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So how do you rate the season overall?  Is it another meaningless title in an overall weak league?  Inflating an overall record in the local conference scene only to get slapped down in the overall tournament?  Lindsay Heckel talked Sweet Sixteen.  Didn't happen.  Failure?  Greatest record ever.  Highest ranking ever.  Success?  Losing to a !5-seed at home.  How do the soccer gods see it?

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54 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

So how do you rate the season overall?  Is it another meaningless title in an overall weak league?  Inflating an overall record in the local conference scene only to get slapped down in the overall tournament?  Lindsay Heckel talked Sweet Sixteen.  Didn't happen.  Failure?  Greatest record ever.  Highest ranking ever.  Success?  Losing to a !5-seed at home.  How do the soccer gods see it?

You are a troll. 

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Memphis 1 SLU 0. 

Credit to Memphis for a hard fought game. They are well coached, organized, and they played hard. Good luck to them. Tough one for SLU.

…………….

4–2-3-1 for SLU

4-3-3 for Memphis, but it’s similar to a 4-2-3-1. No surprises with formations or personnel.

SLU dominated the entire first half, 90% of it. and SLU did what it wanted to do. Won many corners, many final half and final third free kicks. 

…………….

Friedrich pass on the ground up to Kelly, to Groark making a run, and it was just off of the post wide.

Kelly later just outside of the 18 gets past defenders and was obstructed for an 18 yard free kick that wasn’t called.

Heckel had a header over the bar on a corner.

Groark was fouled on the wing, quick restart for Kelly in alone for a breakaway and the pass was just too strong.

Gaebe had multiple chances where she perhaps shot when she had  a through ball to Walsh, and passed, when she had a shot.

Overall, no goal, but it was good one sided half. 

Memphis had one instance of a middle of the field counter with Jones and Alonzo and Alonzo had a harmless shot from distance. Memphis had a bend but don’t break defense most of the half.

Friedrich sat a long time as she was fouled and banged her head. 

A few other diagonal balls were there but execution wasn’t on the pass.

…………………..

2nd half SLU opened with the same formation. Larson was moved much higher and closer to the middle as Bri played behind her and Bri played higher. Almost like a 2nd forward. Bri switched to the right side away from Jones and on Alonzo.

Kelly created a chance off of a throw over Lawler, in front of Miller. Memphis was then able to create a little pressure in transition a few tiimes for a few minutes. All 4 of their attacking players have some pace in space, and this posed a challenge for SLU’s defensive mids and backline outside of Bri. They are known as a 2nd half team. And they sub very little playing most players the entire game.without issue. 

Larson to Groark in space 1v1 at the 18  but she fanned on the shot. Miller forced a turnover and hit one from distance. 

SLU changed to 4-1-3-2 in the 2nd half to produce even more offense to get a goal. SLU switched back to 4-2-3-1 after Memphis scored. 

SLU forced several more turnovers, Groark was knocked off the ball from behind inside the 18 no call. 50/50 there. Several blocked shots and loose balls inside the 18 cleared away. 

Gaebe and Kelly slipped at the edge of the box on separate plays. Forced turnover from Friedrich. 

…………………

Memphis Miller got a ball in space and out ran Larson chasing from behind and went around left of right side of d for a nice chance and good save from Emily. Shortly after that is when Jones received a ball and made s great individual effort 1v1 with Heckel and service back post to Miller who faked a near run, volley goal through Emily’s legs. 1-0 Memphis. 

https://twitter.com/memphiswsoccer/status/1591531781068836864?s=21&t=36c2yhJYYux8ulSNGcPWkQ

This gave Memphis a lift and SLU was a little shell shocked for a few minutes at about the 60th minute. 

In the final 20 minutes, Houck free kick in the box, header just wide for Miller. SLU had a few more free kick chances as Memphis had 14 fouls. Other throw ins to targets for in box service. Memphis defended well in their 18 and their keeper had a nice game. 

If SLU gets a goal in one of their many chances during the game or earlier in the game, it forces Memphis to change the way they play a bit. It makes their back 4 have to play higher than they’d like as well as their defensive midfield. This would have created more space in the final third and 18 for SLU to get better combination play there. But SLU didn’t get a goal and that’s how soccer can go sometimes. 

………………….

Many of the long balls a few are discussing were set pieces off of Memphis fouls. SLU often pushes everyone forward for these and has a high scoring success rate with them. These were not in the run of play. They were often very effective fouls for Memphis in their own end to prevent a run of play scoring chance. 

(SLU often plays up to forwards as targets, to wings or vice versa into the corners.) 

Heckel, Stram, Miller finish these often. And when they don’t others clean up the rebound inside the 18. With a height advantage in some places and the weather, this strategy off of 14 set pieces was fine. 

…………………

SLU forced a lot of turnovers in the Memphis half and third which created a lot of transition opportunity. 

…………………

SLU is not a build from the back, East West, Center Back passing team. Often times this produces unproductive passing that is mistaken for some sort organized patience. “Knocking the ball around a little bit.”  There is nothing wrong with SLU’s style of play. 

…………….

Memphis was able to get the goal and they had a few more counter chances just before and after that in a very brief stretch. But that was about it for them. 

SLU pushed for the equalizer, 

SLU finished the game with a near post point blank just wide miss by Larson making a run with service from Kelly. 

SLU could have been a little stronger on the ball in the final third. And they could have found a few more through balls on the ground near the final 18.

30 degrees with a breeze is a bit of a talent equalizer at times in post season soccer. Sometimes a pass is a little short, or a shot doesn’t have as much on it etc…and the game can be more about 50/50 balls, grit, and challenges. It clearly was a factor for both teams in the game. 

………………

Memphis was preseason top 25. Picked to win the AAC. They returned 8 starters from an NCAA Rd of 32 team that defeated LSU 3-0, and lost a close one 1-0 to Duke. They are on a  6-1-1 streak including wins over NCAA teams.

Obviously Memphis is a much more dangerous and better team than many first round opponents for teams seeded below SLU. But SLU still needed to win the game. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if Memphis defeated Mississippi St. next game. 

……………….

Historic season for SLU. 20 wins and just 2 losses with their non-conference schedule is highly impressive. Xavier defeated Tennessee 4-1 in NCAA First Round. Arkansas defeated Missouri state 6-0. Nebraska  had a good season with wins over Penn State, Ohio State, etc…SLU of course defeated these teams.

Rutgers lost to a good Brown program in the NCAA First Round this year. They lost about 4 players from last year’s Final Four team that defeated SLU, but they also returned 11 players this year who played in that game. Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way. 

A 2 national seed is an incredible accomplishment for any program, let alone one with the many challenges of trying to build a championship Women’s team at SLU. 

As of now, SLU will return 9 starters, several bench players, and add a high level injured player, and a very strong 10 player recruiting class, which will also will include the transfer portal. 

Great careers for Halverson and Friedrich. They will go down as all time greats at SLU. And all of the other graduating Seniors made a difference too: Kohl, Preusser, Walsh, Beach, Arthur, Jamie D.

……………

 

 

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No skip, I think it's a fair question or two.  I expect better of you since you are one of the "soccer gods" I posed these questions to.  Seems a lot like March Madness ---- the conference is an underwhelming Juan Bid league at best.  And the gaudy numbers of the conference champion for the most part get slapped down come tourney time.  

I feel bad for the ladies who obviously gave it their all and played their hearts out while posting an amazing season but five consecutive A10 titles have resulted in a lowly 1 and 5 record in the NCAAs.  

If winning the A10 title is the benchmark of success, we're there.  Is that our measuring stick?

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12 hours ago, Major Majerus said:

Round ball bounces & refs are unpredictable - kudos the team & next year is almost here 🤔👍⚽👏

A team is only going to get so many chances against a good opponent, so when you get them you need to convert them. Against a lesser team, you can count on always getting another chance. Not so against a good team. SLU needed to convert those first half chances. Getting the first goal would have made all the difference.

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1 hour ago, 3star_recruit said:

God bless you soccer fans.  There are so many teams that work their a$$es off all season just to lose 1-0 or 2-1 in a tournament game.  The margin for error is so incredibly small compared to basketball.

Very true, the margin for error is non-existent. In the tournament, one mistake can lose the game.

It was darn cold sitting out there yesterday….

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4 hours ago, Taj79 said:

No skip, I think it's a fair question or two.  I expect better of you since you are one of the "soccer gods" I posed these questions to.  Seems a lot like March Madness ---- the conference is an underwhelming Juan Bid league at best.  And the gaudy numbers of the conference champion for the most part get slapped down come tourney time.  

I feel bad for the ladies who obviously gave it their all and played their hearts out while posting an amazing season but five consecutive A10 titles have resulted in a lowly 1 and 5 record in the NCAAs.  

If winning the A10 title is the benchmark of success, we're there.  Is that our measuring stick?

What's your motive?

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My motive is to try and understand what our ceiling is.  Why get psyched up when we achieve the ceiling --- as we have for the last five years.  We win the league and go home.  I really thought we had something for the ladies this year but the final result says otherwise.  It's an amazing run ---- but done against weak competition it seems. 

Are we akin to the Norfolk States of the basketball world?  Pray like hell to make the Dance, collect our participation trophy, and go home (sure some Norfolk States win a game every now and then)?  

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11 hours ago, Taj79 said:

No skip, I think it's a fair question or two.  I expect better of you since you are one of the "soccer gods" I posed these questions to.  Seems a lot like March Madness ---- the conference is an underwhelming Juan Bid league at best.  And the gaudy numbers of the conference champion for the most part get slapped down come tourney time.  

I feel bad for the ladies who obviously gave it their all and played their hearts out while posting an amazing season but five consecutive A10 titles have resulted in a lowly 1 and 5 record in the NCAAs.  

If winning the A10 title is the benchmark of success, we're there.  Is that our measuring stick?

I suppose when the program wins 4/5 regular season conference titles and 5/5 conference tourney titles, and defeats Dayton 11 straight times, unbeaten in their last 13 against them, it can be frustrating for you to not be able to whine and complain about it.

I feel bad for trolls that give it their all, but who were never hugged as a child. But let’s take a look:

…………..

Hmm…let’s see…oh I see you mentioned 5 straight NCAA Tourneys. Thanks for mentioning that. There have been 65 Power 5 Women’s Soccer schools in the past 5 years, (1 doesn’t have a program) since, we are comparing apples to oranges and all, carry the one. add this, subtract that, and …

11 of those 65 Power 5 schools have made the NCAA Tourney all of those 5 years, or just 17%. Fun with numbers tells me that 83% of Power 5 schools missed the NCAA Tourney in the past 5 years. Not great. 

………….

By comparison, SLU has made the NCAA Tourney 5 times in the past 5 years. Carry the one, add this, subtract that, and that comes out to a 100% success rate. Sounds pretty great.

…………

2 of those 5 years, SLU has had an RPI in the top 10 nationally. Sounds pretty great.

Less than 10 of those 65 Power 5 schools has had an RPI top 10 ranking 2 of the past 5 years. Not great.

………….

And, an even smaller number than that has been a top 2 seed in a region, even once, which of course SLU accomplished this season. Again, seems pretty great. 

…………..

SLU has had a top 45 RPI in 4 of those 5 seasons, and the one didn’t they of course defeated Ole Miss in the NCAA Tourney. Are you still with us?

…………

But how are they doing head to head with those apples to oranges Power 5 teams?

Glad you asked. Let’s see. Oh there’s Arkansas. They look familiar. 3 straight SEC Regular season titles during that time. Elite 8, Sweet 16’s, etc…seems pretty good. 

Arkansas was 9th in the RPI this year (whom SLU defeated) and 2nd in the RPI two seasons ago (SLU beat them then as well) when SLU last played them. Sounds pretty great.

Oh look there’s Xavier. Nice win over Tennessee this weekend. 2 Big East Regular Season Titles in the past 4 seasons. And SLU defeated them 2 of the past 3 seasons?  Seems pretty great. 

Hi Nebraska. They won or tied games against 5 different NCAA Tourney teams this year, including 2 seed Penn State. Good luck to the team Nebraska defeated 4-0, Ohio State, as they play, wait for it, Arkansas for a spot into the Sweet 16. Only one team scored 5 against Nebraska this season and only one team had a 4 goal differential win against them this season, SLU. Seems pretty great. 

You mean there is more success vs Power 5 than that, including top level RPI teams? Woah, My fingers are getting pretty tired typing all of this greatness. 

I’d say things are going pretty great. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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15 hours ago, courtside said:

I suppose when the program wins 4/5 regular season conference titles and 5/5 conference tourney titles, and defeats Dayton 11 straight times, unbeaten in their last 13 against them, it can be frustrating for you to not be able to whine and complain about it.

I feel bad for trolls that give it their all, but who were never hugged as a child. But let’s take a look:

…………..

Hmm…let’s see…oh I see you mentioned 5 straight NCAA Tourneys. Thanks for mentioning that. There have been 65 Power 5 Women’s Soccer schools in the past 5 years, (1 doesn’t have a program) since, we are comparing apples to oranges and all, carry the one. add this, subtract that, and …

11 of those 65 Power 5 schools have made the NCAA Tourney all of those 5 years, or just 17%. Fun with numbers tells me that 83% of Power 5 schools missed the NCAA Tourney in the past 5 years. Not great. 

………….

By comparison, SLU has made the NCAA Tourney 5 times in the past 5 years. Carry the one, add this, subtract that, and that comes out to a 100% success rate. Sounds pretty great.

…………

2 of those 5 years, SLU has had an RPI in the top 10 nationally. Sounds pretty great.

Less than 10 of those 65 Power 5 schools has had an RPI top 10 ranking 2 of the past 5 years. Not great.

………….

And, an even smaller number than that has been a top 2 seed in a region, even once, which of course SLU accomplished this season. Again, seems pretty great. 

…………..

SLU has had a top 45 RPI in 4 of those 5 seasons, and the one didn’t they of course defeated Ole Miss in the NCAA Tourney. Are you still with us?

…………

But how are they doing head to head with those apples to oranges Power 5 teams?

Glad you asked. Let’s see. Oh there’s Arkansas. They look familiar. 3 straight SEC Regular season titles during that time. Elite 8, Sweet 16’s, etc…seems pretty good. 

Arkansas was 9th in the RPI this year (whom SLU defeated) and 2nd in the RPI two seasons ago (SLU beat them then as well) when SLU last played them. Sounds pretty great.

Oh look there’s Xavier. Nice win over Tennessee this weekend. 2 Big East Regular Season Titles in the past 4 seasons. And SLU defeated them 2 of the past 3 seasons?  Seems pretty great. 

Hi Nebraska. They won or tied games against 5 different NCAA Tourney teams this year, including 2 seed Penn State. Good luck to the team Nebraska defeated 4-0, Ohio State, as they play, wait for it, Arkansas for a spot into the Sweet 16. Only one team scored 5 against Nebraska this season and only one team had a 4 goal differential win against them this season, SLU. Seems pretty great. 

You mean there is more success vs Power 5 than that, including top level RPI teams? Woah, My fingers are getting pretty tired typing all of this greatness. 

I’d say things are going pretty great. 

Differences aside I'm here to thank you for, as professionally and effectively as possible, telling Taj to shove his mouth where the sun don't shine. I don't mean this lightly when I say f*** that guy

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1 minute ago, brianstl said:

Taj tries to troll soccer fans at times, but I think his question is very fair for someone who hasn’t seriously followed the women’s program for years.  Many outsiders would probably ask themselves the same questions given the let down the season ended with.  

Gonzaga Basketball is the model right?

I think the two thing that have to be taken into account is the nature of soccer and NCAA women's athletics. Soccer is probably the one sport where the lower quality team has the greatest chance of upsets. Women's athletics also differs from men in that the gap between the haves and have nots is much greater.

NCAA Tournament Runner-up

2017, 2021
NCAA Tournament Final Four
2017, 2021
NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
1999, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1999, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2009, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
Conference tournament champions
1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022
Conference regular season champions
1966, 1967, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
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27 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

Gonzaga Basketball is the model right?

I think the two thing that have to be taken into account is the nature of soccer and NCAA women's athletics. Soccer is probably the one sport where the lower quality team has the greatest chance of upsets. Women's athletics also differs from men in that the gap between the haves and have nots is much greater.

NCAA Tournament Runner-up

2017, 2021
NCAA Tournament Final Four
2017, 2021
NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
1999, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1999, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2009, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
Conference tournament champions
1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022
Conference regular season champions
1966, 1967, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

And that is how you answer the question instead of assuming it is an attack on the program.  People who have followed soccer for years know one loss elimination tournaments are even a bigger crap shoot than in basketball, but most people just now really checking out the sport don’t.  The at times insular nature and knee jerk defensive of a segment of US soccer fandom does the sport no favors in growing the fan base.

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8 minutes ago, brianstl said:

And that is how you answer the question instead of assuming it is an attack on the program.  People who have followed soccer for years know one loss elimination tournaments are even a bigger crap shoot than in basketball, but most people just now really checking out the sport don’t.  The at times insular nature and knee jerk defensive of a segment of US soccer fandom does the sport no favors in growing the fan base.

It is a sicko sport.

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20 minutes ago, brianstl said:

Taj tries to troll soccer fans at times, but I think his question is very fair for someone who hasn’t seriously followed the women’s program for years.  Many outsiders would probably ask themselves the same questions given the let down the season ended with.  

You could have stopped after the first sentence, mentioning that Taj79 trolls soccer threads. Respect is a two way street. And despite this, all of his questions were still answered very specifically, in much detail. Do you have new, different, additional questions?

That’s a lot of words you wrote without a lot of specifics. Can you be a little more specific? 

……………..

UCLA went undefeated last year, and they were also a national 2 seed.

They lost to UC Irvine in the first round of the NCAA Tourney. And, you know what happened? They dropped down to D-3 for Women’s Soccer, scheduled Jim Conlon’s Wash U team (congrats to them on another Sweet 16) etc…and they started scheduling SEMO twice a year. .oh wait, they didn’t? UCLA defeated both UNC and Duke on the road this season? National number 1 seed. I thought for sure one NCAA Tourney upset would end their program. 

………………..

As I previously mentioned twice, Memphis returned 8 starters from an NCAA Round of 32 team that defeated LSU 3-0 and lost 1-0 to Duke to deny them a Sweet 16. It’s mostly the same team. I’d say that’s pretty good. They will be very competitive at Mississippi State this week. 

Now if your question is why didn’t SLU play a much easier first round opponent, that is something for which I don’t have an answer. It’s pretty clear that some first round games are much tougher than others and seeding is often disregarded in those matchups. 

UCF defeated NC State in the NCAA first round. Memphis hasn’t lost to UCF in 4 games in the past 2 seasons with similar teams.

……………..

It has been posted many times, about SLU’s recent success against some of the better and best programs in Women’s Soccer. How many more times does it need to get posted before one can say these posts seem disingenuous at best?

Many schools won’t schedule SLU in soccer because they are afraid to schedule SLU in soccer. However, each year more and more schools are willing to do so because SLU is a well respected program and a strong RPI game for them. 

You don’t get to be a top 10 RPI team multiple times without defeating several strong teams, and winning a lot of games.

I would suggest attending and watching actual games of SLU and their opponents too. That would help you.

Arkansas won 3 straight SEC Regular season titles. SLU has defeated them BOTH times recently. Arkansas at number 1 seed Alabama was one of the games of the year. 

Xavier has won 2 recent Big East Titles and SLU has 2 recent wins over them too. Xavier of course had a 4-1 win over Tennessee in the NCAA First round. 

SLU defeated Nebraska 5-1. Nebraska had a 4-2 win over Penn State, a 4-0 win over Ohio State (in SLU’s region) and they thoroughly outplayed Michigan State in the Big Ten Semifinal. Again, try watching the games. 

SLU scheduled Notre Dame and lost. Played with 10 for much of the 2nd half. Notre Dame is of course a national 1 seed.

SLU defeated a good Ole Miss team in the NCAA Tourney last year before losing to a Final Four team. 

……………

It isn’t really rocket science here. 

What SLU Women’s Soccer has been able to accomplish has been nothing short of amazing.

Women’s Soccer is very different than Men’s Soccer for one big reason, Power 5. Power 5, Power 5, Power 5. Money Money Money. SLU has been a mom and pop program by comparison. 

Charter flights, on campus indoor training facilities, on and on down the line. Maybe modernize the scoreboard to keep up with the local area high schools or get some chair back seats at the stadium. Some of these are easy basic additions. SLU has finally done a few things, but that’s only to try to keep up with others who are often several steps ahead with those things. SLU of course can’t sell the 90k football weekends.

SLU is extremely fortunate that the coaching staff has not left for Power 5 coaching opportunities. 

SLU has had a staff that has done more with less. That seems pretty obvious to even the most casual of observers.

………………

What other SLU athletic program has been better/more consistent the past 5 seasons? 

5 straight NCAA Tourneys. A win in last year’s tourney. 4 to 5 strong non-conference RPI opponents each season has been established during that time. And results against them have also been established. SLU has had multiple top 10 RPI seasons and almost all in the past many years in the top 50. (Many Power 5 programs can’t say the same)

Arkansas, Notre Dame, top 10 national teams etc aren’t playing at SLU if they didn’t think SLU had a great team and program. 

SLU will continue to schedule the best programs regionally that will play them. And they will keep getting results. It’d be nice to travel father away as some other programs do. 

…………………

SLU will return 9 starters from a top 8 national team. They will also add an injured starter, a transfer, a strong 10 player recruiting class, most of whom are in the IMG rankings, all of whom deserve to be. 

……………………

The next question is how does SLU compare to the good non football schools of college soccer? Apples to apples. 

These are Santa Clara, Portland, Pepperdine, Ivy League, Georgetown, Xavier, and not too many others. It’s not a big list.

Portland has a lot of past history but they are in their first NCAA Tourney in a decade. 

Pepperdine is another solid program, 12 NCAA appearances in the past 25 years with 4 Sweet 16’s. 

Georgetown has had 12 NCAA appearances in 18 years and a couple of Final Fours.

Xavier’s first ever NCAA Tourney win was 2019.

Santa Clara has of course had great success going back to the 1980’s. 

Some of the advantages of some of these schools are soccer geography, academics, their league, it varies. 

The SLU Women’s Soccer program doesn’t have a say in the league in which it plays, nor does it have a say in money commitment in building the other programs in the league.

……………….

Out of the 65 Power 5 schools, only 8 have ever won a national title. 

………………..

U.S. Soccer doesn’t have anything to do with SLU Women’s Soccer. And again, your comments there are super vague. Being very specific helps one to understand what that even means.

……………….

Now if we’re talking on things that can be improved a lot, look no more than the home ESPN+ telecasts. Rewatching the games, Yipes. No graphics, clock doesn’t work, picture goes, camera well behind plays, broadcast that seems not only unfamiliar with the opponent but also the home team all too often. It wasn’t the best season for some of those things this year. That’d be a good area of improvement on which to focus for next year. I know that would help casual and far away fans a bit. I can always go back and rewatch on mute.

………………

It’s easy to whine and complain. But one thing I notice in some of these types of posts is that a very detailed, specific alternative solution, to a perceived problem, is not included. There are few things less productive than complaint without change. So, what would you change? 

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Thank you brian for the defense.  Appreciate it. 

Gonzaga is not the model because the Zags usually win a few in the NCAA tournament.  Not the title, but at least deep and even final four runs as pointed out.  The model was more a conference model, looking at the not-so-mid-major conferences like the MEAC, the Ohio Valley, the Southern Conference and so on in basketball.  Those schools make the Dance, call the season a huge success, pocket the money, and pray they get lucky in the opening round.  They rarely do.

If SLU were a #2 seed, then we lost to a #15 seed.  This is akin to Norfolk State beating Mizzou some years back.  Middle Tennessee State over Michigan State in 2016.  Weber State over UNC in 2008.  Richmond over Syracuse in 1991.  Lehigh over Duke in 2012.  Just as quickly as they won, they disappeared back into the shadows of the overall NCAA morass.  Sure, there is the occasional  George Mason, VCU, Butler, St. Peters runs but they are rare and one might argue they immediately fell back to so-so status anyway.  Five straight A10 titles is amazing; 1 and 5 after that is not.  Ergo, the question.   I suspect we have a great chance at six in a row.  But anything beyond that sounds like pure luck in a "sicko" sport.

As I stated in a previous post, I watched a lot (for me) of women's games this year.  They were indeed entertaining.  They scored goals.  They played shutout defense.  They were ranked and rewarded.  They played in the NCAAs at home.  And then the same result in the end.  One and done appears to be the ongoing reality.  

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1 hour ago, Taj79 said:

Thank you brian for the defense.  Appreciate it. 

Gonzaga is not the model because the Zags usually win a few in the NCAA tournament.  Not the title, but at least deep and even final four runs as pointed out.  The model was more a conference model, looking at the not-so-mid-major conferences like the MEAC, the Ohio Valley, the Southern Conference and so on in basketball.  Those schools make the Dance, call the season a huge success, pocket the money, and pray they get lucky in the opening round.  They rarely do.

If SLU were a #2 seed, then we lost to a #15 seed.  This is akin to Norfolk State beating Mizzou some years back.  Middle Tennessee State over Michigan State in 2016.  Weber State over UNC in 2008.  Richmond over Syracuse in 1991.  Lehigh over Duke in 2012.  Just as quickly as they won, they disappeared back into the shadows of the overall NCAA morass.  Sure, there is the occasional  George Mason, VCU, Butler, St. Peters runs but they are rare and one might argue they immediately fell back to so-so status anyway.  Five straight A10 titles is amazing; 1 and 5 after that is not.  Ergo, the question.   I suspect we have a great chance at six in a row.  But anything beyond that sounds like pure luck in a "sicko" sport.

As I stated in a previous post, I watched a lot (for me) of women's games this year.  They were indeed entertaining.  They scored goals.  They played shutout defense.  They were ranked and rewarded.  They played in the NCAAs at home.  And then the same result in the end.  One and done appears to be the ongoing reality.  

 Lol.

Seems pretty great to compare SLU Women's Soccer to one of the best NCAA Men's basketball programs, as you are doing here. SLU must be pretty good. Perhaps you can also break down the other 351 Men's hoops programs? Oh and it took Mark Few 18 years to make a Final Four. He also inherited a program that began building under 2 previous hewd coaches.

At a place like SLU, and many places with a lot more resources than SLU, it takes a few years to build a program and get it going. I'd happily compare to SLU to many of these other places if you'd like, but that won't fit your narrative.

Interesting how you never seem to discuss SLU's non-conference schedule and results. You post and post and post and yet if there was only a way we could find out how SLU stacks up head to head with some of the great programs. You repeatedly ignore all of those things because it doesn't support your flawed false narrative.

When is the last time Norfolk State had a 2 NCAA seed in basketball? Or even a 4 seed? SLU has been both in 2 out of the past 3 seasons. (We all remember that one. SLU wasn't allowed to host the game, andlst in PK's after losing its best player to injury shortly before rhe game.) And of course they won last season at Ole Miss. 

NCAA 2 seeds and NCAA 4 seeds don't get handed out to Norfolk State hoops unless or until they defeat better teams non-conference. How many other Women's Soccer programs in any conference have been a top 4 seed twice in the past 3 seasons besides SLU? That answer is 10. Those schools are Arkansas, (SLU beat them twice), BYU  Duke, Florida State, Georgetown, North Carolina, Notre Dame, UCLA, USC, TCU.

It's also already been explained several times that NCAA Women's Soccer Tourney pairings don't work that way. Memphis was significantly better than several teams who were able to play a worse seed than SLU. The tourney is not seeded 1 through 16 in that way. 

It isn't a secret that Power 5 leagues have a big advantage in Women's College Soccer. It also isn't a secret that there are also a smaller group of soccer powers that every bit as good as many of those teams and programs. SLU, despite its challenges and obstacles has become one of those programs. That's pretty great.

I realize you were young at a time when NCAA Soccer was Men only, 8 team tourney, and Philadelphia Textile and Bridgeport were powers. But some things change, and evolve over time.

 

 

 

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1 minute ago, Cowboy II said:

-only issue I had with Taj's post was the timing, at that point the wound was so raw it seems the post was intentional to get under people's skin and he did, if that was the mission it was accomplished

Other than being incorrect about most of what he posted, sure.

I’m happy to point out the results vs the challenges. It’s a great success story. 

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1 hour ago, courtside said:

 

The next question is how does SLU compare to the good non football schools of college soccer? Apples to apples. 

These are Santa Clara, Portland, Pepperdine, Ivy League, Georgetown, Xavier, and not too many others. It’s not a big list.

Portland has a lot of past history but they are in their first NCAA Tourney in a decade. 

Pepperdine is another solid program, 12 NCAA appearances in the past 25 years with 4 Sweet 16’s. 

Georgetown has had 12 NCAA appearances in 18 years and a couple of Final Fours.

Xavier’s first ever NCAA Tourney win was 2019.

Santa Clara has of course had great success going back to the 1980’s. 

Some of the advantages of some of these schools are soccer geography, academics, their league, it varies. 

The SLU Women’s Soccer program doesn’t have a say in the league in which it plays, nor does it have a say in money commitment in building the other programs in the league.

 

This whole post is all well and good, but it misses the point completely of my post.  Casual fans or people trying to get into the women's college soccer game don't realize any of this. So you explain it to them and don't tell them to F off or treat them like they are slime for asking what is a very fair question.

Next, it isn't being a non-football school that puts SLU at the biggest disadvantage, it is being an expensive private school in a 14 full scholarship limit sport that lacks the academic prestige of a USC, Duke, Georgetown or Stanford. SLU even ranks well below Santa Clara, but Santa Clara biggest advantage is Jerry Smith's three decade plus record of excellence.  It is hard to expect a kid to pay more than twice as much to play soccer at SLU when they can go to one of multiple in state public universities or an those schools in states that are part of an ever growing list of states with reciprocal in state tuition agreements.

In men's soccer it is 9.9 scholarships.  That makes what Kevin has done so quickly with the men's program even more impressive. 

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24 minutes ago, brianstl said:

This whole post is all well and good, but it misses the point completely of my post.  Casual fans or people trying to get into the women's college soccer game don't realize any of this. So you explain it to them and don't tell them to F off or treat them like they are slime for asking what is a very fair question.

Next, it isn't being a non-football school that puts SLU at the biggest disadvantage, it is being an expensive private school in a 14 full scholarship limit sport that lacks the academic prestige of a USC, Duke, Georgetown or Stanford. SLU even ranks well below Santa Clara, but Santa Clara biggest advantage is Jerry Smith's three decade plus record of excellence.  It is hard to expect a kid to pay more than twice as much to play soccer at SLU when they can go to one of multiple in state public universities or an those schools in states that are part of an ever growing list of states with reciprocal in state tuition agreements.

In men's soccer it is 9.9 scholarships.  That makes what Kevin has done so quickly with the men's program even more impressive. 

-great point on the schollies and cost to attend, thanks brianstl

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