Men's soccer team drops a close one

DAVIDSON -- Jeremy Gunn's debut as the Charlotte 49ers' men's soccer coach saw mixed results Friday night at Davidson's Alumni Stadium.

Charlotte did well to give itself several good opportunities to score against San Jose State, but ended up only able to capitalize once and lost 2-1 in the opening round of the adidas Classic.

The 49ers (0-1) will try again for their first win on Sunday, facing St. Mary's (Calif.) at 2 p.m. Davidson and San Jose State will meet at noon Sunday.

Here is a brief post-game Q&A with Gunn:

Q: Was this a game of missed opportunities?
Gunn: The players worked very hard and overall I thought we were a much better team. San Jose State managed to get back into the game after a tough first half, but that's what happens when you get to the goal -- the players get excited. Leading into halftime we were down. The second half, I couldn't have asked for more out of the guys. They were under a lot of pressure. San Jose State scored a great goal that deserved to win any game. When they looked at what they did to win it, it was a great strike. We had them on the ropes for such a long period, we just have to find a way to score a little more.

Q: Is it frustrating to have chances but not finish them?
Gunn: I find it encouraging that we were creating chances to score. If we weren't getting chances, we'd have a lot more to worry about. We had a lot of young players out there, a lot playing their first college game that counts. There were tiny little things in the game that decided the result, but overall I was pleased.

Q: Considering it was your first game and you're a first-year coach, how would you assess how the team has progressed in a short period of time?
Gunn: The boys have done very, very well. The reality is when you are starting off fresh, there are always going to be little things that change games that you are not going to make go away. We're playing very good soccer and I am extremely excited about that. The only thing now, is as we gain experience, we should learn how to manage the game a little bit better and how to do the damage where it counts.


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49ers golfers ranked 10th in country

Released by the Charlotte 49ers' Sports Information office today:

The Charlotte 49ers golf team has been ranked 10th in the Golf World/Nike Pre-Season Div. I Coaches’ Poll released today. The 49ers placed third at the 2007 NCAA Championships and have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three years. Charlotte returns four of the five players that competed at the NCAA Championships and five of their top seven players overall.

Among the top returnees are senior Andrew DiBitetto (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) and sophomore Corey Nagy (Charlotte, N.C./Vance), who were both named to Golf World’s Top 50 “Players to Watch”.

“I could not be more proud of what our players were able to accomplish last season and while it was tough to lose (graduated seniors) Matt (Mincer) and Ray (Sheedy), our squad this year is justifiably excited about the coming season and eager to get going,” two-time Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year Jamie Green said.

“It’s a terrific honor to have fellow coaches realize the potential of your team and while we are anticipating success my hope is that we become better and better as the year goes on and are able to make a nice run in May, again.”

DiBitetto, the individual runner-up at the 2007 Atlantic 10 Championships, placed ninth at the NCAA Championships and earned PING Honorable Mention all-America honors by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). He owns a school-record 72.88 career scoring average, which includes last year’s 72.8 mark.

Nagy, the 49ers first-ever Freshman all-America, was also a PING Honorable Mention all-America by the GCAA and placed 35th at the National Championships. Also an all-Atlantic 10 choice, Nagy placed tied for third at the A-10 Championships, helping the Niners to their second straight A-10 crown. He posted a 72.2 stroke average, last season and this summer made more waves by reaching the semifinals of the US Amateur Public Links.

The duo will be joined by senior Jonas Enander Hedin (Taby, Sweden; Tibble Gymnasium), an all-Atlantic 10 choice who led the 49ers with a 71.86 stroke average, senior Trevor Murphy (St, Johnsbury, Vt./Burke Academy), who reached the round of 32 at the 2007 US Amateur after finishing fourth in the qualifying rounds and won both the Vermont Open and the Vermont Amateur, this summer, and junior Stefan Wiedergruen (Waiblingen, Germany/Salier Gymnasium), who ranked third on the team with a 72.5 stroke average.

Charlotte has advanced to the NCAA Regional Tournament each of the last three years and moved through the regionals to the 30-team NCAA Championships in each of the last two. This past year, the golfers matched the university’s best-ever NCAA Tournament finish with a third-place showing behind Stanford and Georgia. The previous season, in their first-ever trip to the NCAA Championships, the 49ers placed 22nd in the nation.

Give me your A-10 predictions

OK, Charlotte 49ers, here's your chance to offer your expertise on 49er and Atlantic 10 basketball.

Again this season I have been selected to participate in the voting for preseason all-conference for A-10 men's basketball as well to predict an order of finish for the league. The deadline for submissions is Sept. 6.

So, while I mull over my selections during the next week, I'd like to see some of yours. Give me your five top players in the A-10 this season as well as your predicted order of finish for the league.

The results of the official voting will be announced on Oct. 25 at Basketball Media Day in Atlantic City, N.J., which I will be attending. On that day, along with the preseason all-conference selections and order of finish, I will share my votes with you.

Until then, fire away with your selections. Just post 'em in the comments section below.

Women's soccer team picked to finish 2nd in A-10

Released by Charlotte's Sports Information office today:

The Charlotte 49ers women’s soccer team, which captured the 2006 Atlantic 10 regular season title, has been picked to finish second in the preseason A-10 poll which was voted on by league’s 14 head coaches.

Saint Louis, the defending A-10 tournament champions, were picked first. Charlotte, Dayton, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Fordham round out the top six teams in the preseason poll. The 49ers are hosting the six-team Atlantic 10 Tournament at Transamerica Field, Nov. 8-11.

Last season, the 49ers won 13 games including a school-record tying eight Atlantic 10 wins. The 49ers posted an unbeaten 7-0-2 record at Transamerica Field in 2006. The 49ers finished the 2006 regular season with six straight conference wins.

Charlotte welcomes back nine starters and 16 letterwinners from last season led by seniors Brittany Dorsch, Sara Jane Harris, Nikki Labuda, Rachel Mees, Lindsey Ozimek and Ashley Rex. Labuda, a preseason All-Atlantic 10 selection, led the 49ers with nine goals last season. Mees finished second on the team in goals with six and led the team in assists with seven. Ozimek, a preseason All-Atlantic 10 selection, enters the season tied for first in the program’s history with 30 career assists.

Dorsch, Harris, Labuda, Mees, Ozimek, Rex and the rest of the 49ers team open the 2007 season against The Citadel at Transamerica Field, Friday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m.

Preseason Atlantic 10 Coaches Poll
1. Saint Louis
2. Charlotte
3. Dayton
4. Rhode Island
5. Massachusetts
6. Fordham
7. La Salle
8. Xavier
9. Richmond
10. George Washington
11. Saint Joseph’s
12. Duquesne
13. Temple
14. St. Bonaventure

Niners notables

Taking a minute out of vacation this week to pass on some interesting information on some well-known Charlotte 49ers:

First, 49ers associate head men's basketball coach Rob Moxley is ranked 10th in listing of the top 16 "friends of junior colleges" in the August 2007 edition of Basketball Times.

Moxley's recruiting success in the junior college ranks have paid big dividends, including the addition of highly touted players Charlie Coley and Lamont Mack, who join the 49ers this fall.

During his nine years at Charlotte, Moxley has helped recruit several players who have had successful careers with the 49ers, including E.J. Drayton, KenKay Jones, Curtis Nash and Marcus Bennett, among others.

Second, Trevor Murphy and Ray Sheedy, who both played for the 49ers golf team that finished third this season in the NCAA championship, have both qualified for the U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.

The 315-player field will play qualifying rounds next Monday and Tuesday to cut the field to 64. Those players will then enter a match play format to determine the champion. NBC will broadcast coverage of the semifinal and championship matches Aug. 25-26.

Murphy is a rising senior, while Sheedy graduated in May.

Pictures from Charlotte vs. Japan women

Right: Japan's Mutya Mori (15) and Kiyomi Kaneko (7) go for the block against USA's Erin Floyd, center, during their qualifying match at the 24th World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007.























Left: Japan's Maiko Sekine, (6), shoots against USA's Sabrina Nicole Gregory,(6), and Danielle Michelle Burgin, (8), during their qualfying match at the 24th World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand.

































Left: Japan's Mai Ishikawa, bottom, battles USA's Danielle Michelle Burgin, for the rebound during their qualifying match at the 24th World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007

Right: Japan's Mai Yoshida, left, and Mai Ishikawa, right, battle USA's Wendy Stywalt, center, for the rebound during their qualifying match at the 24th World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday

Q&A with Shamarr Bowden

Shamarr Bowden is looking to make an immediate impact and that goal is what largely determined his choice to commit to the Charlotte 49ers.

Bowden, a rising senior at The Miller Academy in Charlottesville, Va., on Wednesday announced his intentions to sign a letter of intent during the November signing period to play for Charlotte in 2008-09. Bowden averaged 20.7 points per game last season and is ranked a three-star recruit by Rivals.com.

I caught up with Bowden early Wednesday evening. Here's a quick Q&A with him.

Q: Can you talk about what led you to decide not to attend Virginia Tech?
Bowden: I had planned for some time to go to Tech, to join the team for the 2008 season. But in the last year it became clear they were going to be heavy with guards on the team. I was going to have to compete with four or five other guys for playing time. I don't mind that, but I would not likely have seen a lot of playing time the first couple of seasons. I decided it was probably best to open my choices back up.

Q: What other schools were you receiving interest from?
Bowden: I heard from many schools including UNC Wilmington, Winthrop, Elon -- those are the ones around here. I also spoke with Richmond, Vandy and a few others.

Q: What were your impressions of the coaching staff at Charlotte?
Bowden: I really like coach Lutz. He doesn't hold guys back. If they can play and make the shot, he lets them go. His teams go after it real hard. I really liked the way the staff kept in contact with me, showed me they really cared about me. I love the campus and love the big arena.

Q: How did attending the Miller Academy help you?
Bowden: I think it really turned my game around. I have really improved in my dribbling and my overall athletic ability. Going there was important for me. I was isolated away from all the distractions. It really prepares you for college. The teachers work with you whenever you need it and it also prepares you for life. We take part in community service projects around the area.

49ers travel partners scheduled

The Charlotte 49ers men's basketball team will see another change in their schedule this season.

The Atlantic 10 Conference has finally completed its rearrangement of each of the 14 member schools' "travel partners" for next season. Each school in the A-10 plays three schools in home-and-away games then plays each of the other 10 schools once for a total of 16 conference games.

For the first two years in the league, Charlotte's travel partners were George Washington, Richmond and Dayton. Beginning next season, two of those three will change. Richmond will remain the same, but Fordham and Temple will replace GW and Dayton.

The 49ers also have released their home and away conferences game opponents but not the dates. Next season, Charlotte will play the following A-10 teams at home: Richmond, Temple, Fordham, Duquesne, George Washington, St. Joseph's, Saint Louis and Xavier.

The 49ers will play the following A-10 teams on the road: Richmond, Temple, Fordham, Dayton, LaSalle, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure.

Charlotte's nonconference schedule is already complete and listed below for reference:

November
9 High Point
12 Appalachian State
16-19 at Paradise Jam Tournament
vs. Georgia Tech
vs. Winthrop/Ill. Chicago
vs. Notre Dame; Baylor; Monmouth; Wichita State
29 Wake Forest (Bobcats Arena)

December
5 Davidson
8 Southern Illinois
15 at Hofstra
22 Gardner-Webb
30 Fairleigh Dickinson

January
5 Maryland (Bobcats Arena)
9 at Clemson