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2 hours ago, slufanskip said:

UMass ties it up about 8 min into the 2nd half. One of the very few times in 2 years I think Purcelli misplayed a ball. She should have been about 3 yards off the line and stayed home giving the defender a chance to make a play. 
 

5 ish min later SLU goes back on top with a fantastic corner by HF and a great header finish by Hoeckel (sp). 
 

Another 5 ish minutes and SLU makes it 3-1 with a great play by Brianna H carrying the ball through traffic laying it off to the right for a shot by ? Gaebe on the rebound for the goal. UMass and the announcers seemed to think Gaebe was off on the shot, they were wrong. 
 

4-1 SLU on another great corner serve by HF and a nice header by Abbie Miller. 
 

A fantastic 2nd half by SLU to make it 4 straight NCAA tournament appearances. 
 

The ladies have faced a lot of adversity this year with injuries and early season disciplinary suspensions, but they look to be really finding their groove. 
 

I thought Caroline Kelly really stood out today consistently creating dangerous chances including the 1st goal. 
 

HF just consistently hits corners with amazing precision. She’s absolutely money on set pieces. 

I agree with these observations. Puricelli has been great for SLU but she would like that one back. She struggled with being off of her line a few times at Duquesne. The fact I can single out a game or two means it doesn’t happen often. Her aggressiveness vs Dayton Friday was very effective and good. This one, there were two defenders (Heckel was in range) closing the gap from the back side. Better to force a shot from distance at best there. 

Friedrich does a lot of things well. She doesn’t have the foot speed  this season with some injury issues at times. But she understands the game well. Consistent service. Defends passing lanes in the midfield. Has played in the middle more lately but wide today. She put herself in position for the header goal to take the lead on the back post. Kelly was a good target and turn, and has the length to hold off her defender. Good shot. Back out to Summers who outworks a defender for a shot off of the bar to Friedrich for the goal. Here is that one:

Here is Heckel’s from Friedrich:

 

Kelly has been more successful on the wing this year. Today and Friday she scored or put pressure from up top. Shields is a big fan of her ability. One positive is she kept her shots low and on target. She has had many over the goal this year even from close range. When you are struggling to finish, it helps to keep the ball down, with pace and not be too corner picky. Get it near the middle of the goal more. She is a nice combo player with Gaebe.

Summers took the shot with the Gaebe rebound. We talked about how Gaebe scores goals in a wide variety of ways, right, foot, left, foot, target, space, distance, pretty, ugly, power, finesse. She wins an enormous amount of corners too. Puts herself in position, going to goal. Summers had several chances again. She brings speed on the wing. 

Halverson made the great pass and play from left wing back to Summers for the shot and Gaebe finishing the rebound. She is such an important player for SLU. She makes box to box runs, often wide on right side, and cutting in diagonally on left side. It was her work and effort that led to one of SLU’s goals. She has speed moving forward at wingback, plays give and goes, low long distribution on target with pace. Recovery speed on d. Can take on a defender 1v1 or defend 1v1. When healthy, she’s a big difference maker for SLU. I would put her on the right and leave Houck and Beach left side. But she can play both. SLU likes to move players around during games based on personnel and situation. 

Less discussed, Karsen Kohl did a nice job in the middle of the field defending, but also connecting passes today changing fields especially in the first half when needed. 

 

Here is Miller from Walsh. Needed more of these set piece goals this year but they have been coming often lately. Heckel, Miller, Houck are the best targets with that. Stram capable too. 

3 out of 4 Atlantic 10 Regular Season Titles. 4 straight Conference Tourney Titles. 4 Straight NCAA Tourney appearances. Building a program. More steps to take. 

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We went and watched the first half of the game today. My daughter had to go to soccer practice at 1:30 since they won high school playoff game last night so we missed the fireworks of scoring live but we came home and watched the 2nd half.  Great day for SLU. Absolutely they were the better team on the field today.  Totally agree on Kelly, she was fantastic, felt like she totally dominated the game when the ball was around her.  Impressed with so many girls, but Halverson really stood out to us as well. Her 2nd half run through the midfield and subsequent pass that led to the Gaebe goal was phenomenal.  Congrats to the Coaches and team.  

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6 hours ago, Bearcat said:

We went and watched the first half of the game today. My daughter had to go to soccer practice at 1:30 since they won high school playoff game last night so we missed the fireworks of scoring live but we came home and watched the 2nd half.  Great day for SLU. Absolutely they were the better team on the field today.  Totally agree on Kelly, she was fantastic, felt like she totally dominated the game when the ball was around her.  Impressed with so many girls, but Halverson really stood out to us as well. Her 2nd half run through the midfield and subsequent pass that led to the Gaebe goal was phenomenal.  Congrats to the Coaches and team.  

Yep. It was a great day for SLU. Glad you were able to make it out to the game. 

Good luck to your daughter and her team Tuesday night. State Semifinals. Big accomplishment. Keep it going.

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19 hours ago, Bearcat said:

We went and watched the first half of the game today. My daughter had to go to soccer practice at 1:30 since they won high school playoff game last night so we missed the fireworks of scoring live but we came home and watched the 2nd half.  Great day for SLU. Absolutely they were the better team on the field today.  Totally agree on Kelly, she was fantastic, felt like she totally dominated the game when the ball was around her.  Impressed with so many girls, but Halverson really stood out to us as well. Her 2nd half run through the midfield and subsequent pass that led to the Gaebe goal was phenomenal.  Congrats to the Coaches and team.  

-your daughter ready to Be a Billiken? 

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SLU will open the NCAA Tourney at Ole Miss 7pm Friday Night. It should be nice weather. 

Ole Miss is good. And, they recruit the region. Good opportunity for SLU. 

They have a handful of All League offensive players with some firepower, and, a two time goalkeeper of the year in the SEC. One of their star offensive players, Channing Foster, played briefly for SLSG out of St. Louis. She is a 5 time All SEC player. She was drafted 32nd in NWSL draft this past year. 

Ole Miss played 9 different NCAA teams. 3 of those were out of conference teams, 6 in the SEC. And they had an exhibition with another NCAA Tourney team. Their RPI is 23. 

They were tied for the 3rd best team in the SEC this season, with South Carolina, behind Arkansas (regular season league champ) and Tennessee. They lost 3-2 in their Conference Tourney semifinals to eventual conference tourney champion Tennessee. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, courtside said:

SLU will open the NCAA Tourney at Ole Miss 7pm Friday Night. It should be nice weather. 

Ole Miss is good. And, they recruit the region. Good opportunity for SLU. 

They have a handful of All League offensive players with some firepower, and, a two time goalkeeper of the year in the SEC. One of their star offensive players, Channing Foster, played briefly for SLSG out of St. Louis. She is a 5 time All SEC player. She was drafted 32nd in NWSL draft this past year. 

Ole Miss played 9 different NCAA teams. 3 of those were out of conference teams, 6 in the SEC. And they had an exhibition with another NCAA Tourney team. Their RPI is 23. 

They were tied for the 3rd best team in the SEC this season, with South Carolina, behind Arkansas (regular season league champ) and Tennessee. They lost 3-2 in their Conference Tourney semifinals to eventual conference tourney champion Tennessee. 

 

 

-cool, I guess the ADept will use one of the corner screens to stream the soccer game during bball

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36 minutes ago, Cowboy II said:

-cool, I guess the ADept will use one of the corner screens to stream the soccer game during bball

In all seriousness I would not be a fan of this. But they should have it up in the concourse area and at concession stands.

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11 hours ago, courtside said:

ESPN College Game Day will be at Ole Miss this weekend for their Saturday night football game vs Texas A&M. 

They have a 6pm home basketball game Friday night, overlapping the soccer game. And, their Women's Volleyball team hosts LSU Friday at 6pm.

Alumni weekend there. 

Someone should bring a Billiken flag like they did when Game Day was at Mizzou a few years back.

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15 minutes ago, A10Ref said:

Ole Miss had a very volatile season (not unlike our Bills) with wins against various tournament teams and bad losses to teams like Mizzery. From my uneducated perspective, it seems like a good draw.

The Billikens got a huge break with this draw if you go by the RPI rankings.  They have the 9th worst RPI in the tournament but avoided a seeded team in the first round.  Now if they get past Mississippi, then the competition will be really tough in the second round.  They really got a break with a game they have a chance in the first round.  

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Ole Miss scouting report for those interested.

First, as mentioned, they are good. They finished 3rd in the SEC. They are battle tested. They have 5 wins over NCAA Tourney teams, and some draws too. Strong schedule. They played several good, non power 5 NCAA teams non conference .

Not a steady consistent type of team. Feast or famine. Great keeper, one of the best nationally, a scoring d mid, and two really good attacking mids both in the middle and wide.

They like to play a 4-2-3-1 similar to SLU’s formation. They had to adjust in the SEC Tourney because they were missing their right back. They may try 1 D mid instead and move the other to right back in that case.

Let’s start in back and move forward. Their keeper is one of the very best in the country, Ashley Orkus. Very good size and length. Does many things well. Strong leg. Getting her off off her line when possible would be a way to attack her.

Ole Miss D backs are solid. They may be missing one Friday. But their backs can be vulnerable on diagonal balls in the corners, set piece clears, traffic and scrums, etc…

Molly Martin is their leading goal scorer as a defensive mid because most are headers off of set pieces in the offensive end. This is their Abbie Miller. (Heckel, Houck) in that role. She is athletic, gets up high, strong finishes. 7 of her 10 goals have been headers.

Channing Foster is their former SLSG player originally  from Chicago. Central attacking mid. Very dangerous combo technical play with Haleigh Stackpole. Can finish from 18 out to 25 yards. Watch that left foot too. The two of them play with some flare in tight spaces. They often will play balls wide from the middle. 

Those have been their best 4 players.

Ole Miss plays direct, not an East/West possession oriented team. Quick counters and transition. They win a lot of corners, over a 100. Taylor Radecki is effective in the offensive third throw ins because she can throw it all the way across the box. 

I like the style of play matchup for SLU. If SLU can defend early and keep Ole Miss off of the board, they will get counter opportunities and set piece opportunities to get a lead. SLU will need to play well, and limit mistakes to win. Should be fun. 

 

 

 

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This will be a post about injuries and recruiting, (Today is National Signing Day) a couple of frequently asked about topics. 

As SLU prepares for its NCAA Tourney game this weekend, we can give a SLU commit update for 2023. We’ve done a few recently for 2022. 

There are some new readers and posters here. Some of these topics have come up as areas of interest. As many know, SLU had a lot of injuries this season, some season long injuries, some missed a few to several games, some played with nagging limiting injuries. But every team gets injuries. Every team has obstacles. SLU had their share this season, at times missing half of their starting lineup. It’s important to have some depth.

It was interesting to see SLU tweet out a photo of 3 injured players, all three with knee injuries, working hard, rehabbing. (There are others too) Two featured, are two of SLU’s best offensive players, that essentially, didn’t play this year. (Larson and Groark. Groark had a great summer and preseason, played small amounts in a few games) The other, Denison, was a previous starter/bench defender.

I bring this up because some have asked about injuries and time periods for return. It of course varies based on type of injury, severity, rehab progress etc…and individual player situation. This topic will lead into some SLU commit updates.

A previous local SLU recruiting target, Maci Teater, (DM) tore her ACL last year, she had surgery, and she sat out a while. She’s a North Carolina commit. (she considered SLU and likes SLU)

Teater played her first game 308 days after her surgery and rehab. And, this weekend she will play in the ECNL San Diego National Selection game, roughly 400 days after surgery. So, she’s also back playing at a high level this fall. (5 local players in two age groups are playing) So, this is an example of the time, effort, work, rehab put in, and, the results obtained after.

Six SLU commits will be playing with their club teams in San Diego this weekend. Each get 3 games vs some of the best teams in the country outside of their conference. 

2022/2023 SLU commits update:

2022 MF/F Taylor Krueger, MF/F finished her high school season, and, she will play in the National High School All Star game. She’ll begin her club ball season in the Spring. (Crossfire/Jesuit)

2022 Lauren Hiatt, D, finished her high school season as a State Semifinalist. She’ll begin club ball games later this month. (Tennessee Soccer Club TSC/Ravenwood)

2022 Becca Wolterman’s (GK) high school team finished their season with a 1-0 Regional Final/State Quarterfinal loss. She only gave up 5 goals all season. She will begin club ball games later this month. (Ohio Elite/Badin)

2022 Hannah Smith’s (F) club team will be playing this weekend in San Diego in the ECNL National Showcase. (3 games vs top national club teams) Her  U18/19 team is 7-3-0 in the Midwest Conference, and, they are ranked in the top 16 Nationally for their age group in the Top Drawer Soccer Club team rankings. (SLSG/Eureka)

2022 Ellie Paloucek MF, has been playing U18/19 fall club ball, Girls Academy. Her team is undefeated with two draws. 8-0-2 thus far in their fall club season. 2023 Nina Preusser, MF, younger sister of Jess) plays up on her team. Nina’s U17 team won state cup recently for the 5th time. (Sporting St. Louis Red Devils for both, and Webster Groves/Nerinx Hall)

2022 Clare Nicholas F/D finished 42nd in the Ohio State Cross Country Meet. She will begin ECNL U18/19 league play with Internationals SC (ISC) later this month. She and her club team were ECNL U18/19 National Runner up this summer, where she scored in the 3-2 final loss.

2023 Autumn Jackson, D, 2023 Lucie Schwartz, MF, and 2023 Jordan Gary MF, will all play in San Diego this weekend in the ECNL Showcase. The 3 club teammates have a club team ranking of 8th nationally right now in U17. They are 7-0-3 in league play. They have yet to give up more than 1 goal in a game. (SLSG for all 3 and FT Zumwalt West/Visitation Academy/Collinsville)

2023 Ashley Koch, F, will also be playing in San Diego this weekend with her team. They are 10–0-0 thus far in league play, and they are ranked 5th nationally in U17 in the Top Drawer Soccer Club team rankings. (KC Athletics/Shawnee Mission East)

2023 Macy Lutz, D, will also be playing in San Diego this weekend. Her club team is 5-1-2 in league play. Her club team is ranked 11th nationally in the U17 Top Drawer Soccer rankings in her age group. (Michigan Hawks)

2023 Maddie Sibbing, GK, and her team recently began National P.R.O. League play in USYS. (KCSG/Lee’s Summit North)

 

 

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On 11/9/2021 at 10:28 AM, courtside said:

Ole Miss scouting report for those interested.

First, as mentioned, they are good. They finished 3rd in the SEC. They are battle tested. They have 5 wins over NCAA Tourney teams, and some draws too. Strong schedule. They played several good, non power 5 NCAA teams non conference .

Not a steady consistent type of team. Feast or famine. Great keeper, one of the best nationally, a scoring d mid, and two really good attacking mids both in the middle and wide.

They like to play a 4-2-3-1 similar to SLU’s formation. They had to adjust in the SEC Tourney because they were missing their right back. They may try 1 D mid instead and move the other to right back in that case.

Let’s start in back and move forward. Their keeper is one of the very best in the country, Ashley Orkus. Very good size and length. Does many things well. Strong leg. Getting her off off her line when possible would be a way to attack her.

Ole Miss D backs are solid. They may be missing one Friday. But their backs can be vulnerable on diagonal balls in the corners, set piece clears, traffic and scrums, etc…

Molly Martin is their leading goal scorer as a defensive mid because most are headers off of set pieces in the offensive end. This is their Abbie Miller. (Heckel, Houck) in that role. She is athletic, gets up high, strong finishes. 7 of her 10 goals have been headers.

Channing Foster is their former SLSG player originally  from Chicago. Central attacking mid. Very dangerous combo technical play with Haleigh Stackpole. Can finish from 18 out to 25 yards. Watch that left foot too. The two of them play with some flare in tight spaces. They often will play balls wide from the middle. 

Those have been their best 4 players.

Ole Miss plays direct, not an East/West possession oriented team. Quick counters and transition. They win a lot of corners, over a 100. Taylor Radecki is effective in the offensive third throw ins because she can throw it all the way across the box. 

I like the style of play matchup for SLU. If SLU can defend early and keep Ole Miss off of the board, they will get counter opportunities and set piece opportunities to get a lead. SLU will need to play well, and limit mistakes to win. Should be fun. 

 

 

 

NCAA Tourney:

SLU 2  Ole Miss 1.

Very entertaining Women’s College Soccer Game. Two direct teams moving forward, attacking, combining passes, defending. Fun game. SLU was the better team, and they deserved the win. SLU matched the pace, played cerebral soccer with purpose, executed well, and, they were the more physical team. 

Bri Halverson and Hannah Friedrich played as well as you’d want, two way soccer, in the first half. They were all over the field. (Friedrich central attacking mid mostly, wing a little bit. Halverson both left and right back)

SLU pressured early in first ten minutes, Gaebe far post save for a corner. Heckel header wide off of the corner. Gaebe inside out pass to Summers behind the defense, save Orkus off of her line. 

Halverson made run after run offensively, taking the space, stepping through passing lanes, distribution from the back. Friedrich controlling the central midfield  offensively and defensively. Forcing turnovers, creating dangerous passing chances. This great pass here sent Mattyn Summers in for a 1-0 SLU lead. It was her 35th career assist, 2nd all time at SLU:

13 seconds later. Ole Miss game restart, long ball, then header from Stackpole, diagonal run from Mo O’Connor (she had a nice game) towards the box and split two flat footed SLU defenders who didn’t stop ball. 1-1. 

Emily Gaebe was a handful, putting pressure on the Ole Miss defense. She ripped a shot inside the 18 that banged off of the left post and back out. Later, here, she receives a target pass, beats a defender, and sends this great pass to get Carolyn Kelly in alone. Her shot had too much of the goal and was saved. Her rebound was just past the post. 

SLU put pressured late to win it. Gaebe chests a pass and turns, feeds across the goal mouth. Kelly had a shot saved top of the box. Then in the 88th minute, Halverson great ball down the wing for Gaebe, who centers, it’s headed away to Friedrich. Friedrich settles the ball, top of the 18, hits it, top left corner. 2-1 SLU, full time. Per SLU it was Friedrich’s 15th career game winner, 29th overall, and 6th in the 84th minute or later.

Offensive pressure came from Friedrich, Gaebe, Summers, Kelly, who put pressure on offensively. 

High level back line defensive rotation of Halverson, Heckel, Stram, Houck, Beach, who were all rock solid outside of the lone Ole Miss goal. Nothing wide and nothing through. Kohl and Miller broke up a lot of plays, won a lot of balls. Supported back line well. SLU pressured mistakes in the midfield, swarmed to the ball, and positioned well in back line support. Puricelli was solid.  Midfielders and forwards defended. Good bench minutes from several players. 

Radecki was dangerous multiple times 1st half, for Ole Miss, with her long throws across the box. But SLU had very good team defense to clear scrums. Foster and Stackpole were held in check much of the game despite their attacking ability and flare upfront in tight spaces and a few counters. Really nice collapsing defense with the four backs and 2 d mids. Took away top of the box and the wings, wide of the box all game. Tremendous effort. Zero corners and very few set pieces limited Martin’s effectiveness. Ole Miss had over 100 corners this season, but zero vs SLU. 

Shots were 14-12 SLU. Corners were 3-0 SLU. 

Puricelli 

Houck, Stram, Heckel, Halverson

Kohl, Miller

Kelly, Friedrich, Summers

Gaebe

Ole Miss came in #17th in United Coaches Poll and #23 in RPI, and the 3rd best finishing SEC team. The SEC recruits the Stl area and the region heavily. At least 8 Stl players have committed to SEC schools the past two years alone. It was a big win for SLU. 

Side note:

Some pregame SLU support came from a trio of 2023 SLU commits, all U17 SLSG club teammates, at the ECNL San Diego Showcase this weekend. Jordan Gary, Autumn Jackson, Lucie Schwartz:

 

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