Yeah I specifically included Losada but neither of the other two because of all the news leaked so far on Twitter.
wow! 'cause they want players who will be here. sam probably won't. tough call. why don't they trade abby to houston for the first pick? that would be a perfect naimo deal, and they'll have a slew of potentially great players all growing together and striving to make a name for themselves under one of the outstanding coaches in the league. wny. early nominee for 2015 champions?
They've gone on record saying they're building the New Flash around Abby. It would be completely counterproductive to trade her. Not to mention INCREDIBLY dumb to trade away the one superstar that's locally based. And yes, way too early. No matter how good the draft class is, they're still rookies. Even if Naimo simply picked up UCLA and put them in WNY, playing same-age opponents is much different than playing teams made up of seasoned professionals. WNY will struggle for wins outside of when NT players are missing. Now, 2016 or 2017 I could easily see WNY cleaning up as players mature and gel. But not 2015.
good points. ...altho i wouldn't be surprised to see a team of outstanding young players who are there for every practice under coach lines challenge for the top of a roster-fractured league even as early as next year.
News from the turnstiles. A friend at work today asked me if I knew that Sam had been traded. I said yes, and he said that for his his family and their friends (16 season tickets total) all the changes made it a straight forward decision not to renew this year. Full disclosure - he said that all their own kid's soccer commitments were making it less practical to go to all the games, and missing the cold rainy ones would not be a bad thing. From his own POV , though, he was not excited about seeing a team of college players. Ouch.
I wouldn't too worried CoachJon. It does seem like this Western NY Flash team has eliminated all their top players but next year a lot of top players are going to be going to the WWC2015. I know that holds true especially for our international talent. I think in a way, this team is getting ready for the absence of the best women's players by focusing on players that are going to be highly competitive from college and have their moment to shine. I bet you anything we will get some of our players back someday and I'm confident that this league will be around for many years.
I tend to agree with you - see my post from late yesterday over in the 2014 Off Season Player Moves thrread. BUT the Flash did not put enough fans in the seats last year. The wholesale roster changes feel like a "breakup" between the team and the fans, and it will take more than flowers and candy for the team to mend the rift. Losing any current ticketholders will be bad for the team's financial health.
Who will be the smiling newly-minted Flash players (#3, #4, #6 and #7)? Assuming WNY keeps its four picks – which is a big assumption, I think that WNY picks could look like this: I assumed that all teams pick the best player available regardless of position. For WNY Picks 3 & 4, I guessed at the three players SB might draft in Round 2. For the case SB picks Dahlkemper, I had two options; Option A has WNY draft both Killion and Mewis. Option B has WNY deciding it does not need both of them, and therefore passes on Killion. For WNY Picks 5, & 6, I guessed at the 3 players CHI might pick, and then have WNY picking the two players that CHI does not. Of course, after CHI picks, WNY can choose whatever two players it wants from the whole pool. Pick No…..Team…......Draft A……………...…Draft B………………......Draft C……..….............…..Draft D 1………….....HOU……...Brian M…………..…...Brian M………………..…Brian M……………............Brian M 2…………..…SB………....Dahlkemper D…...…Dahlkemper D……...…Killion M……………..........Mewis M 3…………..WNY…….Killion M…..….…Mewis M………….....Dahlkemper D……....Dahlkemper D 4………..…WNY…….Mewis M……..…..Gilliland D…………..Mewis M…………...….Killion M 5………….....CHI……..…Colaprico M-F……... Killion M……………..…Gilliland D…………..........Huerta F 6…………..WNY….…Gilliland D….…….Colaprico M-F….…Colaprico M-F…...…..Gilliland D 7…….….…WNY…..…Huerta F………….Huerta F……………..Huerta F…………..……Colaprico M-F My favorite is Draft C with WNY getting both Dahlkemper and Mewis.
Looking at this, and confessing that I don't know anything about all these players except for some stats, I'm agreeing that Houston should draft Brian. But look at Mewis' stats this year -- 16 goals and 13 assists, and just short of 50% shots on goal. For a midfielder! Has any NCAA DI midfielder ever posted better numbers?
Wow, Pali Blues folded today. No wonder Naimo is working for WNY. The stated reasons for the fold seem to make it unlikely SoCal will get a NWSL team in the near future -- lack of fan support for a highly successful women's soccer team. Maybe the supporting family is bitter, but again, Wow.
The Blues were always really poor at marketing the team. The Santa Clarita team (an LA suburb) draws much better and has had much less success. Anyway, I don't think you can say that the Blue's lack of fan support has any bearing on getting a NWSL team in LA. If NWSL teams had been given based on W-League and WPSL attendance, then the 8 original NWSL teams would've been: Seattle, Boston, WNY, Hempstead (Long Island, NY), Vancouver, Springfield (Mass), Philadelphia, and Washington. And Virginia Beach would've been the 2014 expansion team (since the 2013 W-League 1st best was Spirit Reserves and 2nd best was Sounders Women, and 3rd best was Long Island who would've all already been in the NWSL, so it goes to 4th best). So there would be no NWSL teams in Portland, Chicago, KC, Houston, or Piscataway Township. As you are aware, that didn't happen.
Actually, Hempstead, Springfield, and Vancouver sound like good possible locations -- and Philly, too, if in the right area. Portland, I think, got the Thorns to a good extent based on the U of Portland's attendance, which certainly would be at least a surrogate for W-League and WPSL attendance. Hempstead and Springfield would confirm something I've long believed, which is that the league needs to think differently about where to place teams than a men's league would.
First off, UCLA + USC + Pepperdine combined averaged 3434 this year (and that doesn't even include other LA based colleges such as Cal St. Northridge, Long Beach St, Cal St. Fullerton, UC Riverside, UC Irvine, and Loyola Marymount). More than Portland + Portland States's 3024. So... tell me again how LA can't support a WoSo team, because it sure isn't college attendance. Secondly, Portland got a team because they had an interested MLS owner. Had nothing to do with attendance. Same reason Houston got a team. And I'm afraid we've gone horribly off topic, and so I apologize to Flash fans for hijacking your thread. If you want to continue this discussion, cpthomas, let's take it to PMs (or the expansion forum if you would like to rehash a topic we already covered there).
I honestly know very little about the players, either - and I have not seen them in action. As you know, I follow Division III. Yeah, per your post, Mewis' point production has been pretty prodigious. Perhaps the Flash plan to have plenty of pure scoring from her midfield play.
saw most of her games this year, and she has been outstanding! i've said repeatedly that i think she's passed brian this year. in addition, she has, i think, a higher ceiling. i've also said that if i were houston, i'd draft her #1. ...but i know i'm walking the road never travelled on this one.
To continue down the road never traveled, I might agree with you. We'll see how Mewis does against FSU -- assuming the two meet in the finals. I saw Brian play against FSU and she was a non-factor. You hardly even noticed she was on the field. Dagny Brynjagsdottir of FSU was much, much better.
Flash Abroad update from Down Under: Unfortunately, no goals for Jas this week, as Sydney suffered their worst defeat in history, falling 5-0 to league leaders Perth.
W-League update: No goals again for Jas, but Sydney scraped out a 2-2 draw with Newcastle, putting them into the postseason for the 7th straight year.
Jas' goal against the icky Wanderers is up for W-League Goal of the Year: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=361478084031717
I know most of my focus concerning Flash players in the W-League has been on Jas, since she's been tearing it up, but let's not neglect the other current member of the Flash. Jonesy will be in goal for Canberra United tonight as they face Melbourne Victory for a spot in the Grand Final.
Alex Sahlen on Kick This 92.1 FM Rochester NY – http://soccerisakickinthegrass.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx Podcast will be posted tomorrow or the next day. Alex was the first guest and I missed the start. Also my web stream crapped out during the interview, however I did get a few things. · She said the three (or four) factors that led to the roster changes: o After poor season wanted to change things up / freshen things up o Wanted to have better fits for players and the formation o A few playesrs wanted a change o (The draft pool is excellent, and they plan on all four of the first round picks to play significantly all year – they won’t be gone for WC). · Batisti asked about Sam Kerr in particular. Alex said we have a great relationship with Sam, she will be missed both on and off the field and she (Alex) was totally against trading her away. Sam was going to be gone for the WC and she wanted to play with a friend (which would be Caitlin Foord, of course). · Batisti asked if the Flash might do some more wheeling and dealing , and Alex said, “I’m not sure we’re going to make many more moves.” I interpreted that to mean they will stick with the 4 first round picks. That is when she commented on having those players all year. · At the end of the call, Batisti said he got two emails asking if Alex would be back next year and that the emailers missed her in 2014. (One from me ). Alex said she ran pretty hard right through her 40th week and she is now training hard to see if she can get fit enough to play. She said, “I want to be on the field,” in a way that meant she did not want to just take up a roster spot. We want Number 2, We want Number 2, We want Number 2, Go Alex!
Happy thoughts for the (off) season. These are the first three reviews for the Flash on Ticketmaster: Sahlen's Stadium – Rochester , NY- Fri, Jul 25, 2014 Posted 07/29/2014 by Anonymous Great seats and a great venue! We had a great time and would go back again. The stadium was clean and had lots of concession choices. Women's soccer needs to be seen by more people! 1 of 1 found this review helpful. NY FLASHHHH Sahlen's Stadium - Rochester, NY - Sat, Jul 12, 2014 Posted 07/15/2014 by sammyinsane It was a great experience. Knowing how close you are to the soccer players was awesome!! Favorite moment: When my younger sister met some of the players! soccer grandfather and granddaughters Sahlen's Stadium - Rochester, NY - Wed, Jul 2, 2014 Posted 07/05/2014 by seemyth Traveled 6 hours each way with my 3 U12 PFC grandaughters. This trip was a total pleasure to see the wonder on their faces and to watch so many talented US women. Ticketmaster chose the perfect seats and made the process trouble free. Favorite moment: Autograph and up close time after the game.
Current WNY Roster:………....…..12 (including Franch – see website) Draft Picks Making the Team:.…..4 (see below) Needed Free Agents: ………....…….4 (WNY has 5 international slots) Total Roster………….......…………..20 (19 without Franch) I think our four picks will end up with the following on the team: Dahlkamper or Gilliland (could pick both) Killion or Mewis (unlikely to pick both) Huerta or Williams (unlikely to pick both, probably Williams due to LA Blues connection) Colaprico or Gilliland I think WNY goes for a Free Agent to take Kerr’s spot on the left wing, assuming Lines plays the 4-2-1-3 or 4-2-3-1 that he has in the past. WNY's Free Agent needs become more clear after the college draft, of course. I really hope Jordan Angeli returns to her pre-injury form - she is a dynamite player.