The Most Recent Action:

MLS East Final: Revolution- Chicago (11/8/07):
On a cold night in Southern New England, the Revs took to the Gillette pitch in search of their third consecutive divisional title and a trip to MLS Cup. Standing in their way were the lads from Chicago who made it to this stage for the second straight year by upsetting DC United in the first round. This wasn’t the sort of evening for running about in shorts as the temperature would play a big factor. In the 37th, Twellman scored on a “bicycle kick” that was made famous by Pele. Twellman’s goal was highlight material of the first order. In the second half, the Fire threw everything they had at Reis and pressed hard for the equalizer, but the Revs’ defense held together well enough to secure the win and the title. Once more, it’s on to the final against Houston Dynamo. Let’s hope that the fourth time’s a charm.

Penn at Harvard:

If the Crimson play as poorly as they did on Saturday next week against Yale, the Bulldogs will clean their clocks. OK, so they defeated Penn 23-7 and the defense held the Quakers to 71 net yards in the second half, but so what? The Crimson were penalized an unheard 10 times for 95 yards. After a scoreless first quarter, Pizzotti hit Mazza with a 20-yard touchdown pass and Harvard went in at the half with a 7-0 lead. The Crimson came out right off the bat in the third quarter with another score as Pizzotti hit Luft with a 30-yarder then followed up with a 30-yard field goal by Patrick Long after Penn fumbled deep in their territory. As the game moved into the latter stages of the third quarter, Harvard got sloppy. A face-mask and a pass interference penalty moved the football far better than Penn’s offense as the Quakers were able to get the ball into the red zone and scored on DiMaggio’s 2-yard run around left end. The Quakers then caught Harvard napping as they recovered an on-sides kick but a holding penalty stalled their drive.

Midway through the fourth, Penn had another chance to grab points when Pizzotti fumbled (after hitting Mazza for 36) and the Quakers had the ball at their 31. At the 39, Penn was faced with a 4th and 2, but they turned the ball over on downs when Walker’s pass intended for Lepisto missed the mark (courtesy of Badger’s rush). Harvard punted on the ensuing possession, but Marcus Lawrence muffed the punt and Noah Van Niel recovered at Penn’s 20. Two plays later, Cheng Ho took it up the gut and in from 20. The extra point failed but the Crimson were in great shape with a 23-7 lead. Penn attempted a last gasp try, but Brendan McNally was picked off by Conor Murphy and the Crimson ground the clock down and came away with the victory. For the seniors, it must have been a wonderful moment leaving Harvard Stadium for the final time with a win.

Yale also won to remain undefeated so the Ivy Championship will come down to next Saturday in the 124th renewal of The Game (Yale leads, 65-50-8).
The last time both teams went into The Game at 6-0 in the League was 1968. That turned out to be one of the greatest games played in the history of college football. This year, Yale is stacked top to bottom, led by Mike McLeod (who leads the nation with a 174.3 yd/game rushing average and has scored 23 TD’s so far. What Clifton Dawson was, McLeod is: the Terror of the Ivy League. He will most assuredly will be receiving a phone call on draft day.

Two years ago Harvard won in triple overtime in game that had partisans on both sides gasping for breath at the end. Last year, the Bulldogs came to Brighton and flattened Harvard. All of the details you need can be found here.

Peterborough – Wrexham, FA Cup First Round:
Any hopes that the Dragons held for advancing in the tournament died quickly as Posh blew away the Dragons on a pure hat trick by striker Craig Mackail-Smith (2), (41) and (53). Neil Roberts knocked in Wrexham’s only score in the 66th, as the lads tried to make a go of things but Aaron Mclean capped off the scoring in the 88th and Dragons walked off the pitch utterly humiliated. They’re a sad bunch, and reviewing the feelings of the team’s very loyal and passionate fans, they’re desperately seeking an established manager to take control and kick some ass. By all accounts, Brian Carey is a nice enough fellow who has a long history as a player and assistant with the team, but he's’ won only 9 out of the 41 matches he’s managed since taking over from Denis Smith in the latter stages of last season.

According to this report in the BBC, it appears as if they’ve found their man: Brian Little. In looking at Little’s resume as a manager he is comparable in many respects to Dick Williams (a guy who pretty much enjoyed success wherever he managed). The report indicated that Carey would remain with the club and would work with Little, which is a good thing since no one likes to see a good man get sacked. There is no League Two play this weekend as most of the teams have players called up for international duty this weekend. It looks as if by the time Wrexham next kicks off on the 25th against Chester City at the Racecourse it will be a very different group.


Piacenza 2-0 Ravenna

Piacenza (5-8-1-16-13th Place) downed Ravenna 2-nil in the 14° giornata of Serie B play at Garilli on Saturday afternoon on late goals from Kharja (75) and (86) Juncal. So, things appear to be looking bright for biancorossi (now undefeated in their last three matches) under Mario Somma’s instruction. However, all of the attention of calcio fans was riveted on the tragedy that claimed the life of a young man caught up in one of the rivalries on the peninsula. The tragedy has caused the postponement of play this weekend in Serie B to honor the memory of the young man whose life was so needlessly lost. For a complete report, go here.