UAB 2 Indiana 1 OT Indiana dominated UAB in the first half, barely allowing them any possession and keeping UAB in its own terrritory for almost all of the half. IU finally broke through in the second. However, they seemed to go a little flat after their goal, allowing UAB more possession. UAB scored off a PK with about a minute to go in the game. And then scored the golden goal in OT after a UAB shot that the IU keeper couldn't keep his hands on, and a UAB player was able to head in the rebound.
Last season, there were two players in Division I who averaged better than a goal a game, Chris Thomas of Elon and Daniel Haber of Cornell. In addition to scoring at an impressive rate, both of their teams had excellent regular seasons, yet neither of them was a Hermann finalist. What that shows is that goalscoring numbers are unlikely to do it, and wins aren't going to do it. You need something more. The guys who were finalists included two who played in the Final Four (Mullins, Gomez) and one whose team went into the post-season with the #1 seed (Finley). So for Volesky to have a chance, he needs to keep scoring and he needs people to respect SIUE as a national power. It's an awfully tough row to hoe.
Fair enough and I see your point. I do not think you purposely discounted them. However, many teams respect SIUE. Ask Creighton. And I feel they were quality enough to be included in the field last year. Also, maybe check out SIUE's non-conference schedule last year. I know you said you didn't watch them play, but they had a little tougher schedule than the two teams you mentioned. Therefore, their inclusion in the Hermann watch maybe a little more warranted then you gave them credit for. Just my opinion.
Meanwhile SMU is 0-3 and Tim McClements continues to look out of his depth. I'm not speaking for Hararea, but while I wouldn't say the kid has no chance, I still think it's fair to say he's got a very, very slim chance. The reality is that in recent history the Hermann goes to someone from a national power. SIUE hasn't been a national power in 30 years. That's not to say they aren't a good team, but there's a big difference between being a good team and being a national power. Here are the more recent Hermann winners: 12 - Pat Mullins, Maryland; 2012 Final Four team, winner of national titles in 05 and 08. 11 - Andrew Wenger, Duke; plays in best conference in college soccer 10 - Darlington Nagbe, Akron, 2010 national champs, 2009 runners-up. 09 - Teal Bunbury, Akron - 09 runners-up 08 - Marcus Tracy, Wake Forest - 07 national champs, 08 Final Four 07 - O'Brian White, Connecticut - 00 national champs, consistent national contender 06 - Joe Lapira, Notre Dame - it's Note Dame. 05 - Jason Garey, Maryland - 05 national champs 04 - Danny O'Rourke, Indiana - 04 nationals champs 03 - Chris Wingert, St. John's - 03 runners-up 02 - Alecko Eskandarian, Virginia - 5-time national champion (then), consistent national contender 01 - Luchi Gonzalez, SMU - 2000 Final Four team, consistent national contender 00 - Chris Gbandi, Connecticut - 2000 national champions This century the only Hermann winners who didn't play in a Final Four either the year they won the award or the year before are Wenger, White, Lapira and Eskandarian and they all play for big programs that are consistent national contenders. Those are the players that win the Hermann.
I know he has a very slim shot. And like I said, I understand that SIUE isn't a national power nor (in my opinion) is their schedule strong enough this year. Hararea said he hadn't seen the kid play, but was questioning why he was included on the watch list. I took offense to that, I guess. I have followed him and Polster since they arrived from Vegas and they have really taken the program forward. Good things going on at SIUE. I've been saying it for a couple years.
Think he was questioning why SIUE had TWO players while the entire Big Ten, including the returning national champion Indiana with zero, had all of one. Not saying that a player on SIUE is not deserving but hard to believe that they have two players deserving while the national champion has zero. We know how it happened (All Region... gets you automatically nominated) but the preseason watch process has to improve so you don't have two SIUE guys or four Iona guys last year.
As an addendum to my last post, here are the only MAC or Hermann winners (or both) from the previous century to have won the trophy without ever playing in a Final Four. Ali Curtis, Duke - 99 (Hermann) and 00 (MAC) Matt McKeon, Saint Louis - 95 MAC John Harkes, Virginia - 87 MAC Joe Morrone, Connecticut - 80 Farrukh Quarishi, SUNY Oneonta - 74 And while none of those players played in a Final Four, all but Quarishi went to schools that consistently contended for the Final Four and bad been their before they got there (and have been there since). It is what it is. Doesn't mean the kid in question isn't a good player. He very well might be better than whomever wins the Hermann. But the voting has a pretty clear history and (with the exception of Quarishi) it doesn't include players from schools that don't make the Final Four very often.
No one is questioning that they have done good things at SIUE. The questioning is of the Watch List and the charade they go through with it every year when they include kids on the list from programs that aren't national powers when those kids don't have but a slim chance of actually winning. It's not a commentary on the player or the school but the process that includes them on a list for an award they have no actual shot to win.
Back to the games, Gonzaga went down to "Soccer Heaven" and smacked UCSB down 2-0. The match was not without the typical UCSB temper tantrum as in a three minute span in the second half UCSB got booked 3 times. Through 3 games UCSB has 11 yellow cards and a red and has committed 60 fouls, 19 more than they've received. All those fans deserve better soccer.
I watched most of the second half of UCSB game and they looked as bad as I have ever seen. Their preseason ranking, especially after tanking last year, is wholly undeserved.