SLU Women's Soccer Thread

[courtside]

A shorter way to look at it:

SLU Women's Soccer team has the new soccer building in large part because of the Men's Soccer team. 

Both SLU Soccer teams will a place in the new sports building in large part because of Men's basketball.

Power 5 Women's Soccer teams have bigger budgets and more perks because of their football programs. SLU doesn't have to compete equally with Power 5 programs with all of these things, and they can't. But they can be competitive, stay in the game, and, they have been doing that lately with more to do. 

[Pistol]

Free seems like a pretty good deal to me. Great reason to go see this team play.

[Lord Elrond]

1 minute ago, Pistol said:

Free seems like a pretty good deal to me. Great reason to go see this team play.

Free is a great deal, hope to see everyone pack the stands, even if you paid for the tickets SLU women’s soccer is more than worth it. If you haven’t been to a game, it’s more than worth your time.

[Cowboy II]

-I realize my feelings have no worth at all as to the outcome of tomorrow's game but my gut tells me tomorrow will be the most difficult of the contests in the A10 Tourney for the Ladies

[Lord Elrond]

1 hour ago, Cowboy II said:

-I realize my feelings have no worth at all as to the outcome of tomorrow's game but my gut tells me tomorrow will be the most difficult of the contests in the A10 Tourney for the Ladies

You might be right.   Loyola-Chicago was the only A10 team to score 2 goals against the Billikens. On the other hand, they only got 4 shots off all game. If the Billikens play their normal defense and keep them down to only 4 shots, they should beat them.  I’m sure the outcome of the last game against the Ramblers is on their minds, and they would like a re-do, which they now have.  One of the Loy-Chi goal scorers against the Billikens, Madeline Barone, hasn’t played since October 8th. On the other hand, that made Jaimie Chibulka a starter (she was a sub who played 27 minutes against SLU back then), she was co-offensive player of the week last week for scoring in their last 2 games, so she’s making the most of her opportunity. Others on Loyola-Chicago who look to be prominent on offense are Abby Swanson and Megan Nemec. Loy-Chi has used a limited number of subs their last two games (only 2 & 3), with most players playing 90 minutes the past few games, expect the same.  The Billikens should win if they play their game, the first half against Loy-Chi wasn’t a good one for the Billikens, the second half was much better.

[Lord Elrond]

For the second year in a row in the tournament, St Joseph’s beats VCU. Other winners are Davidson and Dayton. If we beat Loyola-Chicago, we take on the lowest seed left, which means St Joseph’s. 

[courtside]

17 hours ago, Cowboy II said:

-I realize my feelings have no worth at all as to the outcome of tomorrow's game but my gut tells me tomorrow will be the most difficult of the contests in the A10 Tourney for the Ladies

 

Every game moving forward will be a challenge. SLU has to match the intensity and sense ot urgency for a full 90. And they will. 

If you recall the last matchup with Loyola, SLU had much success tactically after half time changing to 2 forwards paired up together and 1 defensive midfielder. It helps create more competitive numbers against a defensive team that can and does often play 8 behind the ball at times. (4-5-1) Switching up formations and personnel to start the game for SLU could be an effective way to apply early pressure to start the game. Scoring early opens up the game and it forces Loyola to play the way SLU prefers to play. SLU also can play higher. 

Loyola can be vulnerable in transition and with diagonal balls to the corners. Moving the ball East/West in the final third. (SLU had a nice one from Friedrich to Groark). The strength of their team is up the middle Kilburg/Abel through Swanson (All American) in the defensive midfield through Nemec (All American) who plays both center mid and up top. And they like to pinch the middle with their wings and wing backs. It’s helpful to use the width of the of the field, get good spacing and make them move East/West. 

Cibulka and Noonan are solid two way wingers who play deep but have the pace to get forward. Loyola has more playmakers than finishers but they are capable. Not strong on set pieces either way despite scoring one at SLU. They play hard, they defend, and they fight for 50/50 balls. Solid. They often don’t finish enough but they also don’t give a lot.

For SLU it’s limiting transition, mistakes/turnovers. double Nemec in the middle and collapse there. 

…………………

UCLA needs 10 goals combined in its last 2 games to overtake SLU for regular season scoring offense. (They are the only team left that can do so)

…………………

SLU RPI was 8 before and after Friday. Dayton is 52, VCU (off of the bubble) 70. Davidson 83. Loyola 104. St. Joseph’s 194 (finally broke 200).

Notre Dame 5, Arkansas 7, Xavier 27, Nebraska 68. 

…………………

 

 

 

 

[Taj79]

With their season now done, VCU scored 25 goals all year, over half of which came in four games.  Anyone wonder if an 8-3-8 VCU team is really an NCAA projected team now?  I think Davidson has a better chance if they get to the A10 final.  Have to beat a Daytont eam they lost to 1 to 0 at home earlier this year (providing our women win).

[Lord Elrond]

14 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

With their season now done, VCU scored 25 goals all year, over half of which came in four games.  Anyone wonder if an 8-3-8 VCU team is really an NCAA projected team now?  I think Davidson has a better chance if they get to the A10 final.  Have to beat a Daytont eam they lost to 1 to 0 at home earlier this year (providing our women win).

I think the answer to that is in courtsides post above. Their RPI is now 70, so as he put it they are off the bubble. No way they get selected now. 

[courtside]

52 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

With their season now done, VCU scored 25 goals all year, over half of which came in four games.  Anyone wonder if an 8-3-8 VCU team is really an NCAA projected team now?  I think Davidson has a better chance if they get to the A10 final.  Have to beat a Daytont eam they lost to 1 to 0 at home earlier this year (providing our women win).

As I recently posted, VCU was on the NCAA bubble heading into the A10 conference tourney. They needed to win 1 to 2 games to make the NCAA tourney. They didn’t, and their loss dropped them from 50 ish RPI to 70. They, as mentioned, are no longer on the NCAA bubble. They were 1 to 2 games at most from an NCAA Tourney invite, yes. It seems pretty straight forward. 

Virginia, for example, one of the best teams in the country, that plays in the ACC, a league you recently noticed, has played 18 games. They were shutout just 3 times. Two of those shutouts were by Florida State and Notre Dame, 2 of the best teams in the country. And the 3rd was VCU. A 0-0 draw for VCU at Virginia, was a big plus on their NCAA tourney resume. VCU also has a win against Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh of the ACC, is one of the better teams nationally. And they have a 14 RPI. Only 2 teams all season scored 3 goals against Pittsburgh. One is North Carolina, and, they’re pretty good. with an RPI of 3. The other is VCU. 

Davidson? The biggest strength of their team is defense. They are 4th nationally in goals against average. One of the bigger reasons why they were not considered an NCAA bubble team heading into the NCAA Tourney was their inability to score goals, along with a softer non-conference schedule.

You pointed out VCU only scored 25 goals this season. What if I told you that Davidson only scored 21 goals this year? And what if I told you that their non-conference schedule wasn’t nearly as strong as VCU’s non-conference schedule?

Perhaps it’s draws/ties that bother you. The NCAA decided to no longer play OT in regular season play beginning this season. (you also seemed to be quite bothered by a SLU Men’s 0-0 draw vs VCU) Perhaps you just don’t like VCU? Low scoring games? Who knows?

Davidson is a solid team, with an RPI of 84. However they have zero RPI top 100 wins. And they have zero RPI top 100 draws. Pretty tough to get an at large with that resume. 

 

 

[Lord Elrond]

An interesting discussion point for after the season is going to be the change the NCAA made regarding ties in the regular season. It has had the effect of creating many more ties than last year. Should they change it back? Something to think about.

[courtside]

Just now, Lord Elrond said:

An interesting discussion point for after the season is going to be the change the NCAA made regarding ties in the regular season. It has had the effect of creating many more ties than last year. Should they change it back? Something to think about.

I’d have to look it up final results, but at one point this season, the A10 led the country in draws as a league. That in part is why it will stand out more to A10 people.

SLU of course had zero draws all season and hence it has not been a big discussion for SLU. But as mentioned, getting a draw against a top level team is often considered a positive result.

Nebraska for example, has been hanging around, and hanging around, the NCAA bubble, in part because of their draws vs the RPI 23, 30, 38, 41 teams. They need to defeat Ohio State and possibly win one more, to get an invite, but they are definitely an NCAA bubble team.

[TheChosenOne]

What time is the game today?

[slufanskip]

30 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

What time is the game today?

1:00 I believe but you can double check it at slubillikens.com. 
 

If anyone is going come over and say Hi. I’ll be behind the Billiken bench south end 1st row where the railing begins. On the aisle. 

[Lord Elrond]

Game time 1pm, let’s pack the stadium! Roll Bills!

[TheChosenOne]

Looks like another dominating performance from the ladies! Keep it rolling Billikens!

[Adman]

3-0 final. Way to go, ladies!

[slufanskip]

3-0 SLU 2 goals by Heckel and 1 by Sawyer.

Not a lot of time but 

23-1 goal ratio the last 8 games. The 1 goal was vs Dayton

59/9 on the season

Our starting back line has 10 goals and 5 assists. 

6 players with 5 goals or more

4 with 6 + assists 

14 different Players have scored at least 1 goal and 16 have at least 1 point. That’s depth
 

 

 

[Lord Elrond]

I think this rematch against Loy-Chi was what our defense was looking for. Last time the Billikens allowed only 4 shots, but 2 of them went in. This time, our defense allowed only 1 shot on goal, and scored 2 goals and picked up 3 assists. Lyndsey Heckel and Sophia Stram are the two best center backs in the A10, I have no doubt about that. Brianna Halverson, Katie Houck, and Sydney Beach are the three best wing backs in the A10. Best goalkeeper in the A10, Emily Puricelli.  While the offense had rightfully gotten a lot of credit for their outstanding play this year, the defense has been outstanding this year as well.  Great unassisted goal from Hannah Sawyer to seal the victory. If you missed the game, you missed a lot of good play. Good news is you can still catch a game there 7pm Wednesday night as the Billikens host St Joseph’s (just posted on the A10 website). Davidson at Dayton is the other game.

[courtside]

8 hours ago, courtside said:

 

Every game moving forward will be a challenge. SLU has to match the intensity and sense ot urgency for a full 90. And they will. 

If you recall the last matchup with Loyola, SLU had much success tactically after half time changing to 2 forwards paired up together and 1 defensive midfielder. It helps create more competitive numbers against a defensive team that can and does often play 8 behind the ball at times. (4-5-1) Switching up formations and personnel to start the game for SLU could be an effective way to apply early pressure to start the game. Scoring early opens up the game and it forces Loyola to play the way SLU prefers to play. SLU also can play higher. 

Loyola can be vulnerable in transition and with diagonal balls to the corners. Moving the ball East/West in the final third. (SLU had a nice one from Friedrich to Groark). The strength of their team is up the middle Kilburg/Abel through Swanson (All American) in the defensive midfield through Nemec (All American) who plays both center mid and up top. And they like to pinch the middle with their wings and wing backs. It’s helpful to use the width of the of the field, get good spacing and make them move East/West. 

Cibulka and Noonan are solid two way wingers who play deep but have the pace to get forward. Loyola has more playmakers than finishers but they are capable. Not strong on set pieces either way despite scoring one at SLU. They play hard, they defend, and they fight for 50/50 balls. Solid. They often don’t finish enough but they also don’t give a lot.

For SLU it’s limiting transition, mistakes/turnovers. double Nemec in the middle and collapse there. 

…………………

UCLA needs 10 goals combined in its last 2 games to overtake SLU for regular season scoring offense. (They are the only team left that can do so)

…………………

SLU RPI was 8 before and after Friday. Dayton is 52, VCU (off of the bubble) 70. Davidson 83. Loyola 104. St. Joseph’s 194 (finally broke 200).

Notre Dame 5, Arkansas 7, Xavier 27, Nebraska 68. 

…………………

 

 

 

 

 

SLU did not start 2 forwards. Loyola at times was able to get the game played in the middle of the field in the first half. Solid 1v1 Loyola defending in their final third with good help defense in the middle. SLU wasn’t sharp in the final third, which happens, but they also weren’t strong enough on the ball in the final third with its 4 attacking players, which is more attention to detail. 

One thing that does not get discussed enough is that often times Emily Gaebe plays a lot of minutes without Larson, Groark, Friedrich, Kelly in the game. Yet she still occupies multiple defenders. and she still puts pressure on the defense. 

SLU had 2 or 3 close chances from pressing. Larson couldn’t get enough on the pass to a wide open Kelly for a tap in etc…Groark working the width on the left sidelines. 

…………….

In the 2nd half, SLU started 2 forwards  instead of 1, and they immediately applied lots of pressure, getting a goal in the first few minutes of the 2nd half.  (they switched back to 1 forward after the first goal. But it changes the tactics of the game as well as comfortability and confidence.)

One of SLU’S strengths is set piece offense. Mentioned that set piece defending wasn’t a particular strength of Loyola. A clumsy foul by Cibulka on Larson leads to a free kick with nunbers in the box for SLU for a goal Houck to Stram to Heckel. 

https://twitter.com/sluwsoccer/status/1586437346949566468?s=21&t=XjxWc0FrnC00Q6-xkHkK6g

A few minutes later a set piece corner from Friedrich kept alive by both Heckel and Stram back to Heckel for another.

https://twitter.com/sluwsoccer/status/1586439781772587011?s=21&t=XjxWc0FrnC00Q6-xkHkK6g

(Remember, Heckel and Stram were highly decorated attacking players at the high school level. They know how to find the goal.)

SLU also nearly had a 3rd earlier when Stram’s header off of a set piece corner from Friedrich hit the cross bar.

SLU’s 3rd goal was Heckel to Sawyer up the now less crowded middle. Sawyer was strong on the ball, shielding her defender, making the turn into a wide open midfield, as Loyola’s compact defense had to change down 2 goals. Sawyer takes the space. (if they give you space you take the space) and she finishes low far corner. 3–0. 

https://twitter.com/sluwsoccer/status/1586442917417291776?s=21&t=XjxWc0FrnC00Q6-xkHkK6g

Sure Sawyer’s goal was nice on a nice look from Heckel. But what about the the two way defense all the way back near the SLU end line in the first half? This is an added feature to her game this season. It gets you minutes, learning that from Friedrich and Groark.

………………..

Shots 20-1, corners 11-1. Probably will have some analytics stats next later.

…………………..

1) Play a more aggressive offensive formation to generate more offense, get a lead, force a defensive team to open up the game. Sometimes it’s a numbers game. 

2) Set piece offense.

3) Play stronger on the ball with a sense of urgency.

4) 2nd 11 over 90 minutes wears down some opponents.

5) Use the width of the field.

……………..

SLU’s RPI remained at 8 after the win over Loyola. 

………………

”We’ve been grinding all season and never really found our top gear. But all the credit in the world to Saint Louis because they currently have a gear we don’t. We learned a lot in our first year in the Atlantic 10, including what the standard is and where we need to improve.”

-Barry Bimbi, Head Coach, Loyola. 

 

 

[Taj79]

A10 website had attendance at 717.  Is that right?  

[Lord Elrond]

17 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

A10 website had attendance at 717.  Is that right?  

Seemed about right to me. About as many as the last two games, and they were around 800 each.

[Taj79]

I would think in a soccer-loving town, with such a highly ranked and regarded team, there would be more.  This comment is not meant as an up or down, just an observation.  Oh well.  Men's game last night drew 502 per the A10 boxscore which was only outclassed by the numbers at Davidson which drew about 645.  

[cheeseman]

1 minute ago, Taj79 said:

I would think in a soccer-loving town, with such a highly ranked and regarded team, there would be more.  This comment is not meant as an up or down, just an observation.  Oh well.  Men's game last night drew 502 per the A10 boxscore which was only outclassed by the numbers at Davidson which drew about 645.  

All of those attendance numbers mean nothing.  We were not playing for anything - we would have won the A10 regardless.

[Taj79]

In what way?