The men's college soccer season is in full swing, with most teams engaged in conference play, and the Dynamo Academy has five players currently playing for teams ranked in the top eight in the country (No. 4 UNC, No. 5 Tulsa, No. 8 SMU).
The 2010 season marks the first group of college seniors who spent time in the Dynamo Academy, so college soccer is especially worth watching to see which players might be drafted or even signed prior to the draft in the 2010-11 offseason.
Below is a report on Dynamo Academy players this weekend, sorted by year of eligibility:
Seniors
Daniel Roberts, MF/FW, UNC-Wilmington (Fort Bend Clements) Dynamo bio | UNCW bio
Roberts has only played in three games due to injury, and UNC-Wilmington is not as strong without him. The Seahawks beat James Madison 2-1 last Wednesday but fell to Old Dominion 1-0 in an upset on Saturday and could drop out of the Top 25.
Josue Soto, MF, SMU (PrepaTec, Mexico) Dynamo bio | SMU bio
Soto helped the Mustangs recover from their first loss of the season with two wins this week. SMU started with a come-from-behind 3-1 win over No. 20 South Carolina on Wednesday, with Soto netting the game-winning goal from the penalty spot. Soto played 85 of 95 minutes on Sunday as the Mustangs downed Marshall 2-1 in overtime. SMU now has more than a week off before hosting Tulsa in a huge match on Oct. 20.
Juniors
Alex Dixon, FW, North Carolina (Humble Atascocita) Dynamo bio | UNC bio
Dixon, nursing a hamstring injury, was held out of UNC's 5-1 win over Radford last Tuesday and its more important 1-0 win over Wake Forest on Friday to move to 5-0 in ACC play. The Tar Heels play at Liberty Tuesday night, then play at Boston College on Friday. Having already beaten UVA, Maryland, Duke, Wake Forest, and North Carolina State, the Tar Heels will be favored to run the table in their last seven games and take the ACC regular season title. Dixon will hope to return in time for the postseason, where he made such an impact last year.
Clayton Holz, MF, Stanford (St. John's) Dynamo bio | Stanford bio
Holz appeared as a substitute in both of Stanford's games last week, a 2-0 loss at Washington and a 1-0 overtime win at Oregon State. The Cardinal, 1-2 in Pac-10 play, will host UCLA on Friday and San Diego State on Sunday in games that could be evaluated by members of the Dynamo staff, given Houston's Saturday match in San Jose.
Matt Kirby, MF, Denver (Beaumont Msgr. Kelly) Dynamo bio | DU bio
Kirby started both games as Denver went unbeaten on a two-game road trip in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play, beating New Mexico on Friday 1-0 despite being outshot 21-4 and holding out for a 0-0 tie with UNLV on Sunday. In a quick turnaround, the Pioneers host New Mexico and UNLV this weekend in Denver.
Pana Vasquez, FW, SMU (Cy Falls) Dynamo bio | SMU bio
Vasquez did not play in SMU's wins over South Carolina and Marshall.
Sophomores
Matt Boullt, DF, Tulsa (Fort Bend Clements) Dynamo bio | Tulsa bio
Boullt continues to start regularly, but Tulsa suffered back-to-back losses to ranked teams and will surely drop from its lofty No. 5 in the rankings this week. The Golden Hurricane fell 3-1 at No. 11 Creighton, then lost 1-0 against No. 20 South Carolina in a key Conference USA match. Tulsa will try to get back on track when it hosts Marhsall on Friday.
Freshmen
Sebastien Ibeagha, DF/MF, Duke (Fort Bend Hightower) Dynamo bio | Duke bio
Ibeagha started both matches at center back as Duke cruised past Davidson 4-1 in its mid-week game, then battled North Carolina State to a 0-0 tie on the road on Friday. The Blue Devils are back in the national spotlight on Friday, playing at UC Santa Barbara in front of the best college soccer crowd in the country on Fox Soccer Channel at 10 p.m. CT.
C.J. Odenigwe, DF, North Carolina (Fort Bend Travis) Dynamo bio | UNC bio
Odenigwe made the fourth appearance of his freshman campaign in the Tar Heels' 5-1 win over Radford last Tuesday. He was not one of the 12 players UNC used in its win over Wake Forest.
Jonny Torres, MF, Wake Forest (Humble Atascocita) Dynamo bio | Wake bio
Torres
did not appear in either match as Wake Forest beat Appalachian State 1-0 on Tuesday and lost 1-0 to North Carolina on Friday. The Demon Deacons play at William & Mary on Tuesday, then
host North Carolina State on Saturday.
Pat Wall, GK, Notre Dame (Strake Jesuit) Dynamo bio | ND bio
Wall did not play and remains eligible to redshirt this season but is serving as the Irish backup with starter Will Walsh unavailable. Notre Dame beat Indiana but lost at West Virginia last week. This week, Notre Dame hosts Marquette and plays at Louisville.
Area College Teams
Houston Baptist University
After a week off, HBU resumes play at Centenary on Oct. 16, returning home for four consecutive home games Oct. 21-Nov. 2.
