courtside

Good for Tanner. He’s been playing an end of half, end of game, middle of the half, minutes combined as the third forward up top behind Coppola and Wrobel, as Moore is unavailable. SLU has recently moved Gibbs and his pace to the wing from up top, a new position for him. This has been in the more successful 4-3-2-1 system the last 4 or 5 games or so, as well as a 4-2-3-1, and a 4-4-2 prior to that. Previously he played both up top and wing. He was having some challenges with positioning and with defending the wing, which isn’t unusual in the college transition. He was the only attacking player on the field for SLU’s 2nd goal. The defense, Townsend forced the turnover, and laid it off to Dougherty, who ripped a point blank shot that was saved, and Tanner pounced on the rebound. …………… Galen Flynn has picked up where Lane Warrington left off at both outside back and with dangerous long throw ins in the final third. Max Floriani is one of the best in college soccer at near post runs, back post flick on headers. Here is Mads Peterson with the finish: https://x.com/slumenssoccer/status/1708282346036711915?s=46&t=TsCCkuE48YmnkWfoKqc_Ng ……………… Embracing the defense. SLU has given up more than one goal in a game just twice all season, and hasn’t done so in a month. …………… 4-3-2-1 for SLU. 4-4-2 & 4-5-1 for Rhode Island. ……………. Another win for SLU, combined with other results, has put the Billikens RPI at 25. ……………

She’s done well with those, she has a goal again this year from it, hit some bars and posts too, along with several assists on them. I thought one of her better ones was in last night’s game on the 3rd goal. It had nice pace, height, and shape, back post for Lawler’s header. Katie’s all around play often gets overlooked for SLU. She is a center back, who has played right back, out of need for SLU. And, she has played it well, the past few years for SLU. I know you didn’t get to see it but she had such a great game at Nebraska. One of the things SLU is trying to do is replace the ability of Halverson to get some pace up the wing as well as with diagonal runs. She’s doing some of that too. And she first and foremost defends well.

SLU 3 George Mason 0 4-2-3-1 throughout for SLU. 4-2-3-1 for George Mason. Emily Gaebe started for SLU for the 2nd time this season, and the 2nd overall in her last 21 games. She won a corner, she had a header off of the cross bar and she had a nice pass to Larson for a goal all in the game’s first 5 minutes. She was sent in alone by Groark and was stopped and then sent a pass across the goal line. Later early in the 2nd she started the play for Sawyer’s goal down the left end line and sent a cross back post to a wide open Larson who was stopped but the loose ball rolled to Sawyer who finished. Then after her yellow card, Gaebe drew a foul and a free kick off of the far right side. A nice crisp back post service from Houck for Lawler for the 3rd goal. Gaebe then sat the rest of the game shortly after that. …………… Gaebe’s yellow card was the result of her making contact with the George Mason keeper. Larson, who once again and had strong game, sent Gaebe in behind 2 defenders. The George Mason keeper, Ginny Frank dove at the 18 to secure the ball just before Gaebe got there. Instead of jumping or sidestepping, Gaebe’s left foot brushed Frank as she went by and stopped. It’s a 50/50 yellow cars call there. Maybe just call a foul as it didn’t cause injury. But the ref didn’t like it. Katie Shields got the first yellow card and did most of the talking. Chris Allen mostly laughed at the call. The ref didn’t like it and he gave him one too. Yellow card questions come up annually. Players and coaches are both subject to yellow card penalties. 5 yellows and you sit a game. 8 yellows combined regular season and post season and you sit a game. …………... All 22 healthy field players that traveled, played in the game. Good luck to Liv Layton who is hanging up the cleats after four plus productive seasons at Colorado State and SLU. Some off target aerial finishes, posts hit, inside the 18 loose balls not finished, and some so so set piece service at times for SLU. Final score isn’t a concern with the RPI. It does matter withe the other polls do and they expect lopsided results in these types of games. ……………. Not a good RPI night for SLU opponents, which drops SLU temporarily in RPI. Dayton had a home draw with Fordham. Creighton has been an opponent that was hoping to turn a corner this season but they have been going the wrong direction. So they will not be a 5th strong RPI non con-conference opponent. Nebraska had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Rutgers despite 30 shots and a ton of corners. 2 more goals for Dale. BYU and Xavier are the top 25 RPI opponents for now. Nebraska and Brown should be in it it they get results on the weekend. Enormous game for Brown. ………………. VCU up next has been the biggest disappointment in the A10 this season. After being able to play some good non-conference teams very close, VCU has struggled in league play their last 3 games. ………….. Opportunity for some SLU players to reunite with Ralph Richards. The former SLU assistant is the former club coach for Puricelli. Houck, Miller, Lawler, Groark, Gary, Larson, Schwartz, Jackson, Luebbert, Bockius. Ralph is now the commissioner of the ECNL, based in Richmond, VA …………………

SLU 1 Missouri State 1 Hard fought draw. 4-3-2-1 for SLU. 4-2-3-1 for Missouri State, who credit to them, tweaked their formation multiple times during the game, and they were able to get a 5th player forward. Peck was able to get forward on a set piece for an eventual goal. Yari gave SLU some challeges in the midfield. Denton almost had one off of a set piece in the 2nd. And Barea was good as expected. SLU waa able to get one early as Diego was able to get forward and finish a clear, on service from Redmond. And pretty rock solid back 4 for SLU, again. 3rd straight top 25 or better caliber opponent, and 3rd straight 4-3-2-1 with similar personnel and alternating keepers for SLU. 2 wins and a draw. SLU RPI is now at 34.

No in depth previews for George Mason and Richmond, as they are two of the worst teams in the country, and they are both going through coaching transitions. Manya Puppione was put on leave at George Mason earlier this season. They struggled a lot in her 3 seasons. They have a younger team. She and her husband Bobby are well regarded in coaching circles. Bobby is the director of Girls Academy Power House TSJ FC Virginia in the talent rich DC market. Richmond is in a different situation, Adam Denton took the unusual step to leave Davidson for Richmond. He did a good job at Davidson, and, he believes he will have more support and a higher long term ceiling at Richmond. It will take a few seasons but I believe he can get Richmond to the RPI top 100. George Mason has an RPI of 281. Richmond has an RPI of 311. The first goal is to get these programs to the top 200, and eventually closer to the top 100.

Lol. It always comes back to Women with you Brian. There’s no need to feel insecure about, and threatened by, strong Women.

You may be wearing the U.S. jersey while watching SLU’s Abonnel roll an outlet pass to Diego, up to Mads on the wing, who sends service in to Wrobel. All of them of course are International players. Tofern came up big at times last year in goal. Suarez was one of SLU’s best players. You can go way back to Dipsy and Ibisevic or all the way back to the 50’s and 60’s. ……………… As for Missouri State’s team: They are top 3 nationally in several defensive categories. They defend, they don’t give up many goals, and they don’t give up many shots. They held a very good Maryland team to 2 shots all game. In fact the most shots they have given up in a game this season is 5. They are as you mentioned a very experienced group, whose strength is up the middle with its center backs, (Peck, Arcoverde) dmid (Denton) and attacking center mid. (Barea) They play a 4-2-3-1 that often looks like a 4-1-4-1.

Florida State has one of the best teams in the country in Women’s Soccer this season. They have 7 International players. As a program under their highly successful previous head coach, Mark Krikorian, they won 3 National Titles, and made the NCAA Quarterfinals or better, 15 of 17 seasons. They had many International players during his reign. They had 9 on their most recent national championship team from 2 seasons ago. (He’d still be there if it wasn’t for their AD. He’s now running the professional NWSL team in D.C.) Right now roughly 5 Women’s players will skip college to play professionally, compared to about 30 annually for Men. But it’s going to become more of a thing as professional opportunities for Women increase, especially domestically. St. Louis has a player right now. Alex Pfeiffer is the best player nationally in the 2026 class. I would be surprised if she didn’t re-classify as a 2025 player, skip college, and play professionally domestically. She scored all 3 goals for US U17 team’s 3-3 draw with Japan the other day. And she played up with older players leading SLSG to back to back ECNL National Titles at U16 and U17. A few other national team level local players are going to go to college first, at least for now, 2 to Stanford, and one to Notre Dame.

??? Sports are global as is life. Wait until you find out about a little basketball school in Spokane, WA that has been winning big since the 1990’s, with largely International players from roughly two dozen countries. SLU Men’s Soccer has had 10 International players on its roster the past 2 seasons. Some of its best all time players from decades recent and long past, have been from other countries. SLU Men’s basketball currently has 5 International players on this year’s roster. Missouri State has a good soccer team and good soccer program. Good for them.

If you can't be happy with SLU being 11-0-2 in their last 13 vs Dayton, then perhaps, you can't be happy.

Well, SLU just won 2 games in a row over top 25 caliber teams. I don't get caught up in recruiting rankings because I know which recruits can and can't play at what level regardless of recruiting ranking. I do know however there is some marketing and fan interest in it because I get asked about it sometimes. 2 of the best players on SLU's current team, redshirted their Freshman year. SLU's program is heavy on player development. When SLU was an NCAA Quarterfinalist in 2021, 10 of 11 starters had played at least 1, often times more years in SLU's program. And only roughly 3 others off of the bench out of several had not already played at least a year in SLU's program. Last year after 8 players from the previous season went on to play professional soccer, SLU had 8 new players that played in their first season at SLU. That team was an NCAA Round of 32 team that lost a close game to the eventual NCAA national runner up. This season SLU has 8 rotation players that are in their first season at SLU. A few more haven't been available. We'll see how they do and where they end up at the end of the season. They will get many more opportunities.

2024 SLU Men’s Soccer Recruiting is #2 nationally at Top Drawer Soccer for September/Fall rankings. Those rankings will eventually change a little bit with more commitments, transfers, players leaving early to play professionally. SLU 2024 so far: Gershon Henry, Jackson Delkus, Braydon Sellers, Drake Fournier, Zach Stanton, Connor Dillman, Andrew Heckenlaible, Xavier Holloway.

New 2025 commit is Blakely Hockett from Edwardsville, IL. Blake is a defender who plays club ball and Super Cup with SLSG. She played one year of high school soccer with 2024 SLU commit Ulla Sharp. She was a First Team All Conference player as a Center Back with SLSG Green U17 last season. She also played multiple positions on the 2023 SLSG Navy U17 National Championship team with SLU commits Audrey Smith and Ava Rademeyer. Blake is a 5’10 physical and pace defender who can play center back, outside back, or holding midfield as needed. In the Winter and Spring she also finds the time to be a hooper and track runner at Edwardsville high school. Her older sister played Summer Ball with several current Billikens this past Summer. Blakely considered schools from the Mountain West, Big East, SEC, Big 12, and Big 10.

The last time SLU had a league home draw was 2017. The last time they lost a league game at home was 2015. SLU is now 11-0-2 in their last 13 vs Dayton. SLU Women’s Soccer has won 70% or more of its Atlantic 10 league Games all of the previous 7 seasons prior to this season. And, they will likely do it again this season. To understand for reference, SLU Men’s hoops has won 70% or more of their Atlantic 10 league games, 3 times in their last 18 Atlantic 10 seasons.

Full non-conference RPI (plus Dayton.) SLU 21 BYU 7 Nebraska 27 Xavier 29 Dayton 33 Brown 36 …………….. Creighton 91 …………….. Utah State 129 SIUE 164 Kansas City 239 …………….… SLU In the polls: Top Drawer Soccer 24 College Soccer News 23 ……………..

RPI SLU 36 SMU 5 Fordham 22 Missouri State 31 SIUE 55 Loyola 61 Oral Roberts 63 Duquesne 66 VCU 74 Lipscomb 102 GW 108 Central Arkansas 111 ……………. Wednesday’s opponent, Missouri State,’will be top 10 ranked nationally, in all of the polls this week. ………….

SLU 1 Dayton 1 Disappointing result for SLU. That starts with the staff. And it extends to the team. ………… Formations: No surprises. Both teams played a 4–2-3-1. SLU didn’t even switch to a 4-1-3-2 until 12 minutes left in the game. When SLU plays an aggressive, attacking team, playing a 4-2-3-1 is effective to defend, counter in transition, pressure, and to get numbers and space in the final 3rd. When SLU plays a defensive team or a team with a defensive alignment, playing a 4–1-3-2 is more effective to match numbers up top, and to put pressure on the defense. The mindset is to aggressively to get a goal or two early in the game to open up the game which is how SLU prefers to play. ……………. Dayton was content to let SLU have possession in the first half. And SLU did create several good scoring chances. But SLU turned the ball over too often in the middle of the field. And SLU’s wide service and set pieces weren’t efficient enough, not getting support from its holding mids and outside backs. Houck was a sometimes exception. Larson did the heavy lifting on offense in the first half and later Gaebe. And that continued in the 2nd. Near misses: Larson had a corner near post to Stram, whose driving header banged off of the post. Stram has scored twice before this season on the same play. Unlucky there. Sawyer hit the cross bar from the left side of the box. Ball in space from Lawler. Kelly and Gaebe were stopped in alone by Reda. Mentioned how big of an upgrade Reda has been since arriving last year. She handled many wide and end line service, some corners and set pieces. She also made several point blank saves coming out and cutting the angle 1v1. A couple more from both Gaebe and Kelly in the 2nd half too. Few mistakes. Dayton had exactly 4 good scoring chances all game, and just one in the first, a shot from distance by Benigno that was not a problem for Puricelli. ………….. Gaebe applied heavy pressure in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half and eventually she best the double and triple teams. She received a ball in space and made a diagonal run through two defenders including all conference Mackenzie Lutz and buried it above Reda. Sawyer made a run on the left end line cut back from Kelly in from 8 yards but finished too close to Reda. Simon won a free kick from 18. Larson diagonal run from the right side. Dayton defended wide service well and free kicks. Dayton’s goal came from winning a ball at midfield, sent into space on the left side. Defense was too casual and gave up too much space on the target pass and space on the give and go. No clear beyond the far post as the cross went through everyone. Multiple blocked shots and failed clears into its own players by SLU. 7 Billikens in the box and loose ball rolls to Benigno who finished it well low far corner. Seemingly harmless play pinged around several players. At least half a dozen players could have cleared it. Larson to Bockius header to Gaebe from 2 yards out but Reda was there. Sawyer low near post wide. SLU had its chances. A would be 3-0 type of game controlled by SLU turned into a 1-1 draw. …………….. Discussed pregame that Dayton is well coached, well organized, but they lack both numbers up top and fire power at times. They win and lose as a group. They had a little luck, made some final 18 yard defensive plays, and they finished one of very few chances in the game. They have found ways to get some results this season against decent teams. 2-2 v Michigan State, 2-1 over Louisville. 0-0 with Illinois, 4-1 over Cincinnati. …………… Terrific game from Alyssa Bockius. She was easily SLU’s best holding midfielder. Defense, tackle, 50/50, very accurate short and long passing, high effort and high execution. She was out of the game for 3 minutes when Dayton scored. Jordan Gary also had a nice game on the wing in the first half. Houck had a good game. Larson and Gaebe too. SLU chose not to play Kelly and Gaebe together most of the game either up top or on the wing. ………… Big win for Brown at Harvard 2-0 on 2 set piece goals from Allen. They are getting it together. But 2 tough results as Nebraska lost 1-0 late to #2 Penn State.. Nebraska had their chances. And Creighton had a good 2nd half but too slow of a start in a 1-0 loss to top 25 Georgetown. ………….. RPI after Sunday: SLU 21 BYU 7 Nebraska 25

SLU 2 Fordham 1 With a win over (RPI 14) Fordham,’SLU improved its RPI to 37. Big crowd. Fun game. Physical game. 4-3-2-1 for SLU and 4-2-3-1 for Fordham. SLU kept its 4-3-2-1 from the previous game as it was successful. SLU was able to build wide with pace on the wings, up from its back line. Wingers pinch the middle to defend and take the space wide to build some width. This is in between Fordham’s front 4 and its center holding mids. And it allows SLU to find its up top forward in space or as a back to goal target. (Anderson, Leatherman, Coppola) This is after defending 7 vs 4. Force turnovers, win 50/50 balls and quickly transition and get Fordham in space. Same back line the last 3 games. Same holding mids the last 2 games, as SLU has found something in both formation and personnel. Embracing the defense, and embracing higher numbers of defenders available with the roster. SLU created a lot of pressure and chances, in the first half. First goal, Flynn making another run receiving a nice through ball from Leatherman drawing the PK. Getting outside backs forward. SLU found diagonal balls, making end line runs on the wing, and put pressure on the defense throughout. ………….. 2nd half. More of the same. Anderson and Leatherman made several midfield runs, CJ dangerous up top. Frequent middle of the field possession was quickly played up with wings or sent in over the top, on target. Fordham goal came against the run of play. Right back Valentine back post to D’lippolito. Nice play and finish. Coppola was able to get the game winner off of a deflection. SLU wins a goal kick at midfield, double header to Carlos who volleys it in for CJ in alone for the finish. Best game so far for Carlos as a wing. Lots of runs in space to the end line. He also drew a PK shortly after SLU’s 2nd goal but he didn’t get the call. SLU has settled in to its new 4-3-2-1 formation, and its new substitution patterns the past few games. And it’s been very effective against two top 25 caliber teams. 4 Flynn, Konincks, Floriani, Redmon 3 Townsend, Johnson, Buendia (Iverson) 2 Anderson, Leatherman (Mika, Peterson) 1 Coppola (Wrobel) With a few others. 2 keepers.sharing different games. ………….

RPI after Thursday’s games: SLU 24 BYU 7 Nebraska 19 Brown 57 ………… Scouting the Dayton Flyers: Dayton likes to play a familiar 4-2-3-1. They lost forward Itala Gemelli to transfer to Alabama, but, they have held steady without her. Lots of experienced players in their lineup. Reda was a big upgrade in goal last season as a Freshman. Several time all conference player Mackenzie Lutz is back for a final year at center back, playing with Raimondi who moved over. They play through Taylor and Wilson who are experienced in the holding midfield, out wide to Blain’s side on the wing. They have Huber up top to begin halves but Ferguson plays a lot and brings a high motor and physicality. Bowman is a 3rd option there that can also play midfield. Gianino shares time with Blain. Benigno back at center mid. Bowman and Gianino were club teammates of SLU Freshman Nina Preusser. Dayton beefed up their schedule this year, and, playing four Power 5 schools without defeat in any of those games. Dayton is well coached and they are well organized. They are a 40ish RPI team looking for a big road win opportunity. They lack numbers and pace sometimes up top with their formation. But they get good support from its holding mids. Dayton is going to want to keep it a defensive game. They have hiven up just 8 goals all season, 2 less than SLU. Opportunity for SLU to open up with a 4-1-3-2. SLU prefers to wait until half time or during the game to see if they need to switch formations for more scoring to change from their more preferred 4-2–3-1. There is also some opportunity for SLU using the width of the field, putting pressure on UD's outside backs and winning set pieces and corners.

SLU: Top Drawer Soccer: 14 College Soccer News: 23 United Soccer Coaches: Most votes not in top 25. RPI: 29 ………………. SLU opponent RPI: RPI: BYU: 12 Nebraska 18 Xavier 30 Creighton: 46 Brown: 63 ……………… RPI by League: Power 5 ACC: 13 of 14 teams are in the top 145. 7 are in the RPI top 30. SEC: 14 of 14 teams are in the RPI top 120. 8 teams are in the RPI top 50. 12 teams are in the RPI top 100. Big 10: 13 of 14 teams are in the RPI top 100. 8 teams are in the RPI top 50. Pac 12: 9 of 12 teams are in the RPI top 100. 5 teams are in the RPI top 50. Big 12: 9 of 14 teams are in the RPI top 100. 6 teams are in the RPI top 50. Pac 12: 9 of 14 teams are in the RPI top 100. 6 teams are in the RPI top 50. Combined, the Power 5 has 2 teams out of 68 with an RPI of worse than 150. ……………. The next tier of 4. IVY: 5 of 8 teams are in the RPI top 100. WCC: 5 of 9 teams are in the RPI top 100. AAC: 7 of 12 teams are in the RPI top 150. Big East: 6 of 11 teams are in the RPI top 100. *Note recent conference reshuffling hurt the AAC and WCC a little bit this season. Otherwise they would be even a little bit better. ………….. MVC: 0 of 11 teams in the RPI top 75. 3 of 11 teams in the RPI top 150. (I included the MVC only because some people are curious about it as a league.) …………….. Atlantic 10: 4 of 14 teams are in the RPI top 150. 3 of 14 are in the top 100. 9 of 14 are 200 or worse. 7 of 14 are 250 or worse. ……………. SLU Women’s Soccer has won 70% or more of its league games for the past 7 straight seasons. SLU has also won the conference tournament the past 5 straight seasons by a combined championship score of 18-4. Regular season league domination, combined with getting non-conference results against a strong non-conference schedule, has elevated SLU into a top 25 program in recent seasons. ………….. Dayton, VCU, Loyola, and UMass all have the potential to be consistent top 100 programs, and, closer to top 50. They need to get better non-conference results, but they are scheduling better, and they are getting closer. ………….

Fun game. SLU did some things well, and they have some areas that still need some incremental improvement. What I saw was SLU playing to its talent and personnel strength, which is defense. SLU played a 4-3-2-1 for the first time, a bit of of play off of the 4-2-3-1 they played the previous game. Oral Roberts was in their 4-4-2 diamond. Oral Roberts is one of the leaders nationally in shots per game. SLU held them 3 shots below their average, and, many of those were from distance. Moreno, Berry, Reed, Patto, haven’t met a 25 yard shot that they don’t like. There were very few shots inside the 18. I think I counted 2, a through ball and a header from distant service. Neither were high level danger. SLU forced turnover and after turnover in the middle of the field. Flynn, Konincks, Floriani, Redmon Townsend, Johnson, Buendia. Leatherman. Iverson, Sullivan, Mika. That’s 3 more holding mids. Dougherty at left back. That’s a lot of defenders. ………….. Coppola was more active like he was vs Butler and Lipscomb. He put pressure on the defense much of the game. And he was eventually rewarded for it. He has to bring that every time if he wants high minutes. Both he and Seth have had a few too many short diagonal runs in alone without efficient finishes. And sometimes the better chances in a game come early in a game. One of SLU’s biggest strengths is Floriani near post on set piece opportunities. And eventually it was going to produce again. Flynn throw to Max headed on to Coppola for the goal. It’s a play SLU practices and implements frequently. SLU is loaded with defenders. They don’t have a few forwards, and some of their best ones moved on to success in professional soccer. Scoring is going to come from set pieces, outside backs getting forward, forcing turnovers in the middle of the field. If people want build from the back and knock it around a little bit, maybe try another program because neither the SLU Men’s or Women’s programs play that way, and haven’t for years. And when they do, it’s usually because the opponent is sitting 8/9 behind the ball, and SLU hasn’t figured out to play diagonal balls over the top and move the defense East/West. …………… Oral Roberts plays direct with pace. They defend and counter. Their back line did a nice job keeping shape after SLU forced lots and lots of turnovers there. SLU wasn’t successful enough with diagonal balls over the top. Oral Roberts defended the wings welp and they had good transition defense with numbers inside their own 18. And the middle of the field turnovers forced was good, but final 25 needs more efficiency, especially when you only play one up top. Coppola needs someone to work with inside the 18. Lots of set piece opportunities for SLU, a strength. and one finally went in for them. Same back 4 was rock solid for SLU. String games for Flynn, Konincks, Floriani especially. Konincks was fouled on a back post free kick 5 yards out but it was called a play on and could have gone either way. Anderson just missed off of the far post and earlier missed in alone. Also meed him working more with Coppola. Getting one or two pf those opens up the game a bit. Overall it was a good effort and result against a good team. …………

SLU 4 La Salle 0 4-2-3-1 vs 4-5-1 First minutes of the season tor Alyssa Bockius at holding midfield, 40 of them. Long way back after some set backs and past hip surgery. This also allowed Nina Preusser to move up to her more experienced attacking center mid position. 3 times Jordan Gary kept the play alive to help lead to 3 Billiken goals. If an opposing team is going to sit 8 or 9 behind the ball, you have to make them move East/West with pace and play diagonal balls over the top of the defense. You also need numbers, which is why SLU switched to a 4-1-3-2 for the 2nd half which was successful. Not a fan of PK’s called unless the foul prevents a high level scoring chance. And this one did. So it was a good call. 2 goals finished and another created for Gaebe. And another game with good runs and service at outside back with Schreiber, Luebbert etc...something that takes a little time with new players but has been getting better and better. Another strong game defending for Larson ok the wing. Macy Lutz is capable of starting at center back for SLU. Lots of high level experience with one of the country’s best club teams in Michigan. Injuries, as previously mentioned, Jackson and Schwartz have had long term re-occurring knee injuries. Stram has an ankle injury, and she’s had past ankle surgery, but she will be fine. …………… RPI before Sunday’s games: SLU 26 BYU 13 Nebraska 18 Xavier 19 …………. Utah State is not having a good season, but they did get one of the win’s of the year, handing BYU it’s first loss of the season in Logan. Not easy to keep playing every Thurs/Sat. They had an electric sold out battle with TCU 2 days prior Xavier dropped a little bit with a midfield set piece goal loss at Lamar. But they had a good bounce back at Rice. Nebraska was 2 minutes from victory over a good Wisconsin team but had to settle for a draw late. Another goal for Dale. ……………

You don't have to guess. You can always ask. SLU did fine for much of the game. SLU was the better team in the first half with the more dangerous scoring chances. This included scoring a nice goal that was called back, among about 4-5 chances. VCU had some pressure in the final 15 minutes, some off which SLU was playing with 10 players. Another example, SLU played a 4-2-3-1 for the first time this season. The strategy was to have a pace defender in the middle of the attcking 3rd, force turnovers there, and make VCU build wide throughout the game which they did. So SLU used players such as Buendia, Mika, etc...in that spot and they let Townsend and Johnson playing holding midfield. It's still a defense first formation. SLU wasn't getting enough pressing from its 2 forwards in past games. They also inverted the wings, which was often Seth and Carlos. Mads started there but he wasn't effective there early. Floriani moved to center back, where he played prior to SLU along with holding midfield. And Flynn moved to right back, which is where he llahed before SLU. He had a strong game there. The 4-2-3-1 was effective for a while. It did what ut was supposed to do, especially early. VCU had a few good chances but many of their shots were service punched out, or 20 plus yards shots blocked by multiple defenders, or even in some cases, service wide. Shots on goal is often a misleading stat. Some of the best scoring chances can be shots off target or not even a shot at all. VCU's 2 best chances were from distance, a step in shot from 25 yards that banged off of the far post. And another was a free kick that was almost accidentally punched into SLU's goal instead.of caught harmlessly. SLU is still moving some pieces around. They previously had players such as Becher, Klein, Parker up front, along with outside backs that made a lot of runs. SLU doesn't have its pace forwards this season for various reasons. And they have tried to move some defenders into attacking positions with limited success. Some habe stayed. Some have moved back. Flynn was a defender playing wing. Leatherman was a defender playing wing. Buendia and Mika are defenders. Townsend is a defender that has played wing. Dougherty is a defender who played wing. Someone may ask well why isn't this player playing etc....I will use the Tanner Anderson example. First he did play up top at Forward vs SIUE and the following game. He has played more out on the wing. At both positions, he is still adjusting with defending and positioning. A few others are going through that too. Lots of getting pulled to the side and explaining for some of those players. And they will be fine. SLU is not a build from the back, knock it around a little bit East West from defensive positions type of team. They are a direct team that defends, pressures, and counters. Against SIUE for example, SIUE buried its few chances on a couple of soft near post goals. SLU clearly had several point blank chances vs Lipscomb and they also had a few missed PK's. Creating chances wasn't the issue in that game, as opposed to another game. Right now SLU is trying to find more pace up top without sacrificing the wings. Players such as Carlos are more effective in the middle where they can defend, and, step up into the play moving forward. Playing an attacking wing is new for him. And he wasn't here in the Spring. So SLU is a little heavy on wing defenders and target forwards at the moment. But making adjustments and solving challenges is all part of the fun. SLU has some talented players and they have many more along the way. They are coming off of an NCAA Quarterfinal and NCAA Round of 32 seasons. And they have plenty of time and opportunity to get more results.

SLU 1 Loyola 0 Rogers Park. 4-2-3-1 for both. In 3 games vs Loyola the past 2 seasons, SLU has played a 4-2-3-1 exclusively in 4 of those 6 halves. In those 4 halves SLU has 1 goal. In the 2 halves where SLU has played a 4–2-3-1, SLU has 6 goals. …………… As expected, Loyola played hard for 90 minutes, and they did so with a very limited bench too. Roughly similar to the Brown game, there is a tendency to stay in a 4-2-3-1 for the 2nd half after a strong first half. And while the run of play was fine in the 2nd for both games, goal production was limited. Sometimes it’s a matter of having more numbers to gain a competitive advantage. SLU had lots of pressure early. Houck free kick. Miller header off of Luebbert corner tipped over the bar. Heckel header off of the ensuing corner was going in the corner of the goal but knocked away by Kelly trying to deflect it in the goal. Miller, Simon, and Larson controlled the midfield, forced several turnovers there and did not allow diagonal balls. That group was strong on the ball in the middle of the field, took the space to the attacking third. Best game for Simon thus far. Having an extra attacker helps finishing efficiency from the wings and the middle. ………… Loyola Failed clear on service from Groark, Simon walked in alone but she went high near post instead of on the ground far post. And that’s really the area of opportunity against Loyola, East West service in the attacking third and on set pieces in attacking areas. Run of play East West service allows for mismatches, 2nd runners etc… …………… Another Houck free kick, off of the bar and point blank Heckel header over the goal. Loyola is going to defend with numbers, but set pieces allows SLU to match those numbers and create more dangerous opportunities. Otherwise you have 4 attacking players going up against 8 defenders often. ………….. Loyola had a chance with Hevey making a run up left wing, cutting in for service. Defended fine but the far post clear was back up the middle instead of letting it pass and pushing it wide. …………… Immediately after, Kelly sent Gaebe in who got past two defenders and cut in for a 15 yard finish but nice job back tracking by Bierker to just get a piece to deflect it wide. ………….. Gaebe to N Preusser inside the 18 but she fanned on a far post shot wide. SLU made a few more diagonal runs from the wings. But again, that’s right into the numbers of the defense inside the final 20 yards. Stretching the width, winning set pieces, and final third defensive pressure forcing turnovers in the middle of the field created much of the offensive threats for SLU. …………. SLU could have had 4 or 5 goals in the first half. So instead of say 2-0, it’s 0-0. And that allows Loyola to keep playing the same formation. shape etc…in the 2nd half. SLU was good with its first half pressure so they didn’t make any formation changes, confident they would eventually get a lead. ………….. After making several saves, Lipkens gained more and more confidence in goal for Loyola. Season high saves for Lipkens. Xavier’s keeper also had a season high in saves, and so on, a common theme for some teams vs SLU this season. ………… 2nd half. ……….. Immediate pressure. Kelly wins a 50/50 ball to Groark to Gaebe in alone from the right side. Lipkens made a great save leaving her line, 10 yards out. …………. Loyola had a rare nice build up from Cassidy through to Harrison to Hevey up the middle on the ground. …………. Sometimes people ask why does this player play ot why doesn’t that player play more etc….example: Carol Kelly battled and battled on the wing, not her natural position, defending, winning 50/50 balls, being a menace. It is isn’t as exciting as some other plays but it’s effective. Groark defends. and gets good positioning etc….those things matter too. ………….. SLU’s first goal came in the 55th minute. Another midfield free kick won for SLU. Houck launches into the box for a Heckel flick on goal. Offsides was inexplicably called. Several SLU players positioned themselves behind the defense after the ball was in the air. Offsides was called super late, meaning no one lined up offsides. It was a legit goal. 0-0. Instead of 3 or 4 or 5 to zero. …………. Immediately after that, Larson forces another turnover, diagonal ball to Kelly who overpowers the defender in alone from 8 yards out. Lipkens again comes off of her line and gets in front of the blast. Another point blank chance for SLU. And of all of these chances were just 55 minutes into the game. ………… Larson wins another turnover, eventually back to Simon, to Gaebe who puts the bouncing half volley over the goal from inside the penalty spot. ………….. Larson again, to Gabe wide to Sawyer. As was the case many other times, 8 defenders for Loyola, and the play gets broken up inside the 18 top of the box. …………. Off of a throw in Gaebe drags a defender into the box being grabbed, held, even holding hands, no call. Sometimes officials don’t give Gaebe a call because of her strength shedding tacklers. ………… One mistake can cost you a game sometimes. And SLU fanned multiple times on a clear, but Loyola couldn’t capitalize and fanned on a point blank chance from 5 yards in the 78th minute. ………… SLU goal. Larson again, wins the ball and a free kick foul at midfield. Houck service headed out for a corner. Larson service to Heckel for the goal. 1-0. SLU had a about a dozen high level chances in the game, and scored two, one of which counted. It was enough for the road win. …………… Chris Allen received a yellow card for pointing out the deliberate, Loyola stall tactics later in the game with the score 0-0. He wanted the ref to get it under control and to have the clock stopped when it happened. The clock operator was a problem. That person wasn’t stopping the clock even when the ref called for it. It was an effective bench yellow for SLU as the clock stopped several times after that in the next 10 minutes before SLU scored the game winning goal. It also came immediately after a Loyola hand ball and after Gaebe was pulled down without a call. The Loyola keeper literally went and grabbed a drink of water on a goal kick. ……….. The official scorekeeper had trouble understanding the difference between a shot and a pass at times. But this didn’t affect the overall stars too much. ………… The official was consistent with some of the many yellow cards. He gave them whenever a defender grabbed or non ball tackled a player from behind which impeded their advantage. Kelly received a card late after repeatedly being warmed about standing over the ball killing time. She threw her arms up on a throw in, easy call. …………. Shots were officially listed as 20-10 and corners 8-2. Loyola had a few less shots than that and SLU had a few more but it was close enough. ………… As expected Loyola played a hard 90 minutes. SLU found a way to win. ………… Lots of SLU commits and future targets at the game. Here are some of the Chicago and Milwaukee commits: https://x.com/astanciak2025/status/1702694869645369789?s=46&t=TsCCkuE48YmnkWfoKqc_Ng

New SLU commit is Adee Broesder from Lee’s Summit, MO (KC) Adee plays both up top at Forward, and on the Wing with Sporting Blue Valley of the ECNL. She helped her 06 club team to the Champions League Playoffs along with her teammate and fellow SLU commit, Hope Kim. (2024). She runs track for her high school, (400 & 800) Lee’s Summit West, where she was an all state performer. Adee played Super Cup Spring Soccer with Sporting Blue Valley instead of high school soccer. Adee has also been a U16 USYNT pool player, as well as a top 50 InStat performer. (soccer analytics) And she is a TDS top 150 player.