Sounders on Campus: Week 3

The emerging lesson from the 2012 college soccer season is that if you want to do some winning, you should probably have some Sounders on your team. Unless you're playing Notre Dame. They're like kryptonite to the Rave Green.

#9 Akron - DeAndre Yedlin
2-1-1 since last update (Assist)

Yedlin contiues to play every minute for Akron at right back, where he picked up his second assist of the season in a 1-1 draw away at 2nd ranked Creighton. The Zips then played three more games on the road, winning two before losing at Notre Dame. They return home this weekend for their own mini tournament, which will include a game on Fox Soccer against 10th ranked St John's.

#15 Wake Forest - Sean Okoli
2-1-1 (2 Goals)

Wake kicked off this four game stretch with two home wins that saw Okoli playing about a half in each off the bench. In the second they faced (and beat) Nick Raskasky's West Virginia. Okoli then moved into the starting lineup for their next two games on the road. While the results weren't great for the team, with both games going to double overtime for a draw and a loss, Sean did his part with a goal in each game for his first two of the season. Their next match is away at #1 UNC.

#20 Washington - Michael Gallagher, Ian Lange, Drew White, Ryan Herman
1-1-1

The major Sounder contributors to the Huskies are Michael Gallagher, who started in central defense and played nearly every minute over this three game stretch, and Ian Lange who's so far played defender, midfielder, and forward in a Levesque-esque beginning to his career. The team earned a win and a draw in Portland then traveled to #4 UConn, where they held on into overtime before Gallagher was sent off for a tactical foul preventing a goal scoring opportunity. The other Huskies scored on the ensuing free kick and Washington lost of their first of the season. Now they travel for a two game road trip in Birmingham.

In non-playing player news, it's clear now that Darwin Jones won't be playing for the Huskies and Dom Dismuke has yet to play for the team, though there's still hope there. Drew White has yet to suit up from the reserves and Ryan Herman is playing behind all-everything keeper Spencer Richey. We should also give a shout out to Michael Uyehara, Bradley McIntosh, Taylor Peay, and Chris Brundage, who aren't Academy players but who played for the U23s this season.

Stanford - Aaron Kovar
2-2-0

Kovar's fairy tale start to his Stanford career couldn't last forever, and it didn't. After opening the season with Aaron as its only offense, the team lost two away matches with Kovar starting (the first against College of Charleston, featuring Sounder Troy Peterson). Then he was nowhere to be found in two wins in California. Given his big start to the season I find it hard to believe he's been completely dropped, so I'd be surprised if there wasn't an injury involved. Stanford now has 5 consecutive home matches, which should put them in a good position as conference play kicks off.

Duke - Nick Palodichuk
2-2-0 (2 Goals)

Palodichuk seems to have completed his transition from midfielder to forward and he now leads the team in shots by a country mile. In fact, he leads the ACC in shots. After opening the season with a loss at Notre Dame (damn them!) the Blue Devils alternated wins and losses, including a win over Stefan Bangsund's Delaware. Palodichuk scored in 2 of the 4 matches. This weekend they have two home match before traveling to face Okoli's Wake Forest in conference play.

College of Charleston - Troy Peterson
3-1-0 (Goal)

The Cougars followed up that win over Stanford with two more consecutive wins before dropping their last game against UNC Wilmington. Peterson is an every game starter for the team in midfield and scored his first goal of the season against Memphis.

Elsewhere

Glenn Paden picked up his first minutes for Oregon State off the bench in a draw with #6 Santa Barbara, where Brandon Brockway plays after transferring away from the Beavers in the summer. Brockway's played in 3 games for surging UCSB, but not that one. This weekend UCSB takes on Seattle U, featuring Austin Sweeney and Chase Hanson. Jordan Schweitzer's Denver and Jesse Klug's Bucknell continue to rack up points with the Sounders starting as Freshmen. Yordan Rivera, who transferred from Ancilla College to Huntington University in the NAIA, scored the game winner in his first game for the Foresters and in the most recent game on Wednesday. Huntington has only lost only 1 game in 7. Justin Solomon has played in all 6 matches and has an assist for Yavapai, who are undefeated and are now the 2nd ranked Junior College in the country.

Incidentally, beyond beating Palodichuk's Duke and Yedlin's Akron, Notre Dame also picked up victories over Paden's Oregon State and Keenan Townsend's San Diego State. Brutal. Fortunately, barring a transfer, they're done facing Sounders this season, at least until the postseason starts. Also Western lost to some team called Notre Dame de Namur with Sawyer Preston and Kurtis Pederson on the field for the Vikings. Argh.

Seattle Pacific is now the 2nd ranked Division 2 team in the country. You know, no big deal. They're 4-0 on the year and they're doing it with Sophomore midfielder Evan Robicheau starting every game. He even picked up an assist in their last win over Grand Canyon. And perhaps more importantly, they beat Notre Dame de Namur.