College Fútbol season comes to a close

November 3, 2:20 AMMiami Soccer ExaminerJuan Arango

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It is stuck in a weird time of the calendar year, but hidden amid college football, pro football, and the Beautiful Game internationally... the college game does have a niche.  Here is South Florida it is no different although there seems to be a resurgence of sorts down here.  This plus the eventual growth of newer programs, college soccer could be a big force once again.

Florida International

Three seconds.  Who was the most successful soccer team in South Florida this year.  That would be FIU women's side.  They prepare to play in the Sun Belt Conference tournament riding an unbelieveable 10-match unbeaten streak and should be a shoe-in for the NCAA tournament, maybe even a first-round match at home.  Thomas Chestnutt's side got things in gear after a slow start

We will have a better impression as to their final destination when we see how they do in the conference tournament. 

The men's side has struggled so far this season, but in recent matches they have seen their form improve.  A draw against thrid-ranked South Carolina and a win against Kentucky on senior day make this disappointing season a little lest painful, but there is a great sense of optimism coming into the 2010 season.

Miami

Weekend losses at Virginia and Virginia Tech saw the Hurricanes Although the Lady Canes played one of the toughest schedules in the nation, beating three top ten teams and six top 25 in the process such as Maryland and North Carolina.

At 8-10-1 the Hurricanes should be considered for some type of at-large bid based on their strength of schedule, but they will do themselves no favors as getting swept in the state of Virginia in the final two matches of the season essentially left them out of the ACC tournament. 

There were some important things to build on for next year for Tricia Taliaferro and her staff.  Attendance doubled at Cobb Stadium as crowd of over 2,000 were present when the Florida Gators and North Carolina Tar Heels made a stop in Coral Gables. 

Barry

The  Buccaneer men ended the regular season at 11-5-1 and will be hosting a match on campus in the SSC Conference tournament.  The match will be taking place on Tuesday at 7pm. 

St Thomas

Bobcat soccer has had great news in the past couple of days.  The men's side (10-4-3) will be in the Sun Conference tournament.  The bad news is that they will have to go to Daytona Beach and play one of the favorites for the crown-regular season champ Embry Riddle.  The Eagles also went unbeaten in conference play this season.  But let's not make this a hopeless, situation for Felix Mats' side.  They were one of two teams that did not lose to the Embry-Riddle.  They are also among one of the better road teams in teh Sun Conference as they went 4-3-1 on the road.  

Although it wasn't the way they wanted their season to go, the Lady Bobcats ended their campaign upset 11th ranked Northwood 1-0; courtesy of a Sylvia Palmero strike from right outside the box.