Jump to content

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 2.6k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted
On 8/23/2024 at 2:25 PM, courtside said:

SLU 1 BYU 1

 

10th minute, Houck forced a turnover up to Sawyer on the right wing. She used her speed to take the space with a diagonal run across midfield, She lofted a nice diagonal ball to Gaebe who bests the defender, gets a 15 yard shot, save Hernaez. She’ll score from a similar spot later. Best chance for either team in the first 10 minutes. 

 
Several times (4/5) in the first 10 minutes, SLU had the same play/opportunity, but the pass/execution wasn’t there. Ground passes behind the play. Center midfield turnovers for transition. Good things happen when SLU sharper there. Bad things when they aren’t. Where you turn the ball over matters. 
 
BYU is a high volume shot team. They took a few from 30-40 yards out which was fine. They also launched some balls into the box. Most of these were harmless, but there is value to doing it and SLU could have done it a little more themselves.
 
BYU plays through the middle. Center backs to dmid to wings who make interior diagonal runs or passes. Their wings also punch the middle and find space to receive center back passes down the field. And they also have center back/dmid long passes to their central attacking midfielder. It’s how they play. Wisconsin played 5 midfielders and that completely frustrated BYU in their first game.
 
16th minute, Houck distributed up to Larson at midfield, who made a nice through ball pass with some pass and loft for Gaebe, who was in alone, but it was just a step too far. Again, the midfield pass connecting to forwards, when it’s good, it’s dangerous. When it’s not, it’s transition the other way.
 
Earlier in the half, Larson was pulled down from behind inside the 30, center of goal no call, transition the other way. 17th she made another run to the 18, but her slot pass to Gaebe was well defended by Warner. Le forced the turnover, played it ahead to Simon. Simon squared it to Larson off to the races. 
 
18th minute, Freeman and Vance play led a nice give and go, and Sawyer took down Freeman from behind for a foul, and a ref warning. This is mentioned because she received a yellow later in the 25th minute for fouling from behind. She was fouled first from behind which wasn’t called, and then she fouled a BYU player which was called. Card for dissent.
 
19th minute goal for SLU, 50/50 midfield ball gets deflected ahead to Gaebe who overpowered both Frischknecht and Freeman for a l-0 lead for SLU. Better finish to her previous similar chance.
 
SLU subbed out Simon and moved Larson to central attacking midfield. BYU took a few more 30 plus yard shots, 1 off of a short keeper punt in transition. which resulted in a nice corner.
 
Freeman had a nice game at right back for BYU. Similar with Smith last year, BYU likes to get its right back forward into the attack. She stepped up nicely into play in combination with their center mids, or provide passes down the line to Fryer.
 
26th minute center back pass ahewd to Sawyer who wins the ball v defender and she gets yanked down from behind in wide open space. Foul call, no card. Good foul there as she was off to the races. 
 
Gaebe had another chance right side of the box after beating Rustsnd 1v1. Save Hernaez from 12. 27th minute.
 
30th minute, nice combination play from former high school teammates, Addy Lang and Hope Kim. Kim made a strong right side run into the box, nice short cross to Sarnowski. Her header was tipped wide full extension from Hernaez. A few chances there for SLU to add to their lead including that great one. 
 
A typical BYU play in the minute. Center back long ground pass up the middle to attacking mid finding space. Turn, through ball inside the 18, and cut back cross around the 6. Well defended by SLU. But a nice build up from Frishknecht to Vance, to Gardner across to Fryer. 
 
………………
Half time adjustments. 
……………..
SLU dominated the first 10 plus minutes of the 2nd half. And they did it by pressing higher with an extra player,(central attacking mid, Simon, next to Gaebe) and they moved up a defensive mid (Brinkman) to press 2-3. It was very effective. SLU still fell back into its 4-2-3-1. But this is a new wrinkle and it had some success. 
 
Much more front foot pressure. winning 50/50 balls, forcing turnovers. Had BYU on their heels a bit. 
 
47th minute Kim forced a turnover, sideline run edge of box slotted to Gaebe who put it over the goal without a clean hit. 
 
48th minute. Houck forced a turnover where she was repeatedly fouled without a call from behind. Ball goes out of bounds to BYU. Houck raises her hands looking for a call. She instead received a yellow card. Stunning. 
 
This was some of the most animated Katie Shield has been on the sideline of a game involving officials in a long time. 
 
But this stretch of play was more to SLU’s style. Waves of pressure in and around the 18. SLU was unable to stretch the lead. These missed opportunities in both halves would come back to hurt them. 
 
Heckel, Stram, and Le will need to be the set piece targets, without having Lawler, Miller, Kelly. going to have to try some things to be more dangerous there. 
 
67th minute. Another great chance for SLU was Gaebe winning a 50/50 ball at midfield, and then she made a rub, outmuscled Hamberlin into the box to the 10. She goes down as 3 defenders collapse on her at the 6 yard box. Good no call there. Loose ball falls to Leonard who blasted a 7 yard shot just beyond the open corner post. 
 
As can happen, an opposing goal shortly after a near miss. 68th minute BYU goal. BYU throw in up the line, and Stringfellow was able to hold off two defenders on the wing. She sent a nice through ball behind the defense. Fryer split The two defenders, and she maneuvered around Puricelli at the 18 and tap it in. 1-1 game. BYU had a few chances and won a few corners to that point, but SLU was good most of the first 23 minutes of the 2nd half. 
 
69th minute. Sawyer plays it up the wing to Gaebe who was off to the races. She was fouled from behind by Frishknecht, no call.  Lots of inconsistencies with the fouls from behind in the game. BYU was able to transition the other way multiple times without a call, let alone a card. 
 
73rd minute. Despite being hounded by Larson. Krommenhoek was able to launch a long pass into the left corner for Fryer. Houck was pressung someone else, which left Fryer 1v1 with Stram. Stram made the choice to back down to inside the 18 vs take a chance out wide on the wing. She waited for support. But Fryer was able to cut in from 12. Nice shot and save. 
 
During this few minute stretch, SLU had a few center of the field turnovers as they did early in the game. Most of the in between time was better. 
 
79th minute. Gaebe was hounded and fouled from behind by Krommenhoek and Dixon. No call. Turnover. Big no call as the ensuing ball goes wide in transition to BYU. Give and go Fryer to Dixon, back to Fryer, back to Dixon who had a chance from 7 yards, save made. This time Welker took a chance wide on Fryer, couldn’t get there. Fryer 1 v1 with Stram again, lays it off to Dixon. weak side  help was late. 
 
84th minute. Le forced a middle of the field turnover. She gets pulled down from behind 35 yards from goal 4 on 2. No call and we headed the other way, and Vance gets a nice chance in transition, from 15. save again Puricelli. It helps to add some context to a few of these chances. The no calls the other way, transition, getting an outside back out of position, where a scorer is 1v1 in space isolated with a center back. 
 
88th minute, throw in up the line, Gaebe 1v1 draws the foul from 20 yards out side of the box. Can’t convert
 
…………..
Need to start games on the front foot, with more efficient middle of the field connecting passes into the final third. Need to out more dangerous balls into the box, and even get a few shots up from distance at times. Midfield turnovers can lead to transition opportunities against teams like BYU. Players like Fryer will make you pay more often than not. 
 
Freeman had a nice game at right back. Krommenhoek as a true Freshman. Hernaez made some saves when needed. BYU’s wings gave them better than expected minutes. 
 
This is the open end to end game that was expected without the higher scoring. Formations as expected with SLU ‘s 2nd half 2-3 press wrinkle. Unfortunate to not add the 2nd goal for SLU to extend the lead when they had the chances in both halves. Need to get more out of players not named Larson and Gaebe. Nice game for a few of the Freshmen. Some veteran players need to be sharper from the opening whistle. 
 
Both teams played a short bench. 4 and 3 players each beyond rest minutes. 29 of 30 SLU players were available. (Jackson still isn’t cleared with her injury)
 
This is the pace, efficiency on the ball, and physicality, you have to play at for 90 minutes defeat the better teams at this level. Good game to play early to keep getting better. SLU did some things well, and they have some things to work on too. 
 
Hopefully BYU wins a lot of games. 

Nice write up. Thanks. It seems you thought the inequality of the officiating was even worse than I did. I assumed Katie H said something to the official. 
 

My take was the game was too fast for him. He was frequently too far behind the play. 
 

I’ve been especially impressed with Elise Le of the freshman. I hope she can develop into threat in the box off set pieces. You can really notice 3 games in how much less dangerous we are. Elise has been all over the place. She’s done a great job winning the ball back. Her distribution hasn’t been great but it’s 3 games into her freshman campaign 

I still have the same complaint with the women. We want to play direct, attack, and run at people, Larson, Sawyer, and especially Garbe are so good in space running onto the ball but there are times when they could and should settle and exercise a bit of patience. Too many times we play the ball forward quickly to absolutely no one. 
 

Started this a couple of days ago. Finishing after the Mizzou game. 2-0 result. Going on the road to a big rival and coming back with a 2-0 win. Can’t complain 

Posted
15 minutes ago, slufanskip said:

Nice write up. Thanks. It seems you thought the inequality of the officiating was even worse than I did. I assumed Katie H said something to the official. 
 

My take was the game was too fast for him. He was frequently too far behind the play. 
 

I’ve been especially impressed with Elise Le of the freshman. I hope she can develop into threat in the box off set pieces. You can really notice 3 games in how much less dangerous we are. Elise has been all over the place. She’s done a great job winning the ball back. Her distribution hasn’t been great but it’s 3 games into her freshman campaign 

I still have the same complaint with the women. We want to play direct, attack, and run at people, Larson, Sawyer, and especially Garbe are so good in space running onto the ball but there are times when they could and should settle and exercise a bit of patience. Too many times we play the ball forward quickly to absolutely no one. 
 

Started this a couple of days ago. Finishing after the Mizzou game. 2-0 result. Going on the road to a big rival and coming back with a 2-0 win. Can’t complain 

Thanks.

I’ll give something more detailed/expansive when I get back. 

One of the issues with the BYU ref is not knowing how to call fouls from behind. The Mizzou ref struggled as well for different reasons at times. I am not someone who complains about refs very often, as you know. You adjust to the refs or at least try.

My mild strategic issue is that in my opinion, each game is about matchups. 1) You can play your own style and say, our best is better than yours. 2) You can approach your strategy based on opponent personnel, formation, etc….instead of the first 3)  or you can do both. I like both unless it’s a clear mismatch.

Against BYU, a strategy is to take away the middle gaps of Krommenhoek and Vance, their defensive mid and attacking mid. You deny, play tight no turn, etc…to disrupt the flow. SLU did a nice job adjusting in the 2nd half by moving up its attacking mid and moving up a dmid ti play more numbers higher. It worked well. They should have played it longer and sooner.

Mizzou played a 3-5-2. That in my opinion, is not necessarily a time to open with a methodical build from the back, short interior passing in your own end. You can show a mid, play it back in the air up the wing using width, as well as reverse the ball and play it diagonally over the top in space against only 3 on the back line. Get a lead. Then work on some things

SLU was determined to open the game with a build from the back short interior passing. First 10 was fine, but then it broke down for a long stretch in the first half. Way too soft on the ball in their own half. Needed to match the physicality. And they did. Lots of players slipping and losing their footing.

Elise Le has been great. She’s playing an entirely new position for her. She is a 5th year grad transfer from Xavier, where she started 63 games at left back. Very experienced, smart player. Still working on her long distribution, aerial set pieces on offense, and she is a bit too unselfish inside the attacking 25. And out or need she’s played the full 90. 

Lang has been moving higher as a defensive midfielder. She is a Freshman. She had to play some outside back at times v Mizzou out of need. But Luebbert was good there. So she moved back. 

Ashley Miller is the player you’ll like. Calm, composed on the ball in the attacking mid. Elite passer. She led the state of Missouri her Soph, Junior, Senior seasons in assists. She set up the first goal, and she would have had a few more assists if people finished a few. She’s a Freshman too. 

Defeating Mizzou is important. It’s expected, and it’s not an easy game. I’ll elaborate more when I get a chance. 

Posted
On 8/25/2024 at 2:16 PM, courtside said:

Mizzou:

Mizzou wants to play a 3-5-2. They tried it in the Spring and the Fall. They’ve already abandoned it twice. But I will expect them to open with it v SLU. 3 solid center backs, 2 defensive midfielders, 2 wings, a central attacking mid and 2 forwards. If Mizzou switches it up, they will possibly move Spriggs in as the 4th back (with Yang, Meador, and Kutella) play more of a 4-2-3-1 similar to SLU.

Under Golan, Mizzou has gone from some lopsided losses to good teams. to 9 one goal losses last season. They are in many of their games. They will be a tough game. 

Mizzou is good defensively. They will try to clog the middle and limit transition. Their Arkansas State transfer Kutella center back adds size in the middle.

Simmons is their primary scoring threat up top. They haven’t been able to get enough from their wings. And Buels hasn’t been available there for them. Canada will be their impact Freshman in the central defensive midfield.

Much of Mizzou’s offense has been via sideline East West crosses, and  diagonal balls misplayed by the opposing keeper.Since that area has been a slow go, I expect to see some of that to take some of the pressure off.

This is definitely a game that has interest in the St. Louis and Kansas City recruiting markets. Mizzou often recruits there, Texas, Georgia, and the Upper Midwest where Golan used to coach. 

Mizzou has mostly kept a short bench this season. 

SLU will look to use the width of the field, and to find some space in the attacking corners, to get some numbers and room with Gaebe, Larson. etc…get an early goal, force Mizzou to open up a bit. Put pressure on the back 3. Limit mistakes in your own half/3rd, and get a comprehensive win. SLU will need to be more efficient on set pieces, and they’ll need to get more service into dangerous positions in and near the 18. Need a high level 90 minute effort, and a little bit sharper execution. Start on the front foot. 

SLU 2 Mizzou 0

Big win for SLU. 

Formations: 

SLU  4-2-3-1

Mizzou 3-5-2

Mizzou indeed played a 3-5-2. The start was fine. Some things broke down the next 20. The final 60 was good. So, still piecing together a full 90. But it’s getting there. And SLU has been able to play almost all of their eligible field players. Having a 2nd 11 made a difference.

The break downs and gaps were turning the ball over on the ground in the middle of the field during part of the first half. And, the back line is coached to sprint back to the 18. And that gives away 20 yards. That approach depends on the opponent. their attack, and their personnel. If you give the space, they’ll take the space. Part of the adjustment is personnel. part positioning. and part distributing a different way. And again, where you turn the ball over matters. 

SLU had about 3 high level chances in the first, about 8 in the 2nd half. And that doesn’t count free kicks and corners which were often good service but still a work in progress. 

Warm night, depth helped as the game progressed. SLU began finding more space with aerial diagonal balls to Larson, Sawyer, Gaebe, as well as up the line. And that’s often the play vs 5 midfielders. Getting their back 3 isolated in space. As the season progresses, SLU will be able to tack on a little more.

………….. 

Some of the plays that stood out:

 

1st:

Miller to Gaebe. Shot high straight on. lower corner and it’s a goal 

Miller up the middle through ball to Sawyer left foot far corner finish 1-0
 
Gary curled a through ball to Sawyer who banged the near post on the finish. Some dangerous set piece service from Luebbert.

2nd:

Schreiber from Miller, aerial up the line for Gaebe 1v1 near post.
 
Miller slots a through ball to Gaebe whose rocket was tipped over the goal by the keeper. Lower corner placement would have been a goal.
 
Larson received an aerial diagonal ball. from Heckel. She made a  strong diagonal run to Gaebe at the 18. Shot blocked. This is the play I talked about vs a 3-5-2. 
 
Gaebe receives long outlet up the middle from Stram. back heel pass to Sarnowski. Shot deflected just over the bar left side. 
 
Larson long aerial diagonal ball to Gaebe.
 
A few more chances for Sawyer before she got injured
 
Lang to Luebbert left side of the box to Gaebe at the 6. Nice defendeing to save a goal 
 
Luebbert slide tackle forced turnover up the middle to Kim, lays it off to Gaebe left side inside the 18 low far post finish. 2-0
……………..
The starting positions locked down are Puricelli, Stram, Heckel, Le, Larson, Gaebe. The other 5 will change and vary based on game play and practice. 
 
And there’s a deep group of players from which to choose. Different players emerge games. 

Mizzou was getting a little better than expected wing play, so SLU moved Lang to outside back, and they gave Luebbert more time. She didd well offensively. Miller was given an opportunity, and she assisted on a goal, and, she could have had more if a few finishes were more efficient. 
 
A few more Freshman saw their first action of the year, bringing that total to 7 so far. 
 
………………
Hopefully Mizzou will get some good wins this year that will help the SLU RPI. They have a top 10 level schedule. So they will get plenty of opportunities.
Posted
55 minutes ago, courtside said:

SLU 2 Mizzou 0

Big win for SLU. 

Formations: 

SLU  4-2-3-1

Mizzou 3-5-2

Mizzou indeed played a 3-5-2. The start was fine. Some things broke down the next 20. The final 60 was good. So, still piecing together a full 90. But it’s getting there. And SLU has been able to play almost all of their eligible field players. Having a 2nd 11 made a difference.

The break downs and gaps were turning the ball over on the ground in the middle of the field during part of the first half. And, the back line is coached to sprint back to the 18. And that gives away 20 yards. That approach depends on the opponent. their attack, and their personnel. If you give the space, they’ll take the space. Part of the adjustment is personnel. part positioning. and part distributing a different way. And again, where you turn the ball over matters. 

SLU had about 3 high level chances in the first, about 8 in the 2nd half. And that doesn’t count free kicks and corners which were often good service but still a work in progress. 

Warm night, depth helped as the game progressed. SLU began finding more space with aerial diagonal balls to Larson, Sawyer, Gaebe, as well as up the line. And that’s often the play vs 5 midfielders. Getting their back 3 isolated in space. As the season progresses, SLU will be able to tack on a little more.

………….. 

Some of the plays that stood out:

 

1st:

Miller to Gaebe. Shot high straight on. lower corner and it’s a goal 

Miller up the middle through ball to Sawyer left foot far corner finish 1-0
 
Gary curled a through ball to Sawyer who banged the near post on the finish. Some dangerous set piece service from Luebbert.

2nd:

 

Schreiber from Miller, aerial up the line for Gaebe 1v1 near post.
 
Miller slots a through ball to Gaebe whose rocket was tipped over the goal by the keeper. Lower corner placement would have been a goal.
 
Larson received an aerial diagonal ball. from Heckel. She made a  strong diagonal run to Gaebe at the 18. Shot blocked. This is the play I talked about vs a 3-5-2. 
 
Gaebe receives long outlet up the middle from Stram. back heel pass to Sarnowski. Shot deflected just over the bar left side. 
 
Larson long aerial diagonal ball to Gaebe.
 
A few more chances for Sawyer before she got injured
 
Lang to Luebbert left side of the box to Gaebe at the 6. Nice defendeing to save a goal 
 
Luebbert slide tackle forced turnover up the middle to Kim, lays it off to Gaebe left side inside the 18 low far post finish. 2-0
……………..
The starting positions locked down are Puricelli, Stram, Heckel, Le, Larson, Gaebe. The other 5 will change and vary based on game play and practice. 
 
And there’s a deep group of players from which to choose. Different players emerge games. 

Mizzou was getting a little better than expected wing play, so SLU moved Lang to outside back, and they gave Luebbert more time. She didd well offensively. Miller was given an opportunity, and she assisted on a goal, and, she could have had more if a few finishes were more efficient. 
 
A few more Freshman saw their first action of the year, bringing that total to 7 so far. 
 
………………
Hopefully Mizzou will get some good wins this year that will help the SLU RPI. They have a top 10 level schedule. So they will get plenty of opportunities.

Much better game for SLU than the BYU match.  Shields turned the game around with her substitutions…don’t ever remember subs having as much of a positive impact on the flow of play as they did last night.  Of course, when Sawyer is one of the subs…..and I think Miller starts from now on.

Posted
14 hours ago, Gremio14 said:

Much better game for SLU than the BYU match.  Shields turned the game around with her substitutions…don’t ever remember subs having as much of a positive impact on the flow of play as they did last night.  Of course, when Sawyer is one of the subs…..and I think Miller starts from now on.

You thought so? I thought they were nauseating to watch in the first half. Looked nervous and anxious. 

Posted

No one has mentioned the use of VAR in this game. The Billiken first goal was awarded after the referee looked at VAR for offside, yet they don't have the cameras or the camera angles to get a true vision of the play. 

Posted
16 hours ago, Gremio14 said:

Much better game for SLU than the BYU match.  Shields turned the game around with her substitutions…don’t ever remember subs having as much of a positive impact on the flow of play as they did last night.  Of course, when Sawyer is one of the subs…..and I think Miller starts from now on.

SLU typically will play about 8 subs, with 4 to 6 getting more significant minutes. As postseason approaches, rotations shrink to 4 to 5 subs with all playing significant minutes. 10 was a little more than that v Mizzou. 

Changing their approach based on formations, matchups, personnel, helped improve the game. Diagonal aerial target passes to Larson, Sawyer, etc to get runs at the 18 with numbers. This was more effective vs a 3-5-2 than w methodically many short interior passing build from the back approach. In a different game, the approach would be different. 

SLU is still figuring out who will play where in some examples. Players are still competing in practice and games for rotation playing time. Other positions are more set. Some of the veteran play as been uneven. 

Typically for Freshmen the adjustment is pace and physicality of the college game. And that learning curve has ups and downs and is not a straight line.

Still piecing together a full 90 minutes. 

Posted
27 minutes ago, Speyburn said:

No one has mentioned the use of VAR in this game. The Billiken first goal was awarded after the referee looked at VAR for offside, yet they don't have the cameras or the camera angles to get a true vision of the play. 

Each year NCAA Rules can be tweaked. 

New this year are expanded VAR review of the following:

PK’s, Red Cards, Offsides, Questionable Goals. 

Posted
39 minutes ago, Speyburn said:

No one has mentioned the use of VAR in this game. The Billiken first goal was awarded after the referee looked at VAR for offside, yet they don't have the cameras or the camera angles to get a true vision of the play. 

The annoying part of the VAR was that the referee seemed to be able to go over to VAR on his own whim or anytime he felt less than confident of a call. I certainly understand the goal review but anyone watching the game knew the correct calls were obvious. When you see VAR in the pros it's the VAR referee monitoring the games that indicate the need for review. 

Posted
1 hour ago, courtside said:

Each year NCAA Rules can be tweaked. 

New this year are expanded VAR review of the following:

PK’s, Red Cards, Offsides, Questionable Goals. 

Do all NCAA soccer facilities have VAR capability?

Posted
21 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

Do all NCAA soccer facilities have VAR capability?

No, Mizzou have them, but they do not have enough camera angles or the height to get a good replay if offsides is under review. They also have cameras in the goal, to see if all of the ball crossed the line. This also came into play at the Billiken game, and it was determined that a chance from Mizzou that the ball did not cross the line. Having VAR is a conference decision. 

Posted
7 minutes ago, Speyburn said:

No, Mizzou have them, but they do not have enough camera angles or the height to get a good replay if offsides is under review. They also have cameras in the goal, to see if all of the ball crossed the line. This also came into play at the Billiken game, and it was determined that a chance from Mizzou that the ball did not cross the line. Having VAR is a conference decision. 

I believe it is a conference decision to mandate video review, but that any school can set-up a laptop and monitor on the sidelines and have someone ready to replay the live stream.

Posted
1 hour ago, Bills By 40 said:

I wish they'd flex Sunday's game to, say, 11, to allow me to make it to both the women's and City games. That'd be a fun day. 

Just realized that Penn State comes in ranked No. 3/5.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...