15,000+ all in one night, not for the whole season

Not too long ago, 15,000 fans would have been the SEASON attendance total, not just for one game. Times are changing quickly, with attendance up nation wide and two of the top five most-attended regular season NCAA soccer matches of the modern era occurring just in the last 2 weeks. I should add also that they both were played in California, not in Maryland or Connecticut or North Carolina, or even in St. Louis.

UCSB defeated UCLA 2-0. By no means a crushing win, so the story becomes the event itself. Out of nowhere, soccer this fall is capturing the attention of money-restricted fans with attendance numbers way up in California as well as back in the traditional soccer-center of the mid-atlantic.

I asked my soccer-neutral wife what she thought of the attendance-record-smashing year and she commented that "People must like soccer." I thought for a moment. Yes, it probably is really that simple.

4,700 See an Impressive #1 Akron Down a Solid Tulsa Team

Both teams undefeated going in. Akron clarifies who the better team really is. And 4,700 saw it all. I believe that is the story this year. Soccer is an inexpensive couple of hours, and if your team is doing well, it is a good entertainment value. Who knew that economic downturns were good for the minor sports? Now we know. Here is the whole story in numbers.

---------------------------

Soccer Box Score (Final)

2010 University of Akron Men's Soccer

#2 Tulsa vs #1 AKRON (Sep 24, 2010 at Akron, Ohio)

Goals by period 1 2 Total

Tulsa 0 0 0

AKRON 2 2 4

Tulsa (6-1-0) vs.

AKRON (6-0-0)

Date: Sep 24, 2010 • Attendance: 4,744

Weather: high 70s clear, w: sw 16 gusts to 29

Two to Tango, but Three to Score

This is a pretty three person combination from recent MLS play. If the defense made any mistake it was giving too much space to players when the whole play was very close to the goal. With that space, the offense makes the defense look like they are just working around cones on the practice field, not actual human defenders.

BTW, vuvuzelas have crossed the pond.

8,700 fans for a NCAA soccer match? Of course

A time traveller from the year 1994 arriving in San Luis Obispo in 2010 would incorrectly extrapolate the '94 World Cup soccer interest in the USA and assume that 8,700 fans must be totally normal and a logical progression from the WC excitement. 8,700 fans for a college soccer match makes it the 10th largest crowd (Soccer America) ever for NCAA soccer. So, what to make of it?

Well, 8,700 is news precisely because it isn't the norm. The last 16 years have seen a slow and steady rise in the MLS, but it still is only the 6th or 7th most popular pro sport in the USA, depending on what one measures. But people who live in SLO aren't the sort that cares to live in NYC and root for the Yankees. They probably wouldn't have gone to the game is their team consistently lost, but thrills come in many different colored packages. SLO residents consider themselves better than the average townies. Heck, they can get 5,000+ to show up at a farmer's market every Thursday evening.

The weather was perfect. The Cal Poly Mustangs have gone a coon's age without a single goal against at home. Soccer isn't $80 (or even $35) a ticket, so the whole family can go. The Spanos stadium upgrades a couple years ago have created an intimate sports arena with great site lines. If you build it, sell it at a reasonable price, on a nice night, with the reasonable hope of a winning feeling at the end, they will come. Even, or maybe because it is 3,000 miles from Gotham City.

Fresno Pacific Downs Holy Names 2-1 (OT)

Paul Islas put the Sunbirds up 1-0 in the first half. As their leading scorer, Islas is a force up front. He could use more support in the midfield (Gabriel Ramirez wherefore art thou!), but with the stellar work of Shawn Grieco that caused Holy Names nothing but grief all day long, FPU has scoring ability above many teams at this level.

FPU's slow start may have just turned a corner.

Bakersfield?

Soccer America Men's Top 25
(Sept. 14 rankings)
TEAM (RECORD) LAST WEEK
1. Akron (3-0-0) 1
2. Virginia (2-0-1) 2
3. North Carolina (2-1-0) 3
4. Tulsa (4-0-0) 4
5. Boston College (2-0-1) 5
6. Duke (1-0-2) 7
7. Connecticut (3-0-1) 6
8. Monmouth (4-0-0) 8
9. Ohio State (4-0-0) 9
10. Louisville (3-0-1) 11
11. Maryland (1-1-1) 12
12. Wake Forest (1-1-1) 14
13. Harvard (2-0-1) 15
14. Creighton (4-0-0) NR
15. Michigan State (3-1-0) 17
16. Portland (2-0-2) 18
17. Cal State Bakersfield (3-0-0) 20
18. UCLA (3-1-0) 23
19. St. John's (3-1-0) 24
20. UC Irvine (5-0-0) 25
21. SMU (5-0-0) NR
22. Butler (4-0-0) NR
23. New Mexico (2-1-1) 22
24. Notre Dame (2-1-1) NR
25. Penn (4-0-0) NR
25. William & Mary (3-0-0) NR
(Records are for games played through Sept. 12.)