Anyone with DI men's verbal commitments please take a look at the updated list on www.topdrawersoccer.com and mail us if you have any more news. It would be appreciated.
Maryland standing pat The University of Maryland fresh off a Final Four appearance, and losing no one, will bring in one walk-on GK. Look for a huge recruiting class the following year when they lose seven impact players along with possibly two or three Project 40's. No one goes into next season with more talent than UMD and it will be interesting to see if the talent level equates to results. Anything short of a national championship will not be considered a successful season based on their run last season.
Re: Maryland standing pat Man, that is a lot of pressure for those kids to be under. While there is no doubt they should be pre-season No. 1 and no doubt they have the talent to win it all, the expectations of being expected to do so could really effect a team and get it to play tight and start bickering with each other. I mean, it's not like Sasha has a long history of being cool under fire. (Just ask him where he watched the second half of the Final Four game.) IMO, Sasha is at his best when he is coaching with a chip on his shoulder and is the underdog, and his team has to kick and scrap. This will be unfamiliar territory for him and I'm not convinced he can handle it. I guess the good news is the team has so many redshirt seniors, regular seniors and red-shirt juniors that there is plenty of leadership in the locker room. But, if they are relying on Sasha to keep them from cracking, I don't see it happening. The other thing I worry about with Maryland is chemistry. With the team bringing everyone back, there are no new openings for playing time. (Hence no newcomers save for a walkon 'keep.) Are players like A.J. Herrera, Erwin Diaz, Michael Dello Russo and Ian Rodway going to be happy if they aren't starting? Actually, I know they won't be happy. But all these players are good enough to start at other top programs; will they accept being a sub and will their discontent impact the team in the locker room and on the field and keep the players from playing as a whole and playing for themselves? This will be discussed a great deal as the season nears but IMO this will be Sasho's greatest challenge. He will likely rotate about 5-6 of the starters just to try to keep guys happy but will that be enough? As I said, Maryland is clearly the pre-season No. 1 and certainly has the talent and depth (as the above dilema shows) to win it all next year. But, as the clear-cut and obvious favorite, these guys will be under so much pressure that I worry about them cracking under it.
verbal comittments sandon, very good analysis of the terp situation. did you have to repeat your #1 prediction twice in your reply? you know i am biased toward UCLA and i will not try to disguise it. if sasho manages that mix like tom fitz and jorge salcedo did at ucla, they should be considered a threat for the national championship. what i like most about this situation is that it defers pressure from UCLA, the clear pick to repeat.
Re: verbal comittments Wow, there is at least one person out there who doesn't think UMD was robbed in the national semifinal. I agree that UCLA was the second best team in at the Final Four but the whole country saw Maryland beaten by the officials. I even question if UCLA would have advanced beyond the Penn St game without the SAME official's help. Remember he red carded the GK and gave away a PK with Penn St leading 1-0 in that game. UCLA stumbled through the NCAA Tourny and was lucky to be at the Final Four, while UMD dominated and shutout their three opponents. On to next season, UMD loses no one and UCLA graduates it's leading scorer and several key contributors. We will get an early view of things when they meet at the beginning of next season.
Re: Re: verbal comittments I feel your pain, but as long as Sasho's coaching demeanor is a negative influence on his own team, next season won't be much different I'm afraid
wow there is at least 1 person? dsocc, what??? are u joking? i decided to go back to 1998 to see how u terp fans dealt with the last semi loss. the crybaby cries are so similar, it is eerie. stanford got a "fluke goal", and MD. had a goal denied by the refs that wasn't a foul. Whaa! Whaa! is this hereditary, or can u just not accept a loss? re; UCLA stumbling into the college cup, did you look at the stats? or did u look for an anomoly like a red card and assume that's the only reason they made the cup? did the terps play any overtime games? how many goals did they score in the tourney? dosen't it say something for UCLA that they scored 2 against your "not scored upon" D in the cup? they did not stumble into the cup, they routed everyone. 2 late goals by cal mean't nothing as they subbed. LMU wasn't close. PSU would have lost 4-1 or 5-1 without the card. was the taylor from gregorio goal offsides? was the terp deflected goal lucky? have you ever acknowledged a legitimate foul against your team? ever? here is the crux. you lost, you can't accept it, and you cry. By the way, UCLA does not graduate their leading scorer, but those are facts and facts to people like you are like cryptonine to superman. DSOCC stands for: DREARY SAME OLD CRYBABY CRIES. cry on.
recocc, a couple of things...... 1. i don't think DSOCC is even a UMD fan. I thought it was clear in his post that he was pointing out to Terpfan that the terrapins may fall short of the national championship yet again next season, due to questions about Cirovski's capability. 2. to answer some of your questions, Maryland scored 5 goals in the tournament last season, with one coming in a sudden death victory over Saint Louis. four of those goals came from the feet of Domenic Mediate, and the other (which was not deflected by the way, or any more or less lucky than either of UCLA's flukey goals for that matter) came from Sumed Ibrahim. 3. on the point of UCLA's penalty, UMD fans are bitter because their player was taken down in the UCLA box in similar, if not more serious fashion, only moments before and there was no call whatsoever. i think its only natural they question the motive of the ref, heck even i have and im a neutral party. its not hard to put two and two together and see that the same ref officiated both the ucla-psu and ucla-umd games, awarding ucla pk's in both. regardless of whether they were legitimate is not for me to say, but one still cant help but wonder. 4. last point: who cares if UMD fans are bitter? of course they are, they lost the game. to be honest, you are the one that came across as the bitter one. why? because everyone has already forgotten UCLA's victory and is already focusing on the the Terps #1 preseason poll or whatever? what do you care? UCLA won the national championship, go enjoy it before its time to put the ring away and begin preparing for the next season. and by the way, i saw your earlier post and if you think the Terps are going to take any pressure off UCLA then you're crazy. bottom line is, the bruins are the champs and the terps are not, hell, they didnt even come in second. its the champs everyone will be gunning for, and its the champs who will be feeling the pressure of proving they're no fluke. a side note: i CANT wait for this UCLA-UMD matchup next season i hear is rumored to go down in college park, should be a great one!!! MICH
FYI: Cirovski and the refs The referee Bob Martinez and assistant referee Richard Herron filed an adverse report on Cirovski afterward. It is standard procedure that after every NCAA Tournament game, the refs file a report, regardless of whether there was a full-scale riot or if it was a boring, scoreless game that had to be settled on PKs with everybody including the players going to sleep. It is standard procedure. In the case of an adverse report such as this one, the coach has the right to file a response, giving his own side of the story. The NCAA has confirmed that Cirovski has done this. There is aparently a significant discrepancy between the ref's side of the story and Cirovski's. The matter will now be reviewed at the next meeting of the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Committee which will take place in Phoenix, AZ on Feb. 10-13th. This committee will decide what the appropriate punishment is for Cirovski. Cirovski already must sit out the first game of the regular season next year. That is automatic; a part of the rules governing anybody who gets tossed in their last game of the season. Therefor, the committee is looking into whether to punish Cirovski any further. After the Div I Men's Soccer Committee decides what they are going to do, the final approval of sanctions, if any, is in the hands of the NCAA Championships Competition Cabinet. This is the body that would hear any appeal. This committee is made up of mostly ADs and is currently chaired by Jean Lenti-Ponsetto, the AD at DePaul. There are a lot more details to all this and I don't have time to go into it now, but suffice it to say that one consideration will probably be that there was a yellow card on the Maryland bench, meaning Cirovski, at 43 minutes of the NCAA 3rd Round game vs. St. Louis. So he was already carrying a yellow going into the Final Four. I really am not sure how this is going to go. Stay tuned.
Mike, Thanks for the very intriguing update. When you factor in the quarterfinal yellow card and the semifinal ejection with the absolutely embarassing way Sasho acted after the loss to UVa in C-Ville, is there any chance that Debbie Yow or anyone else in the university will censure Sasho or issue a formal reprimand? I mean, these instances aren't isolated but are a trend that is part of a patter of bad, embarassing and, at the very least, highly inappropriate behavior. I can't imagine the University wants to be represented by Sasho in such a manor that continually reflects poorly on the institution. It's a shame because he's actually a good coach who both develops players - Twellman, Bent, Califf, Cullen, etc... - and wins games (Two ACC championships, 2 Final Fours, likely preseason No. 1 next year) but he's just a frikkin' lunatic on the sidelines.
Also... How can you assume that UCLA would have beaten Penn State 4-1 or 5-1? Can you tell me what Saturday's Powerball lottery drawing numbers are? Also, UCLA and Penn State open up with each other at the Cal. State Fullerton tournament.
Thanks Thanks for the comments Michelobultra, you points are so well taken you leave me with nothing to say in response to recocc, you basically already ran him out of town on a rail.
Good stuff guys! Very enjoyable reading. It sounds like UCLA is planning a very tough schedule for 2003, non-conference games against Penn State and Maryland. Wow! I will agree with a post somebody said a long time ago, sorry that I forget who it was. But someone pointed out how UCLA and Maryland reflected their coach's demeanor. I had never thought of it and noticed that UCLA was loose, whereas Maryland was firy and combative. I will defend Cirovski a lot because he's been so successful at Maryland and many great coaches are hot-heads, but that's a point that may have validity. Coaches some times need to calm their players and pump them up, I don't think Sasho always steers his team's attitude in the right direction. That being said, I think Michelobultra is dead on. And thanks to Soccerpassion for pointing out how ridiculous Reccoc's assumption is that UCLA would have spanked PSU regardless of the red card. That play completely turned around the game and nobody knows what would've happened.
Sandon asked: >When you factor in the quarterfinal yellow card and the semifinal ejection with the absolutely embarassing way Sasho acted after the loss to UVa in C-Ville, is there any chance that Debbie Yow or anyone else in the university will censure Sasho or issue a formal reprimand? I don't know Debbie Yow's mind on this, but it would appear right now that she is going to leave it up to the NCAA Div I Men's Soccer Committee to decide this current matter. As it is, Sasho already has to sit out the first game of the regular season next year because of the redcard in the national semifinals. That is automatic, regardless of what the NCAA decides. The issue is whether to also make him sit out the first game in Maryland's next tournament appearance. The people I spoke to at the NCAA said that their concern is always with what coaches do in the tournament; problems that occur in regular season games and conference tournaments are left up to the conference, so it would be up to the ACC to take action in that instance. Theoreticaly, a coach could collect a whole bunch of yellows and reds during the regular season, but if he or she is a good scout during the NCAA Tournament, then the NCAA is not going to be concerned with what went down beforehand. The punishement options are as follows -- and again, this comes directly from the NCAA: 1) A private letter of reprimand, meaning that the committee sends a letter to Cirovski stating their objection to his behavior with a warning not to behave in such manner again. 2) A public letter of reprimand; essentially the same as above but considered a stronger rebuke, as it would formaly come out of the NCAA office. 3) Punishing the school by a loss of travel and per deim expenses. This is no small chunk of change given that participating schools have to send the whole team and staff along with departmental officials, media relations rep, medical staff, etc. and the travel arrangements have to be made on short-notice because you only find out if you are going to the FF less than a week before and have to pay premium, short-notice travel rates. So this would be a pretty serious rebuke. 4) Cirovski may have to sit out the next NCAA Tournament game that Maryland qualifies for in addition to the regular season game that he will already have to sit out. Technicaly, the NCAA could sock it to him and make him sit out more than one tournament game, but my sources tell me that is unlikely. I am told the behaviour would have to be more extreme, such as fighting, putting your hands on the ref, etc. None of that happened here. 5) Nothing. The committee could decide that hey, he already embarrassed himself and his school, his player got kicked in the nuts, and his team lost the game anyway, so let him go. Sources tell me that it could very well go that way. Cirovski would also have the option of accepting or appealing the decision made by the committee. Once again, Cirovski would have the option of appealing the decision and that would be heard by the NCAA Competiton Cabinet. So, to answer your original question, Debbie Yow will probably wait to see what the NCAA comes up with. For all I know, she might be sympathetic to her coach after what happened with all the questionable calls in the Final Four. However, if Cirovski continues to collect yellows and reds next season, she may have no choice to act as a premptive measure to keep the ACC (or NCAA) from stepping in and taking matters into their own hands. That kind of thing is done all the time by Athletic Directors when they see that one of their own players or coaches is really screwing up and they want to demonstrate to the higher powers that the school is serious about keeping things under control. Punish yourself before the powers that be lay it on you themselves. My own best guess -- and this is mere speculation because I just don't know the thinking of the NCAA Men's Soccer Committee on this sort of thing -- is that Cirovski may get off lightly this time, but that if there is any repeat of his behaviour, then either the ACC or the NCAA will have to come down harder. And then, Debbie Yow will have to step in and take action. But again, I just am not sure, because we really do not have a precedent for this at Maryland. The only time I can remember any of our other coaches being sanctioned was several years ago when our Field Hockey coach made some critical remarks about the refs in a post-game press conference and the ACC slapped her with a one-game suspension. Maryland did not appeal the matter because it was fairly cut and dry. The coach, Missy Meharg, had no prior problems with the refs and has had none since, so it is history. Sasho, on the other hand, has collected more than his share of cards, so it is more problematic in his case. I hope this answers your question. I am sorry to be so speculative, but I just don't have much experience with these NCAA dramas. Maybe somebody else on the board will have some insight on it.
a couple of things from terp fan Michelle, i am sorry you don't understand why terp fans should be gracious in defeat instead of crying and looking elsewhere for excuses. i am elated UCLA won, and i am celebrating their championship. i am also certain that had they lost in the semis, i would have congratulated a very good maryland team, not disparage them, the refs, their coach, karma, posters here, etc. etc.
The Saint Louis Louis Area Player of the Year Matt Hoff will play for Harvard in the Ivy League next year. Here is a link to the story. http://prepsports.stltoday.com/ssi/...BC001E91C0?OpenDocument&highlight=2,Matt,Hoff
Feb 5 Feb 5 is the national signing day so we will see where other top players go. Just two notes: Maryland is only bringing in one player, a walk-on GK. I assume UVA will, as they do every year, bring in any player from NJ that is also a member of George's U-18 National Team Roster. ( Hey George, maybe expand the search just a bit)
You guys will see some surprises when schools announce their recruiting classes. Wake Forest won't have the class they were expecting. Some of their recruits who had already made verbal commitments can't get in academically, which I guess is fairly common. Hey Tom...how did Donigan let that kid get away from him? Who else does SLU have coming in?
This Saint Louis University recruiting class listed below is absolutley loaded with Blue Chip recruits. Dan Donigan and Mike Sorber have done an excellent job of getting the top Saint Louis area kids to stay at home and play for SLU. DiRaimondo and Grazier are both stalwarts on John Ellinger's United States Youth National team and both are involved in the US residency program in Bradenton FL. The funny thing is those two may not even be the best of this group. Alex Matteson, Mo Benne and William John may all be as good if not better and then you have Vedad Ibisevic a Bosnian refugee living in Saint Louis the last 4 years who is a part of the very large and fertile Bosnian soccr community in Saint Louis. Ibisevic has an incredible set of skills with a huge upside potential. The only player I'm not first hand familiar with is the kid out of Marquette High School in Milwaukee and everthing I've heard of this kid are very positive as well. *Mo Benne, Chaminade (Mo.), Scott Gallagher, D *John DiRaimondo, University (Mo.), MF *Vedad Ibisevic, Roosevelt (Mo.) *Brian Grazier, Edwardsville (Ill.), MF *William John, Rockhurst Jesuit (Mo.), Kansas City Attack, F *Alex Matteson, Chaminade (Mo.), Busch SC, MF *David Peplinski, Milwaukee Marquette (Wis.), MF Here is a link to an recent thread discussing early verbal commitments, https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=25865&perpage=15&pagenumber=1
Penn State SLU may have the #1 class in the country. They didn't get it done last year but they came in big time with those guys! G Notre Dame is bring in a solid group too. Nate Norman is a big timer with the National Team and I think Dalby is supposed to be big time too. Rutgers have some kids from PA coming in but I don't think that its that great. Last year the Nittany Lions brought in the #7 recruiting class in the nation by collegesoccernews.com. This year, it seems that may have done even better. Simon Omekanda is probably the concensus #1 forward in the country this year. He turned down offers to all the big boys in the ACC, Pac 10, Big 10 and Big East. The only thing keeping him off the national team is citizenship though he played with the National Team until 17. I hear that he actually graduate HS early and is already at Penn State, much like what Moose did at Wake. Jeff Chambers is a midfielder who chose Penn State over UVA, St. John's and a number of other top programs. He is a regular with the U-18 National Team with Gelnovatch and plays for FC Delco.
Re: Feb 5 You hit it on the nose. George is doing most of his recruiting off the U18 and Region 1 team. It looks like he'll get one or both U18 players from NJ. But with all the player losses, can his young group do well enough to make the NCAA playoffs? I say NO. Rutgers has a decent group. The most impressive is the forward from the DC area.
Just a few notes about the Penn State recruits. *I hope Simon Omekanda is better than his brother Paul who just finished his freshman campaign for PSU. Paul was an utter waste of space, athletic as heck but ran around like a chicken with no head. Simon Omekanda is already here at Penn State which is a great idea to get him acclimated to college and the team. I can't wait to see him link up with Chad Severs in the attack! *Both Simon Omekanda and Jeff Chambers were 2001 NSCAA youth All-Americans. *PSU's midfield should be exciting for years to come, they already started two freshmen in Brian Devlin and David Walters, and if Chambers is as good as advertised, he'll start too. *Barry Gorman is not afraid to rely on frosh, I guess a lot of coaches have to these days, so both Omekanda and Chambers should get some playing time. The Nittany Lions return their top scorers though, so I really hope they land some quality defenders because there's some gaping holes where Brent Jacquette, Jorma Makipaa, and Ben Dawson used to be. *When do the fall schedules come out? I can't wait!!! When are the spring games too?