The Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team missed its opportunity to leap into first place in the Southwestern Division Thursday night in Fresno.

The Fusion's Kyle Kaveny and the Fuego's Nehemias Blanco exchanged headed goals midway through the second half as the visiting Fusion drew the Fresno Fuego, 1-1, at Chukchansi Park.

A win would have pushed the Fusion (6-1-4) over first-place Hollywood United (7-2-2) and Los Angeles Legends (7-2-2) by a single point.

That looked like the destination for the Fusion just past the hour mark, when Kaveny rose to head home a Hagop Chirishian corner kick for his first goal in a Fusion shirt.
Chirishian leads the team with three assists.

The Fusion return home for a doubleheader Saturday night at Buena High. The Fusion women (1-2-2) host defending W-League champion Pali Blues (4-0-3) at 5:30 p.m. while the Fusion men follow with a match against the BYU Cougars.

Danny Page e-mails in from the Fusion bus, which is currently northbound.

"We've just set off from the Crowne Plaza for the long haul to Fresno
for tonights showdown between Fusion and the FuegoN kickoff at 7PM.

The bus is buzzing with talk of Brazil's game with South Africa and
the United States win over Spain.

But of more immediate importance is last nights result from the PDL
Southwest Division; Los Angeles Legends beat Orange County Blue Star,
2-1, to move to the top of the table with Hollywood United.
Nonetheless, a win tonight will move Fusion into sole possesion of
first place and leave their souther rivals LA and Hollywood a point
behind.

Broadcast at 7 p.m. live on HomeFieldSports.com

- DP"

We're up and ready to talk about the U.S. national soccer team's monumental win over top-ranked Spain yesterday at 10 a.m. on 101soccer.com.

The Canadian national soccer team arrives at Oxnard College today for a week of training ahead of next month's CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Head coach Stephen Hart has named a 23-man roster that features 16 players from European clubs and three more from Major League Soccer.

Canada will face Guatemala in a friendly at the school's track stadium Tuesday afternoon at 1 p.m.

Canada kicks off Gold Cup play July 3 with a Group A match against Jamaica at the Home Depot Center in Carson. El Salvador and Costa Rica meet in the second half of the doubleheader.

Randi Johns' second goal in three days allowed the Ventura County Fusion women's soccer team to grab four of a possible six points on its annual two-game trip to Colorado.

Johns' second-half goal, set by up a Colleen Gibson pass, gave the Fusion a 1-1 draw against the Colorado Force at Loveland Sports Park in Fort Collins, Colo.

The UC Santa Barbara graduate scored the winner in a 1-0 win at Real Colorado Monday.

"Every game we're looking better as a team," said coach Ranbir Shergill. "Today we showed a lot of character coming down from a goal down. Towards the end, we could have won it with some of the chances we created."

The game kicked off nearly 90 minutes late because of thunderstorms. But it is the Fusion (1-1-2) storming up the standings. Five points in its last three games has moved Ventura County up to fourth place in the Western Conference with four games in hand on third-place Real Colorado.

After more than a month without a home game, the Fusion return home for Saturday's doubleheader at Buena High, hosting fifth-place Vancouver in the 5 p.m. opener.

"We can't wait to get in front of the home fans," said Shergill.

UC Santa Barbara graduate Randi Johns converted a rebound goal midway through the first half as the Ventura County Fusion women's soccer team earned its first win of the W-League season Monday night in Centennial, Colo.

The 1-0 win at Real Colorado avenged the Fusion's season-opening loss on May 16.
"Today we got our revenge," said coach Ranbir Shergil, who earned his first victory as head coach.

Heloisa Olivera earned a free kick in the 35th minute, which Fabiane Nascimento drove off the post. Johns was in position to convert the ricochet into the net and the Fusion (1-1-1) into the win column, despite missing several key players on the five-day trip.

"It's unbelievable, really," said Shergill. "We played many players out of position. But we worked hard as a team and got the result."

The Fusion entered play in seventh and last place in the Western Conference, but had played between two and five matches fewer than the other teams in the conference.

The Fusion visit the Colorado Force in Fort Collins Wednesday before returning home to Buena High Saturday against the first-place Vancouver Whitecaps.

Ventura College president Robin Calote e-mailed a statement Monday regarding the on-going VC men's basketball head coaching position:

"The selection of the men's basketball coach is an important decision that has significant implications for the viability of the men's basketball program in a community that enthusiastically supports basketball.

"Although two viable candidates have emerged through the screening process, after conferring with Chancellor Meznek, I have decided not to fill the position with an external candidate at this time. The primary reason for this is that there is movement at the state level to fund both physical education and athletics at the non-credit apportionment rate. This has serious financial implications for the college, which was already facing a multi-million dollar shortfall for the immediate future.

"Now, more than ever, it is becoming critical for the college to focus on the core classes that students need to transfer, to obtain a degree or certificate, or to acquire the skills leading to immediate employment. As the budget crisis deepens, already within the college and the district it has been necessary to pull back on several advertised full-time positions, and where possible, to either fill from within or to combine functions. Within the last two weeks, this has been done in counseling, in the student activities program, and in other areas as well.

"Depending on the state's and district's economic situation, it is my hope to reopen the men's basketball position in two years. In the interim, I have asked Will Cowen to add coaching duties to his faculty assignment. Will has a history of successful coaching experience at the high school level, and he has served the college well as the Assistant Men's Basketball Coach this last season. I have every confidence that he will be able to do a good job for both the students and the college.

Robin Calote, Ed.D.
President, Ventura College"

The Ventura County Fusion men's soccer team is scoreless after 45 minutes tonight at the Los Angeles Legends.

The Ventura County Fusion women's soccer team drew 2-2 at the Los Angeles Legends Sunday night despite taking a two-goal lead inside 15 minutes.

Ventura College star Jazmarae Strozier slammed home the opener after winger Randi Johns played a pass across the face of goal in the eighth minute.

Four minutes later, Brazilian attacker Paula Pires converted a cross from former Buena High star Emily Cressy for a 2-0 lead.

But the Legends would pull even before halftime on a pair of set pieces, scoring from a long throw and a free kick.

Despite dropping to 0-1-1, Fusion coach Ranbir Shergill appreciated the team's improvement from the season-opening 3-1 loss to Real Colorado May 16.

"We just looked a lot better," said Shergill. "We had addition time of preparation. We moved the ball very well. We passed and moved very well. At the end we were really unlucky not to take all three points.

"We looked like a good team out there."

The Fusion women next take their annual road trip to Colorado, visiting Real Colorado June 15 and the Colorado Force in Fort Collins June 17.