It’s about that time again! U.S. Soccer has announced this year’s nominees for the 2016 U.S. Soccer Awards. The Player of the Year award is the highest honor a player can receive in the United States. The award for Male Player of the Year dates back to 1984 and 1985 for the Female Player of the Year. Tune in to ESPNFC on December 11, 2016 to find out who takes home this year’s title.
The College Cup has finally arrived in Houston, home to this season's semifinals and final, and Stanford looks poised to become only the second team to win repeat championships. The last team to do it was Indiana in 2003 and 2004. With their defeat of Louisville in the quarterfinals, Stanford will now play the ninth-seeded University of North Carolina in the semifinals on Friday night.
Stanford vs. University of North Carolina | Friday, 8:45 PM ET | ESPNU
NYCFC striker David Villa is the 2016 MLS MVP. The Spanish striker scored 23 goals and contributed four assists to his club's most successful season (out of two seasons) to date.
Interestingly, the four leading MVP vote-getters play in the Eastern Conference, and three in New York: Villa (NYCFC), Bradley Wright-Phillips (New York Red Bulls), Sacha Kljestan (Red Bulls) and Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC).
It’s official: MLS will have a first-time Cup champion on Saturday. The MLS Cup winner will be either the Seattle Sounders or Toronto FC, both teams making their MLS Cup debuts. The two sides will meet in the 21st MLS Cup on December 10, 2016.
Both clubs boast massive fan support that has, to varying degrees, suffered since arriving in MLS. After two straight years of huge player investment and stadium upgrades, Toronto enter as the favorites at home and under the majority of the pressure.
Before we get to the game, can we just talk about the atmosphere in Toronto last night? That was one of the best atmospheres for a sporting event I have ever seen. It was raining, but also smoky because Toronto fans kept setting off flares in the stands.
Honestly, we didn't know Canadians could get that rowdy. Good for them.
The atmosphere was good and the match, if anything, was even better. This was not a well-played soccer game. It was, however, a good soccer game, in terms of total chaos and excitement. Here's what happened:
It’s been unpredictable in the Women’s NCAA Division I and Division II soccer tournaments, and we still have some time left to enjoy these crazy games. The semifinals are up next.
Division I
Down a goal and with only 10 men on the pitch, Fiorentina looked to their promising American youngster Josh Perez to help level the score against Inter Milan on Monday. The USA youth international made his Serie A debut for the Viola in the 75th minute. He almost made an immediate impact.
For some, this moment would get the best of them; youngsters often look skittish and lack confidence in their club debuts. However, this was not the case for the young American, who skillfully collected the ball on the top of the box and cut onto his left foot as he shaped to shoot.
FREE AGENT BABY.
These are maybe not the words you should be tweeting if you have just helped your new franchise to a very successful season and have therefore amassed a bit of good will from the fanbase. That is exactly what Jermaine Jones did following Colorado's 1-0 loss against Seattle Sunday, likely his last game with the Rapids.
You should never look to sports franchises for guidance following a tragedy. These are organizations that can't even defend a corner kick properly, how can they possibly manage reacting thoughtfully and compassionately to a horrible situation?
Sometimes, though, those reactions happen to be exactly what everyone needs. Credit where credit is due: Orlando City SC have responded to the terrifying events of the Pulse nightclub shooting with class and empathy. Here's the latest gesture:
Everyone knows about Michael Jordan's flu game, but did you know Jordan Morris had one too, like, a few hours ago?
It's true. Morris, battling the flu, scored the only goal in Seattle's 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids Sunday in Colorado.