SLUBALLS

Looking at roster: 5 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 13 Freshman. Certainly will lean young overall but have to earn one’s time on the field. If a freshman can do that, more power to him. 24-ish years ago we had a crop of freshmen come through who started the season 10-0 led by Vedad. Regularly played seven freshmen that year too. Love to see impact like that from current crop of youngsters.

Looks like Jack Sullivan has moved on but two guys are coming in, as noted previously: https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/2025-mens-division-i-transfer-tracker_aid54066 https://uclabruins.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster/jc-cortez/14299 *Highly rated out of high school.....Centerback/Defender coming off an injury year https://bceagles.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster/xavier-o-neil/24583 DC United Academy product/ All-ACC Freshman /Regular starter Stoll said TopDrawer had our recruiting class ranked at 7. I can't confirm given I don't have access to premium on TD's site but I imagine he's right.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft/news/2025-generation-adidas-class-announced

Legal is hitting shoulder to shoulder at either 3 and 9 on the body while also playing the ball. Hitting from 4 and 8 though without effort for ball, refs will call. Do it in the box….pk. Too bad. Hell of a response by SLU each time they went down. Looked like two #1 seeds going at it vs #1 vs #8. Felt like we would come out on top like Penn St. did to us in last year’s final game. On to the spring.

Breeze wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be last night. Blanket helped but overall a nice…yet, crisp….evening. It surely looked like the Roos may be coming up against a tough opponent with the way SLU started and controlled the game. We had long stretches throughout and man were we ferocious in getting the ball back but the Roos were disciplined as well. But the type of goals SLU seemed to be trying to manufacture reminded me of Arsenal before Arteta showed up….minimum six passes in the box before a shot. Didn’t work much like it didn’t work this year for the team to pull away in tight games where they controlled much of the match or were competitive throughout the game. So we end with a game that essentially personified the whole year. Last thing….our defense will be reviewing that Roos’ corner kick goal over and over asking how they let that ball go unchallenged? Poor communication, effort, awareness….bummer of a play after being inches away from giving up a handball PK. I thought the soccer gods might be on our side after we defended that free kick.

Wow. Congrats to the team on that. It was looking like a 50/50 chance for sure. Helps with the disappointment of playing down a man for 80 minutes yesterday and ending the regular season on a low. Question: does Carlos's red carry over to the tourney or is there a reset after the A10 tourney?

3 successful PKs for SLU. UMass with two PK misses and one saved. Way to grind this one out.

Just looking at some data for fun from this year and last few years. 2024 Draws IU – Indy: 1-1; IU scored first then SLU scored later. Lipscomb 2– 2; Scored first early, then Lipscomb scored twice on either side of half. We tied in 83rd minute. La Salle 0-0; SLU shots 16, La Salle 7, SLU 14 CKs, La Salle 3 Charlotte: 0-0; SLU shots 9, Char 2, SLU CKs 7, Char 3 Fordham: 2-2; SLU scores two in first half; Fordham scores two in second with tying goal in 88th minute VCU: 1-1; SLU Scores early. VCU ties late (73rd minute). SLU shots 16 to VCU’s 4. 10 CKs for SLU, 1 for VCU. MO State: 0-0. SLU shots 7, Mo 10. SLU CKs 0, MO 5 Four draws were at home. 3 games of no goals at all. Came back from deficits in two games to tie. Two games we gave up late goals to tie the game. Season-to-season 2024 to date (7-3-7) Stats: 29 goals for; 13 Given Up; 1.7 goals per game; 0.76 given up; 13 shots per game vs 8 allowed. SOG 41% 2023 (8-4-5) Stats: 29 goals for; 17 Given Up; 1.7 goals per game; 1.0 given up; 12 shots per game vs 11 allowed. SOG 44% 2022 (12-5-3) Stats: 40 goals for; 24 Given Up; 2 goals per game; 1.2 given up; 13 shots per game vs 12 allowed. SOG 41% 2021 (16-1-4) Stats: 52 goals for; 18 Given Up; 2.5 goals per game; 0.86 given up; 15 shots per game vs 9 allowed. SOG 48% Trends: Wins downs, Ties up. Losses lower since '22. Goal production down. Goals given up down. Goals per game down, goals given up down. Shots taken fairly flat-ish, shots given up down. SOG % down. We aren’t getting the quality shots nor the finishing like we did in '21. Defense is actually holding up well though based vs offense.

4-1 Dayton. Second half. 71st minute.

I know I may get a 12 point rebuttal on this but the question still stands: "Was it too much to expect our success to have some momentum after 2021, new locker rooms, new athletic facilities, top talent coming here, StL City down the street, etc? It just appears to be too ripe a situation for there not to be more success on the field." Drawing against a solid team and program like MO State (who would ever think we would say that?) shows we can compete. I support these guys and Kalish through and through and that won't end. But a 10 match unbeaten streak with 7 ties is not something to brag about as much as something to raise questions on why we can't push through with outright wins? It would appear we have everything on paper to do so and enough time has passed to figure out personnel, system, strategy, etc. Going to be an interesting A10 tourney. Having to win it to go to the NCAA is a bit tiresome and a heap of pressure on the guys as well.

So many questions about a disappointing year thus far. My biggest question is why we are not seeing a "return" in terms of success after back-to-back top recruiting classes? Maybe it was too much to ask to expect a bit more from the youth and quality we are apparently bringing in and the experienced transfers. Maybe we need to spend less time on transfers so that these talented youth can gain experience (win or lose) so that they can develop? Where is Marcos Moore by the way? This is looking like another one of those seasons where, on paper, we should be nationally competitive, we should dominate the A10, and we shouldn't be shut out in 4 games. 2021....magical year. 2022....amazing year after losing so much in the draft. 2023.....top recruiting class but don't win A10 and miss NCAA. 2024.....repeat of 2023 looking possible. Was it too much to expect our success to have some momentum after 2021, new locker rooms, new athletic facilities, top talent coming here, StL City down the street, etc? It just appears to be too ripe a situation for there not to be more success on the field.

I know there will be plenty on tactics and formations regarding the SIUE game but I did find myself simply wondering last night what is exactly wrong with a team that brings in two top notch recruiting classes and does not meet reasonable expectations for results? Two straight years of trying to develop depth and but still having to put pieces together between existing players, freshmen and transfers on the field is a bit frustrating. It is a long season though and we can pull it together but I did not see this year starting out as pathetic as it has in terms of offensive output. We've ID'd talent but the output on the field is not aligned with the talent on paper. So, I do wonder if losing asst coach Kris Bertsch was more impactful than some may think. I have no inside knowledge but all coaches on a soccer team bring something unique to the table that helps a team succeed. Did he provide a quality that has not been easily replicated since he left? https://lindenwoodlions.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster/coaches/kris-bertsch/3821

Any color on the game on Monday from anyone? I was expecting a 3-0 scoreline at least but appears our offense is just not ticking in terms of finishing right now.

Others can opine on what exactly happened but a bummer of a game. I never thought we were "out of it" but boy were we toothless in the attack. To see only 3 actual shots and none by our forwards is disappointing. It is interesting to see our holding mid pairs swapping out now in the first two games......it is either Thiago and Brogan or Drake and Grady typically. Those are really important positions that require a steady presence by at least one person, instead of a rotation among four. Curious if that is simply looking for the right combo, fitness or taking advantage of depth? Second item is not seeing some of are heralded recruits who are supposed to be of the attacking ilk.....namely Moore and Delkus. There is a reason for sure but their status as two highly ranked recruits, leaves me wondering why they don't see the pitch? That said, Moore is coming off an ACL injury and Delkus is a freshman. There are reasons and no doubt the coaching staff want more offense than what they saw last night. Hopefully this is just a matter of finding the pieces that make the team excel down the road.

SLU v Indiana highlights. First goal about a minute in.