SLU Men's Soccer Thread

[kwyjibo]

SLU made it.  Away to Kansas City and then Mo State if they win.

 

[Lord Elrond]

We’re in! We take on Kansas City first, winner to take on Missouri State!  That’s probably the best draw we could have ever expected to have. 4 A10 teams in, Dayton, UMass Fordham and us, probably the most respect A10 soccer has ever got from the NCAA selection committee!

Now go out there and WIN!!!!

[Lord Elrond]

Nov 21st, 7pm, and we’re the host?  Did I read the bracket right? Guess we’ll find out

[SLUBALLS]

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?

[courtside]

12 minutes ago, kwyjibo said:

SLU made it.  Away to Kansas City and then Mo State if they win.

 

3rd best strength of schedule, and only 4 losses on the season. And SLU’s level of play in some of those draws was very high. 

[Speyburn]

18 minutes ago, Lord Elrond said:

Nov 21st, 7pm, and we’re the host?  Did I read the bracket right? Guess we’ll find out

Yes, we host the game.

[Lord Elrond]

https://slubillikens.com/news/2024/11/18/mens-soccer-billikens-host-kansas-city-thursday-in-ncaa-mens-soccer-championship.aspx

7pm Thursday at Hermann vs the Roos, winner goes to Missouri State Sunday.

[OkieBilliken]

I guess Dayton’s meteoric rise in the RPI pushed us over the top.   So happy for the team.   Wasn’t expecting this.   

[aj_arete]

Does anybody know what style of play Kansas City plays.  It appears they will be a formidable test with their higher RPI rating.  I was curious if stylistically, whether it is a good matchup for SLU or not.

[Gremio14]

2 hours ago, OkieBilliken said:

I guess Dayton’s meteoric rise in the RPI pushed us over the top.   So happy for the team.   Wasn’t expecting this.   

Their roster looks eerily similar to that of Missouri State….just a lot more Brazilians.  These guys are not going to be a walkover…

[Lord Elrond]

1 minute ago, Gremio14 said:

Their roster looks eerily similar to that of Missouri State….just a lot more Brazilians.  These guys are not going to be a walkover…

They took out Denver in the Summit League Championship, 2-1. Denver is ranked #2 in RPI at NCAA.com. The Roos are ranked #24, we’re #37, so don’t expect an easy game. They actually beat Missouri St 3-2 back on Sep 2nd, and they played Denver 3 times, beat them twice. Interestingly, they beat our basketball friends Avila 12-0. Not sure why the game is being played in St. Louis, they are ranked higher than us in RPI, plus they won a conf championship. Overall I think we’ve had a tougher schedule. No one should expect a bunch of pushovers.

[HoosierPal]

16 minutes ago, Lord Elrond said:

They took out Denver in the Summit League Championship, 2-1. Denver is ranked #2 in RPI at NCAA.com. The Roos are ranked #24, we’re #37, so don’t expect an easy game. They actually beat Missouri St 3-2 back on Sep 2nd, and they played Denver 3 times, beat them twice. Interestingly, they beat our basketball friends Avila 12-0. Not sure why the game is being played in St. Louis, they are ranked higher than us in RPI, plus they won a conf championship. Overall I think we’ve had a tougher schedule. No one should expect a bunch of pushovers.

Googling UMKC soccer reveals their stadium capacity is 850.  Nice looking stadium though, from the pictures shown.

[Lord Elrond]

35 minutes ago, Gremio14 said:

Their roster looks eerily similar to that of Missouri State….just a lot more Brazilians.  These guys are not going to be a walkover…

4 Brazilians, 4 Frenchmen, 4 from Spain, one each from Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic. Only 12 from the US.

If they were an MLS team, they could only have 10 foreign players on the team, each additional foreign player would mean they would have to buy a slot from another team, going rate $250-300k per slot, so this would have cost them &1,750,000-$2,100,000 in General Allocation Money (that’s what the MLS calls Monopoly money)if they were in the MLS.

[Gremio14]

42 minutes ago, Lord Elrond said:

4 Brazilians, 4 Frenchmen, 4 from Spain, one each from Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic. Only 12 from the US.

If they were an MLS team, they could only have 10 foreign players on the team, each additional foreign player would mean they would have to buy a slot from another team, going rate $250-300k per slot, so this would have cost them &1,750,000-$2,100,000 in General Allocation Money (that’s what the MLS calls Monopoly money)if they were in the MLS.

The only USA kid who saw the pitch for Missouri State was their keeper.  I’m guessing the same holds true for Kansas City….  I cannot fault them for the massive amount of skilled foreign players.  It is the only way schools like MSU and KC can compete with the SLU and IU soccer elites. 

[WUH]

2 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

Googling UMKC soccer reveals their stadium capacity is 850.  Nice looking stadium though, from the pictures shown.

I'll need to double check, but I do not believe it is a capacity issue.

UMKC must not have filed the paperwork necessary to host.

[Lord Elrond]

Patrick Schulte not starting tonight for USMNT, but I seem him down on the field warming up. Tim Ream is starting. Glad I got a seat under a canopy, looks like rain .

[courtside]

 

Kansas City Roos

KC plays a 3-5-2. 3 Center Backs, 2 Defensive Midfielders, 2 Wing Backs. 1 Central Attacking Mid and 2 Forwards. 

SLU 4-2-3-1.

KC is a possession team that turns it into offense in a variety of ways. Pace forwards and wings. Push size defenders forward on set pieces. They are unique in that they have started 22 different players and 19 of them have started multiple games. Lots of lineup tweaking. Higher scoring team and a higher volume shot team. 17 different goal scorers. 50 goals and 316 shots on the sesson.  7 goals in 4 games vs Denver (3) and Missouri State. 3 were wins. 

KC is a mix of rotation players that are half 1st year but experienced older players. And 2nd year players in their system. That combination has worked well for them this season. They have very few rotation players that have played more than 2 seasons with their team (Shibata is one) 

Kisoka is their star forward. Big time scorer a variety of ways up top. Size and Pace. Difference maker as an older first year player. Finishing end of set pieces and wide service, combination play, individual runs, etc…cannot lose him near the 18. Great touch near the goal. 

Kisoka will pair with a variety of players, but Kistmann and Taboada have been the most successful. Kistmann is a former STLCC stand  out forward. Combines well with Kisota and Le Bourdoulous. playmaker and scorer. Taboada set up wide sometimes. Shot taker with pace down the flank too. Shibata, Hoelting, Francou add depth there too. 

One constant is Le Bourdoulous who sets up behind Kisoka. Big playmaker creating and setting up the forwards. He takes almost all of their free kicks and corners.  Very good shot from distance.  Limit his set piece opportunities.

Cole is more of an outside back that gets forward. Good pace, hard working player down the flank. The opposite side is where they add more offensive punch. 

Fernandez and Galluccio in the defensive midfield. Less physicality, more distribution there. Cribb will also play in the back 5.

Somolinos Bravo is their best center back in the middle defensively. He will get forward aerially on set pieces with Munoz and Gosch. He is their best back line defender. 

McGaugh is a big physical 6’5 keeper having a good season. He was a former stand out local Juco player. 2nd and 3rd rebounds are an opportunity. with him.

SLU will likely play a 4-2-3-1. They will match pace for pace at outside back and the wings. And they will have to slow down the middle 3 up top. (Fournier at center mid, Townsend, Easton, Holloway) SLU will have a size advantage on set pieces offensively. Defend and counter. Win final 3rd set pieces. Push size forward. Play through the middle out of the back and reverse diagonal wide. Opportunity on the attacking wings for SLU as KC only plays 3 in back and all 3 are more traditional center backs.

[OkieBilliken]

SLUs all-time record versus UMKC is 11-0.  That is the kind of domination I am here for.  Pet peeve for me are the schools that took their state university affiliation out of their name.   Talking about you Charlotte, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Kansas City, Chattanooga, Omaha.   You guys will always be the little sisters of your flagship.   You can't hide it so embrace it.  UMSL better not try that crap.   

[slufan13]

Introducing the 2024 NCAA Men's Soccer Bracket Challenge. Bragging rights are at stake unless someone wants to put up an actual prize or we can actually do it for cash and you can venmo me. Please fill this out and either send it back in here, DM it to me, or email me at [email protected]. Also if I messed any of the matchups up let me know. All you have to do is fill out column D

 

2024 NCAA Soccer Bracket Challenge Template.xlsx

[courtside]

SLU’s 8th commitment in the class of 2025 is from Carter Knodle, Center Back from St. Louis City Academy. He’s the 7th St. Louis City Academy player to commit to SLU in the class. 

Carter excels as a traditional center back, 1/2 touch, fronting target passes, aerial duals, long balls in space, combination play, 1v1 physical defender. He previously played with Sporting St. Louis Navy.

 

[OkieBilliken]

Early scores today

UMass takes out Evansville 2-1

SIUE gets thumped by WMichigan 5-1 in the snow  (We should have done that)

Cornell and Fordham are in a thriller  2-2 with 20 minutes left

 

 

[OkieBilliken]

Horrendous own goal for Fordham.   Cornell 3, Fordham 2

[billikenfan05]

The Cornell fans are ROWDY

[OkieBilliken]

12 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

The Cornell fans are ROWDY

There is a lady with a pretty big mouth who is talking more than the play by play guy.  

[Lord Elrond]

Such a brisk breeze blowing at Hermann Stadium! It will get your attention, that’s for sure