courtside

SLU 1 UMass 0 4-2-3-1 for both. SLU did not continue playing the more aggressive 4-1-3-2 against UMass. They did sub in an attacking player (Schwartz) as one of the two defensive midfielders at times. But they did not add the extra attacking forward. She is skilled and posies on the ball and a crafty passer. A little wrinkle there. No Houck for the game. SLU just missed a Simon tap in from a wide Larson run 10 minutes into the game. And 2 minutes later Gaebe off of a curled Luebbert pass made a run near the wide Her pass was across the goal line but Larson cut in near post around ehe defender vs going back post or it was an easy tap in goal at the goal line. Ensuing Luebbert corner found Audrey Smith all alone half volley from 6 yards on the back post but it went over the bar. UMass plays their outside backs higher. And that’s been an area to be exploited as they have had some ineffectiveness at times there. SLU could have used the width a little more often. UMass did well to swarm a group of defenders in the middle of the final third of the field. ……………… The play for SLU’s back line was over the top wide in front of the UMass back 6, and to continue to use the width up the line to spread UMass out. SLU made several diagonal runs into the teeth of the defense in the middle with 8-9 defenders there. UMass was good at getting back in the middle, after showing the 4 sagging 4 across the top pressure. ……………… A few more chances for SLU but again, Sawyer cut inside on one, and Gaebe, after receiving a nice wide of the box pass from Lang, also cut inside towards the top of the box vs taking it to the end line edge of the box. This is that final 30 yards against an opponent that packs many defenders deep in the middle. …………….. 26th minute, again, SLU with the ball middle of the field, 9 UMass defenders in front of them. Heckel played. a nice diagonal ball wide over the top for Sawyer running onto it edge of the 18. (This is the play.) Hannah cut in, defender lost her footing, and she took a nice 16 yard shot that required a good tip save. She could have perhaps taken more space and then shot or squared it to Miller in front of the goal. …………… Miller forced a turnover and cut in wide, 2 defenders there but Larson scooped up the loose ball for a left footed side of the 18 shot off target. …………… Lang to Larson to Sawyer wide, back to Larson in alone from 10 but she couldn’t get enough on the one timer. Another near miss there. Good ground combination play working the left side. ………….. 39th minute, Elise Le made a run in the middle of the field and she squared it wide to Fox who played it up to Sawyer. Sawyer one timed it back to Le, edge of the 18. Elise’ shot ripped off of the crossbar bar bouncing right to Hope Kim racing in alone, but her half volley tap in goal was a little too close to the goal line and UMass keeper Mendoza who made a goal saving save. ……………. About half a dozen point blank chances for SLU in the first half to get a 2 goal lead. And that’s not counting other possession and pressure. UMass had 1 chance, a forced turnover, ball played wide back to the middle for a lay off to a trailer from 22 yards and a Puricelli save, but that was it. …………….. Halftime …………… 57th minute. Gaebe off of a throw had a shot blocked at the 18. Le’s ensuing chip far post was just out of the reach of Sawyer inside the 6. …………… SLU continued to play up through the middle to Gaebe several times where she was often triple teamed at minimum, and more often worse. ………….. 63rd minute SLU goal. Le made a nice pass wide to Kim. She made a diagonal run inside. (all day again the play was wide to use width.). She played it back to Le who pushed it wide again to Miller 1v1 deep into the corner. Kim kept going to the near post. Cross and finish. 1-0 SLU. Mendoza was a step late. ………….. UMass made some changes to play their 4/5 fastest players in their attacking group. Previously they used the big physical Pedolzky sisters up top. Their strategy became chipping balls behind the SLU defense and having their pace players run on to them. This was while SLU subbed out Gaebe and Larson at the same time. ………….. 69th minute Schreiber and Sawyer give and go wide service cleared to Sawyer at the 6 but she put it wide. The ball popped up on her a little bit. ………. Several more set piece opportunities and a few back post run of play chances for SLU. But not much there. Much of the game played 35 yards from the Mass goal. ………… 86th minute. Good pressure from Kim. Schreiber forced a turnover. She played a nice through ball for Gaebe in alone. But Mendoza got her hand up to make a goal saving save while sliding. Peric had a good game for UMass at center back. ………. Another 4 or 5 good chances for SLU in the 2nd and they converted 1. UMass had a couple of build ups wide, late with service but that was it. ………. Missed opportunity to open the game in a 4–1-3-2 for SLU. Get an early lead and have UMass open up a bit more. Not enough wide play up the lines and switching fields diagonally. When it happened it was good and dangerous. Too much back passing early, and some unforced errors there. But strong defending across the back 6 all game. A little more efficient finishing and it’s a 3-0 game or so. And a more aggressive formation also would have been an option as well. Good road win against a team that hadn’t lost a home game in 2 years. It moved SLU 11 spots in the RPI to 36.

Good for Carol. Bad for SLU as SLU roots for all of its non-conference opponents to win every game they play. It’s TCU’s biggest win so far this season. Carol gave SLU 4 great seasons. She put up 25 big goals in her final two seasons at SLU. Since scoring off of the bench in her first game against Alabama, Carol went scoreless in her next 6 games as TCU fell out of the Top 25. Then Carol had a header goal against Cal Poly, and, 1 of her 2 goals against BYU was also a nice run of play header. The other was a PK as Seven Castain was fouled in the box. The first PK goal was a bad call. In addition to backing up Castain at forward, TCU has also at times been playing them together more often lately, with Carol on the wing, and Seven up top in a 4-2-3-1. TCU has 1 more goal so far this season than SLU. More than half of their goals this season came in 3 games vs Charlotte, Central Michigan, and Cal Poly. This year’s team hopes to rejoin SLU in the Top 25 soon. TCU’s RPI is 38. SLU’s is 36. Eric Bell is in his 13th season at TCU. It took him 5 seasons to make the NCAA Tourney. But he the. made it 7 out of the next 8 seasons with an Elite 8, and 2 additional Sweet 16’s. 3 Top 10 teams. TCU is seeking to add to that this season. They ‘ll get several more top 100 opportunities this season. as will BYU.

Massachusetts: UMass is a good, solid, well coached team. (Jason Dowiak) They have played an improved. on-conference schedule where they have gotten some results. The biggest is a 1-0 win over Rutgers. They kept Rutgers wide and Rutgers wasn’t efficient finishing in the 18. Boston College hired the Gonzaga coach and they are much improved year 1. Syracuse has also had a solid non-conference. Both will be heavily challenged in the ACC. Army has had a good non-conference. Harvard is always a solid team. …………….. UMass has given up just 1 goal in their last 6 games. They have a good bend, but don’t break, defense. They like to play a 4-2-3-1 formation. With that they press a stack of 4 across the front. But it’s usually a good 10 yards sagging off of the opposing back line. Sometimes, 1 of the Pedolzky sisters will sprint at defenders just to keep them honest. …………….. UMass is an older, experienced team. Lots of 4th and 5th year players. They have a dozen returning players from last year’s game vs SLU. That was a later season game, and there was some pregame chatter about UMass winning the game. SLU came out and destroyed UMass 6-0. Comprehensive 90 minute win. ……………….. UMass has a big strong center back in Hannah Peric, that is good at both ends aerially and she is good defending target forwards. Have to be strong receiving target passes and turning. She can be takennin space. UMass has had some issues at outside back, defending pace wingers up the line or with diagonal runs. ………………. Bella Recinos is their playmaker in the central midfield. They use her both in an attacking position, as well as in a defensive midfield position, where they let her push forward into the attack from there. If they play Recinos deeper, there will be space open in the middle of the field in front of her from SLU’s defenders. If they play her higher, the space will be amongst the back 6 of UMass. Without her in the back 6, pace is an issue there for them. Recinos is dangerous in and around the 18. …………… The Pedolzky sisters are their big physical, if not chippy, back to goal target forwards. They hold well and are good at one touch combination play with wings and sending through balls. Not the fastest. They will also clean up mistakes around the 18. ……………. Lamond, Hislop, Groff provide some pace on the wings. Mendoza is an athletic experienced keeper. ……………. Good opportunity for SLU to open the game in a 4-1-3-2, high press, force turnovers and convert in transition early with the front 5. Speed up their back 6. Distribute wide out of the back for diagonal runs and wide service. Be poised and efficient in and around the 18. …………….

SLU 2 Lipscomb 2 …………….. Lipscomb had 2 players drafted in the top 10 of this past year’s MLS Draft. Senior Tyrese Spicer went number 1 overall to Toronto, and Sophomore Malachi Jones went number 8 to New York City. ………………. For those wondering why teams need a 2nd 11, 6 Lipscomb players played their most minutes of the year off of the bench. A 7th played his most in half a dozen games. Lipscomb’s best scorer and best attacking player, missed the game entirely, Javanne Smith. Lipscomb’s reserve players played better than their starters. ………..:…… SLU continued with the new 4-2-3-1 formation, as expected, and that was very effective vs the offensive minded teams of Portland and Lipscomb.. For a SLU team that has struggled at times generating offense against defensive opponents, these 2 attacking opponents offered an opportunity for SLU to use their opponent’s pace and attacking prowess to SLU’s offensive advantage. 2 goals was good enough vs Portland because SLU’s defense was rock solid, no mistakes. 2 wasn’t good enough vs Lipscomb as a defensive mistake and bad call cost a couple of soft goals. Both games could have had SLU add a 3rd or 4th which is sometimes needed against high powered teams. …………….. SLU started the game well, scored an early goal, created a lot of opportunities to tack on to the 1-0 lead but didn’t. There was a 15 minute stretch late first half and early 2nd half that SLU faded, but for roughly 75 minutes the game is what SLU wanted. ……………. 1st half ………….. Offsides goal. Long throw up the line and Townsend switched fields to Seth who played a through ball to Carlos, and he squared it to Wrobel for the goal, but Wrobel left a little too early. Had one there. Good call. ………….. But a minute later, an Abonnel long ball flicked on by Wrobel to Seth behind the defense who laid it off to Lara for the goal. Aerial target with size, speed and pace behind the defense. Good start. 7th minute. 1-0. SLU almost scored on the exact same play from Floriani to Wrobel to Seth to Lara about 8 minutes later. ……………. A minute later. Lara wide run back to Barnett, back post cross for Wrobel from the 8 but his header didn’t have enough on it. …………… Lipscomb moved Karsten to the wing for the 1st half and it seemed like an odd choice as he’s an effective target player in the middle. Lipscomb made the adjustment later with Davis and Jones giving them lots of pace wide. …………. SLU had 2 more high level mid half chances, forced a few turnovers in Lipscomb’s 3rd. Tanner’s header from Seth was knocked away by the defender. Carlos won a free kick, Townsend service to Tanner and Rodriguez made a great save. Wrobel’a rebounder was over the bar. Not the biggest keeper but he has quick reflexes and he’s athletic. ……………… There were several times in both halves where SLU had good transition numbers, but they couldn’t get enough shots off at the top of the 18. And the final ball in space inside of 35 yards wasn’t sharp enough in tight spaces. There were also a few too many times SLU played the ball all the way back to regroup and restart when it wasn’t necessary. ……………… First 35 minutes were good. Chances for a multi goal lead. Faded the final 10 minutes. Lipscomb found a few things with its reserve players on the wings with Davis and Jones later in the half but mostly non threatening. …………. Halftime …………. Redmon has missed a few games at left back and he tried to play to start the 2nd half but he couldn’t go. Dougherty has done well there in his absence. But Redmon’s pace and ability to get forward is missed. …………. Early 2nd half Lipscomb goal. Swung wide left of the box for Colombo, who is left footed. He hit a heavy service with pace that Abonnel chose to punch out instead of scoop. And it went right off of Bryan and in for 1-1. Tough one there. Slow start to the 2nd for about 5-7 minutes before SLU took control again. ……………. SLU won plenty of set pieces in good areas of the field but they weren't super dangerous with them. And at times they couldn’t connect in the final 35 when Lipscomb was able to have numbers in back. Seth made a good diagonal run v Colombo and his service to Lara took another great save from Rodriguez from 6 yards. Abonnel did the same shortly after on a corner header from Davis at point blank range. ………….., SLU kept overloading and pinching the middle, so Colombo, Lipscomb’s left back kept playing higher and getting wide making runs. And eventually it led to another goal. Nice work from to win a 50/50 ball middle of the field and play it wide to Colombo. 4 Billikens could have cut him off at the 18, but he was able to get deeper and draw a PK foul. It was a bad call. It wasn’t a PK. But SLU shouldn’t have been in that position. The mindset of calling a PK needs to be did the infraction prevent a goal, or was it egregious. etc….this was an arms extended by Lopes from behind, but a dive by a defensive player at the end of a long run. 2-1. PK good. …………… Another kick save from 4 yards out from Rodriguez on Lara. SLU had been playing a 4-1-3-2 since going down a goal. Carlos kept the pressure. ………….. Lara again left side of the box cross grabbed by Rodriguez as Tanner knocked it out at the same time. Tanner scored the loose ball but Ref said no, and called a foul. …………… SLU finally did something wanted in other game situations, move Floriani up top and play 3 in the back. Townsend made a nice pass up the middle to Max. He turned and got past Medina. He grounded a nice through ball for Lara for the 2-2 goal. At that point SLU was playing a 3-1-4-2, and that was great. …………… SLU switched back to the 4-2-3-1 after that for the final 7 minutes and they put on heavy pressure but couldn’t get the game winner. …………… Tough result. A soft goal and a PK given up. Many chances to extend the lead in the first half. And many more in the 2nd to tie it sooner and win it. …………… 70-75 good strong minutes. Last 10 of first half and first 5 plus of the 2nd weren’t as good. Go ahead Lipscomb goal was against the run of play. ………….. As did Portland, Lipscomb’s style of play is conducive to playing more aggressively with formations, personnel, tactics. It was a 4-2 type of game and opponent. ……………

This week: United Soccer Coaches Poll: 22 Top Drawer Soccer Poll: 24

Lipscomb Bisons: They play a roughly similar style as Portland, with a little bit more size. They push pace, play their outside backs higher. They will play both a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-1-4-1 depending on the situation within a game. They still have Javanne Smith up top as their pace forward. He’s as dangerous as ever in space, and on the ball dribble runs. He aggressively will seek to draw PK’s inside the 18, so if you have to foul him it has to be outside the 18. Smith works well in combination play, especially with Toronto Freshman Josiah Green on the wing. Lots of pace. They put a lot of pressure on defenses. And German Freshman Dan Karsten is their effective target player in their attack. He can finish. Strong transition team. Overlapping runs, switching fields. They have had some turnover issues in back. Macready lost his spot. They have been going with York and Hurt in the middle. They are vulnerable to both high pressure. Undisciplined at times, prone to fouling in their own half, allowing dangerous set pieces. Wide service. Not a great shot blocking team up the middle. Rodriguez isn’t the biggest keeper, but he’s athletic and he has experience. Very experienced, veteran team that has made 3 straight NCAA tourneys. Likely to see half a dozen 5th year players or Seniors. A mix of International players, transfers, and a few local regional players. Opportunity for SLU to continue with the new 4-2-3-1 formation from the Portland game, with Barnett in the middle. Double the wings and Smith. Get transition and set pieces in dangerous spots.

NCAA RPI: SLU 47 ……………….. Non-Conference opponent’s RPI: Penn State 6 BYU 23 Xavier 29 Creighton 43 …………… Kansas City 126 Missouri 180 Missouri State 217 SIUE 287 ……………… For the past several seasons, SLU has been able to schedule stronger non-conference opponents. And since the A10 hasn’t been a top 9 league much of the time, it’s been important to schedule several strong teams mixed in with other games non-conference. Last year for example, SLU had 5 non-conference opponents in the RPI top 50. 4 of them were in the RPI top 25. This year they have 4 in the RPI Top 50 for now. Also, last year there was just 1 other RPI top 100 A10 team. So far there are 3 others. And overall, the league is doing better a little bit better this season. SLU missed opportunities for wins over KC, Creighton, and Penn State, all games in which SLU was well in position to win. …………………. Top 100 A10 non-conference showings: Loyola Chi 49 UMass 53 Duquesne 54 Dayton 86 A10 Programs between 100-200: LaSalle 130 Fordham 150 Saint Joseph’s 159 Saint Bonaventure 182 Davidson 188 Richmond 199 A10 Programs between 200-300: George Mason 212 Rhode Island 218 VCU 221 George Washington 253 ……………….

2026 SLU commit: Hanalei “Hana” Allen. Hana is a 5’8 defender who tackles well, and who also has the pace to get forward. She frequently takes set pieces for her team. Hana plays outside back/defensive midfielder for Eclipse 06/07 team in Chicago. She also plays high school soccer at Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn, where she was an IHSSCA Illinois All State selection this past season after being also named to the All Dupage County team. Hana is a club soccer teammate of 2025 SLU commits Sydney Dulak and Addison Stanciak. They play in the Midwest Conference in the ECNL. Current SLU players Emily Fox and Julia Simon. also played at Eclipse.

SLU 2 Portland 0 Strong win for SLU. Fun game. Matchups, tactics, personnel, formations all matter. And all are fluid. In the past few seasons, SLU has often started a defensive player on the wing in their 4-4-2. (Mika, Townsend, Barnett, Dougherty, others) which essentially limits the attack on one side of the field. SLU hadn’t been getting enough from its two forwards playing together, while leaving open the middle of the field. Portland is a fast team. Lots of pace moving forward. But they are smaller and they commit untimely fouls in defensive parts of the field at times. SLU tweaked and changed tactics and formations. 4-2-3-1 instead of the 4-4-2. They played a pace defender in the central attacking midfield for pressure, to defend speed up the middle, and to change fields. It was effective with Barnett and Fournier playing there. And this allowed SLU to play 2 attackers wide instead of 1, and it allowed SLU to double the outside backs of Portland. (Lara, Seth, Tanner, Delkus). This also takes pressure off of the defensive midfield where Lopes and Townsend were able to have good games. Rock solid back 4. SLU used its big size advantage both offensively and defensively. Several diagonal balls wide to the aerial target passes for Wrobel etc…and defensively to win 50/50 balls in the middle of the field, as well as aerial balls in back to restart the other way. And it allowed SLU to score 2 goals which could have been a few more. SLU was much more dangerous on set pieces and corners. And they’ll need those to win games. 27th minute goal. Maher diagonal over the top to Seth who cut it back inside, and he drew the foul. Townsend free kick back post to Floriani header for the finish. 53rd minute goal Seth free kick back post for Floriani header for the first goal. Set piece, back post header by Dougherty to the middle of the goal for Tanner’s header. Nice play from Dougherty. SLU forced a turnover by trapping the wing. Lopes one touch. to Seth to Dougherty. Cole played it over the top to Wrobel as the big target. He found Tanner in space wide who drew the foul and free kick. This turnover was an all game example of SLU having 3-4 defenders swarming the pace wing build up. Repeatedly frustrated their wings and forwards Tanner had struggled up top as a forward in the 4-4-2. He looked much more comfortable and productive on the wing where he played vs Portland. Formation and personnel changes helped that too. Several strong transition opportunities for SLU, using the pace of Portland to its advantage. while capitalizing on its own size. . When Portland did find ground combination play near the middle of the 18, Maher snd Floriani were solid defending. Leatherman and Doherty gave very little on the wings as well. Very strong against a higher octane attack. It was a good matchup for the Billikens. SLU put players in better positions and spaces to be successful. Good front foot energy.

Portland Pilots. They should be 4-1. 2022 NCAA National Quarterfinalist, and, an NCAA Tourney team again last season. They returned 7 starters from that team. Portland has a lot of speed and pace, especially on the wings and at outside back. Their outside backs (Garnette, Trujillo, Bellini) get forward often and thus can be vulnerable to effective counters down the flank. They don’t have much size, especially at center back with Olmos and Hernandez but they play bigger than their size. Jeppe has been out with a minor injury. Oladapo is a big athletic keeper. Waggoner is their size target up front. Quietly, Nick Fernandez was the WCC Midfielder of the year. He plays high in a central attacking role. Playmaker. He often plays next to Nava. They like to play a 4-1-4-1. Their flash is on the outside, Rosas and Fofanah on the wings. Evans has been effective there as well. Aror often plays as the lone traditional holding defensive midfielder. Again, another athletic pace player. They will play several transfers, some from the WCC, a few from out East and a few P4 players, in addition to their own recruits, mostly domestic with a few Internationals. Several former LA Galaxy Academy players. Portland has talent. They use the width of the field and they adjust to opposing defenses and personnel. High volume shot team. SLU needs to use its size advantage, get set piece opportunities in dangerous areas. This not likely to be a game where SLU will be struggling to break down 8 or 9 or 10 defenders behind the ball. Have to use Portland’s pace to your advantage with counters and transition.

SLU 3 Xavier 2 Corcoran Field, Cincinnati, Ohio. Another wild game in the series. The last 5 have been won by the road team. ……………. SLU: 4-1-3-2 and 4-2-3-1 Xavier: 4-2-3-1 and 3-6-1 (essentially a 3-2-4-1) …………… SLU opened the game in its more offensively aggressive 4-1-3-2 formation, something they rarely do to start games, against high level teams. It was welcomed. They will do it after half time. They will do it to score early against a weaker team. SLU is a much more dangerous team in this formation. And with the current personnel, playing the 4-1-3-2 as the default formation most of the time would be very effective. In this formation. SLU only plays 1 central defensive midfielder, Elise Le. And they add 1 more forward to play 2 forwards vs 1. So SLU played Gaebe and Fox together up top, later rotating other forwards. Smith Simon and Larson were across the wings and attacking middle of the midfield. Fox was rewarded for her strong game vs SIUE. Common theme this year, if you produce in practice/training, and especially the previous game, you get earned the opportunity to start next game. …………….. 1st minute goal. Unfortunately, despite this change, SLU was down a goal all of 20 seconds into the game. Middle of the field turnover and transition for Xavier. It looked like w foul from behind no call. Turnover. Transition goal. Xavier quickly it played wide to Erbach who smartly one times the flick cross not allowing the defense to adjust in transition. Hansson was left unmarked in the middle of the 18. She calmly one timed the header into the far corner. Hansson is the big target forward transfer up top for Xavier. But SLU wisely stuck with it. …………… SLU had a chance in the 5th minute as Simon forced a turnover, she overpowered the defender, she made a diagonal run, but nice defending on the through ball for Larson in alone for a potential goal.Simon was strong on the ball throughout. Good defending and good forward runs, a shot or 2. These are valuable as she is 1 of 2 in the middle of the field and she isn’t going to chase down …………….. Xavier was able to find something playing wide right side to Erbach 3 or 4 times in the first half, getting her isolated for service against an outside back. …………….. 15th minute SLU goal. Simon settles a pass back to the goal from Heckel. She played it wide to Gaebe who made a side of the box run inside the 18. She played a hard low short cross to Fox battling with Reed 8 yards in front of goal. They both go down. Audrey Smith gets to 50/50 ball first before Lawson and she taps it in 1-1. Again, having the extra attacker gave SLU numbers in the final 25. SLU had 5 attacking players instead of 4. …………….. SLU remained in this 4-1-3-2 formation until SLU took a 2-1 lead. This does open the midfield for longer counters. Flick and Dancer have the speed to do that. Dancer had a shot wide from 20 in transition. Many of Xavier’s shots in the game were well beyond the 18 yard box out to 25. Some weren’t even shots at all. ………….. 18th minute SLU chance, Elise Le played it wide to Larson, who takes it to the end line, draws two defenders, cuts it back to Gaebe, who fanned a bit on the shot from 6. ……………. Katie Houck did a nice job defending the pace of Flick on the wing throughout. She played higher without taking unnecessary risks and she won several balls and Flick was quiet much of the game. Xavier found some space on the other side earlier in the game, with Dancer and Erbach, but some adjustments were made, and again, many shots were 20-25 yards out. …………….. When you play only 1 defensive midfielder, there will be space and transition at times. But you have to live with that to generate more offense. The idea is to outscore the other team in a higher scoring chance game. Get a multi goal lead. And that’s where SLU is more effective. I’ll take SLU’s full attacking arsenal playing against many other teams. …………….. 2 years ago Katie Houck scored a free kick goal from distance at Xavier. It was mishandled by Galley who had a tough game. She has since become an All Big East goalkeeper, so Free kicks have to curled to runners vs straight on goal. There were several in the game that had high potential for SLU, but they ended up harmless. Still need to be more dangerous on set pieces. ……………. 25th minute. Xavier changed its formation to a 3-2-4-1 to produce more offense and match SLU. ……………. 31st minute SLU goal. Larson and Miller give and go middle of the field. Larson played up up the line to Gaebe who beat the wide defenders to cut deep into the side of the 18. She drew 3 defenders before squring a pass on the ground to Sawyer all alone from 8 yards. She buried it on the ground past Galley. 2-1 SLU. …………….. This is when SLU decided to switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation because they had the lead. This changed the tempo for the rest of the half. SLU controlled much of the rest of the half. Xavier had a chance as Wiehe played a nice long ball wide to Lawson who was 1v1 inside the 18 left side of the box. Her shot through Leonard was on the ground right at Puricelli. ………………. One of the things that helped is the depth of SLU vs the limited depth of Xavier. That made a difference. Several starters were able to sit a long while later first half with a SLU lead. ……………… Half time adjustments. ……………… SLU continued playing a 4-2-3-1 as they had the lead. Lang played as the 2nd defensive midfielder and a forward sits. An alternative strategy would have been to play the 4-1-3-2 and play aggressively on offense for a 2 goal lead. …………….. 48th minute. Schreiber middle of the field up to Simon who turned past a defender. She played a long ball to Gaebe in space 1v1 with Bain. Two All Americans. But Gaebe lost a half step on a bad bounce off of her leg and Bain caught her from behind just enough to forced short side wide shot from 12 yards. Better 1st touch and that’s a goal. Good recovery from Bain. ……………… 50th minute. Le played it wide to Gaebe. Side of the box 1v1 with Bain again, She walked around Bain, but good help defense came over to step into the play which allowed Bain to recover and strip the ball from Gaebe from Behind at the 6, wide of goal. Gaebe went down but it was a good no pk call there. ……………. Still 50th minute. Le won one of her many 50/50 balls middle of the field. Big time game vs her good friends and old team. She played it up to Larson who made on of her many diagonal runs at goal. She forced 4 defnders to their left while she dropped a no look pass to the other side for Gaebe in alone from 6 yards, wide open either side, but instead of low corner either side, Emily blasted it straight at the head of goalkeeper Galley. In self defense, Galley put her arms up and tipped it over the goal. 9 times out of 10 that’s a 3-1 game right there. And that’s happened several times this year with Gaebe. …………….: Pregame scout. One of the adjustments that Xavier made during the game was switching to a 3-6-1 or 3-2-4-1 formation. This was Xavier’s version of trying to create more offense and go with your best personnel. So that meant subbing out its right back and going only 3 across the back. Slater came in to play next to Berry in the defensive midfield. In front of them Flick, Dancer, Wiehe, Erbach, with Hansson up top. This moved Wiehe into a more attacking position and it gave Xavier 5 attacking players instead of 4. Different formation than how SLU did it. This is also why so many of Xavier’s shots were from 20 yards out and beyond as opposed to on the door step chances, of which SLU had more despite the shot differential. This almost paid dividends in the 58th minute as Dancer ran at 3 defenders side of the box. The clear went to Wiehe who again moved up higher. She played a give and go with Dancer, back post cross just beyond Hansson for the tying goal. amore numbers up front with your better players to create more dangerous chances. Dancer and Wiehe worked well together in the central attacking midfield. SLU had some combination play and transition but good defending at the 18 from Xavier. ……………… 68th minute Xavier goal. SLU tried to play a long ball over the top in space to Sawyer from Lang. Nice leaping header by Lawson to save the breakaway. The ensuing play was Berry back to Reed, up the line to Dancer. 2 SLU defenders overran the play and Dancer was able to make a long diagonal run to the 18. She went around Heckel at full speed and she cut a pass back top of the box, to a wide open Wiehe. Her one timer blast from the 18 was perfectly placed in the upper right side netting. 2-2. Again, the two defensive areas of wide service and transition defense, especially transition defense. …………….. The Xavier equalizer came when Gaebe, Larson. Simon, were all on the bench. SLU stayed in the 4-2-3-1 for another 5 minutes. Then SLU subbed those 3 back into the game. and, they switched back to the 4-1-3-2 subbing Brinkman out, who was in for Lang. Sawyer stayed in the game. ………….. 1 minute later, long service from Houck to Gaebe at the 16, but Gaebe’s header didn’t have enough on it. Same minute, Schreiber played it up to Larson who won a thrown in. Gaebe received the throw and she beat Berry to the end line. Gaebe’s cross grazed the crossbar just over Galley, to the other side just beyond Sawyer. ………….. 79th minute. Xavier transition middle of the field turnover. Erbach made a run to the 18 down the middle, drew 4 defenders. Baca smartly stepped back to be a target on Erbach’s left wing. Baca settled the pass and blasted it left foot right at Puricelli from 12 yards out. The ball went straight up into the air after the save and Emily pounced on it. …………. 82nd minute SLU goal. SLU pressured. Smith to Gaebe, who turned, held off the defender Bain, she and chipped it over the defense back to Smith but it was headed out back to Gaebe. Emily 1v1 vs Bain, stepped left, went right, dribbled up from the 25 to the 18, and she ripped a shot far left post low into the side netting. 3-2. …………… SLU switched back to the 4-2-3-1 for the final 8 minutes. 3-2 Final. …………… Some game notes: SLU had a willingness to start a tough road game with a more aggressive offensive look, and, they had a willingness to stick with it and to go back to it multiple times during the game. And that was a big difference in the game. It also can increase the efficiency of finishing chances and scoring more goals. When SLU lost 2-1 to Penn State for example, SLU had an analytics expected goals (xG) of 3.21 vs 1.72 for Penn State. …………….. SLU tweaked the outside back matchup in the first half, to better fit need in that particular game. …………….. SLU made some minor adjustments to transition defense, with group defending and stepping out higher to the 20, rather than getting pushed back to the 16 defensively. ……………. Big win for SLU. Xavier is a good team. A top 15 team right now. But SLU is pretty good too. It’s the 5th straight road win in the series. ……………… SLU missed an opportunity for a win vs Penn State. Played well enough, but didn’t finish. And they should have had 5-0, 3-0 wins over KC and Creighton. But they have had better results in all of the other games. Conference slate is next. ……………:

Xavier Musketeers New head coach, Dean Ward is a familiar face as the former top assistant at Dayton. And so far, it’s business as usual for the recent top 25 caliber program. Xavier lost 4 starters to transfer with the coaching change, and, they lost a couple of others to graduation. But they returned 7, and they added to transfers to and 2 Freshmen to the lineup. Notably, Xavier is getting more production from a few returning players. Homecoming for Billiken Elise Le, as she started 3 years at left back with many of Xavier’s current and recent players. Local angle, reserve forward Olivia Baca and her timely goals off of the bench will be reunited with former club teammates Nina Preusser and Ulla Sharp. This year’s Xavier team is scoring goals and they have been much more efficient with opportunities that they didn’t finish in recent years. 41 shots for Xavier in their NCAA loss to Tennessee past year tor example. And that has them in the top 15 nationally thus far. Wide service from wings in the run of play, to near post headers or 2nd and 3rd runners on failed clears. Xavier also has several set piece goals this season including corners. Have to get goal side. Xavier is expected to play their familiar 4-2-3-1 formation which SLU also plays. Xavier has also played a 3-6-1 at times to maximize personnel regardless of position. They aren’t as settled and committed at one of the outside back positions. This often looks like a 3-2-4-1. They rely heavily on Bain in back with this formation in between Reed and Lawson. Natalie Bain is an All American center back, one of the best nationally. Maria Galley is an All Big East goalkeeper. Xavier has moved central attacking midfielder Sam Wiehe to the defensive midfield out of need this year. She is Xavier’s best passer, while being a strong finisher too. She’s next to a true Freshman in McKinley Barry. Emma Flick has been making wide runs and providing service. bookend by almost Billiken recruit and two way wing Freshman Sam Erbach on the other side. This is more often how Xavier gets forward, Wiehe and Bain, wide to the wings. Regan Dancer moved inside to the central attacking mid role, and she provides pace along with Flick. Much of her game has been long diagonal runs from midfield as Xavier hasn’t worked the middle of the field as much or as well as they’d like. Need to play a mistake free game. Defend wide service, first clear from set pieces. Aggressively pressure high, speed up the game. and not let Xavier get comfortable with their middle 3 in back. The road team has won the last 4 meetings. It’s another opportunity for SLU to get a big win against a high level team.

SLU 0 Creighton 0 4-2-3-1 for both. SLU switched to a 4-1-3-2 in the 2nd half. Bouncy windy turf game. 27 healthy players dressed. 3 injured players did not. (Sawyer, Welker, Jackson) The game had the feel of a 3-0 SLU win but that never happened. When Creighton lost a lopsided game to Nebraska, all of Nebraska’s goals and chances were often either set piece headers or volleys out of the air, or 1st, 2nd 3rd chances from wide service. SLU hasn’t been as efficient with those types of opportunities. …………… It took all of 5 minutes for the ref to stop the game and warn Creighton coach Jimmy Walker about his animated behavior. Working the officials was effective for him throughout the game. Some soft fouls were called on SLU in the final 3rd. A whopping 34 fouls were called in the game. …………… Creighton did a good job in the first half of fouling SLU 35-40 yards from goal to force free kicks. And they also were able to force corner kicks. This reduced SLU’s shot totals and it slowed their transition. SLU has not been dangerous on set pieces this season and that continued qt Creighton. It had been a SLU strength the past few seasons, both hews balls. and cleaning up the 2nd or 3rd opportunity. Maybe a half dozen high level chances all half for SLU. None for Creighton. A few each for Gaebe, Larson, and even 1 for Brinkman. A fair half time score would have been 1-0 or possibly 2-0 for SLU. Creighton moved Manriki back to defensive midfield, and they played an outside back defender on the wing. Very conservative defensive personnel. …………… 2nd half changes. 4-1-3-2 for SLU. Heavy pressure from SLU early in the 2nd half. Larson had two great early 2nd half opportunities. Missed wide from 8 yards after a combo from Houck to Gaebe. Transition long run from Simon. One timer instead of walking around the defender. A great third Larson chance all 10 minutes into the 2nd half: Combo tic tac toe Gaebe to Gary to Simon to Larson in alone left post from 8 yards and she grazed the near post and side netting. SLU goal kick 56th minute. Midfield Smith to Gaebe off to the races. She beat two defenders, Solomon and Offer, she cut in at the 6, and she ripped a low hard blast that somehow hit the shin of the sprawling keeper, no goal. Unbelievable. 58th minute. Larson from the right side 1v1 from 12 yards, leaping save tipped over the goal. All of this heavy pressure from SLU came after changing to a 4-1-3-2 formation. Playing 2 forwards, Gaebe and Larson together up top. Gary and Smith on the wings. Simon in the middle, and Le as the lone defensive midfielder. SLU also tried Smith in the middle with Gary and Schwartz with Gaebe and Larson up top. 60th minute Le wins a header at midfield, up Larson who plays a give and go with Gary back up the line to Larson. Hannah cut in from the side of the box at the end line. Her short cross to a running Gaebe who went down in front of the keeper. Looked like a foul from behind by Offer. Ref stopped play, reviewed it. No PK. I was okay with the no call. Throw in to Gaebe. Triple teamed with her back to the goal from 12 yards, she turned left foot shot was well over the goal. SLU subbed out Larson in the 69th minute and SLU went back to a 4-2-3-1. And that slowed the offensive dominance of the previous 24 minutes. 5 minutes later, Larson subs back into the game. Still a 4-2-3-1 instead of the much more effective 4-1-3-2. But offense returned. Gaebe a mice pass to Kim who cut in the middle of the18 around Solomon in alone. But the Creighton keeper sprinted out to prevent the shot and easy goal. Great risk taking anticipation to save a goal to dive at the 10. Creighton had a chance in the 75th minute. Downing wide to Offer and her cross back to Downing but she missed the ball on a wide open header. Again, transition defense, SLU wasn’t marking man to man. SLU had the numbers but left her alone middle of the box. By far Creighton’s best chance of the game to that point. SLU drew several more fouls 35/40 yards from the Creighton goal. Service launched in the box and knocked around mostly harmless. 81st minute. There was a brisk wind in the face of SLU for much of the 2nd half. In this small stretch, SLU was popping up a few clears that the wind blew right back. Pass back to Puricelli. She fanned on the clear, popped it up left side to Manriki. She was able to get through Le and she launched a 35 yard shot off of the crossbar bar that bounced straight up in the air and bounced out of bounds. Levine then launched a laser shot from 30 yards running downhill that spun back, caught by Puricelli right on. Gaebe a minute later best two defenders left side from 22 yards far post, leaping save. 83rd minute, Smith up to Simon, to Gaebe, she cut in on 2 defenders left side of the 18, chips a pass to Larson 1v1 at rhe 6 back to goal, but flicked away by the defender to a scrum in the box. Simon goes down. No PK. Again a good no PK call in my opinion. 88th minute Le was fouled by Levine, as she walks the end line towards to box. Instead a foul and card was called on Le. That happened a few times in the game where SLU was called for a foul when Creighton grabbed and held while SLU tried to pull away. 89th minute, free kick for Creighton from 25 yards. Good hit from Manriki but right at Puricelli. No problem. Creighton had 4 high level scoring chances all game total. 3 were shots from distance. Could have been a 3-0 or 4-0 game for SLU. Easily needed to be 2-0. Credit to Creighton whose back 6 and keeper played hard, organized. with few mistakes. ………………..

Creighton Bluejays New coach, new team. Jimmy Walker is in his first year. High energy, good recruiter, whose teams play hard. Creighton has 12 transfers, not all in the same year, but many, from a wide variety of places. Walker worked the portal immediately after getting hired. They also have 11 International players. They will mix up formations based on a variety of things. personnel, matchup, i juries etc... having played a 3-5-2, and a 4-2-3-1 thus far. Their 4-2-3-1 is organized, and uses the width of the field. If they play that, then this could be a game where SLU can try to build combination play through the middle. Mondiri is their high volume shot taker forward anywhere inside of 25. They like to get in space behind the defense via Levine or Azumi in the middle. Both are very capable on the ball, distriubuting or scoring in the middle. Radke likes to push up and play higher as a right back. Creighton will play a lot of players. And against SLU they’ll meed to do so for fresh players. They will try to get service around the 18, where hustle plays can also get them more offense. Defending, not great with set piece defense. 1st or 2nd chances. Can be overpowered physically and with pace outside with what SLU brings. Creighton is solid, high floor, low ceiling. The game will be part of the annual Socctoberfest doubleheader with the Men’s team. So there will be some added festivities there. If SLU plays like it did vs Penn State, SLU will win many games this year. Zalac has been their keeper. a transfer from Louisville. Radke and Kulick at outside backs. Solomon and Offer are center back. LeVine and Murray Powell in the defensive midfield Westlie and Downing on the wings. They will mix it up there. Downing the small quick pressing wing. Westlie and Mallory whi brings more size. Azumi finds the spaces in the middle. Mondirii up top. Judkins (defender) will play too.

Yes, both 19 in that poll this week. There are 2 polls weekly.