courtside

It’s definitely been Horns Down at the University of Texas. Just 2 Sweet 16’s in the past 14 years and just 5 in school history. Compare that with Texas A&M who had 28 of the last 30 NCAA Tourneys, a Final Four, 7 Elite 8’s, 16 Sweet 16’s. Under G Guerrieri. Even TCU has had 4 Sweet 16’s in the past 6 seasons. 2 have been Elite 8’s. Baylor a Sweet 16 team this year has had 2 Elite 8’s this decade. Texas Tech has a had a few Sweet 16’s as well. …………………… The high level St. Louis players weren’t going to Texas. But some were going to other Texas schools. 2027 Ayrissa Robinson TCU 2027 Leah Roberts Baylor 2026 Grace White Baylor 2026 Claire Benoist Texas Tech Former Billiken Caroline Kelly picked TCU for her 5th year last year. Kirsten Davis was a First Team All American at Texas Tech. Nearby Oklahoma State has recently had some St. Louisans too. Gracie Bindbeutel, Anna Lawler. Even the pokes have a few Elite 8’s And this is just St. Louis. But Marg is good, well regarded on and off of the field. This might finally get things going in Austin, TX. They’ve been behind their peers for a very long time.

Thanks for being a faithful reader. That’s great.

Sure. These are some of the many schools SLU recruits against. For example, SLU recruited Jennie Immethun and Bella Winn on UCLA. they also recruited Kendall Williams and Amanda Villareal on Texas. UCLA recruited SLU commit Lyla Schenk. Texas recruited SLU commit Vada Goss. There’s quite a few of examples. I know Texas wishes they had the Texas player of the year instead of Saint Louis. Win some lose some. And there’s examples where SLU recruited against these schools, and a third school ended up with the commit. Jay Brownlee for example. Or Gracie Milam. SLU recruits against football four programs, Georgetown, Santa Clara, Xavier, and some Ivy League. These are also some of the bigger jobs in college soccer. Unless SLU is playing these teams head to head, they cross paths every recruiting cycle

I believe even the most novice of observers would be able to point out that your last sentence is incorrect here. It’s a common theme. Make up a generality, repeat it as true or fact, and apply it in all or many circumstances. You went from fabricating a recruiting story, to counting exhibition games as regular season games, to wrongly guessing how Indiana played the first game against SLU. But if people don’t want to take the word of people at the games, they can watch for themselves. Full game from September 3rd is still available on Big Ten Plus. And, a 12 minute highlight video of that game is available on YouTube.

For the 2nd straight season, 2027 SLU Soccer commit Lyla Schenck, was named to the New York Playoff All Tournament Team. She represented Penfield High School in Section V Class AA. Lyla will be playing with her club team at the Girls Academy Winter Showcase, in Norco, California, next week. Other SLU commits playing include Charlotte Wilson, Maren Gansner, Sofia Scego, Hana Allen, Gianna Harris, Lila Megyesi, and Vada Goss.

Texas AD Chris Del Conte is someone that often has the replacement head coach ready, when making a coaching change. Margueritte Bates ((Aozasa) is the new HC at Texas. A few years back, Georgia was able to lure Keidane McAlpine away from USC after he won a national title for the Trojans. Now Texas has done something similar with UCLA. https://texaslonghorns.com/news/2025/11/25/margueritte-bates-aozasa-named-soccer-head-coach Texas had reached just 2 Sweet 16’s the past 14 seasons under Kelly. ……………….. Openings include: Florida Mississippi Texas A&M UCLA

They do. Indiana had over two weeks off to prepare for a home game. SLU had 2 plus travel plus morning STL start time. Some SLU players were unavailable, some had limited availability. SLU had a very specific defend and counter game plan. Make a play, defend the game. Great if it works, 2nd guessing if it doesn’t. That’s sports. Always celebrate success for 24 hours. SLU adjusts what it does based on themselves, the opponent, and based on the circumstances of the game. SLU didn’t play Indiana the same way the first game. They played straight up and SLU was the better team much of the game, despite the loss. They’ll play Bryant much differently because they have more time, and because Bryant plays a different style of game, on a different type of surface. There have been some posts discounting Bryant over a very small sample size, and that would be a mistake as well. They’re good. They’ve more than earned their place.

NCAA Women’s Soccer Elite 8 (with seeds): Ohio State vs 3 Florida State 2 TCU vs 1 Vanderbilt 2 Michigan State vs 1 Stanford 4 Washington vs 2 Duke ……………………………………………… Ohio State was a bubble team. 3 ACC (1 West Coast team) 3 Big Ten (2 West Coast teams and Megan Link’s previous school) 1 SEC 1 Big 12 It is the first Elite 8 in program history for Michigan State and Vanderbilt. It’s the 2nd for TCU. It’s the 3rd for Washington and Ohio State. It is the 15th for Duke. It is the 18th for Stanford. It’s the 19th for Florida State. 4 of the 8 have never been to a College Cup Final Four. 6 of the 8 have never won a NCAA Title. The Final Four is in Kansas City, MO, at CPKC Stadium, home of the NWSL’s KC Current.

Exhibition games don’t count toward the season. So no, SLU didn’t play 10 non-conference games. and no, SLU doesn’t have 6 wins vs NCAA Tourney teams. It’s not an opinion. They don’t count. My October 8th offer to discuss your fabricated, and, misinformed soccer recruiting posts still stands. You quietly disappeared after that. Oh, and for someone who has me on ignore, you seem to have access to my posts. Just send me a message or take it to the recruiting thread.

UCLA Athletic Director, Martin Jarmond, announced today that 4 year UCLA Head Coach Margueritte Aozasa, has left the program to pursue other opportunities. She on the NCAA National Championship her first season at UCLA. She also won 2 Conference Championships. 4 straight NCAA Tourneys, but UCLA failed to reach the Sweet 16 the past 3 seasons.

University of Texas Athletic Director, Chris Del Conte, announced today that Texas is “moving in a new direction” from 14 year Head Coach Ange Kelly. 3 Conference Titles. 8 NCAA Appearances. 2 Sweet 16’s in 14 seasons. She was more successful at her previous stop, the University of Tennessee where she won 4 SEC Titles, had 9 NCAA Tourney berths, and 5 Sweet 16’s in 11 seasons.

It was a strong showing last weekend for 2026 SLU commit Keira Bartholet at the ECNL Phoenix Showcase. She helped her team to 13 goals in 3 games against some of the best teams nationally. An All Midwest Conference (Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa), Keira has also helped her SLSG 08 team to the top of the table so far in Fall conference play. Her team has already qualified for next Summer’s ECNL Playoffs. They have moved into the top 5 nationally in their age group, seeking to improve upon their top 16 playoff finish last season. 2 additional SLU commits play on her team. (2026 Lucy Marsh, who plays center back, and 2027 Roz Doherty, who plays the central defensive midfield) A long time attacking wing, Keira has also been playing up top as a number 9 target/space forward this season. Keira is from Webster Groves, and, she plays high school soccer for Nerinx Hall.

SLU played 8 non-conference games. 5 of those teams made the NCAA Tourney. And, this was discussed here, last week.

Bryant does have International players. They also play several domestic players. It’s a mix. Also, many Northern U.S. teams have some Canadian players. SLU has players from Ghana, France, Ivory Coast, Brazil, England. In the past few years, SLU has also had players from Canada, The Netherlands, Portugal, Mexico, Denmark, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Nigeria, Israel. And some of these countries have had multiple players at SLU in the past few years. Today, SLU played players from 6 countries.

NCAA Tourney Round of 32: The Nation’s #10 Defense 1 The Nation’s #2 Offense 0 ……………………. Armstrong Stadium, Bloomington Indiana ……………………. Indiana 4-2-3-1, and 4-1-4-1 SLU 4-4-2 but a different kind of 4-4-2, and 5-3-2 ……………………. Unavailable: Easton, Delkus, O’Neil. limited availability, Pare. ……………………. In this space, we love a good wrinkle. SLU had a big one to open the game. SLU did not open the game with a right wing. And, SLU played the entire game without a right wing. 90 minutes, no right wing. ………………… Instead SLU played 4 across the back, 2 central defensive midfielders, two forwards, but in between they played 2 attacking midfielders on the same left side. And they played deeper. (Heckenlaible and DiMaria) ………………. When the ball was played to Indiana’s attacking left side, SLU ran a defensive midfielder (Barmett/Coughlan) and right at those players with help from the right back (Carlos) They kept Schramm on Oduro and Ault’s side. ………………… SLU opened with Abonnel in goal, Carlos RB, Fournier RCB, Blair (LCB), Cortez LB. (Jaeger) Schramm and Barnett DM (Coughlan) Heckenlaible LW DiMaria CAM shading left. (Henry) Tanner and Franca up top. (Pare, whonwas on limited minutes. Rotated with them. He usually plays on the wing) ………………… SLU pressed 3 across the top centrally when IU’s center backs had the ball. When not pressing, DiMaria dropped left midfield. All of this was to take away Collins Oduro on the right wing. Whenever he touched the ball he was triple teamed by SLU’s left wing, left sided CAM, and LB. Indiana builds out of the back on the right side. They play through Oduro and Palmer Ault. …………………….. SLU goal. Combination play from SLU’s 2 Forwards, Franca and Tanner. Franca won the 50/50 aerial ball vs Maher from Jeremi. He beat Maher all game on 50/50 duels and everyone else too. He flicked the header on to Tanner 1v1 with Minzey, and he beat Minzey and Brown low far post. 1-0. Earlier in the season, SLU switched to a 4-4-2 from a 4-2-3-1 to get more combination play from Tanner and Franca together. It’s how they scored. ……………………. SLU then subbed Henry in at left wing and he had an elite level game. (He’s a left back and center back) So then SLU was using 7 defensive players. many of their best ones on the same side. It’s also the luxury of having Carlos’ pace and defending on the other side. …………….. 4 of Indiana’s 5 subs were forwards. 3 of SLU’s 4 subs were defenders. ……………… 2nd Half …………….. 5-3-2 SLU opened the 2nd half with another wrinkle. 5 back line defenders. They moved JC inside, and added Jaeger. Carlos, Fournier, Blair, Cortez, Jaeger Henry later subbed in for Jaeger. 3 defenders, different ones at times, different formations, but all 3 smothering Oduro. DiMaria played as the 3rd defensive midfielder wide left in front of Jaeger/Henry. 2 forwards io top. 5-3-2 Indiana tweaked and they played a 4-1-4-1 and eventually it was only 4 back line defenders and 7 attackers. SLU essentially played the opposite of that. Indiana tried to sub in more pace in the 2nd half. And they moved Ault to the left side to see if he could get some combo playing going with Barger. Barger didn’t play the first matchup. But when you play that side you go against Carlos. ……………… Another slow start for SLU. But after the goal, SLU was much better on 50/50 balls, aerial duels, closing out the top of the 18. And they kept getting better with it as the game progressed. ………………. Indiana was more effective when they dropped Ault to his usual central attacking position. Some of the game he played up top as an extra forward. He had a few good chances, but not too many. Oduro had one. Abonnel was ready for those few higher level chances. ……………… As SLU shut down the right flank and central combination play, the bulk of IU’s offense was winning set pieces, and diagonal wide service from distance. SLU kept clears simple and high percentage. SLU often won the middle of the field, where games are often won. …………….. Indiana tried Swan/ and Bogard up top. Swan is a target player, Bogart is pace. They rotated the same wings opposite side of Oduro as expected. Nesci, Alt Fedrizzi, Oduro, with Swan up top. And Heuer was their lone central defensive midfielder even though he is an attaxking player. ………………. SLU bench Yellow card was dissent. Carlos was shutting sown Ault wide. Barger sent it into the box. Nesci knocked down Carlos from behind in the box. Not only was it not called, they called it a corner instead of a goal kick. Kalish displeasure was voiced. ………………. Palmer Ault entered the game with 16 goals and 10 assists. He was top 10 Nationally in assists per game, game winning goals, goals per game, points per game, total assists, total goals, total points. Collins Oduro was a 2nd round MLS Draft pick by Orlando last year. He’s a dynamic attacking player on the right wing that keeps adding to his game. He scored Indiana’s goal the first game. They often play in combination. ……………….. The SLU game plan was in part, focused on those two players, and the right side of Indiana’s attack. Tanner and Franca made a play. Defense was rock solid. ………………..