NCAA Week 5 (Through Sept 29) [R]

I took my kids to see Georgetown-Creighton. Because of my kids' games, we didn't get their till halftime so my observations are based from that part of the game on.

Very evenly played game. Both teams are very organized, play a similar style and have a similar mix of skill players and size and athleticism. Ergo, the final score wasn't much of a surprise.

Both teams had a few chances but neither got a good enough look to convert It wasn't that they lacked ideas or effort or even the skill to create them, it's just that each team had defenders as good as the others attackers.

Neither team pushed their fullbacks into the attack much, which is both a shame and understandable. I see why they didn't, as they didn't wish to be exposed, but often it seemed like having that extra player going forward could have made the difference.

I won't be surprised if several players from this game end up on MLS rosters at some point. I also will not be surprised if these teams meet again this year.

Some individual thoughts:

*Brandon Allen is a frikkin' beast. You can see that he scores a lot of his goals because he's fast and strong and powerful and he doesn't see a lot of defenders that can match this. But he also sees the game pretty well and makes smart decisions with the ball. Unfortunately for him, Creighton's CBs, Brendan Hines-Ike and Eric Miller, had the athleticism and smarts to match him. All three of them look like next-level players and I think Allen needs to leave after this season to get more experience against backs he can't dominate physically.

*I really liked Creighton's Ecuadoran Jose Ribas on the left flank. Creative, active and industrious, with better wheels than I expected.

*I'd read a lot about Creighton's Ricardo Perez, a Fr. out of the Rapids academy and you can see that there is definitely some there, there. He could blossom into someone like his assistant coach, Johnny Torres, though if he does, he probably won't be there for his senior year. To be clear, he's not at the level Torres was as a junior and senior, just showed some flashes that reminded me of him.

*Steve Neumann continues to remind me of Pat Noonan. He's a smart player with more skill than you realize, you just wish he had a little bit more athleticism. Still, Noonan had a damn good pro career so there are worse paths to follow.

*A player I wasn't familiar with before who really caught my eye was Georgetown defender Joshua Yaro, a Fr. originally from Ghana who spent four years of prep school at the Cate School in Santa Barabra, the same school that's sent so many players (mostly Ghanaian) to a lot of colleges (most notably UCSB). Yaro just drips
athleticism. He's playing CB and despite being listed at 5-11 he commanded everything aerially. But he also read the game will and was very comfortable with the ball at his feet and he certainly doesn't lack for pace. He could probably convert to fullback at the pro level but despite his height I think he has the athleticism to stay at CB. Keep an eye out for this one, he's a stud.

*I tried to evaluate Alex Muyl but it's tough to focus on evaluations and make sure your kids don't wander off, which is apparently frowned upon, even on a college campus. This was homecoming weekend at GU and simultaneous to the soccer game the Hoyas football team was playing Georgetown about 200 yards away so it was pretty festive and both games had good and lively crowds that created a fun atmosphere. All told, it was a good way to spend an afternoon and I found it's easier to use college soccer as a teaching tool for elementary school kids as they aren't as overwhelmed by the whole environment as they are at a pro or national team game.

 

Michigan State 2-0 over NIU. Spartans have been solid this year, let's see if they can carry their form into conference play.

Speaking of conference play, the new-look Big East got started with some old rivalries as Providence rebounded from it's mid-week thumping by Virginia to beat Seton Hall 3-1 while in a bit of surprise, DePaul managed a 2-2 draw with St. John's.

 

I don't even know where GW plays these days. They've bounced around the area for years.

 

William & Mary is relevant in soccer for the first time since they featured Steve Jolley, Wade Barrett and Adin Brown and they came into today with a lofty Top 5 RPI. But that's likely gonna take a hit as the Tribe falls to Drexel 2-1 in both teams' CAA opener.

 

Jordan Allen, who is from Rochester, is apparently jacked to be back in upstate New York as he puts Virginia up on Syracuse 1-0 in the 6th minute.

 

Milwaukee beats Detroit 5-3, a result that sounds like an old AL East baseball score but is relevant for a couple of reasons.

One, sophomore Aaron Horvat scored four goals, which is damn impressive in any game. He entered the game with ZERO goals.

Second, and far more important, Kris Kelderman's boys are now 7-0-1, which is obviously a very good start.

 

Saturday night results about to start rolling in.

In Cincinnati, Marquette 1, Xavier 0 on a goal by See Period Norte, who missed last season with injury after being a Freshmen AA in 2011. Marquette improves to 5-3-1, Xavier is 3-4-2.

Northwestern 2, Michigan 0 in the BT opener for both. Fire products Brandon Medina and Joey Calistri with the goals. Wildcats are 7-1, Wolverines 2-3-3.

Coastal Carolina is 6-2 after beating Gardner-Webb (4-4) 1-0. Jakub Stourak with the goal.

 

Wow! That's clutch!

 

Virginia gets its first ACC win of the year, winning at Syracuse 2-0. Freshmen Jordan Allen and Riggs Lennon scored the goals. Cavs are 4-3-1, Orange 6-3.

Syracuse was out-shot 12-2, with only one on-goal.

 

Navy follows up its road win over Virginia Tech with a win over BU to improve to 4-3-2. BU is 3-4-1.

 

That hurts for UNC, though I can't say I'm surprised they're in OT.

And as clutch as that PK save was, Wake scoring late is just as clutch.

 

Louisville improves to 6-2 win an impressive 3-0 win over much-improved Temple, which is 6-3. Fr. Andrew Brody with a goal and assist.

Gonzaga, which is top 10 in the RPI, beats Seattle 2-1 to improve to 5-2. Ironically, because Seattle (1-7-1) is awful this will likely cause the Zags to fall in the RPI.

 

We gave props to Navy, but how about Army? The Knights beat Bucknell 2-0 and are now 6-1-1.

And it took overtime again, but UMBC stays perfect with a 2-1 win over GW. Maryland transfer Marquez Fernandez with the game-winner as Pete Caringi III is kept off the score-sheet.

UMBC is now 9-0-0.

Also unbeaten is Winthrop, which is 7-0-1 after a 5-1 win over plucky VMI.