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Men's Soccer 2019


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Skip I don't think you would have a problem bringing your dog, especially an afternoon game. I'd try the East side entrance near the baseball field and parking garage. 

Speaking of afternoon games, SLU will be the 4th seed in A-10 Tourney and will play Fordham (5 seed) once again next Saturday at 2pm at home. A win will take them to Fordham (this year's A-10 Tourney host) the following weekend.

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On 9/19/2019 at 12:50 PM, courtside said:

Donny Ross, defender/back, from Priory High School, class of 2021, has made an early commitment today to SLU. He previously was named to the best 11 at the 16’s United States Youth Soccer National Championships with St. Louis Scott Gallagher, and he has trained with St. Louis FC Academy.

His cousin Cole is a Senior midfielder and team Captain at Chaminade. His other cousin Scott, Cole’s brother, a Chaminade alum and former Captain there last year (both sons of Scott, who was a defender at DeSmet/SMU) is a Freshman soccer player at Southern Indiana. All have played in the St. Louis Scott Gallagher and St. Louis FC systems.

 

2021 SLU soccer commit Donny Ross underwent successful ankle surgery this morning and is expected ready for Spring ball. (no high school playoffs for him this fall at Priory) His 2021 cousin Cole Ross, a SLU recruiting target (Akron, SMU) completed a very strong scoring season last night (Chaminade) in their playoff loss to DeSmet.

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4 minutes ago, Wendelprof said:

Disappointing to hear that they lost today, but completely disagreee with your second sentence.  Kalish has the team and the program heading in the right direction.  Give him time.  The recruiting is going well and the future looks better than it has in years.  

You spend the entire season tied or holding the top spot in the table and piss it away with 2 home losses to the same team. That’s a failure 

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I didn't see the game, but my best guess is we just didn't match up well with Fordham.  Happens in all sports.  Sometimes one team just doesn't match up well against another team and you get an "unexpected result."  My guess is Kalish would also be the first to say the last two games were a failure.  But that doesn't make the whole season a failure.  That's a spur of the moment emotional over-reaction.  Kalish has turned the program around, has started to generate excitement again for the program, and appears to have recruits lined up to keep the momentum going.  Vent about the day, the week, but not the season or the coach.

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15 minutes ago, Wendelprof said:

I didn't see the game, but my best guess is we just didn't match up well with Fordham.  Happens in all sports.  Sometimes one team just doesn't match up well against another team and you get an "unexpected result."  My guess is Kalish would also be the first to say the last two games were a failure.  But that doesn't make the whole season a failure.  That's a spur of the moment emotional over-reaction.  Kalish has turned the program around, has started to generate excitement again for the program, and appears to have recruits lined up to keep the momentum going.  Vent about the day, the week, but not the season or the coach.

I think there’s valid reason to question the coach. He did nothing to change the attack at some point in the second half of the first loss and couldn’t find a way to attack Fordham in the second game after watching his team match up with them just a week before. 

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Truth is often times in the middle. And I believe it is the case with the immediate above posts. 

There are some that seem to give unconditional praise to Kevin. That is unrealistic and inaccurate to this point. Deciding whether or not a season is a success or failure based on two games is also unrealistic and inaccurate...as is deciding the results tenure of a coach after two seasons.

Credit goes to the good non-conference schedule and spacing of it this year. However non-conference results were poor. SLU was able to bounce back in league play up until a few of the late games. (The Dayton loss was not good either) 

The A-10 is not an elite soccer league. Finishing 4th is a disappointment. SLU's best non-conference RPI win was over #62 Marquette. That isn't good either. SLU had a handful of wins over top 75-100 RPI teams non-conference. Again the schedule was good. But SLU wasn't ready for the more elite teams. (UVA, SMU lost combined 5-0) and ND a loss and Denver a win were not as good as expected this season. SLU had a 46 RPI prior to today. 

Kalish deserves and will get his chance and his time to build something. The first two season results have shown it will not be a super fast build. SLU is where they have been for quite a while. Hopefully that will improve in the next couple of seasons. If it doesn't, we will be talking about the next SLU men's soccer coach. But make no mistake, Kevin will get time to get it going and get annual NCAA's mixing in deeper runs as those are the expectations at SLU. That is fair. It is unrealistic to be on the hot seat after year two unless disastrous things have happened, and they haven't. SLU has an average D-1 soccer program at this timr for quite a while, with average resources and support for it. What matters are results, and, until those results change, it is what it is.....it's been a while and a few coaches ago since SLU was a regular deeper run NCAA team.  Maybe next year. 

 

 

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5 hours ago, courtside said:

Truth is often times in the middle. And I believe it is the case with the immediate above posts. 

There are some that seem to give unconditional praise to Kevin. That is unrealistic and inaccurate to this point. Deciding whether or not a season is a success or failure based on two games is also unrealistic and inaccurate...as is deciding the results tenure of a coach after two seasons.

Credit goes to the good non-conference schedule and spacing of it this year. However non-conference results were poor. SLU was able to bounce back in league play up until a few of the late games. (The Dayton loss was not good either) 

The A-10 is not an elite soccer league. Finishing 4th is a disappointment. SLU's best non-conference RPI win was over #62 Marquette. That isn't good either. SLU had a handful of wins over top 75-100 RPI teams non-conference. Again the schedule was good. But SLU wasn't ready for the more elite teams. (UVA, SMU lost combined 5-0) and ND a loss and Denver a win were not as good as expected this season. SLU had a 46 RPI prior to today. 

Kalish deserves and will get his chance and his time to build something. The first two season results have shown it will not be a super fast build. SLU is where they have been for quite a while. Hopefully that will improve in the next couple of seasons. If it doesn't, we will be talking about the next SLU men's soccer coach. But make no mistake, Kevin will get time to get it going and get annual NCAA's mixing in deeper runs as those are the expectations at SLU. That is fair. It is unrealistic to be on the hot seat after year two unless disastrous things have happened, and they haven't. SLU has an average D-1 soccer program at this timr for quite a while, with average resources and support for it. What matters are results, and, until those results change, it is what it is.....it's been a while and a few coaches ago since SLU was a regular deeper run NCAA team.  Maybe next year. 

 

 

I should be clear that Kalish’s seat isn’t even lukewarm in my eyes. But he should criticized for his game plan and inability to adjust with a game plan to beat a team you just played a week ago

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I disagree with the criticism of Kalish on game planning. We dominated the game double the shots and about 13 or 14 corners. We just couldn't finish, the coach can't do that. They certainly had opportunities to score. 

Each team got a PK and both keeps made the save. I wonder how often that happens. The Fordham PK was just a bad, bad call. One of those plays where both players struck the ball at exactly the same time at opposite sides. You could hear and see it. The ref was way behind the play. In fact, he couldn't keep up all game and the sideline refs wouldn't chime in. Imo the Bills PK was a poor call also. Both players had hands on each other in the box and were tugging. Our guy went down easy, I would not have made the call and it was right in front of me. Again the ref was way behind the play. Sorry to all us big guys out there, but if you're not in good enough shape to at least be able to get to the general area of most plays you shouldn't be officiating. And sideline refs, you're there for a reason other than just calling offsides. 

As far as the season goes, I agree a disappointment and Kalish is the Coach, so right, wrong, fair, or unfair, a disappointment for the team is a disappointment for the coach. I think failure is the wrong word. 

I saw a lot of good things especially on the back line. 

Schulte - Freshman and clearly one of the best young keeps in the country.

Mujeeb Murana - Frosh defender. Despite his error on the back pass to the keep (either mishit or was just to soft, I didn't get a great look) that set up the wining goal, this kid was all over the place and dominated the right side. Big, strong, fast, and skilled. He's very good now and will only get better. 

Chase Niece a soph central defender also had a good game. I liked what I saw and think he has a good future. Probably not a star but a nice sized, solid central defender for the next 2 years. 

John Klein another soph for is just all over the place. Quick and feisty he'll obviously be a mainstay for the next 2 years. 

Kipp Keller another frosh listed as a MF/DF.  I loved him as much as I loved Mujeeb Murana, maybe more. Big, fast, skilled on the ball, and just all over the place. If I had to chose a favorite player that I look forward to watching going forward based on this game, it's Kipp

Stefan Stojanovic another frosh that looks to have some nice potential up top

Simon Becher a soph forward that transferred in this year. Just based on this game he seemed a step slow, but had some success throughout the year despite limited minutes, so it might be just a bad take by me. 

We graduate at least half of our points. Imo we looked really strong for the future in the MF, Keep, and back line. We will need huge leaps in scoring from Belcher,  Stojanovic, or someone else. Boyce and Noveas dominated our scoring this year and they are both gone. 

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Also Strong Kudos to the Fordham team (who I was strongly disliking during the game) Numerous Fordham players immediately went over to Mujeeb Murano who was clearly distraught and upset after the game. You could tell he was blaming himself for the loss. They were there quickly and consoling him as were numerous Bills. However, I expect the Bills to be there for him. I thought the Fordham players went above and beyond to console him and I'm sure, offer him support. Great sportsmanship Fordham. Thank You. 

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5 hours ago, slufanskip said:

I disagree with the criticism of Kalish on game planning. We dominated the game double the shots and about 13 or 14 corners. We just couldn't finish, the coach can't do that. They certainly had opportunities to score. 

Each team got a PK and both keeps made the save. I wonder how often that happens. The Fordham PK was just a bad, bad call. One of those plays where both players struck the ball at exactly the same time at opposite sides. You could hear and see it. The ref was way behind the play. In fact, he couldn't keep up all game and the sideline refs wouldn't chime in. Imo the Bills PK was a poor call also. Both players had hands on each other in the box and were tugging. Our guy went down easy, I would not have made the call and it was right in front of me. Again the ref was way behind the play. Sorry to all us big guys out there, but if you're not in good enough shape to at least be able to get to the general area of most plays you shouldn't be officiating. And sideline refs, you're there for a reason other than just calling offsides. 

As far as the season goes, I agree a disappointment and Kalish is the Coach, so right, wrong, fair, or unfair, a disappointment for the team is a disappointment for the coach. I think failure is the wrong word. 

I saw a lot of good things especially on the back line. 

Schulte - Freshman and clearly one of the best young keeps in the country.

Mujeeb Murana - Frosh defender. Despite his error on the back pass to the keep (either mishit or was just to soft, I didn't get a great look) that set up the wining goal, this kid was all over the place and dominated the right side. Big, strong, fast, and skilled. He's very good now and will only get better. 

Chase Niece a soph central defender also had a good game. I liked what I saw and think he has a good future. Probably not a star but a nice sized, solid central defender for the next 2 years. 

John Klein another soph for is just all over the place. Quick and feisty he'll obviously be a mainstay for the next 2 years. 

Kipp Keller another frosh listed as a MF/DF.  I loved him as much as I loved Mujeeb Murana, maybe more. Big, fast, skilled on the ball, and just all over the place. If I had to chose a favorite player that I look forward to watching going forward based on this game, it's Kipp

Stefan Stojanovic another frosh that looks to have some nice potential up top

Simon Becher a soph forward that transferred in this year. Just based on this game he seemed a step slow, but had some success throughout the year despite limited minutes, so it might be just a bad take by me. 

We graduate at least half of our points. Imo we looked really strong for the future in the MF, Keep, and back line. We will need huge leaps in scoring from Belcher,  Stojanovic, or someone else. Boyce and Noveas dominated our scoring this year and they are both gone. 

Nice analysis.  The player who impressed me most yesterday was #22.  Smooth playmaker who appears to see the game a couple of steps ahead of his teammates.  One example is the sweet through ball 22 played to Boyce late in the second half.  Had Boyce been on the same wave length as Kidd,  and running into space, the former would have found himself  past the Fordham back four and one on one with the keeper.   And I like Boyce....just wish SLU had a forward who saw the game the way  Kidd does.

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1 hour ago, Gremio14 said:

Nice analysis.  The player who impressed me most yesterday was #22.  Smooth playmaker who appears to see the game a couple of steps ahead of his teammates.  One example is the sweet through ball 22 played to Boyce late in the second half.  Had Boyce been on the same wave length as Kidd,  and running into space, the former would have found himself  past the Fordham back four and one on one with the keeper.   And I like Boyce....just wish SLU had a forward who saw the game the way  Kidd does.

Thanks

I like Boyce also but he's Sr which is why I didn't focus on him. I also like Kidd and probably could have mentioned him but I was trying to concentrate on the Freshman and Soph's. More of a looking forward thing. I know a Jr still has a year, but just kinda looking longer term.  Don't remember the pass you're talking about but sometimes different angles see different things. I was on the away side North end at about the 30 yard mark

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37 minutes ago, Clock_Tower said:

Skip.  Do we have a talent gap?   Thanks to all the Seniors for your time here... but we now have higher standards?  Seems like our Frosh sure played alot.  Another year of new talent?   Another year of learning Coach’s systems?   

I don't know that I'd say that. I think Kalish has probably picked up the recruiting. Of the 10 players who started the majority of the games (including the Keep, so 9 field) 

3 Freshman, 2 Soph, 3 Jr's, and 2 Sr's. The Sr's Boyce and Noveas are pretty good. However, I don't think either of them are at the level that are best players were 10 years ago. I think the 3 Freshman I named could be up to previous standards. Kalish needs to have another class where he gets 2-3 higher caliber starters as Freshman and we need to see a couple of top notch goal scorers

With that all said. I didn't see as much this year as I have in years past. There are probably better posters to hear from. Though disappointed in the end. I feel the excitement for the program returning for me

 

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Bob Warming came to SLU during my tenure. Was told the days of SLU domination were over. Too much parity... But transfers of local kids who had gone elsewhere  came home.  Some of the better kids started to stay home.  Recruiting increased as did coaching.   NCAA tournaments and Final Four soon followed. Hoping for the same. 

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Skip, great summary as well.  I caught the second half; must have missed you when I walked in.  Decent group of students were there on the east side as well.  

The play that led to the goal was horrific for sure.  Agreed on how the Fordham's players conducted themselves after the final whistle and went over to MJ to console him. 

Skip, one thing I am surprised you didn't mention though was just how much we saw the ball in the air instead of on the carpet.  I know Becher certainly has the size to play that target-forward role, but we seemed to be lofting it way too much forward. It just disrupted the rhythm immensely and we had the skill level and speed to break down Fordham without resorting to long balls.  

Also, I know you mentioned Stefan Stojanovic but he has not lived up to his full-scholarship profile....so it is still about potential for sure with him. He was one people were excited about given the level of play he was exposed to and success he had scoring at that level.  Hoping he can pick it up this spring and make a major impact next fall because we need an elite scorer.  We need one that puts the fear of God in the backline.  

I like what we have coming back.  Hopefully this Icelandic defender can make a more of an impact as well.

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27 minutes ago, SLUBALLS said:

Skip, great summary as well.  I caught the second half; must have missed you when I walked in.  Decent group of students were there on the east side as well.  

The play that led to the goal was horrific for sure.  Agreed on how the Fordham's players conducted themselves after the final whistle and went over to MJ to console him. 

Skip, one thing I am surprised you didn't mention though was just how much we saw the ball in the air instead of on the carpet.  I know Becher certainly has the size to play that target-forward role, but we seemed to be lofting it way too much forward. It just disrupted the rhythm immensely and we had the skill level and speed to break down Fordham without resorting to long balls.  

Also, I know you mentioned Stefan Stojanovic but he has not lived up to his full-scholarship profile....so it is still about potential for sure with him. He was one people were excited about given the level of play he was exposed to and success he had scoring at that level.  Hoping he can pick it up this spring and make a major impact next fall because we need an elite scorer.  We need one that puts the fear of God in the backline.  

I like what we have coming back.  Hopefully this Icelandic defender can make a more of an impact as well.

Thanks. I agree with the ball being played in the air long probably too much, probably should have mentioned it. You know what I think about depending too much on the long ball. However, early on we played out of the back a lot especially from the keep. In the 2nd half they really seemed to want to take that away and pressured our defenders looking to receive the ball. I mentioned this exact thing to my friend who came with me. We seemed to only leave 2 players back for the keep to play the ball to also. I wondered why we didn't bring a 3rd player back. In the end though we had a lot of chances. Regarding Stojanovic, I was really only going on my observations from that one game. I thought he was strong on the ball and made good decisions when he was in. However, I just looked at his stats and you are completely right for the season he has 1 assist in almost 600 minutes which is not good for a player we need to depend on to score. Our ability to put the ball in the net worries me for next year. 

Any idea on what we have committed for next year? 

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