Very sad news about a player who was with IU for his freshman year only; Sean Cowdry, just 25, passed away a few days ago. Obituary: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/w...y.aspx?n=sean-cowdrey&pid=198383076&fhid=6151 Sean's IU roster page: https://iuhoosiers.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster/sean-cowdrey/3363
My wife would know. She knows all the players and has her favorites. The PSU championship game almost killed her. Of course, she has to take weekly quizzes about IU soccer!
My team had a 4:00 game so I was going to watch the stream when I got home yesterday evening. It wasn't available last night at 8:30 when I checked so I gave up and checked the score. Sounds like I didn't miss much exciting soccer. The stream was up this morning FWIW.
Actually, I was only able to watch the final 30 minutes, which turned out to be the right time to tune in.
Well, once again we played below our potential, but somehow got the win. I'm really happy that Goumbale got a goal. He's been working very hard this season. Also happy that we didn't have to endure another round of PKs.
Looking forward to this next matchup. Coach Lindberg(affectionately referred to as "The Big Swede") has done one heck of a job in year three at Seton Hall.
Well that Marquette goal was a jaw dropper - blast from distance and placed in a spot doubtful anyone could have stopped that one.
Good win against a good team last night in really crappy conditions. Pitt will be another big test on Friday, but that's to be expected once you get to this point in the season.
Congrats and good luck to IU in the College Cup final four. All the best in representing the Hoosiers and the B1G on the big stage.
Have a good time, BRF! Our local paper has run IU soccer stories all week. I was surprised to learn that Pitt's coach Vidovich is an IU alum in today's issue. https://www.pharostribune.com/indiana/sports/article_2bcbde26-bd72-50f0-ae88-41bcc1514812.html
Save me the research. I see the 8 stars. Monday will the (insert #) NCAA Final for IU? 12? My reaction is WOW, regardless of the number rendered.
To tell you the truth, it sucked less if you were pitch-side. Both teams were extremely concerned with the other's ability to counter, so they stayed back in tight defensive formations. The atmosphere on the field was more tense than I've ever seen, even for a final. We had our chances, including a free header on a largely open goal and a rebound off of a free kick, also w/ an open goal. We bounced one off the post early in the game. We just didn't connect. I'm concerned about Bezerra. He had a pretty unremarkable cup. I know he had some nagging injuries, but the bottom line is that our go-to guy just couldn't create and his work rate wasn't very high. When the ball came to him in the normal course of play, it mostly came right back at us. Endeley was the outfield MOTM for IU. He was dangerous and occupied Marshall's defense. The problem was that, with our defensive posture and Bezerra's off night, he didn't have a lot of support. Joe Schmidt: can't say enough about that guy. He can play the game any way you want it played and his fitness level is incredible. And then there's Celentano. Roman did everything that you can ask of a keeper. Just good decisions and some excellent saves. The OT goal was just a combo of luck for the forward and tired legs on IU's side. His shot was blocked but came right back to him, his second shot was parried away by Celentano, but we just weren't able to clear. I very much want to whine about the 23 international players (one player's previous team was Borussia Monchengladbach[!]) on Marshall's roster, but I'll try to tone it down. One thing that I noticed is that the average age of Marshall's players, including frosh to seniors (and very few of them), is about 22 (although info about some of Marshall's visibly older players' birthdays is curiously absent). IU's average age is about 19.5. That's a big difference. I also wonder where the scholarships for players on Marshall's 47 man roster come from, given that Div I teams are limited to nine. (/whine off). Still, we made it to our 16th final and it has often been the case that we come back the next year and win it all. I hope to be back in Cary again soon. BRF
Milo Yosef played for Borussia Monchengladbach's academy. He was on the U19's before coming to the states. At Charleston Grassie was able to get more institutional aid if he got more full pay players, hence the huge roster. It's not considered athletic money. I'm not saying one way or another is right but there are definitely a lot of schools out there that have an advantage based on giving more institutional, "merit" or other types of aid outside athletic. I also can't confirm this is the case at Marshall but looks like the same model based on the roster.
Yeah, we were discussing that on the trip back. This is the same strategy that Caleb Porter used when at Akron. He got a lot of "merit" scholarships for any of his players who *might* qualify, leaving the athletic scholarships for others. We can't do that at IU.
Yea, there are definitely other programs out there that have those types of advantages/disadvantages. Seems like the D2 model is starting to gain more traction in D1 and probably will even more so after Marshall winning the national championship. Seton Hall and New Hampshire are two other programs with former D2 coaches and heavy international rosters who have completely turned it around in only a few years and are now top 25 teams.
It may have already arrived. Pitt has 17 internationals and the average number of internationals (don't know about roster size) for the ACC is eight.
I hear you on this. I didn't get to watch many games this season, but I never saw him as dominating player like Gutman was a few years back or some of those guys who you just know are going to run the game. Bezerra almost feels like more of a Berbatov-type. He'll have a few flashes or brilliance, but what's he doing for the other 87 minutes of the game? For big parts of the semi and the final it did feel like men against boys. (EDIT: and the quarterfinal against Seton Hall!) I also noticed a lack of bio information on Marshall's website. My wife and I talked about the trend toward internationals and how that's impacting the game. For both of us, we're used to collegiate athletics being about watching boys and girls develop into men and women. That's been one of the most enjoyable aspects of watching IU soccer and basketball over the years. The trend is what it is, and coaches will have to do what they need to do to compete, but it feels a bit mercenary to me. I know, I know, it's a business, but that is one aspect I'll miss if the trend continues, especially if IU starts going more this direction. A 21st CC and another final appearance felt like over-achieving to me based on what I saw from this team this season. Hopefully we see a lot of these guys back in the fall and make another run.