P.J.'s Picks; Men's Soccer Week 1
If you were to type a search for NCAA college men’s soccer, you will find rankings, predictions, previews, etc., and you will even find some here at College Sports Madness. They are plastered all over the web and for good reason to, the season started. So I’ve decided instead of feeding you my predictions for the whole season, I’ll keep it to a weekly basis. Each week I will bring you my picks of players, teams or matches to watch for the week. I might even throw in my prediction of who I think will come out on top.
The opening week is an important week for all programs. It is where they begin to intimidate the other teams in their conference. What better way to prove your ability than to play a top ranked team. Better yet, why not have two top ten teams play each other. The match that will make headlines is #3 UCLA against #7 New Mexico. Two top ten teams get to battle it out for their season opener. I’m a fan of New Mexico’s program and I think head coach Jeremy Fishbein has put together a very talented squad this year and can make another leap at an undefeated season. However, UCLA will also bring their fair share of skills to the pitch this week. Both teams have a roster stacked with talent and both offensive fronts look about equal across the line. The one disadvantage that might be the deciding factor in this match will be the defense. The Lobo’s defense is a little stouter than the Bruins’ and New Mexico also has a more experienced keeper in the net. It will be a tough match but I think the Lobos will come out on top for their season opener.
A couple of other matches to watch this weekend will be #6 Creighton versus #20 Northern Illinois and #4 Maryland takes on #5 Louisville. I hesitate to say that Creighton will come off the line and take Northern Illinois, but I do like Maryland over Louisville. Either way, all three games will dictate where these teams will be in the rankings for the next few matches.
