NCAA Week 3 (through Sep 15) [R]

Discussion in 'College & Amateur Soccer' started by Hararea, Sep 10, 2013.

  1. perspixx

    perspixx Member

    Oct 20, 2005
    Temecula, Calif.
    Small note on CSUN/UNM.

    David Turcios' 2nd goal is now being credited to Sagi Lev-Ari (his 6th of the season) instead.
     
  2. Hararea

    Hararea Member+

    Jan 21, 2005
    Ari Lassiter (Roy's son) with his first two collegiate goals in this one.
     
  3. scoachd1

    scoachd1 Member+

    Jun 2, 2004
    Southern California
    Notes on 3 Pac-12 TV games (though I only caught the second half of San Diego vs UCLA due to DVR error).

    UCSB at UCLA. A very choppy game where much of the action involved long throws. UCSB looks like a throwback to their teams from a decade ago that featured a foreign legion of big, hard-nosed players. This is a big step back from the technical, athletic teams they've had over the past few years. First view of Campion - he is a strong forward with pretty good technical skill and is probably pretty effective with good service.

    UCLA is filled with a lot of solid players but no real outstanding ones outside of maybe Stolz and their CB's. There forwards just average for the conference and they kick the ball a lot more than you would expect because Edwards does not have good feet and neither does Torre. Stolz had a really nice run and goal, but the rest of the game confirms to me both these programs will be with the pack in their conferences. UCLA has scored only two goals in 4 games and had an offense they reminded of Washington's only with more conventional throw ins.

    Air Force at Oregon State. Air Force was simply too young, small and slow to deal with OSU. Khiry Shelton appears to be another one of the surprisingly long line of tall/fast forwards from OSU to play in MLS. He scored two very well taken goals (a bend to the far post and a through ball where he bodied off the defender and easily slotted the ball past the keeper) as Oregon dominated play.

    Yet despite being over-matched all over the field, Air Force got 3 good looks that resulted from Oregon miscues and were able to get quite a few shots from hustle and smart play. 5-1 Oregon State would probably make the NCAA tournament playing in most other conferences, but their inconsistent play will likely lead to a 5th place finish in the Pac12 with no shot at an at large bid.

    San Diego at UCLA. Stolz scored one nice goal and set up another as UCLA looked more fluid but still hardly sharp against San Diego. UCLA generally controlled the game but gave up more than enough good looks to lose it.
     
  4. scoachd1

    scoachd1 Member+

    Jun 2, 2004
    Southern California
    I didn't realize he was left footed as the one he curled in from with his right was the more technical of his two finishes.
     
    Hararea repped this.
  5. scoachd1

    scoachd1 Member+

    Jun 2, 2004
    Southern California
    Even with Boateng - I very much doubt UCSB would be a great team. I think they are starting a kids that would not have started on teams from a year or two ago. Losing one player, no matter how good, should not cause a great team to lose 2-0 to Gonzaga at home.

    I also thought Shelton looked like a pretty good prospect last year. Pac12 is filled with pretty good defenders and it is tough to get a lot of good looks playing for a conference bottom feeder. I am guessing that he might have been banged up prior to conference play compared to this year where he has been able to bang in a lot of goals.
     
  6. scoachd1

    scoachd1 Member+

    Jun 2, 2004
    Southern California
    Agree - San Diego easily could have won this game at the end as UCLA had some balls bouncing around in front of their goal.
     
  7. Hararea

    Hararea Member+

    Jan 21, 2005
    Yeah, good catch. I'm not sure if he is or not, not sure what I was thinking when I typed that.
     
  8. Hararea

    Hararea Member+

    Jan 21, 2005
    What seems clear is that right now UCSB just isn't a very good team. Deep roster, but they haven't played much together, and it shows. It wouldn't shock me if they're better two months from now, but in order to get there, they'll need to find the right combinations of players.

    I think it's unclear whether Torre will continue to start. Being left-sided helps, but the Bruins have a lot of other options in back.

    On the plus side, Stolz is clearly thriving with reduced defensive responsibilities. I've also been impressed with Iloski's off-the-ball runs. Kids seems to have a good head for the game.
     
  9. Marc Utter

    Marc Utter New Member

    Sep 12, 2013
    Club:
    AC Milan
    High Point 3 #15 UNCG O
    Coastal Carolina 4 #15 UNCG 2
     
  10. midfieldmadness

    Aug 12, 2009
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Good assessment overall. The one area I'd disagree is with your statement that Edwards doesn't have good feet. From what I've seen, he distributes pretty accurate balls from the back with his feet. Most of his long balls are to the head of one of his players. The only times I've seen him just hoof it long this season were when he was under duress from an approaching attacker, but those instances were few and far between. You can also tell that his defenders have confidence in his ability with his feet by the number of balls they drop back to him with opposing players close by and closing in.

    In addition to Stolz, I was also impressed with illoski and volbeda (sp?) in the San Diego game. I think a lot of UCLA goals this season are going to be attributable to the midfield. If Reed Williams gets back in form coming off of his knee injury, they'll be fine offensively down the line, otherwise, goal scoring will be an issue. The PAC-12 race is wide open this year bet. UCLA, Cal, Washington, and maybe Stanford (I haven't really seen them play other than a 1/2 against gtown).
     
  11. espola

    espola Member+

    Feb 12, 2006
    UC Davis 1-0 USF

    Davis scored in the first 5 minutes after pressuring a USF pass back to the keeper. The keeper's weak clearance was stolen by Elliot Hord, who passed inboard to Matt Shelton, unmarked in front of the goal.

    USF had several breakaway chances in the first half, but all were run down by UCD defenders. USF ended the half with no shots of any kind.

    After halftime, USF seemed to switch to a 3-man back line, and got a few good chances, one requiring UCD Omar Zeeni to dive and stretch all the way to his left to knock clear. Toward, the end, USF got desperate and was knocking shots from everywhere.
     
  12. PlayForKeeps

    PlayForKeeps Member

    Oct 12, 2008
    Middle America
    Ummm Mwanga?
     
    Sandon Mibut repped this.
  13. espola

    espola Member+

    Feb 12, 2006
    UCLA 3-2 USD (OT)

    The final goal was an own goal caused by a USD defender sliding to cut off a pass to an offside Bruin. And, yes, the AR's flag was up.

    Even worse, the referee failed to award USD a PK seconds before when a Torero player was dragged down in the Bruin PA.

    Is there a conspiracy theory somewhere out there about how referees will not call PKs in OT? Especially against the home team? Especially in Westwood?

    The video broadcast (reshown this morning on Pac 12 network) was pretty open about the unusual referee performance, especially in the replay highlights right after the game. The UCLA highlights writeup doesn't mention a word of it.
     
    should be working repped this.
  14. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    I knew I was forgetting someone!
     
  15. scoachd1

    scoachd1 Member+

    Jun 2, 2004
    Southern California
    I also liked the way Iloski plays as well. However I his effectiveness suffers a bit from his small size and lack of strength. He is pretty good now and will likely get better as he matures. Stolz has been their best player. Any idea why Simmons wasn't starting?
     
  16. scoachd1

    scoachd1 Member+

    Jun 2, 2004
    Southern California
    Ball striking and first touch are different things. Edwards is fine on dead balls and when he has time. But when he is under some pressure is where I think he really struggles. USD game was different than Cal Poly and UCSB which put UCLA under a lot more pressure. Both Iloski and Vobejda are skilled players, but they as individuals and UCLA as a team seemed to struggle making anything dangerous happen when matched against more athletic players that put them under more pressure.
     
  17. scoachd1

    scoachd1 Member+

    Jun 2, 2004
    Southern California
    I didn't even notice Sandon left him out. He's usually so good, I guess I just assumed he'd included everyone.
     
  18. beautifulsport

    beautifulsport New Member

    Mar 23, 2012
    No doubt Cal Poly has a very strong team. They should have a great year with some standout players. As a side note to San Jose. They played a player down for most of the second half, had 3 starters out for the game including the main striker, and a strong center defender, they also had mostly freshman playing. They are a very young team.
    Interestingly enough SJSU was 10 seconds away from beating Cal, when Cal scored a goal in the the final seconds to tie the game.
     
  19. Hararea

    Hararea Member+

    Jan 21, 2005
    But that was in pre-season, not really the same thing.
     
  20. beautifulsport

    beautifulsport New Member

    Mar 23, 2012
    just saying they are better with a full team and still are a very young team. SJSU Defense during Cal was awesome, they worked hard against a pool of very talented players who were on the pitch even though pre season. SJSU was preseason too. SJSU will need some time to develop as they have 17 new players this year, many who are young.
     
  21. Hararea

    Hararea Member+

    Jan 21, 2005
    But unfortunately, it seems like they cycle through a lot of new faces every year. As one example, I believe that Jonathan Salceda was supposed to be a senior for them this fall, but he's no longer on their roster.
     
  22. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    To Gary St. Clair's credit, he was one of the first coaches to go out on a limb and actively recruit a lot of the Hispanic kids that were often getting overlooked in college soccer. San Jose State had some really good runs in the 90s and early 2000s because of this type of recruiting.

    But it's also a double-edged sword and often the kids he's brought in haven't, for whatever reasons, lasted four seasons.

    It also doesn't seem like SJSU is bringing in the same level of talent they brought in back in the 90s. I think the last player in MLS from San Jose State were CJ Brown and Ryan Suarez. So Gary needs to start recruiting better to make SJSU relevant again.
     
  23. Hararea

    Hararea Member+

    Jan 21, 2005
    But like a lot of coaches, St Clair's current approach is to throw his money at foreigners. This year he's added five newcomers from England and a sixth is from Germany.
     
  24. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    That's just sad.

    Et tu, Gary, et tu?
     

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