I have not seen the sod pile this season, but last year, the field had more exposed dirt than that soccer/baseball field at DePaul.
I kid you regarding that sod. But i do love the A10, fields and all. I couldn't figure out what fields your comment was meant towards, but I assume you meant Bonnies and Temple because they play on grass. Personally haven't been to Bonnies or Temple yet because they are both rather hard to get to by air or train, but have been to a soccer game at all other 12 institutions, and have no complaints about any of the fields I have seen. I used to think St. Joe's played on synthetic sponge (astroturf, whatever you want to call it, the ball moon bounced on it) but they finally upgraded to the new generation of turf like everyone else. They were probably one of the first turf fields which is why it had seemed so archaic by the time they got around to replacing it.
unc and umass = grass fields, played on em both and great places to play as well, and send the girls to any field other than slus, then dont need to be on that field chewing it up anyway
Sorry I was wrong about UMass and UNC. I was predicating it on that link that showed UMass has that brand of turf, perhaps it was for their field hockey but the soccer ball logo was deceptive. What's a precedent for a men's soccer team specific stadium? I can't think of even a state school. You can't kick the ladies off. It is not cost effective to have a men's soccer field. It would be more cost effective to put more funds into maintenance, for two teams. If it's a team specific field, it will recover more quickly but it will have less funds available. Men's soccer can't have their own grounds crew, it is a university resource. SLU fans... !
SLU vs SIUE tonight... SIUE has closed the gap in this rivalry in recent years, even though SLU refused to play the Cougars while they were DII ( even in the pre-season). SLU really missed the boat in not hiring Kalish, who has re-vitalized that great program in the past 10 years. Interested to see how the next 3-5 years play out.
even is SLU wins tonight I still think Kalish would have been 10X better than our current situation. We probably would not have lost any decent players either. Not that we had to much really special to talk about, but it sure does not look like we traded up!!! Thanks again MM
One of the best soccer minds in the Country....Kalish would have been just what SLU needed. A young coach with strong local ties, who also is well respected and well-known on the National club scene. Instead, they chose the exact opposite. All things equal, a good recruit would choose SLU over SIUE 9 times out of 10...all things aren't equal these days however. Coach - SIUE > SLU Conference - SIUE > SLU Two big factors IMO ... I am glad they are playing, regardless...no reason they should have ever stopped, regardless of the talent level on each side.
I gotta call bullshit, here. First off, let me say that I think Kevin Kalish is one of the better young coaches in college soccer. I think he's done a great job at SIUE and that's a program on an upward trajectory right now. But to say that Mike McGinty is the opposite of Kalish is ridiculous. First off, in saying Kalish is young, the implication is McGinty isn't. In fact, there's all of three years difference in their age. But, the more ludicrous claim is that McGinty, who played in MLS and in the A-League and who was the associate head coach of a team that made two Final Fours and won a national title and recruited most of the players that allowed Virginia to do that, isn't well-respected or well-known on the "national club scene." Do you really not think a guy who was a lead recruiter at an ACC school that brings in elite prospects from across the country isn't well-known on the local club scene? That just doesn't make any sense. The one point you're spot-on about is that McGinty lacks local ties. Kalish is obviously a local guy who played at SLU so that's something he has over McGinty, inarguably. But otherwise, McGinty's qualifications in paper match, and in some ways exceed, Kalish's. This doesn't mean McGinty will return SLU to being a consistent Top 20 program. He may not be the man for the job. He's clearly trying to change the culture at the school and being an outsider with no ties to the area makes making those changes tougher. It could be he had his success as an assistant because he was at Virginia and it's hard not to succeed there. It alslo could be that SLU is a tougher nut to crack in terms of turning the program around so maybe a coach with more experience might be a better fit. All that is certainly possible. Clearly, this is an important year for McGinty. He needs to show progress this year and show that he has a blueprint and has the program on the right path as it follows that blueprint. But to suggest he is some old coach with no ties on the national club scene who isn't well-respected for what he's done in soccer is just complete bullshit.
I respect your comment, but stick to mine...didn't mean to insinuate that MM wasn't well-respected or old. After re-reading my post, I understand where you are coming from. My post wasn't meant to tear down MM, but instead bring light to Kalish and how SLU missed the boat on not hiring him. Kalish , an All- American defender himself and MLS draftee, led SLU to it's last Final Four. He ran one of the most successful club programs in the Nation (Scott Gallager) for several years. (Thats where the local ties and Club scene comment came from) MM, on the other hand, has no prior Head Coaching experience and hasn't done a great job of throwing himself in the STL soccer community. His first true recruiting class wasn't that impressive, with several of the local talents choosing SIUE over SLU. MM has been brash and at times illogical in his short-time as coach. Im sure he is well-known and respected, we just haven't seen it yet. Lastly, you did make a great point. Recruiting at Virginia is equivilant to Texas recruiting in football or Duke in basketball. We will see how this plays out in the next couple years, but when SIUE passes up SLU, don't forget I told ya so
Not a bad win for SLU last night against SIUE 1-0 inf front of a pretty good crowd. Lots of back and forth action between two rival schools. Several freshman and sophmores on SLU contributed very well last night and appear to be getting more and more comfortable jelling with some of the older players. I think the jury can remain out on MM recruiting compared to Kalish until MM has a few years in the program. The St Louis soccer scene is not the only place that talent needs to be plucked from and just because you get a lot of players from one area doesn't always mean you are getting the best of them. It seems by the roster that MM has several pieces from St Louis area as well as going out and plucking talent from other regions. Hopefully continue to see improvement and looking forward to seeing how SLU can do with there brutal early schedule.
I truely hope he does. Obviously, like I said, it's going to take 3-5 years to make a fair assessment.
...well it already looks like the freshmen at SLU are contributing to their future. MM has been at slu for a short time, shorter than kalish and by the looks of the teams siue was not at the same level. secondly the comment about getting kids from the stlouis area, let siue take them all. if mm can get 2-3 solid players a class thats all he needs. just recruiting the stlouis kids is in the days of the past. The stlouis boys are great players there is no doubt in that, but a national championship team is going to need a bit more flavor than a team of locals. go slu, excited for the home opener saturday night. a tough schedule would be kicked off great with a win especially to gain some confidence going into the IU classic.
I totally agree. St. Louis used to be a hot bed but there is no doubt that the talent has gone down here for some reason, not sure why. Let SIU-E take half the gallagher team every year and SLU get the Tim Reams, barklages and players that left like Bruin and Tommy Meyer. SIU-E is never going to get those type of players. Kalish is a great young coach but will never reach his potential there. McGinty is in a much better situation and really has much better of a resume so far in his coaching career. He is the complete opposite of DD not kalish. What kills SLU is the A-10 and the price of tuition. I don't think the heat should be on yet. After 3 years of bringing in his own players them maybe we can judge him. So far I think there are a couple of really talented freshman that will have an impact though.
^not quite, haha ... SLU 2-1 over Evansville. Roach finished a pk in 2nd half and Robbie with a nice cross to Reyes for the tap in late. Go Billikens!
I never said SIU-E is relying on STL players only...Their best recruits this year are from Las Vegas. To say Kalish can never compete or reach his potential at SIU-E is absurd...tied Creighton last year and was 1 PK away in the MVC Tournament from advancing to the NCAA tourny. With that said, we'll see how the Gallagher connection works out for Kalish...I wouldn't doubt him. I watched th esame game as everyone else on Friday, and if anybody had the better of the play it was SIU not SLU. Time will tell
..exactly, we all know the a10 hurts, and lets hope the teams such as charlotte, recently xavier and teams in the last few years that have dropped off a bit in the likes of rhode island and umass can get their standards back to where they were, it will help the problem. i believe the biggest issue is the tuition. we all know private schools cost a ton, and slu is no exception. however i do believe mm knows enough about the system and getting kids in summer school early, graduate early and other loop holes in the system that he can save certain kids money. and to 420...im not sure which game u were watching but siue did not control the game, end of story. .
I didn't say they "controlled the game" But they seemed to be the sharper team and kept the ball on the billikens for a good portion of the game. They are in desperate need of a goal scorer, however. SLU played more direct, and rightly so with Adnan and Kristo....2 different styles IMO, but work with the personel you have.
I never doubted kalish but lets be real, if you think he can take SIU-E to the sweet 16 your dreaming. No one wants to go to SIU-E unless you played for gallagher and didnt get recruited by IU, SLU, Creighton, or a Chicago school. And your example of how great SIU-E has become is a TIE against a top 25 program and we all know how conference tournaments can pan out, i mean rhode island and UMass have represented more than SLU but which team was better those years? Its simple, if you were a top 75 recruit, name 2 reasons why you would ever go to SIU-E, thats why Kalish wont reach his potential.
I said in a previous post, that all things being equal a quality recruit would pick SLU over SIUE 9 times out of 10 right now...I agree with you. I just think things might be trending the other way...I think a recruit (especially from the midwest) would rather player in the MVC. I also believe Kalish has a brighter future and is a more tactical coach than MM. Especially if you are a young defender or holding midfielder. (Just my opinion, I don't want to get a MM history lesson from anyone again.) I think you also have to takes things in perspective when comparing SIUE and SLU....Last year was SIUE's first year at the DI level and they did pretty darn good....never said great. They had several litmus tests with SLU last year (Tulsa, Drake, Mo St, Oral Roberts) and the records were pretty similar. Also, SIUE tied Creighton AT their place in the REGULAR SEASON, not the conference tournament. And if they would have won that game they would have won the MVC regular Season outright in their very first season. Some would argue that SIUE is already on par with SLU (SIUE finished 22 spots higher than SLU last year in the final RPI rankings) Maybe you don't want to go to SIUE , and you think they are beneath you, but results are showing something different. Like I said...time will tell. But to say They couldn't make a Sweet 16 is ABSURD. Look at UMASS and Bradley in recent years.
Also....Matt Polster chose SIUE over Clemson and wake , so that kinda throws out your therory of no one wanting to go to SIUE....and he is from Las Vegas.
First lets go tactically, why do you think that? Have you played for both coaches, do you know what they tell players? All your judging that on is watching a bunch of college soccer kids that make mistakes all the time. I have nothing wrong with MM tactics, i love a possession game but because briggs kicks the ball 90 yards down the field everytime he touches it doesn't tell me anything tactically. And once again Kalish does not have a brighter future if he stays at SIU-E the rest of his life. Actually that was SiU-E second year playing D1, possibly third I have no idea based on all the times they were playing D1 but werent eligible. It was also SLU's first year with a real coach in a while to so I could consider all things equal. I know SIU-E TIED CREIGHTON DURING the REGULAR SEASON. I said if you want to base success off their post season run also then see post above for what I already said.
First year they only could dress 14 players because they red-shirted some of their best players to save a year of meaningful eligibility. Nick Collico (one of their goalies) played the field in several games because they were so low on numbers. Lets be real...last year was their first year in the MVC and their first meaningful year in DI. Yea, I've seen about 7-8 MM coached games and his style isn't what I would call pretty. Now, could it be effective? Yes, it could be. I just happen to believe Kalish's organization and style is better for a young, technical player. Just my opinion, and its ok to disagree. Now, if they don't find/develope goal scorers none of that matters. Perfect world, is they are both back in the top 25 within three years and stay there consistently. SIUE has a couple banners of their own, and was once a real force in DI soccer. Who's to say they can't do it again.
What is the keeper situation? These guys splitting until one messes up bad enough to give the other the full time job?