SLU Women's Soccer Thread

[courtside]

 

Scouting Missouri

The Tigers are like to play a 3-5-2. SLU will want to speed up the pace and flow of the game from the opening whistle. Find diagonal corner spaces in the attacking third. 

Missouri lost 4 of their more experienced and productive players to graduation, and one to transfer. A few Freshmen, and several returning players have injuries and will not play. It will not be a deep bench for the Tigers. SLU has a chance to wear down Missouri in the 2nd half with depth. 

But Missouri does start and play mostly experienced players at almost every position, despite many not being Seniors. They are counting on several Sophomores and Juniors to take a step forward. 

The strength of Missouri’s team has been its defense, doing enough to keep games lower scoring. Yang and Meador are multi year starters on the back line. Larson is a converted wing. 

Their offense has some talented individual players but they lack pure sniper scorers and cohesiveness in their attack sometimes. They score by committee. And you want to keep them from having a break out game offensively. Limit mistakes defensively. Make high percentage plays and decisions. 

There are several familiar faces on Missouri as many either played with or against many SLU players in club ball and even in high school ball in some instances. A long list. And a few have played on the same Summer ball team as some SLU players. SLU also recruited a few of Missouri’s players. And of course Autumn Jackson is now a Tiger. 

Probables:

Carillo and Buels F

Derucki lw 

Deveraux rw

Canada cam

Chianelli Good DM

Yang, Meador, Larson 3 backs

Phillips GK

Moran has been a cam sub for Canada and Brauner. (Injury)

Schaeffer will play some wing. 

Chambliss and Vetter will play some up top. 

Bryant dmid sub. 

lamothe lw sub

Derucki and Buels will be primary scoring threats with Devrouax as a playmaker. Mizzou plays her wide instead of inside where she had some Summer ball success. (Played Summer ball with Howard, Smith, Miller, Preusser) Carilllo has a lot of experience. Canada has moved up to the central attacking midfield. Mizzou is experienced up the middle defensively. 

[RollBills82]

Fixed

[courtside]

SLU’s official visitor for the Mizzou game committed to SLU after the game. 

[courtside]

On 8/23/2025 at 4:04 PM, courtside said:

 

 

Scouting Missouri

The Tigers are like to play a 3-5-2. SLU will want to speed up the pace and flow of the game from the opening whistle. Find diagonal corner spaces in the attacking third. 

Missouri lost 4 of their more experienced and productive players to graduation, and one to transfer. A few Freshmen, and several returning players have injuries and will not play. It will not be a deep bench for the Tigers. SLU has a chance to wear down Missouri in the 2nd half with depth. 

But Missouri does start and play mostly experienced players at almost every position, despite many not being Seniors. They are counting on several Sophomores and Juniors to take a step forward. 

The strength of Missouri’s team has been its defense, doing enough to keep games lower scoring. Yang and Meador are multi year starters on the back line. Larson is a converted wing. 

Their offense has some talented individual players but they lack pure sniper scorers and cohesiveness in their attack sometimes. They score by committee. And you want to keep them from having a break out game offensively. Limit mistakes defensively. Make high percentage plays and decisions. 

There are several familiar faces on Missouri as many either played with or against many SLU players in club ball and even in high school ball in some instances. A long list. And a few have played on the same Summer ball team as some SLU players. SLU also recruited a few of Missouri’s players. And of course Autumn Jackson is now a Tiger. 

Probables:

Carillo and Buels F

Derucki lw 

Deveraux rw

Canada cam

Chianelli Good DM

Yang, Meador, Larson 3 backs

Phillips GK

Moran has been a cam sub for Canada and Brauner. (Injury)

Schaeffer will play some wing. 

Chambliss and Vetter will play some up top. 

Bryant dmid sub. 

lamothe lw sub

Derucki and Buels will be primary scoring threats with Devrouax as a playmaker. Mizzou plays her wide instead of inside where she had some Summer ball success. (Played Summer ball with Howard, Smith, Miller, Preusser) Carilllo has a lot of experience. Canada has moved up to the central attacking midfield. Mizzou is experienced up the middle defensively. 

 

SLU 1 Mizzou 0

Hope Kim returned from her concussion. She is still working her way back to 100%.Also out for SLU, Fitzgerald, Scorfina, Simon, Fishel. Scorfina participated in oregano drills. 

4–1-4-1 for SLU. 

3-5-2 for Mizzou. But they switched to 4 backs to avoid letting the game get away from them. And it was effective for them. 

No lineup surprised for either team. 

For those that are interested in intra-conference transfers, the SEC had many this offseason. From Mizzou to Tennessee. From Arkansas to Tennessee. From Texas A&M to Vanderbilt, etc and those are just some of them. It happens sometimes. It also happens between Football 4

Leagues. 

SLU’s 5th minute goal was a great individual effort from Rylee Howard. Forced a turnover, and she battled 1v1 with arguably Missouri’s best defender Mia Yang. Rylee won the battle and chipped the keeper far post from the side of the 18. 1-0.

Missouri’s strength is its defense. They crowd the middle of the field, and they defend well. Getting an early goal was valuable. 

In game adjustments:

SLU had 3 shots blocked from inside of 10 yards and Larson his the cross bar on a feed from Hope Kim, all within the first 20 minutes. A few more shots from 18, and Mizzou then subbed in an extra outside back and subbed out an attacking wing in the 20th minute. This was Lamothe. She immediately went to left back and Mizzou took out their attacking right wing for it. They moved a forward to right wing and played with 1 for ward instead of 2. 4 backs instead of 3.

Mizzou also essentially subbed in a defensive midfielder Chianelli for a forward, Carrillo for much of the game. 2 extra defenders for much of the game. Keep the score low, try to steal a draw or win. They weren’t going to get blown with their usual personnel and formation. 

Mizzou defended well inside the 18. They blocked shots, cleared passes. It’s an area of emphasis for SLU along with set pieces. First touch, combination play in small spaces in the final 3rd and inside the 18. More numbers inside the 18. Kim missed a short finish inside the 6 that she normally would make off of a feed from Larson. 

SLU played to tack on to a lead and Missouri was playing to defend the game. SLU did not play to hold on to a 1-0 lead. As the season progresses, more and more of the chances in and near the 18 will go in for SLU. Poise with a sense of urgency. 

SLU chose to play a shorter bench with a closer score, negating its depth advantage a little bit. Much of that is how players play in current and recent games as well as at practice. 

Missouri has one of the toughest conference schedules in the country. Top 10 tough. So they have an opportunity to help SLU if they can get a few wins. Their next game is at Memphis who just had a strong win over Vanderbilt. Another upcoming game vs Illinois, etc…opportunities. There will be defensive low scoring games for them. And they will lose some games with that schedule. But a top 100 RPI or better, would be helpful to SLU. They are good enough to compete in games. They just need to find a few timely goals.

[SLURadioBoy]

 

[OkieBilliken]

11 minutes ago, courtside said:

 

SLU 1 Mizzou 0

Hope Kim returned from her concussion. She is still working her way back to 100%.Also out for SLU, Fitzgerald, Scorfina, Simon, Fishel. Scorfina participated in oregano drills. 

4–1-4-1 for SLU. 

3-5-2 for Mizzou. But they switched to 4 backs to avoid letting the game get away from them. And it was effective for them. 

No lineup surprised for either team. 

For those that are interested in intra-conference transfers, the SEC had many this offseason. From Mizzou to Tennessee. From Arkansas to Tennessee. From Texas A&M to Vanderbilt, etc and those are just some of them. It happens sometimes. It also happens between Football 4

Leagues. 

SLU’s 5th minute goal was a great individual effort from Rylee Howard. Forced a turnover, and she battled 1v1 with arguably Missouri’s best defender Mia Yang. Rylee won the battle and chipped the keeper far post from the side of the 18. 1-0.

Missouri’s strength is its defense. They crowd the middle of the field, and they defend well. Getting an early goal was valuable. 

In game adjustments:

SLU had 3 shots blocked from inside of 10 yards and Larson his the cross bar on a feed from Hope Kim, all within the first 20 minutes. A few more shots from 18, and Mizzou then subbed in an extra outside back and subbed out an attacking wing in the 20th minute. This was Lamothe. She immediately went to left back and Mizzou took out their attacking right wing for it. They moved a forward to right wing and played with 1 for ward instead of 2. 4 backs instead of 3.

Mizzou also essentially subbed in a defensive midfielder Chianelli for a forward, Carrillo for much of the game. 2 extra defenders for much of the game. Keep the score low, try to steal a draw or win. They weren’t going to get blown with their usual personnel and formation. 

Mizzou defended well inside the 18. They blocked shots, cleared passes. It’s an area of emphasis for SLU along with set pieces. First touch, combination play in small spaces in the final 3rd and inside the 18. More numbers inside the 18. Kim missed a short finish inside the 6 that she normally would make off of a feed from Larson. 

SLU played to tack on to a lead and Missouri was playing to defend the game. SLU did not play to hold on to a 1-0 lead. As the season progresses, more and more of the chances in and near the 18 will go in for SLU. Poise with a sense of urgency. 

SLU chose to play a shorter bench with a closer score, negating its depth advantage a little bit. Much of that is how players play in current and recent games as well as at practice. 

Missouri has one of the toughest conference schedules in the country. Top 10 tough. So they have an opportunity to help SLU if they can get a few wins. Their next game is at Memphis who just had a strong win over Vanderbilt. Another upcoming game vs Illinois, etc…opportunities. There will be defensive low scoring games for them. And they will lose some games with that schedule. But a top 100 RPI or better, would be helpful to SLU. They are good enough to compete in games. They just need to find a few timely goals.

The newcomer that has really caught my attention is Caroline Chier.  She seems to be able to take on defenders like a veteran and create scoring chances.   Was she a high level recruit?  

[courtside]

1 hour ago, SLURadioBoy said:

 

She will also be in Spain for the Indiana game. 

[courtside]

15 hours ago, courtside said:

SLU’s official visitor for the Mizzou game committed to SLU after the game. 

 

2027 SLU commit Sofia “Snips” Scego from St. Louis, Missouri. 

Sofia is a versatile, skilled, high motor player with pace who plays a variety of positions, mostly wing and outside back. High level individual dribbler snd short interior passer. 

She plays club soccer with the Lou Fusz 08 team that won the 2024 U16 Girls Academy National Championship. In the same year, Sofia helped Nerinx Hall to the Missouri Class 4 Soccer State Championship. She drew the deciding PK as. Freshman, to win the game in OT. Sofia is a high school teammate of 2026 SLU Commit Keira Bartholet. Her Girls Academy Team has reached the GA National Semifinals 5 years in a row. 

Sofia tore her ACL in March at the Girls Academy Finals. But she is well on her way to a full recovery. 

[Bay Area Billiken]

It was a great soccer ️ Sweep for SLU. Bravo, both Billiken teams️

[courtside]

 

SLU 2027 commit Lila Megyesi, from Brownstown Township, Michigan. (Detroit)

Lila is a 5’8 power forward with pace, and strong hold up play, that can play the 9,11,7. She helped lead her U16 Michigan Jaguars team to the Girls Academy National Championship game in Virginia this Summer. Her speed, dribbling. and technique helped create and score several big goals. For her efforts she was named to the Girls Academy Finals, Best 11 team. Lila was also named to the Girls Academy Mid America ID Camp. 

This past Spring Lila was named to the Generation Adidas Cup All Star Team. It was the first year of the girls division in partnership with MLS Next.  She was able to compete against academy teams from Manchester United and Bayern Munich. Lila also played with and against college players for the Michigan Jaguars Summer Ball team this Summer. 

Lila was also named to the Detroit News Herald Team, the Detroit Free Press, and the coaches, all State teams in basketball. She averaged 10 points and 6 rebounds a game as a Sophomore on the state runner up Woodhaven High School Girls Basketball team. And, Lila also spent some time as the kicker for her high school football team. 

[willie]

On 8/20/2025 at 11:28 AM, billikenfan05 said:

Am I supposed to know every guard in the A10? His size provided versatility and he showed he can play above his height defensively. That’s it. 

 

35 minutes ago, courtside said:

 

SLU 2027 commit Lila Megyesi, from Brownstown Township, Michigan. (Detroit)

Lila is a 5’8 power forward with pace, and strong hold up play, that can play the 9,11,7. She helped lead her U16 Michigan Jaguars team to the Girls Academy National Championship game in Virginia this Summer. Her speed, dribbling. and technique helped create and score several big goals. For her efforts she was named to the Girls Academy Finals, Best 11 team. Lila was also named to the Girls Academy Mid America ID Camp. 

This past Spring Lila was named to the Generation Adidas Cup All Star Team. It was the first year of the girls division in partnership with MLS Next.  She was able to compete against academy teams from Manchester United and Bayern Munich. Lila also played with and against college players for the Michigan Jaguars Summer Ball team this Summer. 

Lila was also named to the Detroit News Herald Team, the Detroit Free Press, and the coaches, all State teams in basketball. She averaged 10 points and 6 rebounds a game as a Sophomore on the state runner up Woodhaven High School Girls Basketball team. And, Lila also spent some time as the kicker for her high school football team. 

Is she also class president and lead actor  in the school play? 

[courtside]

2 hours ago, courtside said:

 

SLU 2027 commit Lila Megyesi, from Brownstown Township, Michigan. (Detroit)

Lila is a 5’8 power forward with pace, and strong hold up play, that can play the 9,11,7. She helped lead her U16 Michigan Jaguars team to the Girls Academy National Championship game in Virginia this Summer. Her speed, dribbling. and technique helped create and score several big goals. For her efforts she was named to the Girls Academy Finals, Best 11 team. Lila was also named to the Girls Academy Mid America ID Camp. 

This past Spring Lila was named to the Generation Adidas Cup All Star Team. It was the first year of the girls division in partnership with MLS Next.  She was able to compete against academy teams from Manchester United and Bayern Munich. Lila also played with and against college players for the Michigan Jaguars Summer Ball team this Summer. 

Lila was also named to the Detroit News Herald Team, the Detroit Free Press, and the coaches, all State teams in basketball. She averaged 10 points and 6 rebounds a game as a Sophomore on the state runner up Woodhaven High School Girls Basketball team. And, Lila also spent some time as the kicker for her high school football team. 

https://x.com/lilamegyesi/status/1960439120808779868?s=46

 

[courtside]

 

Scouting Indiana.

There have been many SLU and STL connections over the years. 

Indiana has a new HC, Josh Rife, who arrived from Ball State. But the Hawaii native Josh, was previously a stand out player for the Hoosiers Men’s team. He’s well respected in the Women’s game. 

The previous HC at Indiana left to be an assistant at Florida State. His top assistant left to take a position’s at Meg Link’s previous school Michigan State, after Meg took the position st SLU.

One of Indiana’s all time great Women’s Soccer players and a former assistant, Wendy Dillinger, is the mom of SLU Men’s Soccer player, Braydon Sellers. More recently Wendy has worked with youth soccer in St. Louis for s number of years.

Indiana will likely play a 3-5-2. Their strength is defense. Two of their three center backs are local to St. Louis. Their right back is 6’1 Haden Vlcek. From Springfield, IL. Haden turned down TCU and some others for IU. Back to back ECNL national champion. She was one of their best players, a total package at center back. Haden played on the same Summer Ball team with several current Billikens this Summer. 

On the left side, Josie Pratl is from St. Louis. While not 6’1, Josie is a very good versatile defender who played high level club ball as well at SLSG with a number of Billikens. She has also played some occasional forward too. Josie is the cousin of former SLU Men’s Soccer player Joey Maher. 

Indiana lost of a couple of their better players in the transfer portal due to their coaching change. This is common. One went to Auburn, another to Ohio State. They do return 5 players from their NCAA Tourney team two years ago. That team was defeated by SLU in the opening round.

Seeking more depth in its attack, Indiana moved Bella Haggerty to forward. She has a lot of size and she has played a lot of center back. She is from KC and she is familiar to SLU. 

Much of IU’s subs will be on the wings and up top at forward. They are comfortable with their hack 5 and keeper. And it’s an inexperienced keeper too. They like to play wide from the back with long diagonal balls on the ground through the middle up to their forwards and central attacking midfielder. Set piece defending, and defending longer distance shots will he important as IU sometimes will test from distance. 

Indiana gave 1 or less goals in 7 of their Big 10 games last season. They know how to defend, and keep a game close, and low scoring. It’s valuable for SLU to score early as they did against Missouri. Get a lead, make Indiana open up a bit more than they would like play, and then tack on some separation goals 

IU should look like this:

Jacobson Gk

Pratl, Albert, Vlcek (back line)

Smith, Rush (dmids)

Grzesiak, Hamm (on the wings)

Neighbors (cam)

Ledwith, Quinn (forwards)

Quinn offers size in the final 18 in the air, in space or as a target. 

Grzesiak has some pace on the wing.

Haggerty a target forward sub. Kim has a lot of experience on the wing off of the bench. Sirdah adds depth to the forwards.

Neighbors will take shots from her supporting mid position. 

This will be another tough battle for SLU at home. But as long as SLU puts in a full 90 collectively as a group as well as individually, it’s a good opportunity for another resume win for SLU. Should be a fun game. 

[courtside]

2 visitors.

And a 3rd, 800 miles away, getting close. 

[courtside]

On 8/27/2025 at 1:59 PM, courtside said:

 

Scouting Indiana.

There have been many SLU and STL connections over the years. 

Indiana has a new HC, Josh Rife, who arrived from Ball State. But the Hawaii native Josh, was previously a stand out player for the Hoosiers Men’s team. He’s well respected in the Women’s game. 

The previous HC at Indiana left to be an assistant at Florida State. His top assistant left to take a position’s at Meg Link’s previous school Michigan State, after Meg took the position st SLU.

One of Indiana’s all time great Women’s Soccer players and a former assistant, Wendy Dillinger, is the mom of SLU Men’s Soccer player, Braydon Sellers. More recently Wendy has worked with youth soccer in St. Louis for s number of years.

Indiana will likely play a 3-5-2. Their strength is defense. Two of their three center backs are local to St. Louis. Their right back is 6’1 Haden Vlcek. From Springfield, IL. Haden turned down TCU and some others for IU. Back to back ECNL national champion. She was one of their best players, a total package at center back. Haden played on the same Summer Ball team with several current Billikens this Summer. 

On the left side, Josie Pratl is from St. Louis. While not 6’1, Josie is a very good versatile defender who played high level club ball as well at SLSG with a number of Billikens. She has also played some occasional forward too. Josie is the cousin of former SLU Men’s Soccer player Joey Maher. 

Indiana lost of a couple of their better players in the transfer portal due to their coaching change. This is common. One went to Auburn, another to Ohio State. They do return 5 players from their NCAA Tourney team two years ago. That team was defeated by SLU in the opening round.

Seeking more depth in its attack, Indiana moved Bella Haggerty to forward. She has a lot of size and she has played a lot of center back. She is from KC and she is familiar to SLU. 

Much of IU’s subs will be on the wings and up top at forward. They are comfortable with their hack 5 and keeper. And it’s an inexperienced keeper too. They like to play wide from the back with long diagonal balls on the ground through the middle up to their forwards and central attacking midfielder. Set piece defending, and defending longer distance shots will he important as IU sometimes will test from distance. 

Indiana gave 1 or less goals in 7 of their Big 10 games last season. They know how to defend, and keep a game close, and low scoring. It’s valuable for SLU to score early as they did against Missouri. Get a lead, make Indiana open up a bit more than they would like play, and then tack on some separation goals 

IU should look like this:

Jacobson Gk

Pratl, Albert, Vlcek (back line)

Smith, Rush (dmids)

Grzesiak, Hamm (on the wings)

Neighbors (cam)

Ledwith, Quinn (forwards)

Quinn offers size in the final 18 in the air, in space or as a target. 

Grzesiak has some pace on the wing.

Haggerty a target forward sub. Kim has a lot of experience on the wing off of the bench. Sirdah adds depth to the forwards.

Neighbors will take shots from her supporting mid position. 

This will be another tough battle for SLU at home. But as long as SLU puts in a full 90 collectively as a group as well as individually, it’s a good opportunity for another resume win for SLU. Should be a fun game. 

 

SLU 1 Indiana 0

4-1-4-1 for SLU

3-5-2 for Indiana

Formations and personnel were as expected. Indiana played transfer, and 2 time America East Goalkeeper of the Year Sally Rainey at keeper. And they moved Haggerty back to defense for the game. They along with Vlcek, Pratl, and Albert, at times, kept Indiana in the game. 

Physical game as expected. Other than a few short stretches in the middle of the first half. SLU was good for 75 minutes.

SLU had a great chance in the opening minute, forced a pressure turnover, Larson set up Kim at the 6 but she fanned on the finish. Big moment in the first minute. Should have been 1-0. Sometimes the best chances can and do happen right away.

4th minute, Kim and Howard forced the deep turnover, and Schwartz hit a laser tipped over the bar last second by the IU Keeper. 

23rd minute, SLU goal, Howard header from Miller. It was called back for offsides and it was a bad call. Olivia Albert was standing goal side of Howard. Pratl was also even with her. Still 0-0.

43rd minute. Stanciak forced a turnover, transition square pass to Fox from the spot, just off of the left post.

Just before half, Broesder missed from 8 yards just above the near post cross bar. 

SLU was good for about 30 of 45. It could have been 4-0 or 5-0 at the half, not including many other pressure chances too. 

………………

47th minute Hope Kim goal called back for offsides. She got behind Pratl. She was offsides. But then she got herself back onside before the Larson pass. Howard and Larson combo play wide left. Larson cross along the goal line.

SLU goal was a diagonal ball from Schreiber wide to Chier. Pratl expected her to cut inside right for the shot and she went outside left foot cross to smith for the one time finish across the goal line. SLU tinkered by moving Audrey to the middle from wide, shortly before the goal for extra offense there. She is one of SLU’s better players getting onto the end of crosses and finishing. 1-0 78th minute.

SLU had many opportunities in the 2nd half. Several crosses across the 6 yard box. 67th minute both Howard and Larson had plays that should have been goals. They began taking advantage of the big spaces wide, deep into the corners. Used the width much better and spread Indiana out more with better spacing.

Some final 3rd transition chances with numbers were a little rushed after taking the space Indiana gave SLU. There was also some fatigue in the attacking third after being so busy all game. 

One of the keys for SLU was a willingness to play subs more than they did vs Missouri. Getting back to that was important and beneficial. Indiana is not a deep team, similar to Missouri. Sub patterns were better. There are a couple of small tweaks still there for the taking too.

SLU also had much more of a willingness to take a few shots from 18 which helps open up the space between there and the goal for short, interior combination play. 

Larson’s yellow card was deserving. Howard’s yellow card could have been called a foul, but not a card. Refs are often protective of keepers.

Indiana has very few chances all game. And when they did, Parker was solid. A couple of marking things with 2nd 3rd options at the 18.

The game easily could have been a very lopsided score for SLU. And those types of multi goal breakthroughs will happen soon.

[courtside]

 

Big game at Iowa. 

Iowa is coming off of a Sweet 16 team from last season. They have won two recent Big Ten Tourney Titles. And they have made four recent NCAA Tourneys.

Iowa has already played some very good teams,

A 3-2 win at Arkansas. A 3-2 loss to TCU. 

The Hawkeyes play a very distinctive 3-6-1 formation. They clog the middle of the field on the ground. They will force turnovers and transition. They are unafraid to launch shots from distance. They frequently send North South aerial balls into the box from distance for volley or aerial finishes in the run of play. And they score from set pieces. They aren’t particularly a build from the back possession team. 

SLU will have to be willing at times to play aerial diagonal balls to take advantage of Iowa’s slow rotations. SLU needs a steady, sharp, first touch in the final third. Iowa is a pretty even mix of returning players, transfers, and true Freshmen in their lineup.

Their sub patterns are largely wings where they will move  a more experienced attacking player like Roling or Bush up top from the midfield. They will likely start a true Freshman up top, Wildman, as well as another in the attacking midfield, Tarasco. She’s aggressive in the attacking third. They start another Freshman in the defensive midfield. Greer is their size and leader at center back and on set pieces 

Leboui the FSU wing transfer is a high volume shot taker off of the bench. 

They have tried multiple small college keeper transfers so far. 

They start 3 Freshman. They play at least half a dozen transfers. But their key will be Roling, Bush, Greer, etc….returning veteran players that have to be accounted for by SLU.

[Lord Elrond]

Not a good day in Iowa City, Billikens lose 3-0. Judging from the stats, Iowa controlled the game, 16 shots to only 5 from SLU. Iowa was rated #10 in the nation, and was playing at home, so not an unsurprising result. Would have been nice to keep it closer, but it is what it is.

[OkieBilliken]

45 minutes ago, Lord Elrond said:

Not a good day in Iowa City, Billikens lose 3-0. Judging from the stats, Iowa controlled the game, 16 shots to only 5 from SLU. Iowa was rated #10 in the nation, and was playing at home, so not an unsurprising result. Would have been nice to keep it closer, but it is what it is.

Yep bummer.  I did notice that Julia Simon did return to action, so that was good to see.  Time to get on a run.  

[courtside]

11 hours ago, courtside said:

 

Big game at Iowa. 

Iowa is coming off of a Sweet 16 team from last season. They have won two recent Big Ten Tourney Titles. And they have made four recent NCAA Tourneys.

Iowa has already played some very good teams,

A 3-2 win at Arkansas. A 3-2 loss to TCU. 

The Hawkeyes play a very distinctive 3-6-1 formation. They clog the middle of the field on the ground. They will force turnovers and transition. They are unafraid to launch shots from distance. They frequently send North South aerial balls into the box from distance for volley or aerial finishes in the run of play. And they score from set pieces. They aren’t particularly a build from the back possession team. 

SLU will have to be willing at times to play aerial diagonal balls to take advantage of Iowa’s slow rotations. SLU needs a steady, sharp, first touch in the final third. Iowa is a pretty even mix of returning players, transfers, and true Freshmen in their lineup.

Their sub patterns are largely wings where they will move  a more experienced attacking player like Roling or Bush up top from the midfield. They will likely start a true Freshman up top, Wildman, as well as another in the attacking midfield, Tarasco. She’s aggressive in the attacking third. They start another Freshman in the defensive midfield. Greer is their size and leader at center back and on set pieces 

Leboui the FSU wing transfer is a high volume shot taker off of the bench. 

They have tried multiple small college keeper transfers so far. 

They start 3 Freshman. They play at least half a dozen transfers. But their key will be Roling, Bush, Greer, etc….returning veteran players that have to be accounted for by SLU.

 

 

Iowa 3 SLU 0

SLU 4-1-4-1

Iowa 3-6-1

Senior Day at Iowa. 

Unavailable: Scorfina, Fitzgerald, Fishel.

Iowa had a throw in on their own half up the line. Wildman shielded Welker and she was able to turn on Welker. Gary and Miller were slow to support. Schreiber was caught in between stopping ball or playing the ground through ball pass. That left Luebbert as the only player to best Tarasco goal side for the ball in open space. She did not. Tarasco was in alone as Parker was running back to goal. Far left side Tarasco was able to get the shot past Parker. 1-0 5th minute. All 5 SLU defenders and the keeper involved in the play. 

SLU gave up way too much of the middle of the field space in the opening minutes. Too many transition runs there. Iowa plays 6 midfielders. SLU’s attackers were too high at times. And the back line was too soft on target throw ins and target passes compared to recent games. SLU didn’t match the opening whistle urgency, pace, and physicality. 

SLU settled down, and SLU then controlled possession, and they were the better side for the next 20 plus minutes of the game, cresting some good moments in the offensive third. But that didn’t last.

SLU committed a foul deep in its own end from 20 yards out in front of goal. Sarnowski. It was unnecessary and clumsy. Broesder just had one before that closer to midfield. Parker was unable to catch the shot as she semi dove her right as she open hand punched it out. Catchable ball. But she preferred to punch it out. But SLU was not there for the clear. Hawkeye players beat SLU to the rebound. SLU was caught ball watching. Tap in goal that shouldn’t have happened on the rebound. Two hustle plays for Iowa and two goals. SLU lacked composure in its own third of the field.

Hope Kim had a good chance earlier in the half across the 6 on a cross from Chier but her race for the tap in was blocked out for a corner. SLU had a few other high level chances in the game but not not nearly enough. 

Giving up a few big plays defensively against good teams on the road are tough to overcome unless the offense can put up numbers. 

Julia Simon saw her first minutes of action with 15 minutes remaining in the half. She had been out with injury to this point in the season. She wasn’t expected back until late September. She also came in the 2nd half for a total of 26 minutes. It will take her a while to get match fit. But SLU needs her experience in the attacking third. 

SLU struggled occasionally to match some of the speed and physicality of Iowa’s attack and pressure. They were able to effectively speed ul SLU which needed more composure while matching Iowa’s intensity snd urgency. 

………………

Half

…………….

SLU changed keepers at half as they did vs Penn State. (It was sooner at Penn State)

After some SLU pressure, Iowa quickly countered end to end from its left back position. She took the space all the way to midfield. Then she played it to Bush in space. Bush squared it to Tarasco from 20 and Tarasco laid it off to Solomon far right side. Solomon was falling down to her right but she sent a high chip shot just inside the 18, that seemed routine for Nimu but she was caught off of her line and it found the back corner of the goal. Can’t happen.  3-0. 50th minute. SLU was slow to get back after an offensive push. Iowa made them pay.

SLU made a sub 10  minutes into the 2nd half that signaled that they understood one of the problems in the middle of the field. I expect a few personnel changes next game after watching video. One positive was SLU was able to get a few more players some experience later in the game.

SLU struggled playing 5 defenders against an Iowa team that plays 6 in the midfield.  But once you’re down a goal or two it’s too late to change that formation to accommodate more defense. 

Penn State and Iowa are better than Missouri and Indiana. You would have liked those games at home and the other two on the road for this particular team that is still adjusting to new players and positions. SLU played better at Penn State than they did at Iowa. I think the games would have been a little different at home. This team just isn’t ready for a mistake free road 90 vs top 10 teams. 

SLU has had to rely upon some younger, less experienced, players, and SLU has had to move some more experienced players around. That adjustment takes some time. 7 new SLU starters are playing a new or different position this year. SLU missed on a few targets a few years back and, they relied heavily on 4th and 5th year veteran players prior to this season. So there is going to be some transition between early and later season 

This is how you learn and improve to play your best soccer later in the season. You want to challenge yourself in tough environments early to see where you excel, and where you need to improve. Success is often not linear. Unfortunately with NCAA Women’s Soccer scheduling, SLU is unable to schedule these types of non-conference games for later in the regular season. 

Bad games happen. Michigan State for example, is a good team, and they gave up 5 goals to Xavier in the first 30 minutes of their game. It happens to good teams. 

[WUH]

This probably deserves a new thread, but they are giving away free tickets to the Women's Soccer vs. Missouri State.

https://t.co/aFHdmLsTZn

[White Pelican]

1 hour ago, WUH said:

This probably deserves a new thread, but they are giving away free tickets to the Women's Soccer vs. Missouri State.

https://t.co/aFHdmLsTZn

Thank you!

[Billiken Rich]

2 hours ago, WUH said:

This probably deserves a new thread, but they are giving away free tickets to the Women's Soccer vs. Missouri State.

https://t.co/aFHdmLsTZn

I'm There!

 

[courtside]

On 8/28/2025 at 10:10 PM, courtside said:

2 visitors.

And a 3rd, 800 miles away, getting close. 

2027 SLU commit, Maren Gansner, from Des Peres, MO (St. Louis)

Maren is a versatile left footed player with pace and agility, who can play as both defender and attacker, on the left side. She moved to left back to help her Lou Fusz 08 team win the U16 Girls Academy National Championship in 2024. They have reached the national final four in their age group 5 straight years. She excels in transition, and, she can also play the midfield and attacking positions. 

Maren has been a USYNT ID Center participant. She has been invited to the Frontier National Girls Academy ID Camp. Maren has played in the Jefferson Cup with her Lou Fusz Composite team teammates, in addition to her club team. She is a club teammate of recent SLU commit Sofia Scego. Maren attends Kirkwood High School.

https://x.com/maren_gansner9/status/1963068515935560076?s=46

 

[RollBills82]

#1 player in the country is on campus for a visit.  Not sure how many times that’s ever been said…(insert Lloyd Christmas Meme here). 

[cgeldmacher]

18 hours ago, RollBills82 said:

#1 player in the country is on campus for a visit.  Not sure how many times that’s ever been said…(insert Lloyd Christmas Meme here). 

Father played at SLU and brother currently plays for SLU.  Let's hope that sort of thing is important to her.