SLU Women's Soccer Thread

[courtside]

SLU’s Blakely Hockett was named 52 on the Top Drawer Soccer Midseason National Top 100 Freshman list. Keep it going. And there’s room for more Billikens on the postseason list. 

[slufan13]

Your bias is showing

[slufan13]

The streets are getting really really loud on why we didn't get DiMaria and it is not good for us 

[dlarry]

22 minutes ago, slufan13 said:

The streets are getting really really loud on why we didn't get DiMaria and it is not good for us 

Inquiring minds want to know!!

Perfect info to drop as a late afternoon Friday news dump.

[RollBills82]

1 hour ago, dlarry said:

Inquiring minds want to know!!

Perfect info to drop as a late afternoon Friday news dump.

What’s up?

[OkieBilliken]

Interesting regarding a former Billiken…Addy Lang transferred from SLU to Florida this year.   She didn’t play all that much for the Bills last year.   Florida has been pretty bad lately and started off the season poorly.   They inserted Lang into the starting lineup as a holding midfielder and they have been transformed tying #15 Georgia and #17 USC and winning at Texas for the first time.  Last night Addy played all 90 minutes in Florida’s win over #12 Mississippi State.    Bummer we lost her.  

[courtside]

1 hour ago, OkieBilliken said:

Interesting regarding a former Billiken…Addy Lang transferred from SLU to Florida this year.   She didn’t play all that much for the Bills last year.   Florida has been pretty bad lately and started off the season poorly.   They inserted Lang into the starting lineup as a holding midfielder and they have been transformed tying #15 Georgia and #17 USC and winning at Texas for the first time.  Last night Addy played all 90 minutes in Florida’s win over #12 Mississippi State.    Bummer we lost her.  

Probably one for the SLU Women’s Soccer recruiting thread. 

Addy was very highly recruited out of high school. SLU edged out Santa Clara for Addy. SLU also lost two other KC area recruiting battles to Santa Clara for 2 young starters there in 2024 class. Win some lose some. Addy had interest from Notre Dame and many others too. SLU found Hope Kim because they were recruiting Addy.

Addy was a rare early enrolled player at SLU. Spring before her Freshman season. Expectations were high. Offer was strong. Karie Shields is not a big fan of early enrolled players. It’s more common elsewhere.

It’s common for some players to take a little longer to adjust to the pace and physicality of the college game. SLU had a high need at central defensive midfield, Addy’s position. Lawler and A Miller graduated. Xavier grad transfer Elise Le did a great job there last year in a new position for her. And SLU moved Lucie Schwartz there too. Those 2 were ahead of Addy. Ashley Miller has since moved there too. 

Addy always had the talent. She just needed a little more time and opportunity. It took a few games but Addy has played in 12 and she has started 5. She has played high minutes in about 9 of them. Good for her. Florida has turned their season around a little bit because they also have several other stud young players. And with the very tough league schedule, it doesn’t take many wins to do it. 

Ulla Sharp has also played a lot at Alabama. She has played in all 15 games on defense, and she has started the last 8. This is for a top 30 team. Sam DeLuca has 11 goals so far in her Junior season at Samford, a top 100 team. 

The MAC Hermann trophy winner last year played forward for North Carolina, Kate Faasse. She scored 2 goals her Freshman season. She scored 2 goals her Sophomore season. She scored 20 her Junior season. She’s having another strong season. Her former teammate Maci Teater, a St. Louisan, received very little playing time at North Carolina her first two seasons. She transferred to Vanderbilt where she has been great on a Sweet 16 team and another strong team this year. 

SLU’s Caroline Kelly scored 1 goal her first year, 5 her second year, then 13 and 12 her final two years. Sometimes it takes a little time to develop. Similar for Gaebe, 7, 9, 16, 16. Ashley Koch has 6 goals and 3 assists at KC this year. 

As for Florida. It has been a slow build, 4th year coach but their recruiting level has been very high, the past few cycles. Hinnenkamp was the Missouri High School Player of the Year. Gracie Milam, a USYNT 2026 player who still attends some SLU games, picked Florida over SLU in a close recruiting battle. Florida is in the RPI top 50 now because the SEC is a strong league. They will be very good in a few years with all of the talent they are recruiting. They have some stud young Freshman players on their team and in the pipeline. Some other long slow builds need a change. Not yet for Florida because they are recruiting at such a high level. 

Football Four League, warm weather, top 25 caliber academics, big school with a lot going on in a college town. This is often the type of competition for SLU in recruiting. 

In today’s game. with the transfer portal, transfers are more common. Having competitive transfer money combined with a desirable destination, helps too. 

[courtside]

Duquesne. 

The Dukes are a top 75 team this year. 2 central power forwards with physicality, Matesa and Moore. Strong on the ball. They play them above (Moore) and underneath Matesa). Leseck is a pace, playmaking winger on the left side, in transition. And Killinger balances out the right side. Their attacking front group provides the bulk of their offense even in set pieces. 

4-2-3-1 formation team. Matesa is 2nd in the country in total goals (12). Moore is also a capable scorer as well. As a team, Duquesne is 2nd in the country in shots per game with over 23. 

Duquesne is less likely to sit 8 or 9 behind the ball than some others. They will play through the middle and get wide reversing fields diagonally on the ground. 

Veteran team. Lots of experience. Traditional playing solid back 6 in the 4-2. Muir is a distributor there. 

 

[courtside]

On 10/11/2025 at 4:53 PM, courtside said:

Duquesne. 

The Dukes are a top 75 team this year. 2 central power forwards with physicality, Matesa and Moore. Strong on the ball. They play them above (Moore) and underneath Matesa). Leseck is a pace, playmaking winger on the left side, in transition. And Killinger balances out the right side. Their attacking front group provides the bulk of their offense even in set pieces. 

4-2-3-1 formation team. Matesa is 2nd in the country in total goals (12). Moore is also a capable scorer as well. As a team, Duquesne is 2nd in the country in shots per game with over 23. 

Duquesne is less likely to sit 8 or 9 behind the ball than some others. They will play through the middle and get wide reversing fields diagonally on the ground. 

Veteran team. Lots of experience. Traditional playing solid back 6 in the 4-2. Muir is a distributor there. 

 

SLU 2 Duquesne 1

4-1-4-1 SLU

3-5-2 Duquesne. 

Same line up and formation for SLU for many games now. Duquesne came with a wrinkle. 

Duquesne had a nice game plan. They overloaded the central part of the field with 5 midfielders. And, 2 of their 3 backs were their normal outside backs with pace. Pretty good design. Add to they play hard  physical.  

It took SLU a little while to figure that out. But they did, scored a couple, but didn’t tack on early 2nd half. And fluke play allowed a goal to keep the score closer than it needed to be. 

Duquesne wanted to overload the middle, narrow the width and play centrally through Matesa and Moore. And they wanted to find Leseck’s pace on wide overlaps. 

When a team overloads the middle and wants the game in the middle of the field, which Duquesne was successful doing, you have to find the space. SLU plays 5 attacking players, and even though the 2 outside defenders were pace defenders. You still have to play the ball diagonally wide in that space and isolate those defenders. Win those balls, run at those defenders to find wide service or inside cuts and shots. 

You can also do this centrally to a back to the goal target with strong hold up play. You have to be strong on the ball and play through contact. 

SLU wasn't efficient enough at times with the initial pass that creates the play. Where SLU was finding some success was playing inverted pace wingers in the 2nd half. 

SLU did occasional reverse the ball and find the wide player in space. 2nd goal was Chier wide, taking it to the end line, finding both Preusser and Broesder. Either one could have scored it. Preusser became the 13th Billiken goal scorer on the season. 

First was winning the set piece corner. Schreiber to Schwartz for the header. Play is designed for Hockett near post, and Schwartz behind as a 2nd option. Good service and finish. 

Duquesne was not a surprise, played hard, physical team that battles for 50/50 balls. Their goal was Hockett losing it in the sun and Welker surprised by it and losing her runner.  Matesa to Moore for the finish. They are too good to not finish that mistake. And instead of SLU about to tack on a 3rd and 4th goal, the game changes early in the 2nd half. 

Duquesne was able to limit set pieces and  some run of play shots. Sometimes you have to elevate shot volume to make the keeper work when execution isn’t sharp. 

Sometimes there is a tendency to shorten the bench little bit in closer games. But this was an opportunity to extend it a little kore, especially down a player.

Howard will be fine. She left the game at half time with an illness. 

……………..

SLU’s RPI improved to 39 after the game. Have to wait and see if that holds up at the end of games Sunday.

…………….

Good to see 2026 SLU commit Leah Simpson and her family this weekend. They were in town from Dallas for the game.

Leah was 1 of 18 players out of roughly 3500 to be named a U17 ECNL All American.

She was the ECNL Texas Conference Player of the Year, which includes the entire states of Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. This is number 1 out of roughly 400 players. 

Leah helped lead her U17 Sting team to the ECNL National championship game out of 137 teams.

She was chosen to play in the ECNL Conference Cup, an All Star tourney of some of the best ECNL players in all 10 conferences. Leah was named to the best 11 team after helping her team to the conference cup finals.

Leah is a top 100 player nationally at Top Drawer Soccer and she is rapidly improving her national player ranking. She is both a goal scorer, and, a playmaking attacking player.

[courtside]

On 10/6/2025 at 7:42 AM, courtside said:

SLU’s current RPI after Sunday’s games is 47.

38

SLU’s RPI after Sunday’s games, and after all games this past week, is 38. 
 

This would be SLU’s 10th straight season with a top 100 RPI.

8 of the 9 previous seasons have been top 60 RPI. 

4 of previous 5 seasons were top 25 RPI.

2 seasons have been top 10 RPI.

[courtside]

SLU is ranked 25th this week in the Top Drawer Soccer Poll. 

[courtside]

Dayton Flyers

Dayton returns 11 of the 13 players who played against SLU last season. They return 2 additional attacking players who were injured for that game (Grenda, Ferguson). They added 2 more attacking transfers from Louisville and Xavier (Contini, Baca). And they have a few Freshman who contribute off of the bench. They lost two of their better attacking players to graduation. (Blain, Benigno)

Older, experienced team. 

They play a 4-2-3-1 and they don’t usually deviate from it. 

Strength of their team is defense. 4 year keeper starter. All A10 left back with size and experience. Karfonta. She also takes their set pieces and PK’s. But she is not a pace OB. SLU has pace wingers wide. Dayton has had multiple games this year where they found a way to draw a PK to change a game. They are a team that intentionally tries to draw PK’s and offensive third fouls for set pieces. Same for corners.

Raimondi, and Fields are experienced in the middle. Mendoza is their pace outside back, last line of defense, who also gets forward on the right flank. Schork is their best outside back off of the bench. Otherwise Dayton lacks depth defensively. When Fields went down with a shoulder injury, they moved Mendoza to center back, for example. 

You want to deny Russell and Kerber distribution centrally from the defensive midfield. Force center backs to distribute from distance where they are less accurate. 

Contini and Smith on the wings, shared with Hallback and Golden. Smith is the most dynamic of the group on left wing. Golden is a promising Freshman reserve.

Have to collapse top central of the box, and block shots, as they shoot from 18-25 centrally. 

Grenda is deceptively skilled on the ball in the central attacking midfield. She doesn’t have pace. But she is their best passer and she can create her pwn shots from distance. 

Ferguson is good as a hold up forward, back to goal and turn forward. She is less effective in space. Dayton will rotate multiple forwards and wings. Baca is an instant offense sub. She shoots and attacks almost every time she touches the ball. Very high volume shot taker. Always in attack mode. Has some pace too. Bowman might also see some minutes up top as a reserve. Both of these two are local St. Louisans. 

For SLU, high pressure, force their defense speed up distribution and play faster than they want to play. Have to be stronger on the ball offensively, back to goal, target passes, hold up play to find cutters. Dayton is otherwise too solid defensively for anything less.

Dayton is a score by committee team. Several players capable. And that describes their team in general, good, solid at every position without any glaring weaknesses. Few superstars. Plays hard. plays confident soccer. Finds ways to get results in close games. Getting out in front, opening up the game more, would be helpful for SLU. Dayton will grind a 0-0 game seeking a 1-0 win.

Dayton will likely play SLU straight up, without a gimmick or wrinkle. They will defend first, but they are less likely to sit 8 or 9 behind the ball. They are organized, well coached, consistent. At times they have struggled to find run of play goals. That’s why mistake free in the back 25 yards is important for SLU’s defense. This is a matchup where one mistake can change the game. 

This will be an all important top 50 win opportunity for both teams. NCAA Seeding, and NCAA bubble picks rely heavily on top 50 wins. 

Sometimes SLU drops a central attacking player from 4-1-4-1 to 4-2-3-1. I would not do that until SLU can get a lead first, even if it takes a while. The extra player can force turnovers, transition, quick combination play for goals. Attackers have to run at defenders confidently 1v1 and make a play. Dayton will allow that as they have confidence in their 1v1 defending in space. Dayton will try to reduce shot volume and they will block shots. Would like to see a minimum of 15, preferably more. Reda is good but you have to make her work. Both Karfonta and Reda, two of their best players, played with Michigan Jaguars. 

Defensively you can’t lose the back post cutters on wide service. Efficient clears inside the 18. You can build centrally against Dayton. Smith, Baca, Mendoza are their primary pace players. Put Schreiber on Smith’s side. Have a CB focus centrally on Grenda from distance, even though she plays behind Ferguson and the forwards.

Grenda doesn’t have the pace so you can defend her farther away from the goal as opposed to giving space. Baca and Smith are more the types to keep in front. Give a half step. Have to have a willingness to block shots from distance. Those are the 3 players more likely to make an individual play offensively, to change a game. 

Diagonally dribble runs from midfield will have Dayton collapsing the middle with their back 6. 2 ways to deal with that is playing a ground through ball in space while running at those defenders, or reverse the field, square the ball to the opposite weak side while doing the same thing. Don’t just dribble into the teeth. 

Numbers forward on offensive set pieces. Dayton will occasionally give up a 2nd or 3rd chance within the 18. Have to be ruthless offensively for 90. Play through contact, and, initiate contact. 

Dayton has played 3 RPI top 20 non-conference games, and a 4th in the top 70. They have played plenty of good teams. 

[courtside]

On 10/8/2025 at 3:59 PM, courtside said:

29 (again)

This week’s end of season NCAA RPI prediction for SLU is 29. This is based on all team’s results to date, and, future predicted results. 

A10 is the 10th best conference RPI. ACC is 1. 
 

SLU’s current RPI is 47. 

24

This week’s end of season NCAA RPI prediction for SLU is 24. This includes the conference tourney. This is based on all team’s results to date, and all future teams predicted results. 

SLU’s current RPI is 38. SLU’s preseason RPI prediction was 17. If you are new, as mentioned in the first post in this series RPI prediction series, this is the work of SLU’s RPI consultant.

[courtside]

40 minutes ago, courtside said:

24

This week’s end of season NCAA RPI prediction for SLU is 24. This includes the conference tourney. This is based on all team’s results to date, and all future teams predicted results. 

SLU’s current RPI is 38. SLU’s preseason RPI prediction was 17. If you are new, as mentioned in the first post in this series RPI prediction series, this is the work of SLU’s RPI consultant.

Bonus, NCAA Bracket Prediction coverage, began last week. 

64 projected teams divided into four unequal regions. They are defined as Middle, North, South, West. 12 Middle teams. 8 North teams. 32 South teams. 12 West teams.

The first two weeks of projections have SLU the same, and that is the highest level just beyond the top 8 seeded teams.

RPI top 50 wins are what matters most to the NCAA. And it is what matters almost exclusively for NCAA Tourney seeding, and for NCAA tourney Bubble entry. In order to get around that, a team needs a very good RPI. (This is also why SLU needs to go back to adding 2-3 additional RPI Top 50 ish teams annually as long as the NCAA continues this method of seeding and selection.The non-conference schedule was down slightly this year compared to recent years.)

There are currently 31 total teams nationally ahead of SLU in the NCAA Bracket Prediction. Six of those are in the middle region. And again, this changes weekly. 

[courtside]

Complimentary youth tickets are available for tonight’s game against Dayton, as well as discounted adult tickets for those that do not yet have passes or tickets. If you need more information, contact the Billiken Ticket Office. 

[White Pelican]

Youth Ticket Special Offer

(This also links to discounted adult tix)

[courtside]

On 10/14/2025 at 9:56 AM, courtside said:

Dayton Flyers

Dayton returns 11 of the 13 players who played against SLU last season. They return 2 additional attacking players who were injured for that game (Grenda, Ferguson). They added 2 more attacking transfers from Louisville and Xavier (Contini, Baca). And they have a few Freshman who contribute off of the bench. They lost two of their better attacking players to graduation. (Blain, Benigno)

Older, experienced team. 

They play a 4-2-3-1 and they don’t usually deviate from it. 

Strength of their team is defense. 4 year keeper starter. All A10 left back with size and experience. Karfonta. She also takes their set pieces and PK’s. But she is not a pace OB. SLU has pace wingers wide. Dayton has had multiple games this year where they found a way to draw a PK to change a game. They are a team that intentionally tries to draw PK’s and offensive third fouls for set pieces. Same for corners.

Raimondi, and Fields are experienced in the middle. Mendoza is their pace outside back, last line of defense, who also gets forward on the right flank. Schork is their best outside back off of the bench. Otherwise Dayton lacks depth defensively. When Fields went down with a shoulder injury, they moved Mendoza to center back, for example. 

You want to deny Russell and Kerber distribution centrally from the defensive midfield. Force center backs to distribute from distance where they are less accurate. 

Contini and Smith on the wings, shared with Hallback and Golden. Smith is the most dynamic of the group on left wing. Golden is a promising Freshman reserve.

Have to collapse top central of the box, and block shots, as they shoot from 18-25 centrally. 

Grenda is deceptively skilled on the ball in the central attacking midfield. She doesn’t have pace. But she is their best passer and she can create her pwn shots from distance. 

Ferguson is good as a hold up forward, back to goal and turn forward. She is less effective in space. Dayton will rotate multiple forwards and wings. Baca is an instant offense sub. She shoots and attacks almost every time she touches the ball. Very high volume shot taker. Always in attack mode. Has some pace too. Bowman might also see some minutes up top as a reserve. Both of these two are local St. Louisans. 

For SLU, high pressure, force their defense speed up distribution and play faster than they want to play. Have to be stronger on the ball offensively, back to goal, target passes, hold up play to find cutters. Dayton is otherwise too solid defensively for anything less.

Dayton is a score by committee team. Several players capable. And that describes their team in general, good, solid at every position without any glaring weaknesses. Few superstars. Plays hard. plays confident soccer. Finds ways to get results in close games. Getting out in front, opening up the game more, would be helpful for SLU. Dayton will grind a 0-0 game seeking a 1-0 win.

Dayton will likely play SLU straight up, without a gimmick or wrinkle. They will defend first, but they are less likely to sit 8 or 9 behind the ball. They are organized, well coached, consistent. At times they have struggled to find run of play goals. That’s why mistake free in the back 25 yards is important for SLU’s defense. This is a matchup where one mistake can change the game. 

This will be an all important top 50 win opportunity for both teams. NCAA Seeding, and NCAA bubble picks rely heavily on top 50 wins. 

Sometimes SLU drops a central attacking player from 4-1-4-1 to 4-2-3-1. I would not do that until SLU can get a lead first, even if it takes a while. The extra player can force turnovers, transition, quick combination play for goals. Attackers have to run at defenders confidently 1v1 and make a play. Dayton will allow that as they have confidence in their 1v1 defending in space. Dayton will try to reduce shot volume and they will block shots. Would like to see a minimum of 15, preferably more. Reda is good but you have to make her work. Both Karfonta and Reda, two of their best players, played with Michigan Jaguars. 

Defensively you can’t lose the back post cutters on wide service. Efficient clears inside the 18. You can build centrally against Dayton. Smith, Baca, Mendoza are their primary pace players. Put Schreiber on Smith’s side. Have a CB focus centrally on Grenda from distance, even though she plays behind Ferguson and the forwards.

Grenda doesn’t have the pace so you can defend her farther away from the goal as opposed to giving space. Baca and Smith are more the types to keep in front. Give a half step. Have to have a willingness to block shots from distance. Those are the 3 players more likely to make an individual play offensively, to change a game. 

Diagonally dribble runs from midfield will have Dayton collapsing the middle with their back 6. 2 ways to deal with that is playing a ground through ball in space while running at those defenders, or reverse the field, square the ball to the opposite weak side while doing the same thing. Don’t just dribble into the teeth. 

Numbers forward on offensive set pieces. Dayton will occasionally give up a 2nd or 3rd chance within the 18. Have to be ruthless offensively for 90. Play through contact, and, initiate contact. 

Dayton has played 3 RPI top 20 non-conference games, and a 4th in the top 70. They have played plenty of good teams. 

Dayton 2 SLU 0

When you win you celebrate success for 24 hours before moving on to the next game or practice. When you lose you explore why for 24 hours before moving on to the next game or practice. 

Dayton 4-2-3-1 no surprises

SLU 4-1-4-1 Howard unavailable. 

Dayton played exactly how I expected them to play. 4-2-3-1, defend first, back 6, collapse the middle, trap the wings. Play for counters. 

Often time the team that controls the middle of the field, wins 50/50 balls, etc..wins the game. 
…………….

Both teams were still settling into the first 15 minutes of the game when Dayton scored. Dayton was having some success with accurate target passes from their defenders to their forwards and the same from their forwards with target pass receiving. 

These are back to opposing goal forwards receiving ground or aerial passes, bringing them down and turning or holding the ball for support, hold up play. Some of the time SLU’s defenders have to step through those passes. And you can’t allow the bring down and turn. Ferguson and Grenda especially. Dayton is not a build from the back team. They are a long target pass team and a turnover transition team. High percentage. Limit mistakes.

SLU was having some success with Mendoza at right back, early in the game, getting some spacing using width. Even though Mendoza has pace getting forward, she has some vulnerabilities defending wide attackers. Karfonta is the stronger lock down defender on the other side. Karfonta  also saved a goal later in the game. 

…………..

Liv Grenda had herself a huge game in the central attacking midfield. All phases.  Forced turnovers, two way play, quick feet. Talked about this pregame. 

1st goal. Routine SLU defender clear. Welker on the ball with time, has to either go wide right to Schreiber, or over the top. Two choices in that moment. 

Dribbled too close to the Dayton player (Grenda) limited options to a ground middle crossing pass which was picked by Grenda for a give and go. She laid it off to Smith from 22 yards who was unmarked.

Routine save but footwork positioning wasn’t there. Have to get behind the ball on the save and not off to the side in case a fluke happens of mossing the catch of the ball. And she had time to do that but didn’t. 1-0 14th minute. 
…………….

23rd minute goal. 

Back pass turnover wide sideline middle of the field from Larson. Baca give and go in transition, quick chip over Weller and Miller. Short hop flick to herself by Grenda, half volley low far post 2-0. Two goals, both defending, turnover, transition. Grenda, Smith, Baca involved. Hokett had to run over to defend 1v1 and she overran the play trying to make a play vs play contain. 

……………

SLU was much better in the 2nd half. But SLU wasn’t good enough on set pieces. SLU had more than 20 set piece opportunities at Dayton’s end of the field. But service wasn’t good enough, and winning 50/50 balls wasn’t good enough. Part fundamentals, part winning individual duals. SLU wasn’t getting someone too of the box and wide far side of the box on set pieces. And too many times clears were uncontested too. Dayton wanted to make it a set piece offense for SLU. Have to convert some of those. 

Some of SLU’s final third passes near the 18  weren’t sharp, and first touch wasn’t either. 

The first goal and the 2nd goal gave Dayton some extra energy and life that they wouldn’t have otherwise had. And it allowed Dayton to play some players that wouldn’t normally play. 

SLU didn’t get enough in the latter stages of the first half. 
 

I did like the sub for Stanciak whi seemed to match the Flyer level of intensity in the game. Addison is going to be very good at SLU the next few years. 

…………..

SLU was much better in the 2nd half, and they had a lot of pressure in the 2nd half.  50/50 balls, middle of the field play was better. Almost had a few goals out of it:m. Terrific last 2nd blocked shot by Karfonta on Smith to save a goal from just beyond the 6. Forced turnover flank run wide service flick on header. 

Dayton fouled often to slow SLU pace and transition and force set pieces. It’s part of the game. It’s also a time waster. A 2 goal lead allowed for that strategy. And SLU didn’t do enough with the set pieces. 

Rarely did you see a Dayton defender isolated in space without support and help defense. 

A few more right edge of the box chances where SLU chose to take the 18 yard shot which is fine, but they needed to be better quality and far post. 

Larson’s chance was a good play from Parker, flicked on by Smith to Broesder. Good hold up play from Broesder slotting it to Hannah who was inches from beating Reda far post. But Reda was able to get a hand on it for another set piece corner. 
 
A few additional SLU opportunities saw soft headers edge of 18, instead of binging the ball down to lass or shoot. Reda is too good and experienced for that. 

Dayton frequently gives SLU a good close game. .I believe it’s Dayton’s first win over SLU since 2016. 

Dayton who was otherwise quiet, had a late game chance when SLU changed its formation to a 3-4-2-1  to take more chances after Hockett’s injury. Good save from Parker. 
……………

First A10 home loss since 2016 for SLU. First Dayton win over SLU since 2016. 

10 of Dayton’s 11 starters started at the same position last year. The 11th, an experienced Senior was injured and sat out last year. Reda, Raimondi, Kerber, Russle, Karfonta are also Seniors who have played together a long time. Mendoza, Smith, Fields Grenda, are two year starters. Contin and Baca are new but they are experienced Louisville and Xavier transfers playing the same positions. 

SLU by contrast has had up to 8 players that are either playing a new position or hadn’t played prior to this season. 

High stakes game and Dayton played their A game. SLU did not. And the result still could have been different throughout the game 
………………..

There are lot of big games left for SLU, 3 regular season plus the conference tourney. None will be easy games. Have to take a day, and get ready for Sunday. 
………………

First A10 home loss for SLU since 2016. First SLU loss to Dayton since 2016. SLU had gone 11-0-3 prior to that. But SLU hasn’t had a win over Dayton since 2022. 0-1-2 in the past few seasons with some strong SLU teams. This has been Dayton’s best team in that stretch. 

……………..

[courtside]

 

SLU 4 Rhode Island 1

 

SLU

4-1-4-1

Rhode Island

4-1-4-1

Changes: Smith for Schwartz for more offensive pace and punch. It allows Larson to drop to 1 of 2 central attacking midfielders. It allows Smith to use her pace up top. 

Free kick goal for Rhody. Great left footed shot from Sylvester. Good defending from Hockett. Unnecessary foul by Larson to give the opportunity. Poor positioning from Parker as she moved forward to her right instead of staying back on her line. 0-1.

The PK foul called against Rhode Island was a bad call. Audrey Smith’s feet did get tangled up with Canacho. It was a nice pass from Larson in space for Smith. SLU was having some success on that side. Simon had no trouble with the PK goal. 1-1

Set piece goal for SLU. Miller drew the foul. Lubbert to Kim for to header. Rhody keeper Eden was caught in between staying back and coming out for the ball. Good service and finish. 2-1

It was a silly foul by Rhody’s keeper Eden on the corner. Keepers often get the benefit of the doubt on corners. She was too obvious with the foul. She would have been find to jump into Smith to knock it away. And she may have even received a free kick going the other way. Simon another easy finish. 3-1.

4th goal. Continued offensive third pressure. Fox played a nice ball for Smith. Eden was able to get a hand on the pass to prevent Leonard from scoring. But Simon was there as the trailer for her 3rd goal of the game. 4-1. 

Rhode Island made it challenging to work through their midfield. They have 11 shutouts this season. They play a unique formation. They are organized, play hard, and they have some good pace defenders wide and in the defensive midfield. 

SLU was able to force mistakes with some pressure. SLU still needs to get a little more from its central midfield play connecting back to front into the attacking third. Defensive midfielders need to join the attack. And attacking midfielders need to stay longer on the ball and be more efficient and accurate connecting with forwards. SLU defended well. SLU allowed Rhody to do very little offensively. 

[courtside]

On 10/13/2025 at 12:12 AM, courtside said:

38

SLU’s RPI after Sunday’s games, and after all games this past week, is 38. 
 

This would be SLU’s 10th straight season with a top 100 RPI.

8 of the 9 previous seasons have been top 60 RPI. 

4 of previous 5 seasons were top 25 RPI.

2 seasons have been top 10 RPI.

34

SLU’s current RPI is 34.

SLU’s RPI went to 44  from 38 after the Dayton game. Two more wins and SLU should be in the RPI 20’s entering the conference tournament. And SLU can improve upon that in the conference tourney. Without a few RPI top 50 wins, SLU needs the best RPI it can get.  

[courtside]

On 10/15/2025 at 7:00 AM, courtside said:

24

This week’s end of season NCAA RPI prediction for SLU is 24. This includes the conference tourney. This is based on all team’s results to date, and all future teams predicted results. 

SLU’s current RPI is 38. SLU’s preseason RPI prediction was 17. If you are new, as mentioned in the first post in this series RPI prediction series, this is the work of SLU’s RPI consultant.

23

This week’s predicted end of season NCAA RPI for SLU. 

This has SLU as the Atlantic 10 Automatic Qualifier.(AQ) It has SLU as an unseeded NCAA Tourney team just beyond the top 32 seeds but ahead of bubble teams and other AQ teams. That would mean NCAA Tourney, round 1 on the road in a pretty even matchup. He also has Dayton in the NCAA Tourney as an at large team. 

……………

A different, but also respected RPI consultant has SLU projected on the wrong side of the bubble. Close, but no NCAA Tourney despite a good RPI. This is based heavily on RPI top 50 wins, something SLU lacks. This (obviously) has SLU as not the A10 AQ. No at large given in this scenario. 

In his system he puts the current top team within a league as the AQ. That would be Dayton right now. SLU is listed as out, just beyond last 5 in and last 5 out. This is if SLU loses in the conference tourney. 
……………

The two disagree slightly on two bubble teams. One, (the top one that I use weekly here), has two A10 teams in the NCAA Tourney. The 2nd one only has one A10 team in the NCAA Tourney. And they also disagree on another bubble selection. So, two teams in and out differ between the two. The rest is the similar. 
………………

Many games are still to be played by SLU, and by other bubble teams. 
……………..

[courtside]

Fordham Rams. 

Jack Coffey Field. E. Fordham Road. D Train. West Bronx.

Another challenging league road game for SLU.

Younger Fordham team this year. Half a dozen Internationals, only some of whom play in their rotation. One is pace right wing Liina Tervo from Finland. A10 Freshman of the Year last year. She has followed a 10 goal 8 assist first year, with an additional 10 goals this season. 

Johnsen and Giudice provide additional offensive support from their central ane left back defensive positions. Mercedes and Acoste round out their scoring from the midfield.

Fordham plays a straight forward 4-2-3-1. They will defend first with their more experienced older players in back. They are 1 minute away from being undefeated at home this season. They will take shots from distance on their turf. 

Along with Rhode Island, Fordham is a new opponent for SLU since UMass left the league. Both have been solid RPI teams. 

[courtside]

On 10/23/2025 at 7:45 AM, courtside said:

Fordham Rams. 

Jack Coffey Field. E. Fordham Road. D Train. West Bronx.

Another challenging league road game for SLU.

Younger Fordham team this year. Half a dozen Internationals, only some of whom play in their rotation. One is pace right wing Liina Tervo from Finland. A10 Freshman of the Year last year. She has followed a 10 goal 8 assist first year, with an additional 10 goals this season. 

Johnsen and Giudice provide additional offensive support from their central ane left back defensive positions. Mercedes and Acoste round out their scoring from the midfield.

Fordham plays a straight forward 4-2-3-1. They will defend first with their more experienced older players in back. They are 1 minute away from being undefeated at home this season. They will take shots from distance on their turf. 

Along with Rhode Island, Fordham is a new opponent for SLU since UMass left the league. Both have been solid RPI teams. 

SLU 1 Fordham 0

Story of the game. Fordham played a 5-3-2. 

Wow. This is similar to what you would see if a team was given a red card and they played down a player. 5-3-1. 

SLU 4-1-4-1 (Howard was available and played, after missing 2 games.) 

 Fordham didn’t start two of its better attacking players, in order to play 2 extra defenders. It basically said, we will sit back and play 8 defenders and hope for either a 0-0 draw or a 1-0 win on a long counter in space. Fordham decided they weren’t good enough to play their usual 4-2-3-1.

Fordham even stalled a few throw ins and set pieces in the first half of the game. Magnus Nilerud is a good coach but it’s challenging to respect that approach. 

Fordham dropped Mercedes as a 3rd center back between Vricello and Giudici on the outside of Guth and Rios. They also played 3 additional defenders in front of them, Johnsen, Maguire, Holton. Carroll played as their pace forward, up front with Simonin, who played deeper. 

……………

The game itself was a bouncy turf game if you let it become that. You have to bring the ball down and play it on the ground. SLU played  against 8 defenders. You also have to change the point of attack and overlap. SLU did that well at times. 

Hope Kim had a few she’d like back. 9th minute low line drive cross from Schreiber, and it’s 1-0 if she gets her foot on it from the 6. She later mossed point blank from 8 yards just wide. 

Fordham was content on letting SLU have the ball until 25-30 yards from the Fordham goal. They otherwise tried to get Long balls in space to Carroll. Carroll runs the 60, 100, and 200 meters on the Fordham Women’s Track team. 

SLU could have played a few more target ground passes at the top of the 18. You need strong target hold up play there, with back to the goal. Larson, Simon, Stanciak Howard, are usually good at this vs others. Fordham doubled both wings and they still had 3 middle defenders. 

Larson drew some fouls and set pieces. 

Luebbert to Smith was just over the bar from the 6. Luebbert almost scored off of a corner. Last 2nd tip over the bar. SLU entered the game 4th in the country in corner kicks per game. They added 12 more to that. Fordham blocked some shots too. Drawing fouls and corners helps even out the numbers. SLU did a lot of that. 

Kim missed just off of the post from 8 yards. 

it was a half of SLU possession and pressure,

…………

2nd half

…………

Fordham was a little bit more aggressive with pace to open the 2nd half. Same formation and personnel. But they played a little bit faster and they pushed up the outside backs a little bit. 

Kim with her 3rd (and 4th) near goal after heavy Larson pressure. Smith flicked on a header Hope ran onto it but her sliding shot was just over the bar from inside the  6. 

Simon in space behind the defense for Chier, a close play physical challenge with King the Fordham keeper at the 6. The ball trickled just wide. 

Another Kim chance from 12 yards on a feed from Chier, over the bar. 

Lubbert to Chier to the end line, last 2nd deflection or Howard taps it in at the goal line. 

Broesder to Howard who drew a foul at the edge of the 18. Yellow card on Mercedes on the foul from behind to prevent a quality shot on goal. Luebbert’s first sjot was blocked, her 2nd was going in the corner of the goal but a full extension highlight reel save from King at the last 2nd to tip it away for a corner. Elite level save there from King.

Schreiber to Howard and her header from 8 yards required another good save from King. 

Schwartz from 15, deflected just beyond the near post for a corner. Ensuing corner had all kinds of drama. Chier header was going into the goal but it was headed off of the goal line by a defender, to Howard, whose 2nd header was punched away by King. 

Kim was fouled from behind. Luebbert’s 25 yard free kick goes on as King had trouble with it just under the bar. Kim scored the follow up anyway. Luebbert goal. 1-0.

Miller to Howard at the 6, knocked away last minute. 

Spectacular save by Emma Parker on Tervo with 5 minutes left. And she followed it up with another solid save. Strong game from Emma. She made the correct play every time when she had to make a save or come forward. 

Acosta and Tervo sat much of the night but they played late and they had a few moments. It’s a shame they didn’t try it earlier. The score may have been a little more lopsided for SLU, but it would have been a better message and approach for Fordham’s players. 

SLU had 14 high level scoring chances in the game. 12 more corners to add to their top 5 national total. 21 shots. Many were in close. Some were blocked, saved, or ever the goal inside the 18.

Every team will give SLU its best game. Some will try something different. SLU needed the win and SLU secured the win. That’s what happens when you win 6 of 7 regular season league titles, and 7 straight conference tourney titles.The last time SLU didn’t finish in the top few of the A10 was 2015. One more regular season game, Sunday at home vs Loyola. And, it will be another challenging game. 

[courtside]

On 10/20/2025 at 6:52 AM, courtside said:

34

SLU’s current RPI is 34.

SLU’s RPI went to 44  from 38 after the Dayton game. Two more wins and SLU should be in the RPI 20’s entering the conference tournament. And SLU can improve upon that in the conference tourney. Without a few RPI top 50 wins, SLU needs the best RPI it can get.  

33.

It’s 33 today. It’s more challenging to move the RPI later in the season. Initial move to 31, was bumped back up slightly. Lighter schedule than usual for a Thursday. Loyola has a top 70 RPI for Sunday’s game. SLU should be in the RPI 20’s as long as they keep winning. 

Prior to yesterday’s game, Top Drawer Soccer had SLU as an at large invite team, winning the rest of its games except the conference tourney final. 5 of the 8 teams have qualified for the A10 Conference Tourney. Dayton, SLU, Duquesne, Rhode Island, Loyola Chicago. 3 spots left out of 5 teams possible. 

3 different predictions, from 3 different places. 

[courtside]

Loyola Ramblers

Another unique formation team 3-4-2-1 This is similar to the UNC midseason formation change this season. Have to get spacing, use the width of the field and spread them out. 3 in back, 2 in front, and Loyola will drop its pace wings to defend for two way play. But they will run onto balls in space offensively.

Similar to Duquesne, Loyola went the successful D2 coaching route for their new coach. And both are having solid seasons. 

Loyola is a high effort, defense first team. Pace on the wings with Hevey and Harris. Size in the middle with Rossi, Schmidt. Defend and counter. They play through their Hevey is a very high volume shot taker on the left wing, also a high assist player with wide service. Pistorious, Schmidt, Rossi are central players. Harris is quick and cleans up the 18. 

Loyola has a handful of transfers, two D2 that arrived with their new HC. But they are mostly doing it with returning players. They have given uo 3 goals in a game just once this season. And they have given up 2 goals in a game just 3 times this year. And they have only been shutout 3 times. 

SLU has already secured the number 2 seed for the A10 tourney. But the game is important for RPI and NCAA Tourney reasons. Loyola has a very solid top 70 RPI. 

[courtside]

On 10/25/2025 at 8:49 AM, courtside said:

Loyola Ramblers

Another unique formation team 3-4-2-1 This is similar to the UNC midseason formation change this season. Have to get spacing, use the width of the field and spread them out. 3 in back, 2 in front, and Loyola will drop its pace wings to defend for two way play. But they will run onto balls in space offensively.

Similar to Duquesne, Loyola went the successful D2 coaching route for their new coach. And both are having solid seasons. 

Loyola is a high effort, defense first team. Pace on the wings with Hevey and Harris. Size in the middle with Rossi, Schmidt. Defend and counter. They play through their Hevey is a very high volume shot taker on the left wing, also a high assist player with wide service. Pistorious, Schmidt, Rossi are central players. Harris is quick and cleans up the 18. 

Loyola has a handful of transfers, two D2 that arrived with their new HC. But they are mostly doing it with returning players. They have given uo 3 goals in a game just once this season. And they have given up 2 goals in a game just 3 times this year. And they have only been shutout 3 times. 

SLU has already secured the number 2 seed for the A10 tourney. But the game is important for RPI and NCAA Tourney reasons. Loyola has a very solid top 70 RPI. 

SLU 0 Loyola 0

SLU 4-1-4-1

Loyola 3-4-2-1

Unavailable: Audrey Smith

It was good to have Hannah Sawyer in town for the game. 

Cold, windy, rain, the entire game. Good field conditions. Overall I thought SLU played better vs Loyola than they have a in a few recent wins. Sharper passing, interior combination play, winning 50/50 challenges, hold up play on the wings especially, controlling the midfield etc….they probably win by a few goals in a different weather game. Would have liked to have had Smith’s pace and opportunistic presence inside the 18. 

Late in the game, the conditions made it more challenging, and SLU was less effective in some of those parts of the game. 

Loyola was as expected, organized, welp coached, plays hard, defense first. Try to get Hevey and Harris in space behind the defense.

SLU should have had a goal in the 8th minute off of a Lubbert set piece. 2nd ball in and both Kim and Larson were wide open 12 yards from goal. First touch wasn’t good enough. Neither was communication. it was quickly closed down by Loyola after that.

Preusser was wide open from the spot on a Chier cross but she couldn’t handle the pass. Should have been a settle and shot and goal. Strong build up les to the play. But 3 of half a dozen good wide service plays went without a finish. SLU was also getting s few top of the box shots from 18-20 yards. 

SLU forced several turnovers but the final third pass wasn’t good enough. again, Loyola was defending with 7. Not a lot of room there. 

Hope Kim was SLU ‘s best forward. Broesder had very good two way play. Fox gave SLU some good late first half minutes too. 

Another half dozen passes played into the box without a finish. Paloucek played a great ball in for Fox. She just missed tapping that in for a 1-0 game. Review was negative for a PK. Very one sided half for SLU. First touch in the 18 and 2nd ball in the 18 were some of the challenges. SLU had tons of build up, possession and scoring chance opportunity. 

……………..

49th minute corner Luebbert to Chier on the goal line, but she couldn't finish in traffic. 

Larson and Kim had multiple deep runs into the box with service without a finish. Sometimes SLU didn't have the support numbers. Sometimes a good pass wasn’t finished as SLU didn’t best the defender to the spot. Sometimes first touch was’t good enough. 

Luebbert cross knocked away on a dive by the keeper, right to Larson at the 6. Wide open for a goal at the back post. But her touch was off of the hop. 

Luebbert ser piece edge of the nox. Kik header and a goal save by Deardorff as she came out to get just a piece to prevent the goal. She followed it up with a nice save on
Chier from 18. Constant pressure. 

Larson service to Kim at the 6 was just an inch too high. 

Broesder a give and go with Howard in space but Howard’s return pass was just a ltouch in front of Boresder who was wide open for a goal 10 yards out. Adee pulled up slightly waiting for pass to her feet. Howard played a nice pace ground pass to the middle thinking Adee was going to sprint for the one timer at the 6. I began losing count of possible easy goals not finished. Lots of a good stuff without the finish. 

Larson to Broesder to Kim but Deardorff made the save on the header. Ground pass in space may have had a goal there.

SLU did a lot of things well in the game. But they didn't win enough battles inside of the Loyola 18. Katie calls it ruthless. It has various descriptions based on the play. SLU dominated the game. Loyola was going to get that one strong scoring chance against the run of play. They did, Harris in behind the defense, off of a doubleheader, and Parker was ready. Another strong game for Emma. She came all the way out to the PK spot for it. 

SLU gets to host Loyola again next Saturday at 2pm in the A10 Quarterfinal, instead of playing it Friday night. SLU Men host Rhode Island later Saturday night.