Notice the Bruins are pretty banged up heading into the weekend with the HOOSIERS. Just wanting to know the seriousness of the injuries and can the Bruins make up for these injuries. my stomach is calling me im out
Harvey's not hurt- just with the u20 team... my brother plays on ucla and he said that aaron may have torn his ACL- i havnt talked to him since Sat so i dont have any updates on that, ill post it as soon as i know
I think they have the depth. Lopez is a tough pill to swallow but in Valdez and Ianni they have enough to make up for him at D-mid. With Harvey gone, losing Maurin hurts some but Gregorio can move to the left and Mike Enfield can start in midfield. In the back, McClung has gotten a bunch of starts this year and should be able to fill in and veterans Cliff McKinley and John Carson can fill in in the attack and MF. The good news for UCLA is that Griffin, their top back, Gregorio, Barrett and Taylor are all still available and healthy and those guys are the spine of the team. As for IU, I wonder how the NCAA's announcement today will impact them. With Yeags now owning the record, they don't have quite as much incentive as they did when they were flirting with history. I wonder if there will be a let-down.
Getting the ol coach one more ring should be incentive enough for them. It would be sad for him to go out with a loss. UCLA will be a gigantic hurdle for this team even with them missing a couple of players. Personally I see this being a defensive brawl with PK's deciding the College Cup. That's what my gut is telling me anyway (although my gut's not as famous as fatty's). One more thing - Go IU
Things that I'm pretty confident about: IU hasn't faced a team this year with as many talented players as UCLA has in Gregorio, Taylor and Barrett. (Saint Louis came close.) IU hasn't had to deal with a defender this year as good as Leonard Griffin. As much as IU wants to send Yeags out on a winning note, UCLA wants to let Fitz go back to Columbus in a conquering hero mode. While I'm sure Fitz would never say anything to them about this, the players surely know how important getting to Columbus in the Final Four is for the man who was fired by the Crew.
Injury update - Dru is out with an ACL tear and Lopez is doubtful with an MCL sprain. As far as talent goes, I've never been that impressed with Taylor - too slow to really make an impact at the next level. Hopefully, Gregorio can turn out to be a decent MLS player, but Barrett and Griffin are the real deal! Griffin is so agile and confident with the ball at his feet. Also, what can you say about his size and pace. Completely dominates his side of the pitch in every match I've seen. He really deserves a look versus Ricky Lewis for one of the outside back positions in Athens. It's amazing the strides he's made since last season. I've also been blown away by Barrett. Who would've thought a kid from Oregon could play like this? Don't laugh at me when I say his game reminds me of Shevchenko. This kid is for real and deserved a look from Rongen for this year's under 20 team.
Man! What went on in the FIU game? Was it simply bad luck or a war? Bad luck for the Bruins. However, home field advantage is the good. Of course, now that only 1 of 6 ACC and 1 of 6 BigEast teams are left (2 of 2 Big10 teams; MSU must be pi$$ed), once again I'm wondering about the seeding and why this game's being played in the quarters. BRF
Ty Maurin should be back. McClung has started, not only in the back, but as a wide midfielder and has played as a d-mid. Knowing (Harvey and Hoshimiya) and assuming (Lopez) who is gone for the game - UCLA could look like this on Saturday... GK - Wells DF - Owens DF - Lawson DF - Griffin MF - Gregorio MF - Ianni MF - McClung MF - Maurin FW - McKinley FW - Barrett FW - Taylor On the bench... GK - Reed/Pena DF - Valdez MF - Canel MF - Carson MF - Enfield MF - Corey FW - Khalil Enfield could start in place of McKinley. Or if Lawson isn't ready (he is back, but is he BACK?), Ianni slips into the back three and Enfield plays in midfield. Gregorio can also play centrally in midfield and then a Carson or the hot-hand (fluke maybe?) in Corey plays wide in midfield.
Shevchenko Umm..As far as Barrett goes as a "kid from Oregon", that is something of an understatement. He was a national team starter last year and a huge ODP standout in the high school ranks. He surely does have speed and finishing ability, but I do have to laugh at you when you compare him to Shevchenko. Also, watch IU's Jacob Peterson this Saturday, he may be faster than Barrett and he certainly has a lot of flair as well--very dangerous. It should be a good game to see.
What's with raggin' on Oregon soccer? The third pick in last year's SuperDraft is from Eugene. A hat-trick was scored in MLS this year - against Chicago, no less - by someone from Portland. And, I'm sure if I thought about it, I could come up with more players besides Nate Jaqua and Chris Brown who are from Oregon.
MLSnet lists birthplaces, and adds Craig Waibel and CJ Brown (raised in Cali, right?) to the list. In addition, top A-Leaguer Andrew Gregor is from Portland. So that's 5 Oregon-born players who are among the top ~150 born in the US. When you consider that Oregon has just a shade over 1% of the US population, that's pretty darn good.