SLU Women's Soccer Thread

[Taj79]

Puricelli got robbed.  I guess they couldn't name the whole SLU team ....... but they should have.

[Pistol]

It would be nice to finally play Davidson this season in the conference tournament final, give Puricelli another shutout, and show Davidson what it's like to see a real offense.

[billikenfan05]

6 hours ago, Pistol said:

It would be nice to finally play Davidson this season in the conference tournament final, give Puricelli another shutout, and show Davidson what it's like to see a real offense.

Unbelievably, Davidson and SLU have not met in the regular season since 2018.

[Taj79]

And they won't as Dayton beats Davidson 1 to 0.  Amazing goal.  Should be on ESPN's Top Ten.  Ladies win 2 to 0 on two penalty kicks.

[Lord Elrond]

No doubt St Joseph’s gave the Billikens a much tougher game than last time, but SLU gets a 2-0 win and will host the Flyers at noon on Sunday. They got a few more chances offensively than last game, especially in the first half, but still couldn’t find the back of the net. No upset magic twice in a row for St Joseph’s. Both goals on penalty kicks, one from Abbie Miller and one from Caroline Kelly. It should be a much tougher game against Dayton on Sunday, Itala Gemelli is an excellent offensive player and goal scorer. Roll Bills

[courtside]

2-0 SLU over St. Joseph’s.

4-2-3-1 for SLU vs a 4-5-1.

SLU forced many middle of the field turnovers in the visitor’s half of the field. Hannah Friedrich was all over the place forcing turnovers, getting off several shots around the 18. 

Getting the ball over top of a crowded midfield, and wide, using the width of the field, was effective when not forcing turnovers in the middle of the field. 6th minute Hock over the top to Kelly in behind the defense for a would be goal. Pulled down. PK Miller:

https://twitter.com/sluwsoccer/status/1587961737608892419?s=21&t=G7YOB5HcfkNZG-V7IOGTVQ

……………….

St. Joseph’s keeper Katie Cappelletti did a nice job keeping her team in the game. Several key saves on Friedrich, Larson in alone, Gaebe from a wing run, etc…in the first half alone. Kelly put one over the bar from in close. 

………………….

2nd half formation change for SLU to 4-1-3-2, and immediately is was very effective. (it has potential to start games, as well as extending it to 20-25 minutes)

Great through ball from Friedrich to Kelly for service to Gaebe who put it off of the cross bar in the opening seconds to start the 2nd half. SLU had a lot of success from Houck making runs, playing higher. She and all of the backs had accurate distribution and passing. Strong game. It was also Houck’s long throw to Kelly to force the 2nd PK for SLU. Kelly finish:

https://twitter.com/sluwsoccer/status/1587983286957228032?s=21&t=G7YOB5HcfkNZG-V7IOGTVQ

…………………….

SLU switched back formations after 10 minutes, at the same time Heckel just missed a goal on a Friedrich corner. Saved off of the back line far post. Groark was in alone shortly after from a Kelly forced turnover. Gaebe winning many corners as she does every game. 

St. Joseph’s relied on Daniels’ pace to create for herself and others. But they never did push more numbers up top. Defend and counter. They did have one good one later first half from Daniels to the wing cutting in on the right side but it was a harmless save for Puricelli. 

St. Joseph’s defended the 18 pretty well, final pass, blocked some shots, and had exceptional keeper play to stay in the game. Part of having a very willing back line also included two penalties from having to defend pressure quantity over 90 minutes.

………………….

Dayton made a big jump to 42 in RPI after their win. Bubble team. They are a good team and they have a lot to play for against SLU Sunday. 

SLU RPI was 8 and remains at 8 after the game.

 

[Lord Elrond]

SLU opponent Arkansas was beaten in the SEC tournament by Vanderbilt (they tied 1-1, Vandy won on PK’s 5-4)

SLU opponent Nebraska is in the semifinals of the B1G tournament, they beat Ohio State 4-0

SLU opponent Norte Dame is in the semifinals of the ACC tournament 

SLU opponent Xavier is in the semifinals of the Big East tournament 

Of local interest, both Lindenwood and SIUE are in the semifinals of the OVC tournament, SIUE plays its first game in the tournament today because it’s a 2 seed, Lindenwood beat Southern Indiana 2-1 in the first round, then beat SEMO in the second round (1-1 after overtimes, won on PK’s).  Missouri State is in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley tournament.

 

[Cowboy II]

-team has won 13 consecutive A10 Tourney games, impressive,  let's get to 14

[courtside]

1 hour ago, Lord Elrond said:

SLU opponent Arkansas was beaten in the SEC tournament by Vanderbilt (they tied 1-1, Vandy won on PK’s 5-4)

SLU opponent Nebraska is in the semifinals of the B1G tournament, they beat Ohio State 4-0

SLU opponent Norte Dame is in the semifinals of the ACC tournament 

SLU opponent Xavier is in the semifinals of the Big East tournament 

Of local interest, both Lindenwood and SIUE are in the semifinals of the OVC tournament, SIUE plays its first game in the tournament today because it’s a 2 seed, Lindenwood beat Southern Indiana 2-1 in the first round, then beat SEMO in the second round (1-1 after overtimes, won on PK’s).  Missouri State is in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley tournament.

 

 

Arkansas remained at 7 RPI after their draw with Vandy. Vandy advancing PK's. The result may be helpful for SLU to jump ahead of Arkansas for NCAA seeding. Keeping their RPI at 7 and not advancing was a good result for SLU purposes.

Nebraska is an NCAA bubble team playing a neutral site game with Michigan State (13 RPI). A loss will not hurt their RPI much and they'd sweat out the selection show. A win would definitely get them in to the NCAA tourney and much improve their now 53 RPI.

The Notre Dame game isn't going to matter much for SLU. ND is a 5 RPI playing 4 rpi Florida State. You can root for ND but I don't think FSU's seeding will drop beyond SLU with a loss.

The other game is UNC and Duke. You will want to root for UNC. Again, the rpi won't matter much in this game,but another Duke loss could move them below SLU in the seeding.

Rooting for 26 rpi Xavier is pretty straight forward. A win, and perhaps another win vs 26 rpi Georgetown would be the best case scenario there. Georgetown could make a seeding move if they win both the regular season and conference tourney.

Other games of interest for SLU today are Georgia vs South Carolina, UCF vs Memphis, Penn State vs Northwestern, Oklahoma vs TCU.

The value of the other lower RPI teams is selling how many NCAA Tourney teams did you play and defeat. It's a thing.

SLU could have said it has defeated 7 RPI top 100 teams for example. No Big Ten team has done that. No Big 12 team has done that. 1 SEC team has done that. 2 Pac 12 teams have done that. etc...But Loyola slipped to 101 today. Dayton presents another opportunity to get back to 6.

For SLU it's about defeating a good Dayton team. And it's about doing everything possible to get the best seed possible which would be a 2 seed. Right now they are likely a 2 or 3 with the lowest possibility being a 4. In the end the NCAA tourney is more/most about matchups. SLU will match up well with many to most teams. But some will be better matchups than others.

 

 

 

 

[Lord Elrond]

32 minutes ago, courtside said:

 

Arkansas remained at 7 RPI after their draw with Vandy. Vandy advancing PK's. The result may be helpful for SLU to jump ahead of Arkansas for NCAA seeding. Keeping their RPI at 7 and not advancing was a good result for SLU purposes.

Nebraska is an NCAA bubble team playing a neutral site game with Michigan State (13 RPI). A loss will not hurt their RPI much and they'd swest out the selection show. A win would definitely get them in to the NCAA tourney and much improve their now 53 RPI.

The Notre Dame game isn't going to matter much for SLU. ND is a 5 RPI playing 4 Florida State. You can root for ND but I don't think FSU's seeding will drop beyond SLU with a loss.

The other game is UNC and Duke. You will want to root for UNC. Again, the rpi won't matter much in this game,but another Duke loss could move them bemow SLU in the seeding.

Rooting for 26 rpi Xavier is pretty straight forward. A win, and perhaps another win vs 26 rpi Georgetown would be the best case scenario there. Georgetown could make a seeding move if they win both the regular season and conference tourney.

The value of the other lower RPI teams is selling how many NCAA Tourney teams did you play and defeat. It's a thing.

SLU could have said it has defeated 7 RPI top 100 teams for example. No Big Ten team has done that. No Big 12 team has done that. 1 SEC team has done that. 2 Pac 12 teams have done that. etc...But Loyola slipped to 101 today. Dayton presents another opportunity to get back to 6.

For SLU it's about defeating a good Dayton team. And it's about doing everything possible to get the best seed possible which would be a 2 seed. Right now they are likely a 2 or 3 with the lowest possibility being a 4. In the end the NCAA tourney is more/most about matchups. SLU will match up well with many to most teams. But some will be better matchups than others.

 

 

 

 

All that is true.  We have one more opportunity to affect the tournament seeding by our play on the field by beating Dayton, the rest is at this point are all factors out of our control. It would be great if the A10 could get multiple bids to the tournament, but I would REALLY prefer it be by means of us winning the automatic bid, and let Dayton worry about their bid.
 

For those who don’t know, in the NCAA tournament, in the first round the higher seed in those 32 games hosts, so playing in Hermann Stadium would be great, with an 8 seed or higher in our region that happens. For the next two rounds, the NCAA tournament has the highest seeds in the region host both games (so all 4 teams would come to one place, 2 games played in the second round, they then play the third round game at the same place). So getting the 1 or 2 seed in a region is a big deal. I would love to see those played at Hermann Stadium, but I think we will be a 3 or 4 seed, so that means traveling on the road. Again though, the only control the Billikens have is their play on the field in the one game remaining.

[Gremio14]

7 hours ago, courtside said:

2-0 SLU over St. Joseph’s.

4-2-3-1 for SLU vs a 4-5-1.

SLU forced many middle of the field turnovers in the visitor’s half of the field. Hannah Friedrich was all over the place forcing turnovers, getting off several shots around the 18. 

Getting the ball over top of a crowded midfield, and wide, using the width of the field, was effective when not forcing turnovers in the middle of the field. 6th minute Hock over the top to Kelly in behind the defense for a would be goal. Pulled down. PK Miller:

https://twitter.com/sluwsoccer/status/1587961737608892419?s=21&t=G7YOB5HcfkNZG-V7IOGTVQ

……………….

St. Joseph’s keeper Katie Cappelletti did a nice job keeping her team in the game. Several key saves on Friedrich, Larson in alone, Gaebe from a wing run, etc…in the first half alone. Kelly put one over the bar from in close. 

………………….

2nd half formation change for SLU to 4-1-3-2, and immediately is was very effective. (it has potential to start games, as well as extending it to 20-25 minutes)

Great through ball from Friedrich to Kelly for service to Gaebe who put it off of the cross bar in the opening seconds to start the 2nd half. SLU had a lot of success from Houck making runs, playing higher. She and all of the backs had accurate distribution and passing. Strong game. It was also Houck’s long throw to Kelly to force the 2nd PK for SLU. Kelly finish:

https://twitter.com/sluwsoccer/status/1587983286957228032?s=21&t=G7YOB5HcfkNZG-V7IOGTVQ

…………………….

SLU switched back formations after 10 minutes, at the same time Heckel just missed a goal on a Friedrich corner. Saved off of the back line far post. Groark was in alone shortly after from a Kelly forced turnover. Gaebe winning many corners as she does every game. 

St. Joseph’s relied on Daniels’ pace to create for herself and others. But they never did push more numbers up top. Defend and counter. They did have one good one later first half from Daniels to the wing cutting in on the right side but it was a harmless save for Puricelli. 

St. Joseph’s defended the 18 pretty well, final pass, blocked some shots, and had exceptional keeper play to stay in the game. Part of having a very willing back line also included two penalties from having to defend pressure quantity over 90 minutes.

………………….

Dayton made a big jump to 42 in RPI after their win. Bubble team. They are a good team and they have a lot to play for against SLU Sunday. 

SLU RPI was 8 and remains at 8 after the game.

 

This was the first women’s game i was able to watch this year.  Two comments:

1) The SJU offset striker Daniels has very good pace and decent skills.  If the word “pass” was in her vocabulary, we would have needed more than two goals to win the game.  I would have been furious if I was her wing…

2) The improvement in Caroline K.’s game from the last time I watched her is massive.  She is now a female version of Becher.

[courtside]

SLU’s RPI remains at 8 after a busy Thursday of games. 

SLU was able to finally slip past Arkansas, (9) but Penn State’s win over Northwestern, combined with other results, was enough to jump SLU. (7) The top 6 remained unchanged. 

Tough 2-1 loss for Nebraska vs Michigan State, as the Cornhuskers were the better team much of the game. playing aggressive, attractive, attacking soccer with nice combination play. Bubble team. (Anyone between roughly 30 and 60 rpi are bubble teams generally speaking)

Despite 3 highlight reel goals from Korbin Albert, Notre Dame settled for a 3-3 draw with Florida State (FSU advances in PK’s)

Xavier found late scoring 3-1 2OT over St. John’s. They will get a chance to inch forward with a win over Georgetown.

Controversial PK call (bad) with 37 seconds remaining and Alabama survived Vandy 2-1.

Georgia was able to draw South Carolina 1-1 but Gamecocks advance in PK’s. (SLU will want Bama to win the final)

Today’s games of SLU RPI interest, Stanford at Cal and UCLA at USC. (In addition, UCLA needs 7 goals to overtake SLU for regular season scoring offense nationally)

……………………

SLU vs Dayton this weekend. Mackenzie Lutz earned a 2nd straight 1st team defender for Dayton…her sister Macy, a 2023 SLU commit was in town last weekend, and, she brought her 3rd nationally ranked Michigan Hawks team for a U19 showdown against 4 of her future SLU teammates. This time it was Jordan Gary, Autumn Jackson, Lucie Schwartz, (Alyssa Bockius out with injury) coming out on top in a 3-2 thriller for SLSG. Audrey Smith’s team took a close 2-1 game as well. 

Other 2023’s Ashley Koch, Sam Deluca, Maddie Sibbing, Nina Preusser, are all doing well in Fall league play in club ball.

Eva Schreiber, a 4 year starter, helped lead her team to the DII-A Tennessee high school state title game for the 4th straight season. (2 state titles)

Jackson, Gary, Schwartz, (Bockius), Lutz, and 2024’s Hope Kim, Audrey Smith, will all be playing in next week’s ECNL showcase in Phoenix. (Audrey’s number one nationally ranked club team had an exciting late goal to preserve a 2-1 win in their 06 game to remain undefeated in league play for the past 2 seasons)

Ulla Sharp and Nina Preusser (state cup champs this Fall on two different teams) will be playing a national event with GA in Phoenix, in December.

Ashley Miller, who is playing USYS league play will be playing a national event in Orlando in December.

Addy Lang, and Ashely Koch are immersed in rugged ECNL league play near the top of the table. Their club is choosing not to take their U19’s to Phoenix. They will be hosting Autumn Jackson, Jordan Gary, Lucie Schwartz, Alyssa Bockius this weekend for a big game between two first place teams.

Cross state games this weekend as Gary, Jackson, Schwartz, (Bockius), take on Ashley Koch and Addy Lang. 

I think that’s everyone.

………………

Both Richmond and St. Bonaventure let go of their Women’s soccer head coaches last week in the A10. 

………………

[courtside]

SLU is seeking one of the four number 2 national seeds. Dayton is seeking an auto trip to the NCAA Tourney. Dayton will also enter squarely on the bubble with their 44 RPI.

We’ll see if Dayton once again plays a 4-4-2 against SLU, or if they play a 3-5-2 as they have more recently, after losing Raimondi and Sheldon to injury. 

Hegg is likely to replace Raimondi at left back. If Sheldon can’t give it go on left wing, Huber will move to there from up top, and Goins will play up top with Gemelli, with Benigno just behind them. 

Either way, Dayton will likely play their wings super deep. SLU will have Halverson and Houck playing higher at outside back, and, taking the space in the attack when possible, playing triangles and diagonal ball's. SLU can play more diagonal balls to make Dayton move East West in the final third.

If Dayton only plays 3 in back, not something they prefer vs the Billikens, SLU will find the corners. If Dayton isn’t effective with their physicality and collapsing with their wings and backs, and SLU can get good spacing, 1v1 battles in space with pace would be an advantage for SLU. Dayton isn’t going to be able to match the pace, but they will be physical.

Reda has been a solid first year keeper all season. Donley has been a back line find, a converted forward. 

Dayton will want to play the middle of the field wings to the 3 up top in the middle hoping for some counter numbers there. SLU will want Dayton’s back line to play higher than Dayton prefers, and for the game to open up much more from the outset.

SLU will likely play 4-2-3-1 unless or until they need more offense. That would choose to wear Dayton down over 90 minutes. But a 4-1-3-2 is there for taking if they want to be more aggressive, or later if more offense is needed.

……………………

SLU RPI is still 8. 

USC upset UCLA 2-0. And with it, they moved into the top 15 RPI with a few big wins. And Stanford gets the regular season Pac 12 Title even though they had a 1-1 draw with Cal. For SLU purposes, it just crowds the field and adds a third team from their league to compete for seeding. (The Big Ten added a 2nd team the day before and so forth.) If SLU wins it will have earned a 2 seed. But it will go up against some other very good teams from higher profile leagues for seeding.

 

 

[TheChosenOne]

Looks like a much better day today than yesterday to enjoy an afternoon of soccer and celebrate a championship! Boo hiss Dayton!

[Lord Elrond]

Weather should be great, let’s pack the stands and cheer the Billikens on to a win!

[Major Majerus]

When is game time?

[bauman]

5 minutes ago, Major Majerus said:

When is game time?

noon

[Billikenbooster]

3-0 first half

[slufanskip]

5 minutes ago, Billikenbooster said:

3-0 first half

Actually 2-0 at halftime with goals by Larson and Gaebe. 3rd goal scored by Hannah Freidrich making her the Bills all time leading point getter for the Bills. 
 

Congratulations to Hannah, what an amazing accomplishment for an incredible player 

[slufanskip]

4-0 win with the final goal by Kelly with a nice individual effort by Larson for the assist. 
 

9-0 for the tournament. 
 

2800+ in attendance 

Bill and Dan if you are discussing the 94 USMNT World Cup team … how about a mention of Mike Sorber

All tournament team included

Groark, Halverson, Heckel, Houck, Larson, Kelly, and Stram.  Heckel tournament MVP.  The keep we just scored 4 against was the Keep. Purcelli slighted again. WTF
 

[BrettJollyComedyHour]

7 minutes ago, slufanskip said:

4-0 win

It was such a fun game to watch, too! All Bills.

[willie]

Could have been 8-0

[BrettJollyComedyHour]

13 minutes ago, willie said:

Could have been 8-0

Props to Dayton's freshman goaltender, she carried the team at times.

[slufanskip]

37 minutes ago, willie said:

Could have been 8-0

Should have been. As good as we were we made the Keeps job easy on a few chances that should have been put away. 

[Lord Elrond]

A big win, and a shutout. 4-0 looked pretty darn good in person at Hermann Stadium. NCAA selection show is 2:30pm tomorrow. It will be interesting to see where the Billikens are seeded in the bracket.

Looks  like SIUE also is in the tournament, they won the OVC championship 1-0 over Tenn Tech.  And Missouri State is in, 1-0 win in the MVC championship over Murray State.