Am going to the game tonight. Does anyone know anything about Fullerton or any of their players? They've done pretty well this year, despite their 2-2 record, having lost to Stanford 1-0 in double OT up in the Bay Area. Also, Ryan Guy, a freshman for USD, was #23 on the top 25 freshman class as put out by Soccer America this year. Can anyone give me a preview of this guy? I guess I'll find out tonight either way. Will try and provide a report.
One player that might be interesting to watch from CS Fullerton is #10 Marco Rodriquez. He spent one semester in residency at Bradenton with Santino Quaranta and Edward Johnson. I'd love to hear your impressions of this player. I think Ryan Guy is an attacking player, either wide midfielder or second forward. I'm looking forward to your report.
Thanks davide. I'll look out for the Rodriguez fellow. The fact he's an ex-Bradenite gets me even a little more excited for the match. Guy is an attacking player according to his bio: attacking mid or second forward.
Great college action!! 0-0 result after 2 OTs, before a crowd of approximately 400 or 450 (not bad for a Thursday night I thought) on a balmy but cool SoCal night. Despite the scoreline, the game was a very exciting affair with lots of good scoring chances. USD is a much taller, bigger and stronger team, while Fullerton was more technical, and also a bit scrappier. They were desperate for a result and both teams left everything on the field. I think USD won about 90% of the headers putting Fullerton at a distinct disadvantage, and which almost got USD a couple of goals. Final stats: USD: Shots 18 Saves 4 Corners 7 Fouls 13 Fullerton Shots 15 Saves 9 Corners 8 Fouls 17 I'll answer this question first: First off, this guy is small. 5-7, 140 according to the program, and he looked it. A redshirt freshman. He has the typical "latin technical skills" - good on the ball, uses both feet pretty well - but he was outmuscled on every header and got caught upfield once or twice exposing his fellow backline teammates. If I didn't know he was an ex-Bradenite, I wouldn't have given him a 2nd thought. A nice little player though; too bad he's not a few inches taller. Fullerton's backline IS interesting though. They start two redshirt freshmen, a pure freshman, and a junior. Extremely young but they played very well and were poised beyond their years. I was very impressed with the other redshirt freshman - Gordon Kljestan - 6-0 175, out of Huntington Beach. A very solid player and not afraid to play with his feet (and he also won the few air balls Fulltn won on the night). Another interesting Flton player was their d-mid - Omar Bywaters, a freshman out of Las Vegas, another extremely small player, 5-6 160, but EXTREMELY quick, good with his feet and tough as nails. No wonder he starts as a freshman. A fun guy to watch play; if he gets bigger or muscles up, I could see him develop into something. I have to mention one more guy, maybe the most frustrating guy I've ever watched play: Fullerton's attacking mid, #9, Hector Orellana out of East LA. A classic latin-style player; on his first two touches he shimmied and dribbled past the USD holding mids, played two great through balls, and Fullerton almost scored (and should have). The rest of the game he tried to dribble by everyone and must have been stripped 90% of the time. Uuggghhh. He just overdid it at every step. If he'd been a little sharper, Fullerton might have come away with a W. This guy must drive his coach crazy. Enough of Fullerton. The most exciting news for me was the play of Ryan Guy, freshman for USD, 5-7, 150. A great player. The real deal. He started out at right mid but played forward for the majority of the game after various substitutions were made. He's got the whole package: quick, fast, can accelerate on a dime, great vision, good one touch passer, a pretty good dribbler (not great, but good), uses both feet well, almost scored on a lovely header, great leaper. What else is there? Not a great work rate out at right mid but his runs at forward were exemplary. His teammates simply did not pick him out enough or at the right time; really some poor passing by some of his senior classmates. Also, he sat to start the 2nd half until there were 15 minutes to go - maybe some freshman penance McFadden puts through all his newcomers, I don't know. Guy's their best overall offensive player and in a 0-0 game, you'd think you'd want him out there. He went on a couple of mazy runs where he beat 2 or 3 guys but just when he looked about to score his last touch failed him and he ended up having to take a tough shot or dish off. He reminds me of a Wolff/Donovan combo, with Wolff's great runs combined with Donovan's one touch passing and vision, plus the amazing acceleration. Plus he's just got some good pure speed - he and Bywaters at one point were running side by side for a ball in a sprint and Guy was winning by just a hair (and Bywaters is VERY fast). Loved watching this guy (Guy) play. But it kind of makes me sad too. This guy needs to be playing 9 or 10 months a year, not 3 or 4. He's got a chance to really develop but I worry about stagnation. But I'm not his parent or his agent, so I won't worry about it too much. Keep on eye on this kid. Of course, as a disclaimer, I'm not a scout, and he wasn't playing against the "big boys", a la UCLA or Stanford or North Carolina or whoever, so maybe it's hard to judge, but he stood out significantly and presumably he's only going to improve. Scott Burcar is a force at d-mid for USD, but his foot skills are mediocre; he didn't link up that well with the offense. I could be being harsh on the guy; he won all the headers and is a very physical presence in the middle of the pitch. A solid player. Another player I like for USD is Matt McCausland who's a senior now but surprisingly didn't start because...Guy started in his place at right mid. He did play significant minutes - 50 or 60 or 70 over the course of the double OT game. He takes players on pretty well, can shoot with either foot, crosses well (though he blew an easy one at an inopportune time late in the game) and generally makes things happen. I heard he played some PDL in Nevada or somewhere in the summer; I'll be interested if he takes his game onto a professional career. The game could have gone either way. In the first OT, a non-called Fullerton handball led to a dangerous chance for Fullerton and after USD's goalie made a fine ave, there followed TWO shots cleared off the line by USD. Fullerton thought they had the game right there but it would have been unjust after the blown handball call (it directly effected the play). Anyway, I had a great time. The crowd had a great time. I was really impressed by spunky Fullerton and I'm looking forward to watching USD play a few more times this year, and to chart the progress of one Ryan Guy. Peace.
I really forgot to mention the most importantn thing about Guy. The dude's got "soccer smarts", whatever those are. Being in the right place at the right time, playing the right 1-2s, moving into space, leading his passes to teammates with the right pace and angles, hounding opposing defenses with intelligence. The guy's a real player, not just another up and down college player who's athletic enough to get the job done. Can you tell I like this guy? He may be a little small and short in the end, but we all know you don't have to be big to play soccer.
The website for USD said there were 541 people in attendence. That's not too bad. The games that I went to last season had around 2,000 people though. Hopefully they can match that this season or maybe get more!
I know for the UCLA match they pull in 2,000 or more and I'm sure for some of the other big WCC rivalries they pull in big crowds as well. The fact this was a Thursday game I'm sure kept the attendance down a bit.
Thanks for the report Flashman. I'll have to mark Nov 8 on my calender. That's when USD travels up here to take on the Broncos. I look forward to seeing this guy Guy. We'll see what he can do against a real defense.
Guy's been playing 8-10 months out of the year, up until now. With San Diego Surf for the past few years he's been getting around 50 games a year. He's also been a part of the Cal South '85 ODP squad. I also think he was a Region IV player. I agree, now that he's out of club soccer it would be nice he can play the 9 months he should be playing. But, alas it's not to be. He is a good player and could've gone to a "bigger" soccer school (UCLA, Stanford, etc.), but probably wouldn't get as much playing time as he should at USD. I like him and think he could (should) be in a professional U19 youth team - if the U.S. had such a thing. He is not Project-40 caliber, but could turn into a good pro (see Jason Kreis - which is who he reminds me of) down the road.
Preston, thanks for the insight into Guy. I admittedly get a little excited when I see a promixing new talent, especially one who plays for the "home" side. He clearly stood out in the game v. Fullerton, so I accentuated all his positives. I'm anxious to see how he develops, but hopefully I didn't overdo it in my praise. I noticed USD lost to UCSB yesterday 1-0 in OT. Guy led USD with six shots - presumably a positive -though since he didn't bag one, maybe his finishing skills are lacking a little bit. Having not seen the game, I can't really say.