Towson University soccer forward Richie Moller has stolen a little thunder from the school's football team this week, bolting into third place in the NCAA Division I scoring race with 10 goals and four assists in eight games for the 6-2 Tigers.
It is the highest national scoring position this far into the season any Towson soccer player has held.
Moller's past two goals this season have been dramatic game-winning ones.
He beat Penn State, 1-0, in double overtime last week with a goal, and came back three days ago to defeat Philadelphia Textile, 2-1, with a goal three minutes and nine seconds into overtime.
Towson coach Frank Olszewski said, "Richie is back up front now after moving around a lot as a sophomore and being used as a complementary player as a freshman. He has exceptional quickness and can shoot with either foot."
Towson is ranked eighth in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America South Atlantic Regional poll this week.
Coppin to get TV exposure
The Coppin State basketball team is thought to be the first historically black college to be scheduled for a CBS-TV regular-season game.
The Eagles will meet defending national champion Arizona Dec. 13 at Arizona in a regionally-televised game.
It is one of 26 games on a Coppin schedule that also includes road games at the University of Connecticut, at Missouri, at Wisconsin, at Oklahoma in the first round of the Oklahoma City tournament with Alabama a possible foe in the championship game, and at the Iowa State Cyclone Challenge.
Loyola soccer falls hard
After an impressive 2-0-2 start that gained Loyola College a No. 20 ranking in the Soccer America poll for two straight weeks, the Greyhounds have fallen on hard times over the past seven days.
They lost back-to-back games to Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason to drop to a 2-2-2- mark and fall out of the Top 20.
The Greyhounds surprised the collegiate soccer world when they battled defending national champion St. John's to a scoreless tie late last month then came back two days later to duel Penn State to a 2-2 standoff.
Loyola will try to bounce back this weekend in the 22nd annual Loyola tournament at the College of Notre Dame Alumnae Field with national powers Princeton, Cornell and George Mason providing the opposition.
Youth puts UMBC on rise
UMBC's freshman-dominated soccer team gave coach Pete Caringi reason to be hopeful this season when it tied American University, 1-1, earlier this month.
AU was ranked No. 12 by Soccer America at the time, but Caringi started seven freshmen who rewarded his faith in them with strong performances.
Those seven youngsters are midfielders Martin Jorgensen and Louie Karko, goalkeeper Soren Byskov, forwards Ryan Lampton and Ryan Cuomo, and backs Billy Nelson and Brian Mahon.
The Retrievers also own a victory over always-tough Howard, but they are stuck with a 3-5-1 record, thanks to losses to teams like unbeaten Liberty (6-0), George Washington and George Mason.
Hopkins soccer rated No. 3
The Johns Hopkins men's soccer team is riding a school-record 20 straight regular-season victories and continues to hold the No. 3 ranking this week in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division III poll.
It is the highest soccer ranking in school history.
The only Hopkins loss in the past 21 games was a 2-0 setback last season to Bethany in the Middle-Atlantic Regional Division III semifinals.
The latest Hopkins victory was a 5-0 romp last Saturday past Swarthmore. Midfielder Peter Quin scored four goals in that win.
Morgan loses 2 in football
Freshman quarterback David Hale and freshman kicker Jesus Tarrango left the Morgan State football team after two games and returned to their Sacramento, Calif., homes.
Hale was backing up Willie McGirt and Donald Green and didn't play in a game, and Tarrango missed his only extra-point attempt. Hale is also considered a pro baseball prospect after playing one season in Single-A for the San Diego Padres.
Towson forfeits title
Towson University had to forfeit its Towson Invitational men's cross country title after it was determined that one of the Tigers' athletes was ineligible to compete this fall.
On Sept. 12, the Tigers held off UMBC to finish first in the Towson Invitational. However, the forfeiture knocked the Tigers into second behind the Retrievers.
Towson also discovered that one of its golfers was ineligible but the ineligibility was detected before the Tigers competed in the America East Tournament.
Pub Date: 9/27/97