Mamadou Diouf scored his sixth goal of the season for UConn. (Photo via UConn Athletic Department/Stephen Slade)

Conference play is heating up around the country but we still had a few big out of conference games that were fun to take note this past weekend in college soccer. Below are a few of the bigger results from a jam-packed weekend.

No. 1 Maryland 2 – 0 Virginia. Maryland is still holding serve as the top school in the country (at least for most pollsters) with their 2-0 win over rivals Virginia. Casey Townsend scored his ninth goal of the season while John Stertzer added his sixth. The Terps continue to roll over opponents as Townsend plays at a high level.

No. 2 UConn 2 – 0 No. 12 St. Johns. The Huskies continue to quietly get it done as they are still undefeated on the season and are making a strong case to win the Big East this season. Mamadou Diouf scored his sixth goal of the season in the big win over the Red Storm.

No. 4 Akron 3 – 0 Tulsa. Darron Mattocks scored a hat trick on Saturday to help lift the Zips in a big road test at Tulsa. Mattocks now has seven goals on the season, proving he definitely has what it takes to lead this young Zips squad in 2011.

No. 17 Notre Dame 1 – 0 No. 5 Louisville. The second loss of the season for the Cards comes at the hands of a conference rival in the form of the Irish. Notre Dame rode a early goal from Danny O’Leary to upset the Cards in this one.

No. 21 South Florida 2 – 1 No. 19 WVU. The nation’s longest home winning streak came to an end this weekend as the Bulls upset the Mountaineers 2-1. Lucas Baldin scored a late second half goal to give the Bulls the big conference win.

Other results:

No. 3 Creighton 1 -0 Saint Mary’s

No. 6 UNC 3 – 0 Virginia

No. 7 Indiana 1 – 0 Penn State

FGCU 2 -1 No. 9 UCF

SMU 2 – 1 No. 18 UCLA

Maryland faces a big challenge from Boston College this weekend. (Photo via Maryland Athletics/ TJ Root)

After a couple big weekend of college soccer where top schools faced off against one another, this weekend cools off a bit at least in terms of a No 1 vs No 2 matchup. There are still plenty of good match ups to discuss for the weekend ahead. A lot of conference matches kickoff this weekend for some teams, which always can spell trouble.

No. 1 UNC vs Virginia Tech: The Hokies are never an easy team to face in Blacksburg, so this will be a good test for the newly minted number one side in the land. Billy Schuler will have to guide the Tar Heels in this one, just like he did a week ago against Louisville.

No. 2 Maryland vs No. 8 Boston College: Probably the biggest match of the weekend. The Terps rose up the rankings to number two this week and will get a huge ACC battle against another top 10 team in Boston College. Maryland will need a big effort from Casey Townsend and their defense which is lead by FC Dallas academy product London Woodberry.

No. 4 Akron vs Saint Louis: The Zips face a tough challenge this weekend as they host Saint Louis. This is the same Saint Louis squad that beat Notre Dame last weekend in overtime. Look for Akron to lean on forward Darren Mattocks in this one as he heated up in a big way last weekend out in California.

No. 12 WVU vs No. 6 UC Santa Barbara: A big west coast challenge for the Mountaineers as they travel to California to play UCSB. The Gauchos are always tough to face at home and it will be a tall task for Marlon LeBlanc’s young team to deal with. Look for Andy Bevin to add to his three goals this season for the Gold and Blue.

Keyln Rowe and UCLA hope to top Louisville this weekend. (Photo via UCLA)

One thing I love about the start of the college soccer season is the amount of big time games that are usually going on all over the place. The start of this new season is no different as there are plenty of great games listed on the schedule this weekend.

Games from this weekend will have a lasting impression on this year’s season too.

Below are a few games I’ll be keeping tabs on this weekend:

No. 11 Virginia vs. No. 17 West Virginia – Friday, August 26, 5:00 p.m. ET

Okay, yes I’m pimping my Alma Mater first but can you blame me? The ACC-Big East Challenge kicks off with Virginia and West Virginia (WVU will also play No. 8 Maryland this weekend as well). Both sides have plenty of talent but look for Mountaineer senior Franck Tayou, who lead the Marlon LeBlanc’s side in scoring and assists last year to be the focal point in this one.

No. 9 Notre Dame vs. No. 18 Indiana – Saturday, August 27, 7:00 p.m. ET

I love it when these two sides get together. Two quality teams that are well coached meet up. We’ll get to see our first glimpse of the Irish with transfer striker Ryan Findley. The Hoosiers have a bunch of good young talent, including a couple quality players from the MLS academy system.

No. 4 Akron vs. Cleveland State – Saturday, August 27, 7:30 p.m. ET

If you are ready and waiting to see what the defending NCAA champions have in stored for this season, look no further than to this game here with Cleveland State. Let’s not forget that this was the same Cleveland State team that handed the Zips their only loss last year.

No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 1 Louisville – Saturday, August 27, 7:00 p.m. ET

I remember watching these two in last year’s quarterfinal round. Boy was that a great match. I don’t expect those same fireworks to start the season but I do expect a really good match here with these two. UCLA has a ton of talent returning while Louisville has all the big names you could want in Colin Rolfe and Austin Berry.

William & Mary vs.  No. 7 SMU –  Saturday, August 27, 8:00 p.m. ET

A local match for me, SMU hopes to open up their new season strong. This happens to be another rematch from last year’s tournament as well. Keep an eye out for SMU’s Juan Castillo. He was the Conference USA’s freshman of the year and will be a big leader this season for the Mustangs.

I wanted to start off in the land of college soccer. First and foremost I am a big college soccer guy, not as big obviously when I was actually in college a couple years ago but I do still try to follow it as much as possible to keep me up on future MLSers that are out there across the land.

I bring up the college side of things because my alma mater’s sports media site posted an interesting thought about the growth of the college game. The article is worth a read for those who aren’t familiar with WVU or even Big East soccer for that matter. Both men’s and women’s soccer in the Big East is good, though not nearly as impressive as some we see in the ACC with the likes of Duke, Maryland and Wake Forest each year.

I know a lot of folks are getting tired of the SuperDraft in Major League Soccer but it won’t be going any time soon. The depth of the college game has taken a dip in recent years but I still know there are plenty of good players out there that are just prepping their game for better days in MLS or even in Europe.

But with that sad we will see a decline in the draft down the road as more academy players pop up in the league. I give it a few years at minimum before the draft goes from four rounds to two. It was a sign the draft was starting to get smaller when the league did away with the Supplemental Draft this year.

CCL Action Returns Tonight

MLS sides return in action tonight in the CONCACAF Champions League along with games tomorrow and Thursday. The forth round of the group stage is a big one for MLS clubs.

Houston is hosting group leaders Arabe Unido in a big time clash at Robertson Stadium. According to the Houston Chronicle, The Houston Dynamo is charging $5 for end-line seats for tonight’s game. Not bad if you ask me, though if you are reading this now and you live in the Houston area it may be too late for you to get out to the game to support the Dynamo.

Columbus will go tomorrow night as they host their group leader Cruz Azul in a big Group B showdown at Crew Stadium. The Crew sit just a point behind their Mexican counterparts.

Thursday night DC will hope to build on their first CCL win in round three as they host Marathon. DC needs another win in hopes to even have a shot at moving on in the competition.

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Ngwenya In Red Bull Camp?

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Don’t go too crazy here Dynamo fans, your Orange still own the MLS rights to Joseph Ngwenya should he some how sign with the New York Red Bulls. Yes he is in camp with the Red Bulls but since the rosters were frozen on the rest of the season last week the lowly Bulls will not be able to use his services should they sign him before the end of the year.

If the two sides do agree and a deal is worked out with Houston, the first time we could see him play won’t be until next year. More than likely this is Ngwenya’s way of staying fit until he signs elsewhere.

Thing that gets me is why didn’t he sign in Houston? The two sides apparently just couldn’t come to terms and in the end that hurts the player more than the team really.