Soccertom and anyone else interested in SLU soccer, seeing as we have what some have deemed the #1 recruiting class on paper this year, I was wondering what your thoughts were on a couple items. First, SLU is returning a solid and experienced backline. Gannon, Wickart, and Pusateri have proven they can form a solid defensive core. Since our two "stoppers" have graduated, who will be the ones to step up in these positions? My thought is that Mo Benne and the defensive U-17 kid could be the starting defensive mids. Second, does Cooper get pulled back to an attacking center mid position such as Jewsbury was last year. Mckee seems to have a great knack for holding onto the ball and creating space for himself. I am not sure however of his playmaking capabilites but believe he could do it if given the chance. Third, can this recruiting class step in and make an immediate impact? This will be a young team in the offensive department but some of these kids have a load of talent that could translate well immediatley on the field.
I expect the line-up to look something like this, ------------------Martin Hutton GK ----------------Nick Gannon Sweeper ----Andy Pusateri RB----------------Mo Benne LB ------Kevin Wickart DMF----A. Matteson DMF ---------------------------or B. Grazier DMF --John DiRaimondo Wing -------------Will John Wing ------------K. Hopson ACM if healthy ------------C. McKee ACM --------------Vedad Ibecivic Striker Key bench players will be former starters Danny Wynn and Andrew Moses along with either Matteson or Grazier depending on who cracks the starting line-up. David Peplinski out of Marquette High School will also figure into the fight for playing time mix. Athough this SLU team will be very young you can expect an immediate rise in overall talent with these Bluechip newcomers over last years very good team. One key is whether or not attacking mid Kyle Hopson returns healthy from knee surgery. Vedad Ibecivic is a true target forward with great attacking skills and a real scorer's mentality. I expect Kevin Wickart to move into the defensive midfield and for Pusateri to switch from left back to his more natural right sided position and allow the true lefty Mo Benne to step in at left back. This team will have plenty of competition for playing time which can be a very positive thing if handled properly. Andrew Moses could concievably beat out Mo Benne at the left back position. Dan Donigan and Mike Sorber will have their hands full in trying to keep everyone happy with ample playing time Key bench players will include the following, Danny Wynn MF David Pepliski F or MF Patrick Garcia MF Andrew Moses MF or Left Back Ntando Tsambo B Ryan Wileman MF or B Jeff Sackman GK Brian Grazier or Alex Matteson DMF
This sounds very exciting for next year! I hope to get to more games than last year..... I notice that the 2 U17 Nats have not been officially anounced. Is that just a paperwork/timing issue, or is there a problem?
From my understanding, everyone has signed. After a coaching clinic I spoke briefly to Donigan and asked if the U-17's were onboard, and he said yes and that they had just gotten back home. So unless I really misunderstood something, we should see an announcement inthe near future.
Nice note on William John's performance at the Futuro Cup in Brazil recently. http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/TrainingGround/1045718880/view
It sounds to me like SLU is going to be winning some National titles in the near future. They have a lot wonderful players joing them this year.
How do you guys think Danny Wynn will do this year? Do you think he'll even get to play very much next year with all these younger guys coming in? We're you pleased with his playing last year?
You have to think Danny is going to see some serious competition this year from these younger guys. Based on what soccertom has said about Will John and that one U-17 kid, DiRaimondo, I believe he's gonna have his time reduced to a substitution role. Last year, Wynn started out pretty strong as a freshman making his first appearance. He had the nice assist to Cole in the win over SMS , but somewhere in the middle of the season he lost his edge. The thing I noticed was that he wasn't getting back on defense. I remember numerous times where Pusateri would be yelling for him to get back to cover his man. Was he tired or just not playing well? Don't know, but that's what I noticed. Anyway, so Moses gets a lot of playing time from that time on and did play some good D. Just my observation though. Talent wise, we will have more to play with at the midfielder position this year.
A couple of articles from http://www.usasa.com/ with mention of Martin Hutton: Last Week's game against the Rapids: USASA Mens National Select Team Opens Florida MLS Tour vs. Colorado Rapids Boca Raton, FL February 27, 2003.The USASA Mens National Select Team arrived in Boca Raton, Florida on Tuesday for a four game tour which will include three games against MLS teams. Players were selected from the Regional Select Teams Tournaments and U.S. Soccer Festival which was held during 2002 and the recently completed George F. Donnelly Cup. After having training sessions on Wednesday, the team took the field versus Colorado Rapids this morning for an 11:00 a.m. game on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL. In what could be described as a getting to know you game, the Rapids earned a deserved 1:0 win. The MNST tried to avenge a 3:0 loss from their meeting during the 2002 MLS preseason games, which was held in Bradenton, Florida, but found that experience and cohesiveness was difficult to overcome. The Colorado Rapids, who came off a 3:0 victory over Dallas two days ago, were determined not give our MNST many opportunities to take a game from them. The Rapids started strong and tried to take advantage of the MNST still trying to get to know each other when in the 4th minute a bad clearance created a quick opportunity to move ahead, but the shot ended up a few inches wide bouncing off the post. The Rapids got their second opportunity when they earned a penalty kick in the 16th minute, but a great save by Martin Hutton kept the game level. Although the game did not create many goal scoring opportunities, the Rapids were able to control the game and the MNST responded with a number of counter attacks. The only goal in the game came after the Rapids earned a corner kick in the 64th minute and the high cross off the corner kick ended up on the head of Colorado’s Chris Carrerie who was positioned at the second post. Although the result was disappointing Coach Fulk believes that it was a good first game as it gave many of the players their first opportunity to play against a MLS team, and additionally, US U-23 coach Glenn Myernick was in attendance scouting for players for his team. The MNST will take the field again on Saturday when they will play Florida Atlantic University at 11:00 a.m. This year’s team has several players returning from last year’s squad which include Scott Bowman, Scott Burcar, Eric Cronkrite, Aaron Heinzen, Martin Hutton and Joel Spencer. With this loss, the MNST currently holds a 3:3 lifetime win/loss record against the MLS and Coach Fulk believes that it will be a major accomplishment if the MNST can maintain that split. In what the USASA believes is a great opportunity for these selected players, they will be able to compete on the field against the players that hopefully they may beat out of job in the next year. This will be the second straight year that the MNST will participate in the MLS preseason games. The MNST has been welcomed by all the MLS teams as it gives their coaching staff a real opportunity to evaluate players in actual games for the forthcoming draft in 2004. MNST Line up: Martin Hutton, Aaron Heinzen, Scott Burcar, TJ Delucia, Lawrence Smalls, David Moore (36-Joel Spencer), Eric Cronkrite (32-Scott Bowman), Andres Rota (36-Joe Sithnorrath), Shawn Higgins (32-Jason Thompson), Darren Lewis (15-Dayo Oyetuga), Marcus Storey Statistics: .........................USASA MNST ..............Colorado Rapids Shots ......................8 .............................18 Shots on goal ..........4............................... 7 Saves .....................6............................... 4 Fouls ....................15 ..............................21 Corners ..................2 ................................5 Cautions ................2 ................................1 Ejections ................0................................ 0 .........................First Half ....Second Half .......Full Time USASA MNST........... 0................ 0.................... 0 Colorado Rapids ......0 ...............1..................... 1 ___________________________________________ Monday against the Wizards: USASA MENS NATIONAL SELECT TEAM DRAWS VS. KANSAS CITY WIZARDS Boca Raton, FL – Tuesday, March 4, 2003. The USASA Men’s National Select Team earned a well deserved 0:0 draw against the Kansas City Wizards today at the Florida Atlantic University stadium field. Through today’s game, the team has accumulated a 1-1-1 record during this tour. After having had great training sessions on Monday which included a combined session with the Colorado Rapids, the team was eager to see if they could convert their training work into positive results in the game against the Wizards. In a game that was dominated by the defensive work from both teams, the game did not create many chances for either team to take a win from the other. In the first half most of the play occurred in the midfield and both teams had difficulty finding good opportunities to convert their attacks. Kansas City started strong earning three corner kicks in the first five minutes of the game, but was not able to realize a good shot from those chances. Although the MNST did have two shots on goal in the first half, vs. Kansas City’s one shot, neither shot really threatened the Kansas City goalkeeper. Kansas City had the best chance in the first half to take a lead when they were awarded an indirect free kick six yards from the goal on the goal line. A quick rush by MNST wall squelched their chance. The second half opened up with an immediate chance for MNST when in the first minute a free kick by Dayo Oyetugo from the right wing found Aaron Heinzen on the back post for a headball from five yards out. Only a miraculous goal line save by Tony Meola kept the MNST from taking the lead in the game. The MNST second great chance came only seven minutes later when another free kick dropped into the penalty area behind Kansas City’s defense and found Scott Burcar alone for a first time shot that narrowly missed the goal. After these two chances the game settled back into the midfield play by both teams and they each had only one other good chance to convert an opportunity into a goal. In the 72nd minute the game got interrupted when a scuffle broke out between MNST’s Dayo Oyetugo and the Wizards’ Chris Klein. Both players were ejected from the game. The MNST’s chance came in the 60th minute when Eric Cronkrite sent a through ball to Marcus Storey from the left side and Marcus had thirty yards of open space to push the ball passed Meola, but his shot from twenty yards ended up straight into Meola’s hands. The Wizards last chance to find a game winner came only minutes before the end of the game when Preki dribbled the ball above the penalty area from the right side to the left and sent a driving shot toward Martin Hutton, making a great save. Not only did Kansas City coach Bob Gansler have a good look at our players, but also in attendance were the coaching staff of the Los Angeles Galaxy and the USSF U-23 National Team coach, Glenn Myernick, who possibly seems to have interest in looking at a couple of players for his Olympic Team squad tryouts. The MNST will wind up their tour on Thursday when they will meet the Columbus Crew at Lynn University, 10:00 a.m. MNST Line up: Martin Hutton, Aaron Heinzen, Scott Burcar, TJ Delucia, Lawrence Smalls, David Moore, Shawn Higgins (59-Andres Rota), Joe Sithonnorrath (59-Eric Cronkrite), Darin Lewis (53-Marcus Storey), Jason Thompson, Dayo Oyetuga (72-Joel Spencer). Game Statistics: USASA MNST .......KANSAS CITY .........WIZARDS Shots .........................9 .....................11 Shots on goal ..............4 .....................3 Saves .........................3..................... 4 Fouls .........................12 ....................15 Corners ......................5 ......................5 Offside .......................2...................... 1 Cautions .....................0...................... 0 Ejections..................... 1...................... 1 .........................First Half .........Second Half ............Full Time USASA MNST ..........0........................ 0...................... 0 KANSAS CITY .........0........................ 0...................... 0 MNST Schedule: Thursday, February 27 Colorado Rapids 0:1 Saturday, March 1 Florida Atlantic 2:1 Tuesday, March 4 Kansas City Wizards 0:0 Thursday, March 6 Columbus Crew 10:00 a.m. Lynn University, Boca Raton All Time Record vs. MLS 3-3-1 1997 vs. Columbus Crew 3:2 W 2002 vs. NY/NJ Metrostars 2:1 W 2002 vs. Columbus Crew 1:3 L 2002 vs. Kansas City Wizards 4:3 W 2002 vs. Colorado Rapids 0:3 L 2003 vs. Colorado Rapids 0:1 L 2003 vs. Kansas City Wizards 0:0 T
As a supporter of an SLU conference-mate (UAB), I expect we will take a severe beating at your hands this year. Thanks
Kami, Tom, et all... Can you find out where, in anywhere, the SLU players are gonna play PDL ball this summer? I'm sure some will play for the new team in Saint Louis but silly NCAA rules limit the number of players from the same team that can play PDL together. Also, there was a Saint Louis-area HS kid named Vince Vitale who got a look from Thomas Rongen at the U20 team in the spring of 2002. He was a junior at the time so I'm assuming he's a senior now. Any word on what his plans are post graduation?
I believe this is the guy you are talking about. Don't know much about him though. Tom probably does though. http://prepsports3.stltoday.com/Soc.../photos1/pages/02bscSMDB0017 Vince Vitale.htm
Yes that is Vince. Vince is a classmate of my son @ Saint Mary's. Vince is a really nice kid. Vince didn't have the greatest of High School seasons. I believe he was an Honorable Mention on the All Metro Team which recognizes 3 full teams and about 50 Honorable Mention players. Suffice it to say that Vince is a good solid player but not an elite player in my opinion. I have asked my son to check out Vince's future soccer plans and haven't heard as of yet. I haven't heard as of yet if any of the SLU recruits will be participating in the PDL this season. I know Will John participated with the KC Attack last year.