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Polak is thriving in Clark's system. The Jays do play 4 at the back but play often goes through the left flank with Polak pushing up while Creighton's better all-purpose midfield Kris Clark fills holes for him as he motors up toward goal. The Polak-Clark flank is very dangerous. Tyler rarely looses the ball in possesion and gives players in front of him great passes that put them in good positions to attack. He takes on defenses we've seen so far with ease. As of right now, before the SMU, Tulsa, Akron, Wisconsin games the Jays have not been scored on and alot of that can be credited to the Jays consistent pressure they but on the opposing teams back line.

There was rumors among CU soccer fans that Polak mightbe tempted to go to Europe after his highly successful U17 tournament showing, especially when long time CU coach Bob Warming jetted for Penn St, but Clark kept him at school and has done a very good job in allowing Polak the freedom to showcase his skills. Tyler

 

We mostly agree and Tyler has been a most welcomed addition filling the void that Seth left in the back. We would like to see Tyler begin to move the ball quicker and have noticed a some turn overs in the last couple of games that can be corrected by learning to play the ball faster at this college level.


He will also need to recover into his defensive post when a cross is made so we are not exposed down the left side but again he is learning the system and this level of play.

As he grows and puts on more weight, he will certainly improve his stock.

 

Is Polak one-and-done or do you guys see him sticking around for another season or two?

(I realize it's very early in his college career to be asking this question. But, given his pedigree and professional interest, it wouldn't be a shock if he turned pro.)

 

NO he will need two years to more fully mature then it may time to consider the next level. He will need to get much stronger, to go with his smarts.

 

His timing is amazing. While I generally think that a player really needs 2 years before moving on, but Polak is going to be ready after this year - just my opinion.

 

So what's the story on this Jose Gomez kid? He seems to have come out of virtually nowhere to have a great start to the season. (2 goals and 6 assists thru 6 games.)

 

You heard it here first: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1520059

Jose is well traveled and I believe this pretty much sums up his story:

Jose had a stint at Cal State Fullerton two years ago as a freshmen:

http://www.fullertontitans.com/sports/m-soccer/stats/2008-2009/teamcume.html

.... after spending four months in Belgium w/Brugge if memory serves. (he was a USFC/Top Drawer/Don Ebert placement.)

Spent a number of years with the Irvine Strikers before the ISC team he was on defected to the Pateadores. Last season, before the Creighton transfer he played U19 CSL Premier with Arsenal and prior to that may have even spent a Spring playing with a So Cal upstart in the OSC Rage.

Very special player.

 

yes,

HE HAS BEEN A NICE ADDITION TO THE JAYS THIS FALL. HE HAS ASSISTED ON THREE OR FOUR CORNER KICK GOALS TO DATE AND SEEMS TO BE CONNECTING WITH Finley AND Jordan. AT TIMES HE NEEDS TO PLAY THE BALL QUICKER TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TEAM SPEED AND NOT MAKE THAT THIRD TOUCH ON THE BALL , GREAT KID.

 

Thanks for all this.

I knew he sounded familiar. Players like this rarely just show up out of nowhere. Was he recruited to Omaha by Warming or Clark?

Regardless, sounds like a very nice addition to the Jays. Always nice to have a creative MF who can spray passes around and still score the occasional goal.

If he keeps this level of production up, he'll contend for the Hermann.

Between Polak, Finlay, Gomez, Acoff (can't believe he's not starting) and a couple of others, Creighton has a lot of pro prospects.

 

You're welcome. Any "fan" of the UCLA Bruins is a "friend" of mine.

He sounds familiar as he was discussed in this thread on BS a few years back:

https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-609601.html

I believe JGomez was actually committed to attend Creighton prior to Jamie Clark's arrival. There seems to have been an established relationship between the Warming /Creighton program with So Cal's Arsenal (either with Arsenal's DOC P.J. Brown or some other coach at Arsenal as evidenced by Dion Acoff heading to Omaha a year prior to Jose's arrival.

 

I was told by someone at the game against SMU that one of the regular center backs was injured and his replacement was directly responsible for the 1st goal by misplaying a high bouncer and committing both of the fouls that were awarded PKs

This is more a veracity check post - can anyone verify/dispute all or part of this?

Curious if this becomes a season long issue or just a single hiccup

This person told me that Creighton dominated SMU otherwise

Thoughts...

 

You can read Joe Mauceri's summary of the game (Sept 17th) on Proplayerpipeline. Here's the link:

http://proplayerpipeline.wordpress.com/

 

Any word on Andrew Duran's prognosis?

 

- Gomez was committed to CU before Clark took over.
- I do believe the So Cal Arsenal Pipeline is what landed Gomez here.
- Polak has the skill to play the FB position professionally next year. He could work on his strength but there are plenty of fullbacks out there that are slight of figure (Lahm, Dolo, for gosh sakes Bornstein) Just my opinion.
- Duran's injury is devastating to the Jays. He lead from the back. With him in the squad we had not been scored on. Since his injury we allowed 5 goals

 

Creighton beat Wisconsin 1-0 in OT last night, with Ethan Finlay pouncing on a ball in the box for the winner. Creighton dominated but had trouble finishing. Wisconsin put several men behind the ball for most of the game and created only a few chances going forward. Creighton's speed gave the Badgers trouble all over the field, and the Wisconsin defenders looked gassed late in regulation. I think Wisconsin looked better than their record (now 1-5-1), and Coach Trask seems to have them playing well as a unit.

A few observations about individuals who've been discussed in this forum:
- It was painful (for me) to see Andrew Duran on crutches on the sideline. Omaha World-Herald yesterday had this: Creighton men lose Duran indefinitely after surgery

- Gomez is fun to watch. He often beat multiple defenders on the dribble, and you can tell that the UW defenders were worried by him. Several times, he won a ball in the middle of three UW players and either dribbled out to lay off a pass or was fouled. Once (directly in front of me), two defenders had him pinned on the line, but neither would move in to take the ball--which suggests they felt he would cut through them--so he passed the ball through one of the defenders legs. As much as his dribbling will draw attention, he makes some nice passes and links very well with his teammates.

- Pollak has great speed and reads the game well. (He was in front of me in the first half, far side of the field in the second.) He stepped in very nicely to win the ball off the dribble, and he intercepts passes well. I should add that he doesn't intercept a ton of passes because teams aren't playing to his side--don't know if that is a conscious choice, or if they are intentionally playing the middle where the Jays have more of a question mark. Goes forward very well, beats people on the dribble, and I was very impressed with the way he passed. On a couple of occasions, he switched fields with a one-touch under pressure--which meant he was watching the play in front of him (think 12 o'clock), but was spotting an open player 30+ yds away to the side (2 o'clock). That being said, he seems to lose focus at times. A couple of times in the first half, the UW winger played a pass into the middle and Pollak drifted away, only to have to recover when the ball was played quickly behind him--both times, crosses were played into the box. (He does have great recovery speed.) He also appeared to be muscled off the ball later in the game (far side of the field, though, so only know that he was on the ground and UW won the ball). Not sure if he is as close to professional-quality as some others have suggested, but he is very good.

- I hadn't realized how much skill Greg Jordan has. Under Warming, I viewed him more as a destroyer D-mid who had decent touch, etc. This year, though, he is showing me a lot more in the attack--very good dribbler, passes forward very well, etc.

- Finlay is playing with a lot of fire this year. Last year, I thought he drifted in and out of matches, and he showed a lot of frustration. This year, he is chasing every ball hard the entire match. And he has great instincts for finding the ball in dangerous places.

- Creighton is a lot more fun to watch under Clark than Warming. (Not meant as a shot at Coach Warming, who has done a lot for our program.) The players seem to enjoy the style of play, there is a lot more creativity in attack, much better passing through the midfield, etc. Still early in Clark's tenure, but I like what I see so far.

 

Thanks for the recap.

How did Dion Acoff look?

 

Dion had his strongest match this year for thd Jays as did Kalman in the back replacing duran. Wisconisn sat back 80% double teaming Finley & Gomez of the time and sprung a few runs down the wings. They were looking to play for the draw.

 

Forgot to mention him. Sorry.

Dion looked very good at spots, but at times seemed to disappear. In the bright moments, he did a great job of getting down the wings to play dangerous balls into the box. He benefits from some great passes behind the defense from several players--Gomez, Jordan, Finlay, Pollak, Moran, Castillo, et al. He showed good judgment to know when to take a defender down the line and when to turn to the middle (a big improvement from last year, IMHO). He had a couple of good moments to get shots off with his left foot, but nothing too threatening. (Finishing was a problem for many, though.) I recall that he was not involved in the attack for chunks at a time, although I did notice a couple of moments when his teammates chose another viable option when Dion was open--there were points in the match where players were open on both wings with another good option in the center. That being said, he brought himself back into the game. Dion was involved in a shot at the buzzer at end of regulation (not sure if it would have counted) that just went over the crossbar, and the chance came because he and Finlay didn't give up as the last 10 seconds counted down.

 

Yes Jordan is playing a higher level this year and a good thing. We are still waiting to see some really pretty goals with Ethan Finley and Gomez connecting. it will come soon. The two dangled the ball really well vs UW and are just getting more comfortable with each other. Dion will continue to improve and add to the offense attack.

Moran brings a great level of play to the Jays and appears to be confident where ever J.C plays him. His play out of ther back is the best on the team.

Look for Jays to rip a big win vs EIU next Friday.

 

That ought to be a fun game.

There wouldn't be Internet video of it available, would there?

 

The Jays goal was a beautiful thing with three passes back & forth between Finley and Gomez with the final pass a very clever one with it going diagonally back to an on rushing Gomez for the win.


IT was a big league play and the first between these two with more to come. Finley was blatantly knocked down in the box with under three to go as he blew past the last defender.

Jays had a massive shot count in this one & 10 corners.

Tulsa will be a real good test for the Jays .

 

Try this I am not sure what it takes to view it but they do stream the games.

http://www.gocreighton.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1000