News
UVA’s Swanson to Assist with USWNT
With the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying tournament looming in October, Virginia Head Coach Steve Swanson has been tabbed to assist with U.S. Women’s National Team preparations. He will continue to lead the highly-ranked Cavaliers with the assistance of Associate Head Coach Ron Raab and their staff. National team duties previously had Swanson away from the team in 2012 when he coached the U.S. U-20s. He is also currently the head coach of the U.S. U-23 side.
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Former Clemson Player Sues Coach, Former Teammates, and School Officials Over Hazing
Haley Ellen Hunt, former soccer player for Clemson University, has sued women’s soccer Head Coach Eddie Radwanski, members of the coaching staff, 14 former teammates, and school officials over a hazing incident that occurred in 2011. As a result of the incident, the complaint alleges Hunt suffered permanent physical, psychological, and emotional damage, including a traumatic brain injury.
Hunt alleges in the lawsuit that she and other freshmen were verbally hazed by Head Coach Radwanski in an effort to get the players to quit the team before the season started.
The complaint alleges as part of a “mandatory team activity,” Hunt and other freshmen were blindfolded, kidnapped, and forced into the trunks of cars by upperclassmen teammates. The players were driven to various locations, ending up at the team’s playing field. There, Hunt alleges she was spun around while blindfolded and made to sprint down the field while still blindfolded. Hunt hit a brick wall face first, which knocked her backward into a table.
The lawsuit claims Hunt suffered “serious injuries to her brain, head, face, and hands” and was “knocked unconscious.” Hunt claims she never received medical attention immediately after the incident. The lawsuit further alleges the players called assistant coach Siri Mullinix, former player for the U.S. Women’s National Team, to the scene, who instructed the players not to tell anyone. Head Coach Radwanski also allegedly instructed the team not to tell anyone of the incident at a team meeting.
In the lawsuit, Hunt claims team doctors cleared her to play without following the school’s return-to-play protocol. Hunt continued to play, but in 2013 was forced to quit due to persistent and worsening effects from the incident.
FITSNews has obtained a copy of the the full complaint, which is available here.
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Syracuse Suspends Player for Using Racial Slur
Syracuse has suspended senior Hanna Strong indefinitely for using homophobic and racial slurs in a video posted to Instagram. The university is conducting an investigation with results reported to the school’s Office of Students Rights and Responsibilities.
So That Happened
September 5, 2014
Florida State 1-2 Florida
In one of several rivalry games on the slate last Friday, the Gators handed the Seminoles their first loss of the season, and snapped Florida State’s 37 home game unbeaten streak. Sophomore Pamela Begic scored the first of Florida’s two goals, and then contributed the assist on fellow sophomore and Miami (FL) transfer Betsy Middleton’s 20-yard goal. Florida State cut the lead to one through Dagný Brynjarsdóttir just before half but despite a flurry of chances late in the second half they couldn’t find an equalizer. Neither team played on Sunday, but Florida State notched a 4-0 win against St. John’s (NY).
Virginia Tech 6-1 Georgetown
Not often does a matchup between two Top 15 teams end with a scoreline like this, but Virginia Tech dominated Georgetown on offense and defense in this match. Along with six different goals from five different players (senior Danielle King, sophomore Murielle Tiernan (2), sophomore Kallie Peurifoy, senior Ellie Zoepfl, and freshman Alani Johnson), the Hokies only allowed one shot on goal from the Hoyas, which came from sophomore Grace Damaska and would prove to be the visitors’ only goal of the match.
September 7, 2014
Arizona State 2-1 Texas A&M
The Sun Devils capped off an impressive weekend with a come-from-behind win over the Aggies. Texas A&M came out firing in the opening minutes of the game and grabbed goal through senior Kelley Monogue, her sixth of the year, just four minutes in. Arizona State wouldn’t equalize until late in the first half, when junior Rachel Ometer headed home a corner kick. The game-winning goal came from the foot of junior Mackenzie Semerad, with just three minutes remaining in regulation. Arizona State’s 2-0 win against Oklahoma State on Friday in tandem with Texas A&M’s draw with Arizona ensured a Sun Devil Classic win for the hosts.
In and Out
Wisconsin entered Our Game Magazine’s NCAA rankings at No. 22 this week with a perfect 6-0 record. Only Tennessee has scored on the Badgers this season, the game ending 2-1 in Wisconsin’s favor after one overtime period. Most recently, Wisconsin claimed two big victories on the road, defeating Washington, 4-0, and Portland, 3-0. Wisconsin can continue to rise as it enters Big Ten conference play this weekend, facing Michigan State and Michigan on the road. The Badgers’ August exhibition opponent Marquette bowed out of the Top 25 this week with a record of 2-3-1 following the Colorado College Invitational. The Golden Eagles were forced to battle back for their 2-1 win over beleaguered New Mexico, then settled for a 0-0 draw with the hosts.
Top Performers
There were hat tricks across the country in women’s soccer this past weekend. Ohio State freshman forward Sammy Edwards tallied hers against Dayton in a 4-2 win for the Buckeyes, the first goals of her college career. USC midfielders junior Jamie Fink and senior Alex Quincey each each scored three in the Trojans’ 8-1 win over UC Riverside with Fink putting away the game-winner in the 26th minute. Senior forwards Sofia Huerta (Santa Clara) and Sam Scolarici (Hofstra) scored hat tricks to help their respective teams bounce back from shutout losses on Friday. Huerta’s three goals gave the struggling Broncos the opportunity to tie the game twice in an eventual 4-3 win over Fresno State. Scolarici’s three goals in the 9-1 win against Indiana State was her second career hat trick and make her Hofstra’s all-time leader in goals scored.
Coming Up
- No. 3 Stanford vs. No. 6 Florida
- No. 11 Santa Clara vs. California
- No. 12 West Virginia vs. No. 21 Georgetown
- No. 13 Michigan vs. No. 22 Wisconsin
[divider]Contributors[/divider]
Rachael Caldwell will be graduating from the University of Arkansas in 2015 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and minors in Spanish and Business Management. Rachael played soccer from when she was three until her senior year of high school, where she was the captain of her state championship winning team. Rachael looks forward to writing more for Our Game Magazine and also writes about women’s soccer on her blog, rachaelfc.wordpress.com.
JJ Duke graduated from Rider University in New Jersey with a degree in Digital Media Studies. Although his playing days may have ended back in high school, he still prides himself on being a decent shot-stopper and an all-around fanatic of the beautiful game (fervent supporter of Manchester United and the founder of a Rider supporters group, the 206 Ultras). He was the Student General Manager at 107.7 FM The Bronc while at Rider and contributed to various local newspaper and Web sites in the Trenton, NJ, area of high school and collegiate sports including T and Fish4Scores.com.
Ruth Moore serves Our Game Magazine as a College Editor and the magazine’s Design Editor. She holds a degree in Professional Writing from Kutztown University, freelances in communication design and loves coffee.
Brandi Ortega designs, writes, and plays soccer in Southern California. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in English. Find her on twitter at @brandiortega.