Quite frankly, i am on the olentangy liberty high school team, and no our coach isnt iranian, he doesnt tell us to play kick and run, never has and never will. he is a very good coach and im not sayin this for school spirit *#*#*#*#*#, he has a very strong knowledge of the game and knows that his team is very strong and fully believes that we will reach the final game in crew stadium. If now this year, next year we will make it very far in the tournament due to the fact that we do not have a senior class, and we will continue to be strong because our third team made up of completely freshman has basically been mauling every junior varsity team (some even with juniors) theyve played. I would like to know which players said that because with such an outstanding coach with very high respect, i do not believe anyone would say that
The last time I watched HS soccer was when I was still living in Illinois during the State Championships. The geniuses running that organization held every team competition (football the exception) similar to basketball, where the quarterfinals were held one day, and the semifinals and final were held the next. Even with unlimited substitutions, try and picture playing three full-length matches in two days. This was no joke (or a joke based on the quality of play). I hope this format no longer is used in Illinois.
glad to see we have a patriot on the boards. personally i am not going to "out" any of the players who i have talked with about your coach but lets just say there are many who don't really care for the way he coaches the team, and the way he tells some of the kids how to play. you may have a different experience with him, which is usually the case...everyone has their own opinions about people. i will strongly agree with you that the team is very, very good. i would not be shocked to see you make it to crew stadium this year, and honestly if you didn't make it next year i would be disappointed considering how talented you are this year and you have another year all together...with nobody leaving. another year to grow together as a team. plain and simple, all i am saying is the team i see has the talent and the ability to play the ball out of the back and into the attack on the ground. that there is plenty of talent there to play the possession game...and i don't see it happen nearly enough.
Well I have tired of trying to explain to people over at the DC board that no, you really aren't allowed to crash into and knock down an opponent regardless of whether he can "get to the ball" or not. So I thought I'd come bore you guys with the State SOccer Tournament. Before I begin though, let me echo what fidlerre has been positing: 95% of High School soccer is absolutelcrap. Terrible. Painful to watch. But as a lover of the game, there are some few teams who play the game well, some even very well, and there are some players who clearly merit attention because they are headed for bigger and better things. Otherwise, I wouldn't go see a HS game if it was held accross the street from me. That said: In Division I there are some great games coming up Wednesday in the "Bracket of Death": Dublin Coffman vs. Westerville SOuth and Pick Noth vs. Thomas Worthington. Coffman took apart a decent Groveport-Madison side 11 - 0 last Thursday while TW kicked crap out of Whetstone. Look for a Coffman/TW matchup on Saturday. The other bracket features number one seed Dublin Scioto (who everybody was trying to avoid) beating up on the little sisters of the poor. In Div III Worthington Christian dismantled Gahanna Christian 10 - 1 to set up a terrific match with Bloom-Carroll. Olentangy Liberty easily beat Bishop Ready 4 - 0 and will play Fisher Catholic on Wednesday in a game that Liberty should easily win, setting up a Saturday showdown with New Albany.
should be at this one...cheering on the alma mater. should liberty make it <which they should> i will be there to watch the new albany/liberty match-up on saturday...
Still not many surprises statewide, and none in Central Ohio. Dublin Scioto took down Reynoldsburg to set up a Saturday match with Upper Arlington. Westerville South took Dublin Coffman to a shootout, but it's be Coffman against Thomas Worthington on Saturday. In Div III, Worthington Christian took a tough 1 - 0 victory from Bloom-Carrol and will face Columbus Academy. Olentangy Liberty easily handled Fisher Catholic 4 - 0 and will face New Albany, who wiped out Grandview Hieghts 11 - 0. I haven't missed yet, but I've been feasting on the easy ones. Nonetheless, look for Scioto to beat Arlibton and Thomas Worthington, in a mild upset, to defeat Coffman. Meanwhile, the WC vs. Liberty match is looking more and more likely. THAT will be one worth catching.
Division I State Semifinals (04 Nov) Hudson (19-2-0) v. Toledo St. Franics DeSales (19-0-2) [Cleveland State University] Westerville North (16-1-4) v. West Chester Lakota West (17-1-3) [West Carrollton High School] Division II State Semifinals (04 Nov) Chagrin Falls (14-6-1) v. Lexington (17-2-2) [Medina High School] Columbus Bexley (20-1-0) v. Dayton Carroll (17-2-2) [Dublin Scioto High School] Division III State Semifinals (04 Nov) Gates Mills Hawken (19-1-1) v. Van Buren (18-2-1) [Ashland High School] Worthington Christian (18-1-2) v. Cincinnati Madeira (19-0-2) [Cedarville University]
Lots of upsets while I was on vacation. The real shame is that many of the best kids in the state, the ones who will go far, have been eliminated, so we won't be seeing them at Crew Stadium next weekend. Dublin Scioto went down to Westerville North in a shootout, so Brunner (Maryland) and Price (OSU?)are done. North then easily handled TW and set up a good match with Lakota West, which features a tough young star in defender John Mellencamp (Indiana committment) (Yes, they're related - and Uncle John comes to his games sometimes)as well as striker Eric Kustos (Ohio State). In the other Div I bracket, Hudson looks like a strong candidate to repeat behind All-Everything Xavier Balc (Ohio State) and eight new starters. They kicked Mayfield around 4 - 0, then killed Green on Saturday 6 - 0. In Div II, last year's only Sophomore All American Kiki Willis' Youngstown Cardinal Mooney lost to Chagrin Falls. Dayton Carroll looks to be on a roll despite Ofori Sarkodie having flown off to Bradenton to hang around with Freddy Adu, along with Wickliffes' Kenny Walker and Upper Arlington's Steven Sandbo (SMU). Look for Carroll to beat Columbus Bexley and play Chagrin in CCS. In Div III, we won't be seeing All American Kai Kasurian's CVCA team in Columbus. He's scored 50 goals despite a serious injury this season. Meanwhile, Kenny Anaba's Worthington Christian is just kicking crap out of everybody, pounding Coshocton 8 - 1 in the Regional Semi and then wiping out New Albany 5 - 1 in the final. Look for whoever wins their Tuesday match with Cincinnati Madeira to win it all.
I guess parity has something to do with it, but I wish some of the Crew guys could score 25 goals. 50 and we'd all be speechless. FWIW, Chicago scored the most goals this season and they managed 31. This Kai Kasurian dude has to be serious stuff.
Sorry - should have specified a little better: That's 50 for his HS career. Still impressive (he had 20 this year) but not superhuman.
I watched Bexley defeat Carroll last night in penalties to advance to CCS. Carroll scored in the first half off a pretty impressive free kick - Carroll's keeper took the free kick from midfield, drilled a head-high ball into the box and a Carroll played skipped it off his head past the out-charging keeper. Bexley equalized with about sixteen minutes remaining in regulation. Carroll scored just under three minutes into overtime. Bexley tied it at two with nineteen seconds remaining in the second half of overtime. In penalties, the first six shooters for each side scored, Carroll's seventh shot was saved and Bexley's shooter buried his attempt to send them through. One thing I was reminded of while watching this game - high school soccer parents and fans are slightly better than the stereotypical youth soccer parents. I heard so much one-sided bitching, moaning and blatant misunderstanding that it was driving me nuts. Other results I saw this morning include Toledo St. Francis knocking off Hudson 1-0 and Worthington Christian going down 3-2 to Madeira.
impressive indeed, but considering some of the competition these kids play against they could practically score that many in one game so to compare it to a crew player as kryptonite did is just assanine. must have reminded you of playing rec soccer with me
It always shocks me, although I should have learned by now: these parents have been sitting around in lawn chairs watching their kid play soccer year-round for over ten years in most cases and they still seem to have only a passing familiarity with the rules. Anyway, Hudson did go down 1 - 0 to Toledo St Francis, despite being outshot 17 - 2. They'll play Westerville North in CCS on Friday after they (also surprisingly) beat Lakota West 3 - 2. The game of the night, maybe of the year, apparently, was Bexley/Carroll. Somewhere today there's a pretty torn up kid who thinks he "lost the game" for his team. Bexley will play Chagrin Falls on Saturday. Neither of these teams were all that highly rated, but both have caught fire at the right time. And Worthington Christian went down 3 -2 to Madeira and will play Gates Mills Hawken in a battle of Yuppie Spawn. Who cares?
ohio high school soccer championships @ crew stadium this weekend... the boys: friday @ 3:00pm division III cincinnati madeira (20-0-2) vs. gates mills hawken (20-1-1) friday @ 7:00pm division I westerville north (17-1-4) vs. toledo st. francis (20-0-2) saturday @ 11:00am division II bexley (21-1) vs. chagrin falls (15-6-1) the girls: saturday @ 3:00pm division II bay village (18-4-0) vs. cincinnati indian hill (18-3-1) saturday @ 7:00pm division I dublin coffman (22-0-1) vs. strongsville (21-0-1)