by Olaf Goldbecker
Due to Champions League play, the Bundesliga got uneven in the standings again. Potsdam and Wolfsburg were competing in international action and had to postpone their matches to April 13. Potsdam will face Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg hosts Duisburg before the league resumes with Matchday 16 on the Easter weekend.
by Olaf Goldbecker
After the conclusion of the national team spring competitions, the Bundesliga resumed and saw the three top teams face seemingly easy tasks.
By JJ Duke
For the first women’s soccer draft open to the public for a fair few years, today’s NWSL College Draft made headlines in a few ways. A packed room at the Philadelphia Convention Center saw 36 graduating seniors learn the fate of where they will be continuing their soccer careers. There were some parts of the drafts that went as expected, other parts that weren’t expected and nearly double-digit amount of team timeouts during the draft.
by JJ Duke
There are not many places that I can think of where I would see a combination of the above actually happening. Well, in the span of three hours, I saw a presentation about the specifics of FIFA Turf Quality and what truly determines FIFA Quality Turf from the average turf field, seeing Michelle Akers and UCLA Head Coach Amanda Cromwell making beach houses with Play-Doh and meeting people that I have worked with for nearly two years, but meeting face-to-face for the first time.
by JJ Duke
Earlier this week I had an opportunity to speak with Laura Harvey, the Head Coach of the Seattle Reign, for a feature for the March print edition of Our Game Magazine. Here is a sneak peak of what Harvey and I talked about during the interview, focusing on the off season acquisitions that the Seattle Reign have made.
In part II of our NWSL College Draft Preview, we will be breaking down each team in the NWSL and what their needs will be come draft day. It has been a busy off season thus far with free agent signings, multiple trades and with the introduction of the Houston Dash, an expansion draft. But now with teams gearing up towards Friday morning’s College Draft, teams will hope to fill some of those needs from America’s rising talent.
With the 2014 National Women’s Soccer League College Draft just two weeks away, Our Game Magazine will be breaking down all the Draft in two parts. Part One will be the Draft Big Board with a ranking of players by position and some sleepers that you will want to keep your eyes on come Draft Day. Part Two will break down each team of what they have done over the off season and what they positions they will be looking to fill via the draft.
by JJ Duke
It’s been about a week since the conclusion of the 2013 NCAA Women’s Soccer Season, giving us plenty of time to think about how to reflect on the past few months. We knew coming into 2013 that this season would be a wild and crazy ride full of unexpected twists and turns. And this season was exactly that. We saw new faces rise to the occasion, new teams take their game to the next level and the season ended with some of the old guard taking a step or two back. Also, most importantly to the plot line, we had a College Cup that involved four teams that never won a National Championship.
For many years now the NCAA has coined the build up to a National Final Four as “All Roads lead to ____(insert city that the tournament will conclude in)”. After the Elite Eight matches concluded last weekend: Florida State, Virginia, Virginia Tech and UCLA will take to the road one more time, with the destination being WakeMed Park in Cary, NC. Two national semifinals will be played on this evening and the victors comes the opportunity to play for a National Championship on Sunday afternoon.