It's been a while since a Maryland senior class failed to reach a Final Four. By my count, the last group that didn't make a Final Four at least once arrived at College Park in 94 and played their last season in 97. (Not counting redshirts, of course.) Maryland made the Final Four in 98, so the incoming freshmen from 95 till then made the FF. They made it again in 02 and went back every year thru 05 so every incoming freshmen from 99 to 05 that played all four years made it. Maryland went back in 08, so the incoming classes between 06 and then made it to one, too. But, they haven't been back since so if they don't make it to Hoover the streak will end. Related to that, for the first time since 98 there isn't anyone on the team with the experience of a Final Four and the first time since 05 at there isn't anyone on the team without an NCAA championship ring. (Again, not counting redshirts.)
This is great research,... where do you find the time? Thanks for the informative posts you make - I appreciate it.. I note that you follow numerous threads, including some past youth national team threads.. I'm going to guess you are either a coach / manager, or an agent... Doesn't really matter to me.. just thinking through it... ANd also wishing I could contribute such useful information, rather than just educated opinions...
I want to get to the Final Four this year, blegh. Should've really happened in 2010. Provided they make it, I will find a way to Hoover. Blows that it's not at PPL yet.
Thanks for your kind words. I'm not an agent and, unless you count coaching my kids rec league sides, I'm not a coach. I am, however, friendly with a couple of coaches and agents and every once in a while they tell me something of interest to this board and I pass it along. But, mostly I'm just a fan with OCD, or at least, an OCD-like desire to seek out information and over-analyze it.
On a differnt twist , a very nice week of exposure for the University of Maryland soccer family. You have Taylor Twellman (x terp) on the tellie doing the color for US vs Brasil soccer game. The Washington Post Steven Goff writing a nice piece on Sasho , Clarence Goodson and Maurice Edu (both on US team) days together as Maryland Terrapins. And u have the 2 to 3 thousand fans gathering out at Ludwig watching the U.S. team practicing with Sasho hanging on the sidelines. And what's not mention maybe the number 1 player hs in the country (Junior Flores) also out there in Ludwig taking in the sites. Pretty good week for Terps soccer exposure . Tman
Once again, you guys seem to forget that Maryland had a soccer history before Sasho. Also Wednesday, the National Soccer Hall of Fame formally inducted Des Armstrong. I know Sasho doesn't like to acknowledge Armstrong, since he played at Maryland before Sasho got there, but it's still something the school and its soccer fans should be proud of.
What did we all think of the Maryland boys performance the other night against Canada? Our good friends at TOP DRAWER did not speak favorably of any of them......
Such as? I'm suspecting the Roster is now filled for the Fall.... whether it's all been made public or not... thats ANOTHER Question
With the 2012 class, the one remaining piece is Christiano Francoise, the 5-6 dyanomo from New Jersey whose committed but hasn't been able to sign the LOI yet because of transcript issue. With that said, I placed a couple of emails to well placed sources and by all accounts (including inside his high school) he's expected to qualify and he will be a Maryland Terp come September. That would be welcomed news for Sasho. With the 2013 class, there is still some serious talent out there to be recruited by Maryland but Sasho has 6 very good players committed now that makes up one of the top 5 classes in the country . That's a pretty big class now. So I'm sure he's holding out for a select talent as that class IMO is close to being closed down. I would suspect also that Sasho is holding a scholie or two for a couple of international kids. He's been looking more and more towards the international kids lately which is a mild shift in his recruiting strategy. And you have to expect the staff is now changing their synergies more so towards the 2014 class. I wouldn't be surprised the Maryland coach landss a commit or two for the 2014 class by September. His summer camp brings in a lot of undervalued talent across the country each year. Expect more of the same. Tman
Exactly what I was looking to find out.. I heard news about Christiano Francoise but nothing has been released to the public so I wasn't sure. Thanks again. I can't wait for this season to get here.. Hurry up please..
OK... season 2 months away. Here's the concerns for Maryland in reaching the cup (listed below). Later, I'll list reasons for optimism for the 2012 season. Replacing Casey Townsend. That's going to be tough. He was a great player. Youth between the pipes. I like Keith Cardona but he's only has about 4 games under his belt. Back 4 - Woodberry and Kemp are among the best in the country. Roach and Saint Cyr have to step up. Depth in the Back 4 - Lots of inexperience. Yellow card cumulations and injuries could derail this group. Midfielder playe maker - Does Maryland have a Matt Kassel on this team to fill that role? Sunny Jane's health - coming off hernia surgery. Will he be fit. Alex Shinsky - Will he stay healthy. John Stertzer - Can he have another season like he had last year. He will be more of marked player for certain this year. Freshman class - Another highly regarded class but will the true frosh be ready for the true grind in mid October and early November. ACC in general - Toughest conference in the country and the league powers are not standing still either while Maryland program tries to reach the title. Tman
Actually had the pleasure of watching Sunny Jane practice a little over a week ago with some others. He seems almost back to 100%. He was running around performing set pieces and working on cardio. He may not be ready to play a whole 90 mins yet, but don't be surprised if he plays at least 50-65 mins in the beginning of the season. I feel as though Sasho will allow him to have plenty of time in the warm up games to get some of his legs back and his feel for the game.
I really hope the athletic department's fiscal woes don't trickle down and negatively impact the soccer program. I have every faith in Sasho to do all he can to raise money for his program and keep a high level of play on the field. As good as Sasho is on the field and in the living room, he might be better in terms of promoting his program and sport and raising money for it. Those skills will be very much needed, because... I also have zero faith that the knuckleheads in the athletic department can get the house in order so the mess they've created doesn't impact programs like men's soccer. Sash is like a guy filling sandbags while a river is rising. Hopefully he makes a big enough levee but sometimes, even if you build a strong levee there is just too much water and everything you've worked so hard to build gets washed away in the flood.
In the longer run, I feel like these changes will help Maryland soccer. At 27 sports, their athletic department didn't look sustainable. At 20, all of the survivors should end up on a more solid footing. On a brief tangent, what worries me are the implications for men's soccer at other schools. I find it remarkable that so many programs have survived in the wake of the 2008 crash, and I'm concerned that we'll start to see more of them going kaput in Maryland's footsteps.
I often see Stertzer classified as a midfielder. Is he, or is he a striker? Is there a professional player to which he compares in playing style?
I don't know... Does being referred to as a mid-fielder make you one? The formation UMD plays may call this spot "midfield", for lack of a better term I guess, but, I think the position John actually plays could be called "supporting forward"... My understanding is, The system UMD is playing is meant to mimick the USMNT formation... Who plays this spot for them?
What Maryland offers as a base formation is a classic 4-4-2, but it tends to operate in this bizarre 4-2-2-1-1 fashion, where the two center mids tend to hold their ground and move up as needed, the outside mids are wing attackers, and one forward can range back as a central attacking mid while the other stays up full time.
Acosta no more... http://www.fcdallas.com/news/2012/07/fc-dallas-signs-kellyn-acosta-seventh-homegrown-player
