Huskies and Catamounts lose their way

After opening 2005 with five straight victories, Vermont has come crashing back to earth in harsh fashion. The Catamounts' record raised eyebrows coast to coast, and they even crept into the national rankings with their hot start. But coach Jesse Cormier's squad was no match for unfancied Vanderbilt, who demolished the Green Mountain State side 5-1 on Friday night in Nashville. (The Catamounts had surrendered just three goals during their winning streak) It didn't get any better for Vermont on Sunday, when they dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to Western Kentucky. What a difference a week makes.

Need more proof that those early-season games mean squat? Take Connecticut. Another undefeated team a week ago, the Huskies had snared Soccer America's number one national ranking. But when conference play began (i.e. when the games began to matter) UConn was totally toothless. The Huskies lost on the road to Big East newcomers Cincinnati (2-0) and Louisville (2-1). Not the start Ray Reid expected from the defending champs of the newly expanded conference. However, Connecticut fans won't have to wait long for a chance at redemption: The Storrs faithful will welcome archrival St. John's on Friday night, (To air live on Fox Soccer Channel at 8 p.m. ET), where a capacity crowd nearly of 6,000 will try to help get their team back on track.

So then, who's the best team in the country as I type this column? It's gotta be those Lobos of New Mexico. If you've been paying attention, you know we've been high on Jeremy Fishbeinıs boys since before the first ball was kicked in Albuquerque. The Lobos now stand 6-0, and star striker Jeff Rowland continues to fill up score sheets. He had two goals despite missing a PK in a 3-2 win over Wisconsin and Rowland, a preseason Herman Trophy candidate, is now a clear frontrunner for the award along with Maryland's Jason Garey. Who wins it may just come down to which player gets his team closest to a national title.

Don't be surprised if that's decided on Dec. 11th at the College Cup final in Cary, North Carolina. Garey's Terps are on a roll since that 4-0 defeat at UCLA two weeks ago, reeling off four straight wins. Maryland opened ACC play on Friday with a 3-0 trouncing of Clemson, although the Tigers do deserve some credit for shutting down Garey in that match.

However, their focus on the Terps' star afforded Robbie Rogers, Kenney Bertz and Matt Beckman the extra room they needed to find net and hand Clemson its first loss of the season. Garey eventually got his say two days later, notching a hat trick in another 3-0 win, this time against the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure, who were out-shot a staggering 25-6. With the hat trick, Garey now needs just one more tally to stand alone as Maryland's all-time leading goal scorer.

UCLA is sputtering a little, coming off an unconvincing 1-0 win at Penn State where Jonathan Bornstein saved the day with a goal fifteen minutes from time. But another late one from Bornstein wasn't enough on Sunday against Ohio State, who dropped the Bruins 2-1. Despite giving up two goals, Jorge Salcedo's team has been pretty sound on D this year with Patrick Ianni and Marvell Wynne holding down the fort. But they'll need to find some more scoring in a hurry to live up to their top-four preseason billing.

North Carolina remains undefeated and were extremely unlucky not to down rival N.C. State on September 14th; The Tar Heels fell victim to an El Haj Cisse strike with 5/10ths of a tick left on the clock and settled for a 2-2 tie. The Heels rebounded four days later against Old Dominion (ranked 25th by SA at the time) with Corey Ashe getting the game winner. It was the fourth goal in five games for the junior, who continues to enjoy a stellar season. Impressive Englishman Ben Hunter, who'd scored twice vs. State, set up Ashe's winner.

UCSB continues to find its feet after a slow start, opening Big West play with a 4-0 whopping of UC Riverside. Led by coach Tim Vom Steeg (our apologies for spelling his name wrong last week), the Gauchos continue to follow senior forward Jonathan Davis, while classmate Ivan Becerra notched two goals in the win.

Highly-touted rookie Eric Avila (a U.S. youth national teamer) has been impressive in his adjustment to the fast, physical college game; he already has two assists on the season.

No, we haven't forgot about Indiana. The Hoosiers remain undefeated but have dropped a litle in some critics' estimation after two draws. Fear not, faithful. After destroying previously undefeated Cal State Northridge 5-0, it's clear that Mike Freitag's men will have to be reckoned with after all.

Freshman star Lee Nguyen had a breakout weekend for IU, registering the first points of his college career, including a beautiful equalizer in a 2-2- tie with Oregon State. "Lee was a trend setter for our offense," said Freitag. "I knew it was only a matter of time before he got going."

For his efforts, Nguyen was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. The Hoosiers open conference play next weekend on Yeagley Field at Armstrong Stadium, and they've never lost a Big Ten opener (IU is 13-0-1 all-time).

Notes:

Herman Hopeful: St. John's standout Matt Groenwald looks like the real deal. His two goals single-handedly sunk visiting Notre Dame at Belson Stadium, and his explosiveness around the box and nose for goal make him a potential pro and this week's dark horse for soccerıs Heisman.

Still Undefeated: Surely, pointing this out will jinx at least one of these teams. But in addition to New Mexico and UNC, usual powers Creighton (4-0-1) and Virginia (4-0-1) remain unbeaten. Farleigh Dickinson stands at 5-0-1, while Akron is a perfect 6-0. No matter what happens, no hate mail, please.

Tube Time: We already mentioned the huge Big East tilt between UConn and St. John's on tap for this Friday. The following week, check out two-time defending NCAA champion Indiana as they take on Penn State, live on Fox Soccer Channel, at 8pm ET.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer columnist for ESPN The Magazine and ESPNsoccernet.