Soccer Watch

Are we starting to think about a national football championship yet? Maybe not on this side of the river, but down on South Congress, the St. Edward's women have moved up to No. 2 in the nation in Division II. The largely homegrown team – 19 girls from Texas, six from the CenTex area – earned three shutout wins in five days this past week. That sets up quite a remarkable doubleheader this Sunday down at the St. Edward's soccer field where they host Central Okla­homa at 10am, then third-ranked Midwestern State plays the Hilltopper men at 1pm. Two teams ranked among the top three in the nation, it's all free, and you can still get over to ACL before the end of the Gospel Brunch show.

The UT Longhorns split a pair in Los Angeles against two teams with some national rep – losing 2-1 to San Diego, then beating USC in overtime by the same score. The Horns get ACL weekend off before starting Big 9 play next weekend. Elsewhere in the Big 8, Oklahoma State has moved up to No. 2 in the national rankings – and while no other Big 7 team is ranked, Missouri, Kansas, and Texas A&M are all in the "receiving votes" category.

Major League Soccer teams fell back to earth in Champions League play Tuesday against Mexican opposition, with the LA Galaxy losing 2-1 at Morelia and the Colorado Rapids getting drilled, 4-1, at home by Santos. After more games Wednesday-Thursday, the group stage will be halfway done, and MLS teams will no longer be leading each of the four groups.

And European Champions League group play opened midweek, with a few surprises. APOEL Nicosia notched the first win ever by a Cypriot team at this level, downing Russian champs Zenit St. Petersburg; Italian giants Inter Milan lost at home to Turkish outsiders Trabzonspor; and early favorites Barcelona and the two Manchester teams failed to impress in opening-game draws.