Here's a look around the country from Week 5:
BIG MEN ON CAMPUS
Connor Maloney, sophomore forward, Penn State – Philadelphia Union academy alumnus Connor Maloney may only be 5-foot-6 and 145 pounds, but…
Brace yourself…
He came up big this week for Penn State. The diminutive striker scored two goals and added an assist in the Nittany Lions’ intrastate showdown with Penn, then turned around and scored the only goal in a win over Big Ten opponents Michigan. The offensive frenzy has Maloney at seven goals and two assists on the season.
Tyler Miller, senior goalkeeper, Northwestern – Keeping it in the Big Ten, let’s show some love for Tyler Miller, who is cleaning up in net for Northwestern. Miller has allowed four goals in nine games and recorded six shutouts, the latest in the Wildcats’ 1-0 win over DePaul. Not to get greedy, but he could have theoretically even had seven shutouts after his eight-save performance against Indiana on Sunday. In the end, Northwestern had to settle for a 1-1 draw; the Hoosiers scored on a penalty kick in the 73rd minute.
TOP 10
1) Washington (7-1)
Is squeaking past Portland (1-5-3) with a 2-1 overtime victory a No. 1-in-the-country type of performance? Hell no. But the Huskies were our No. 1 team in the country last week, and dropping them down because they won a game seems harsh.
2) Cal (6-1)
Cal continued to bounce back from their opening-day defeat at the hands of North Carolina by thrashing Santa Clara 4-0 on Friday. Also, don’t look now, but senior midfielder Connor Hallisey has seven goals and six assists this season after picking up one of each against the Broncos.
3) Notre Dame (4-1-2)
Notre Dame’s Friday-night matchup against North Carolina was our marquee matchup of the week, and to the victors go the spoils. The Fighting Irish came away with a handy 2-0 win over their ACC rivals, their two shots on target perfectly-placed one-timers that Tar Heels ‘keeper Brendan Moore had no chance on. Notre Dame might not be unbeatable, as they were for most of last year, but it seems like they might be getting there, and that should terrify every other team in the country.
4) Louisville (5-1-1)
The Cardinals kicked off their week with a 2-1 win over in-state rivals Kentucky, which is a big win, and perhaps even bigger since the Wildcats are three weeks removed from a win over Notre Dame (see above). Louisville followed up their Battle of the Bluegrass victory by running their ACC record to 3-0 with a 4-1 win over Pitt.
5) Penn State (8-0-1)
Our suspicions are confirmed: Penn State is good at soccer. The six-goal outburst against Penn was slightly out of character, because the Nittany Lions have still only allowed three goals this year, and have only scored more than two goals in a game twice. It goes to show that Penn State doesn’t just need to rely on its shutdown defense to win games.
6) UC Irvine (8-0-1)
Life’s about to get much harder for the Anteaters this week when they open up their Big West slate against Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. On the other hand, based on momentum, it’s everyone else in the Big West who should be scared of UCI, who won their third and fourth games in a row this week with wins over UNLV and Utah Valley. Nothing to write home about, maybe, and their nervy double overtime win over Utah Valley isn’t confidence-inspiring, but they remain undefeated and have scored a boatload of goals.
7) Saint Louis (7-1)
We still have some reservations about the fact that the Billikens’ only loss this season was a 4-0 massacre to Memphis, but that is maybe overly critical of a team that has beaten Louisville and Creighton. St. Louis’ latest victory, a 2-0 win over Central Arkansas, marked their fifth straight win after that ill-fated evening in Tennessee.
8) Creighton (6-1-1)
The Bluejays bounced back from their loss to St. Louis last week with a 1-0 road win over Villanova, getting their Big East Conference schedule off on the right foot.
9) New Mexico (5-2-1)
We’re not quite ready to give up on the Lobos, but they passed up a big opportunity this week to solidify their credentials. That’s actually not quite fair to their opponents on Friday, Charlotte, who put a ton of pressure on New Mexico and finally cracked the Lobos in the 86th and 87th minutes with goals from sophomore midfielder Brandt Bronico and freshman forward Harrison Steadman, a New York Red Bulls academy product. Without another game against really top-tier opposition readily apparent on the rest of their schedule, the Lobos probably aren’t going to get a do-over on this one until the NCAA tournament.
10) UCLA (5-2-2)
We’re also not quite ready to give up on UCLA, but maybe we should be. On the one hand, they have lots of talent. Goalkeeper Earl Edwards is a stud, and Leo Stolz is still a superb midfielder who is capable of scoring goals from three-quarters up the field (skip to 0:52, if interested). The problem is consistency and, seemingly, depth. Stolz has five of the Bruins’ 11 goals this season. No one else on the team has more than one goal. The defense has been quite good, conceding five goals in nine games, but at some point UCLA is going to have to pick up their scoring pace, and it’s not clear at the moment that they can do it.
HIGHLIGHTS
With regards to our supposition that Akron was about to go on a tear: Confirmed. Ohio State became the Zips’ latest victims on Wednesday in a 3-1 result. Two things you should do when you see this highlight video:
1) Check out OSU sophomore Danny Jensen’s goal, because it’s really nice, actually
2) Let me know why on earth there’s a helicopter in the highlights.
Oregon State scored 11 goals this week. In one game. Check it out.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
Washington vs. Cal, Thursday, 10 pm ET (watch on Pac-12 Network)
Not everyone thinks as highly of Washington and Cal as we do, but that’s fine, because even the most skeptical among us can accept that these two teams have an excellent chance of winning the Pac-12 this season. Suffice it to say that kicking off your conference schedule with two title contenders is a hell of an entrance.
Indiana vs. Saint Louis, Wednesday, 7 pm ET (watch on BTN Plus)
Indiana’s been knocking on the door of the Top 10 for a minute now, but they haven’t been quite able to convince us of their staying power just yet. Beating the Billikens might be able to do that, though, and for Saint Louis it’s an opportunity for a huge road win.
Bonus: UC Santa Barbara vs. UC Irvine (Sat. 10 pm ET), Akron vs. UAB (Sat. 7 pm ET), Delaware vs. UMBC (Tues. 7 pm ET)
