Notre Dame wins 2-0 over St. John's, which played without Chris Wingert who was with the U-23s. Goals from Kevin Richards (right back making a nice overlapping run in the second half) and a garbage strike from Chad Riley with Guy Hertz playing up on a Red Storm corner kick. Some thoughts on the game: After a rough opening 10-15 minutes or so, both teams looked very well-coached and tried to play attractive soccer, though I'm not sure all the players were up to it. Even so, both programs look to be the sort that prepare players for better things. Some thoughts on players: For Notre Dame, Detter certainly impressed. Good speed and first touch. Should get pro looks somewhere, though he could have done better on a few balls -- and perhaps netted a goal or two. I didn't think much of Prescod though apparently he's a key part of the team (and did technically assist on Richards' goal). Goldthwaite is an interesting player who reminded me a bit of Greg Vanney in both appearance and approach. I wasn't real impressed with Etherington despite his U-18 pedigree -- looked, well, like a freshman. Clark apparently agreed, as he didn't play in the second half. For St. John's, Corcoran reminded me at times of a poor man's Darren Fletcher. If he's got the speed he may have a pro career. Leidner is a player of some promise -- good size and composure in the back. Damiani did a workman's job in the center of midfield and could almost certainly play professionally. (As a former trainee at Perugia one would hope he would stand out in the college game!) Didn't see one minute of Schmid -- is he hurt, or in Masur's doghouse? Some size in the box might have helped today. Congrats to Notre Dame. Both teams should be strong contenders to advance in the NCAAs.
This game featured quite a bit more quality than the Bradley - SMU Missouri Valley Final. Great run & strike by Richards and a great job of upfield pressure defense by ND to seal the win. They must have kept SJ bottled up in their own end for a 4-5 minute stretch at the end.
Yeah, Notre Dame plays an attractive brand of soccer. They're the best passing team that I've seen in college soccer this season. (out of UCLA, UVa, MD, Stanf, SMU, Bradley, SJ, Rutgers, Providence, SLU, Indiana, Penn St, UNCC). They play a 4-4-2 with the outside backs pushing up to get into the attack to support the offense. They have a few very good talents like Justin Detter, Richards, Dalby, but mostly it's a hard working team with nice skill and compsure on the ball. They rotated the wide midfielders to keep them fresh during the game. Players: Justin Detter- Wow. He spent one semester at Bradenton training with the U-17s before being named an alternate to the team with Donovan and Beasley. He's quite a talent with the ball (excellent control), he can receive passes on the run, he can flick it, shoot with power from either foot. He's fairly small and compact and the only knock might be lack of outstanding pace. Greg Dalby- A former U-18 NT central defender. He played real well aganst Providence, but was fairly quiet against St. Johns. He's playing defensive midfield for the Irish. He's a good passer and defender. He did a good job cutting down the passing lanes and distributing to the other players. He wasn't afraid to get forward either. Greg isn't the biggest guy in the world, so think he might play DM the rest of his college career. Greg Martin- He once started for the U-17 National team that featured Donovan as a defender. ND has him DM, RM and LM. He's a proficient passer, but overall small and not the fastest. Jack Stewart- Another former U18/U-20 player. He plays central defender. I didn't really notice him, and he doesn't exactly jump out at you during the game. Richards- Bermuda International with good speed. He's not afraid to take players on with the dribble and he'll beat them. Chillemi - Another former Bradenton player. He's a backup Left Midfielder for the Irish. He tried to nutmeg a Providence player, but he lost the ball. He's confident, but the results and decisions were lacking. Ian Etherington- He was also in the U18 player pool. He's incredibly small at maybe 5-5 120. He's a backup right midfielder. Against SJ he had a couple of horrible giveaways and a weak shot. Riley- starting RM with some pace. St. Johns- very direct style of play. They pulled the keeper about 4X during the later part of the game to stop the clock. They even had trouble getting the ball out of their own end of the field during the final moments. Gaudette- not good Carroll- Distribution was awful for a central defender. Spanos- Former U18 NT player, he's a really small LB that I didn't notice much, but he did get into attack a few times. Rodriquez- He put a rocket in goal that forced a good save from ND. Kozicki- He played left midfield to contain the Irish speed on the flanks. The announer mentioned that he needs to get more physical.