August 30, 2007

ALUMNI REPORT

SVRCEK AND EDMONDS READY TO START SEASON WITH UCSB SOCCER

The UC Santa Barbara women’s soccer received a pair of first-place votes and was picked to finish in a tie for second in the Big West Conference, according to the nine head coaches in their annual preseason poll.

UC Santa Barbara features two players from Irvine, junior midfielder/forward Sami Svrcek (University High) and freshman forward/defender Jessie Edmonds (Irvine High).

The Long Beach State women’s soccer team received five first place votes and was the choice to win the 2007 Big West championship. The 49ers, who posted a 14-5-1 record last season, collected 77 points to outdistance the rest of the field.

UCSB and Cal Poly each received two first place votes and notched 63 points to tie for second place in the poll.

Defending Big West Tournament champion Cal State Fullerton was picked to finish fourth with 59 points. UC Riverside received 41 points for fifth place and Cal State Northridge was sixth with 37 points. Pacific, first-year Big West member UC Davis and UC Irvine rounded out the poll.

Last year, the Gauchos had a record of 7-7-6 overall, but 5-1-1 in league. They garnered a share of the conference title with the 49ers.

UCSB welcomes back six starters, including Svrcek.

Svrcek started and played in all 20 of the team’s games last season.

She had one goal and five assists.

The Gauchos will open the 2007 season on Friday when they host Loyola Marymount at 7 p.m. in Harder Stadium.

JASON KIM ONE OF THE TOP NEWCOMERS FOR VIRGINIA SOCCER TEAM

After inclement weather altered its preseason schedule several times, the Virginia men’s soccer team, which includes standout freshman Jason Kim (Woodbridge High) finally made its 2007 debut, downing South Florida, 1-0, in an exhibition Sunday morning at Klöckner Stadium.

Jeremy Barlow’s goal in the 21st minute was all the Cavaliers needed to post the victory.

Kim, considered one of the top recruits on the West Coast last season when guiding the Warriors from his central midfield position, came on as a reserve for Virginia in the exhibition and played 25 minutes.

Virginia outshot South Florida, 8-7, in the contest and had a 5-4 corner kick advantage.

Virginia will open the regular season on Friday when it hosts Columbia.

Match time is 7:30 p.m.

Virginia is ranked No. 5 in the NSCAA/adidas coaches’ preseason poll.

The Cavaliers also stands No. 6 in the College Soccer News’ preseason poll. It was picked to finish third in the 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference preseason poll by the conference coaches. Duke was selected to capture the crown, followed by Wake Forest, a 2006 College Cup participant along with Virginia.

Last season, Virginia posted a 14-1-0 home record en route to a 17-4-1 season and the program’s first College Cup appearance since 1997.

Nineteen players from that squad, including six starters, return this season looking to build upon last year’s national semifinal run.

There are also several standout newcomers, including Kim. He is one of five highprofile freshmen on the squad.

Four of those freshman have junior national team experience.

Kim, a native of South Korea was not eligible to play on U.S. national teams.

Kim scored nine goals and had five assists as a senior at Woodbridge.

He was named to the all-Orange County team this year and was the Sea View League most valuable player. He was named to the Southern California All-Star Team and is a member of the Region IV ODP squad. He has played internationally in Germany with the Region IV team.

"Jason not being on a national team might put him a little under everyone’s radar, but there are a lot of hard-core soccer aficionados who think he is one of the top prospects in the country," Virginia Coach George Gelnovatch said on the school’s Web site.

"He is very athletic and possesses great skills. We think he could be something really special."

DANIEL CHU SET TO BEGIN SOCCER CAREER IN BOSTON

The Boston University men’s soccer’s incoming freshman class was rated among the nation’s top 40 by Collegesoccernews.com.

Included in that recruiting class is freshman forward Daniel Chu (University High).

The class of 2011 at Boston features nine players who hail from up and down both coasts as well as Texas.

Four played for their states’ Olympic Development teams and all found success in their respective club soccer careers.

Boston has an exhibition match last week and fell, 1-0, to Connecticut.

The team starts the season officially this Saturday at home with a match against rival Boston College.

For the second straight year, Boston University has been picked to finish second in the America East Preseason Poll, according to a vote of the league’s head coaches.

The Terriers were narrowly edged out by 2006 conference champion Binghamton, which received 54 points and three first-place votes to BU’s 53 points and two first-place votes.

The Terriers finished just ahead of Vermont, who received 52 points and three first-place votes.

New Hampshire (38) was fourth, Stony Brook (33) ranked fifth, and Hartford (30) stood sixth. UMBC (29) received the final first-place vote in seventh place, while Albany (23) and Maine (11) rounded out the field.

Overall the Terriers return 18 players, including five starters, from a team that had a record of 10-4-5 last season and made it to the America East semifinals before falling to eventual conference champion Binghamton in penalty kicks.

Chu played four years of varsity soccer at Uni and was a two-time first team all-Pacific Coast League.
He was named second team all-league as a sophomore.

As a senior, three-year captain and team most valuable player, he guided his team to the Pacific Coast League championship for the first time in 10 years.

Chu also played for the Irvine Strikers club team. His teams won the 2004 Nomads Coaches Showcase, the 2003 Nomads Thanksgiving championship, the 2002 & 2003 Pats Cup championships, and the 2003 Manchester United Premier Cup US championship.

Alumni Report is compiled by Brent Shaver through press releases, web site reports and submissions from Irvine World News readers. If you have an item of interest, please email it to tburt@ocregister.com and feel
free to submit a photo as well. More information is available by calling Sports Editor Tim Burt at (949) 553-2917.