Soccer Watch

The UT Longhorns are 2-6, riding a four-game losing streak, and they seem to have lost any sense of rhythm and ball control they had in the early season. On the bright side, they have two final nonconference games in the friendly confines of Myers Stadium to get recalibrated before the Big 12 conference season starts next week: Fresno State (Friday, Sept. 14, 8pm, Horns & Heroes Night) and Denver (Sunday, Sept. 16, 7pm).

The St. Edward's women are ranked 17th in the nation in D2 this week, after beating the two teams just below them in regional rankings. They open conference play against ninth-ranked Dallas Baptist (Sat., Sept. 15, 1pm), followed by a Thursday, 1pm, visit from UT-Permian Basin.

The U.S. won the Under-20 Women's World Cup, beating defending champion Germany in the final, 1-0. UT freshman goalkeeper Abby Smith was on the squad.

The U.S. men salvaged a split with Jamaica this weekend in World Cup qualifying – 1-2 in Kingston, then 1-0 in Columbus – to stay largely on track to advance to the final round; still, they probably need a win and a draw in their final two games, Oct. 12 & 16... One shocker among early group-stage games elsewhere: Australia's loss to Jordan, 2-1.

Euro Champions League group stage opens Sept. 18-19. Fox Soccer will show Real Madrid-Manchester City on Tuesday, Chelsea-Juventus on Wednesday, live at 1:30pm, plus no less than eight other games on delay over the two days. Go nuts ...