complex in Weirton, WVa….A year ago, the WVU Mountaineers completed an unbeaten regular season and were Big 12 Conference women’s soccer champions. They have a pair of preseason exhibitions to start the season against Rutgers (Aug. 13) and Georgetown, and then open the regular season in the Penn State Invitational against NCAA runnerup Penn State and Syracuse. They will also play Duke and UNC in the Duke Nike Classic…Zach Hunter (Marietta, Ga.) already has a $4,000 Jim Castaneda Postgraduate Scholarship, but he is coming back to Marshall for his final season of eligibility after taking a redshirt year after an ACL injury.