Photo: Courtesy Matt Riley/University of Delaware

Local

University of Delaware upset No. 20 ranked University of Virginia with a 1–0 double overtime win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night. Sophomore John Dineen headed the winner with 4:14 remaining the the second overtime period. Delaware next faces fourth-ranked UCLA on Sunday night in LA. Thursday’s win was the first NCAA Tournament win in the school’s history.

Jimmy McLauglin, the FC Delco/Union Academy player who has featured in reserve games as well as in the friendlies against Everton and Real Madrid, is a freshman player at Colgate, where he was honored as Patriot League Rookie of the Year. Colgate, in the NCAA Tournament as champions of the Patriot League, fell to Rutgers 4–2 in the first round on Thursday night.

Penn’s Duke Lacroix was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year. Seniors Thomas Brandt and Christian Barreiro were selected first-team All Ivy while Jake Levin was named second-team.

Cherokee defeated Bridgewater-Raritan 2–1 to win the NJSIAA Group 4 Boys’ State title. Mike Ryan and Angelo Dambalas each scored a goal and an assist as Cherokee became the first team to win back-to-back Group 4 state titles since Shawnee in 1992-93.

Union

In SB Nation’s mock Expansion Draft, the Union get through with none of their players being selected by Montreal. You can view the protected list selected by SB Nation affiliate the Brotherly Game here.

In case you missed it, this week coverage of the Expansion Draft here at the Philly Soccer Page kicked off with a piece from Dan Walsh, Adam Cann used our post-game player ratings from throughout the season to devise a protected list and to name a Man of the Year, and Adam and Eli Pearlman-Storch were on the KYW Philly Soccer Show talking about the Expansion Draft. We also broke down the new all-time league record set by the Union for fewest shots on target allowed. Earl Gardner had a photo essay on the Monday’s Loyalty Points pickup game at PPL Park as well one celebrating Philly Soccer fans in 2011 as seen through the lenses of PSP’s photographers. Oh, yeah, we also celebrated our second anniversary.

MLS

Dwayne “I Live for the Dance” De Rosario has been named MLS MVP of 2011.

Check out our MLS Cup final drinking game/match preview/drinking game courtesy of Eli Pearlman-Storch.

Ticketnews.com asks a question and gives an answer: “How can you tell when a league has arrived? For 16-year-old Major League Soccer (MLS), perhaps having ticket prices for its championship game soar this week on the resale market is a signal.”

I like Ian Darke and I’m happy he’s calling Sunday’s final. I like him more after reading this interview.

Trivia fans looking to impress their friends while watching Sunday’s MLS Cup final may be interested in this look at the four previous finals that were held in LA. Or how about this look at the three biggest upsets in Cup history?

JP Dellacamera says the pressure is all on LA.

Here’s a fluffy Q & A with Landon Donovan.

With expectation apparently increasing that the final may will be David Beckham’s last game in MLS, so to have the articles (often enough coming from sources that do not regularly follow the league) claiming that he is the reason for the league’s rise. Here are two more examples from British sources, one from the Economist and one from the Daily Express.

Portland Timbers announced on Thursday “that the team is sold out of season tickets for the 2012 Major League Soccer season, capping season ticket sales at 14,750 seats.” Well done.

Soccer America’s Paul Gardner weighs in on the MLS [fill in the blank] of the Year Awards.

Omar Salgado will be training with Fulham for a couple of weeks. Thierry Henry is back training with Arsenal.

US

Check out our recap of the winners and losers on the USMNT from their friendlies against France and Slovenia from Eli Pearlman-Storch.

Ives Galarcep says the US defense is old. Uh huh.

Don’t forget, the USWNT takes on Sweden on Saturday (Live streaming at ussoccer.com from 9pm).

Elsewhere

Sepp Blatter has apologized for his recent remarks about denying racism exists on the pitch in soccer. The apology was read out by Tokyo Sexwale, the black Fifa official and South African government minister who was in a photograph with Blatter that accompanied the first attempts by Blatter to deflect criticism of his original remarks.

Blatter later elaborated on his apology in an interview with the BBC.has apologized. Sort of. “When you have done something which was not totally correct, I can only say I am sorry for all those people affected by my declarations.” He added, “I cannot resign. Why should I? When you are faced with a problem you have to face the problem. To leave would be totally unfair and not compatible with my fighting spirit, my character, my energy.” That’s right, when it comes to the fighting spirit, character and energy of a 75-year-old Swiss plutocrat with a long history of alleged involvement in corruption, you’d better watch out!

Over at Big Soccer, Bill Archer comments on the latest Sepp Blatter stupidity.

David Beckham said of Blatter’s recent comments denying that racism is a problem in soccer, “I think the comments were appalling…It’s still there and can’t just be swept under the carpet and can’t just be sorted out just by handshake.”

In related racism news, Brighton manager Gus Poyet, who is a friend of Liverpool’s Luis Suarez, has accused Patrice Evra of overreacting and “crying like a baby” over his allegation that he was racially abused by Suarez in a recent match.

Manchester City have announced losses of £194.5m for the most recent financial year, the biggest loss in the history of English football. That’s $307,563,133.

Footy on the Telly™

Friday, Novemebr 18
Kaiserslautern v Leverkusen 2:30pm ESPN Deportes

Saturday, November 19
Norwich v Arsenal 7:30am ESPN2
Burnley v Leeds 7:30am Fox Soccer Plus
Moenchengladbach v Werder Bremen 9:30am GolTV
Manchester City v Newcastle 10am Fox Soccer
Everton v Wolves 10am Fox Soccer Plus
Villarreal v Betis 12pm GolTV
Inter Milan v Cagliari 12pm Fox Soccer Plus
Swansea v Manchester United 12:30pm Fox Soccer
Bayern Munich v Dortmund 12:30pm ESPN Deportes
Barcelona v Zaragoza 2 p.m. GolTV
Fiorentina v AC Milan 2:30pm Fox Soccer
Valencia v Real Madrid 4pm ESPN Deportes
Vasco da Gama v Avai 4pm GolTV
Stoke v QPR 4pm Fox Soccer Plus
Sunderland v Fulham 5pm Fox Soccer
Queretaro v Chivas 6pm Univision
Millonarios v America 6pm GolTV
Morelia v Cruz Azul 8pm Azteca America
Irapuato v Correcaminos 8pm GolTV
USWNT v Sweden 9pm ussoccer.com

Sunday, November 20
Melbourne v Perth 1am Fox Soccer
Bologna v Cesena 6:30am Fox Soccer Plus
Millwall v Bristol City 8:30am Fox Soccer Plus
Gijon v Getafe 10am ESPN Deportes
Osasuna v Vallecano 10am DirecTV
Chelsea v Liverpool 11am Fox Soccer
Hamburg v Hoffenheim 11:30am GolTV
Sevilla v Bilbao 12pm ESPN Deportes
Atletico Madrid v Levante 2pm GolTV
Roma v Lecce 2:30pm Fox Soccer
PSG v Nancy 3pm Fox Soccer Plus
Nacional v Penarol 4pm GolTV
Granada v Mallorca 4pm DirecTV
Jaguares v Santos Laguna 5pm Azteca America
Corinthians v Atletico MG 6pm GolTV
Pachuca v Tigres 7pm Telefutura
Los Angeles Galaxy v Houston Dynamo 9pm ESPN, Galavision

Monday, Novemebr 21
Tottenham v Aston Villa 3pm ESPN Deportes
Santander v Malaga 3pm DirecTV