DeSmetBilliken Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 Slubillikens.com hasn't posted the score yet, I saw at the Clemson official site that the Billikens won 2-0 on second half goals by John DiRaimondo and Vedad Ibisevic. Another great win for the Bills against a quality team. Right now we are ranked 4th in one poll and closer to 10th in the rest, but I think that with a win Sunday over Furman we could very well have a consensus top 5 team on our hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 Huge win, Clemson is a consensus top ten team. I can't wait to see how good this team will be with experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 Wow Wow Wow ... I think this is unbelievable to be off to this kind of a start with 6 or 7 freshman getting substantial minutes. Was the game on any kind of a local station? If so would any of the local Billiken fans have a tape of it? I can't wait to see us play at home with a full squad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityBilliken Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 Just returned from an enjoyable early evening in Greenville. This is one solid soccer team. The freshmen Vedad, Will John and John DiRaimondo are great. If they stick together this will be one of the top teams for several years. Clemson is one tough team but that did not seem to bother them. The second goal from Will to Vedad was a picture perfect. On the way out I walked with some of the players to say how great they looked and to wish them luck for Sunday. Also met some of the parents of players and some very avid SLU fans from St Louis. Again, an enjoyable evening and looking forward to Sunday afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLURadioBoy Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 Man, this team is something! The best team SLU had in my four year tenure as a student was my junior year (Donigan's first year as coach) when they had Dipsy, Jackie Jewsberry, and Brad Davis as the main threats on offense and John Politis in goal. This team might be even better than that one though and the 2002 Bills were only one goal away from making it to the Final Four. I'm not saying that this team will make it to the Final Four this year, but in a year or two they should be able to. If most of these guys are only freshmen and they stick around for four years, how good will they be when they're juniors or seniors? Now that is scary! "Praises we sing, to you our alma mater, Praise to the white and blue. Our hymn shall ring, in tribute strong to you, We hail Saint Louis U." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 How were the other frosh? The other national teamer from Edwardsville, or Peplinski from Milwaukee or Spiess form DeSmet...etc... I have seen some of these Frosh play in high school/club ball. Easily the best SLU class I have seen in long time. I thought they would struggle early, especially to finish, but apparently getting off to great start. The rankings are crazy...Clemson, 9 in one poll, 19 in another...SLU 4 in one poll, saw 14 in another. All over the place. It counts big to beat two traditionally strong ACC teams on the road. Big for eventual post-season home games...never too early to think of it. If SLU gets a a very good class for next year, they should be shooting for a national title possibly. No offense to last year's class, but it was ordinary at best. A win over Furman puts them in good shape. Conference shouldn't be too tough...some solid clubs but traditonally strong UAB has been down, and Marquette is terrible this season. Need to get those non-conference national opponent wins, for rankings and future post-season home games. ...I just watched a tape of the Maryland/UCLA, one vs two game this weekend, and both are very very strong. Looking forward to attending the home opener vs FIU(nice to see traditionally strong FIU not lose their program, ...almost did) after a good meal at Vito Lafata's place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 I think Cinci and S. Florida are suppossed to be strong this year in CUSA. I hate to say this due to so many freshman, but we could be in the title hunt this year If any of the other posters are going to the 1st home game on the 13th let me know ... It would be nice to meet people so we can put a face to the posters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobo Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 UAB is also very strong and will be a tough game as will Indiana. Both are road games. Pre-season talk believed the Bills would be tough toward the end of the season. This young team seems to have come together earlier than expected and I fully believe they will be in the hunt this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 UAB has been the most feared conference opponent for the past 5 or more years, and after a down year last year, apparently, they are back...pre-season #28, they tied IU and Notre Dame, both 0-0 scores last weekend at IU. They are 1-0-2. Now moving up to 13th nationally. S. Florida and Memphis have been solid but not elite like UAB, and Marquette always gets in on the conference title, despite not being able to finish or get up for the little teams after playing big ones tough. They are awful so far this season, and will be a cupcake. UAB should be the big conference game. They traditionally get a lot of nice foreign players, as they do with their other non-major sports there. As for national title this year,...sure by end of year could have chance, but to be honest, SLU needs all home playoff games until final four, and they will need two elite finishers. If Vedad, or John etc...turn into that, then maybe they will have a chance. I really liked Hammes in back last year...I just think SLU needs to make sure they find consistent finishers against top teams. If they can do that, they can go far. They have always had an elite player, last of which was Brad Davis of Chaminade. They have a chance for a handful of them this year...maybe they will be too young, maybe not. For solid players, who are not special, like a Cooper McKee for example, the transition to elite college is difficult and takes 1-2 years. For SLU to win a title, they will need 3-4-5 elite players, some luck, and many home playoff games. I don't doubt that this is a possibility this year, but there are some great teams out there, just as talented and more experienced than SLU. One big question I had was Hutton in goal, and apparently it is being answered. I really thought he was average last year.(when I sayaverage, I mean for national level) If he is much improved, that increases SLU's chances a lot. There is certainly a lot of buzz and excitement with the new kids. By the way, still looking for any update's on Cole, McKeon, etc...I know that Nick Walls and Joe Hammes are thriving in the A league for the Wave United, best team in league, and despite some injuries to both, they have been terrific in A league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 Cincinatti went to the finals of the conference tourney in 2002 and is returning 10 starters according to College Soccer News. I agree with you on needing 3-5 elite players to have a chance for a National Title run. The question is do we have them? Only time will tell. What do you mean by average with Hutton? Last year I would have ranked him as a top 10 keeper nationally. This year it looks like we may have something we've been missing lately also which is someone who can shoot from outside the box. We have hit 2 frre kicks from 20 or more yards out. The Post also said that John D hit one from 36? yards out against Clemson. I don't know if it was on a free kick or not. Wickart also has a very accurate foot from farther out for crosses. One of the things I would still like to see is Vedad to use his head on crosses and corners. He has the height but seems tentative. I would also hope to see Will John pushing forward more rather than laying off, or if he does lay off look for a through ball. John D may help that scenario. Courtside ... it's good to read your post, you obviously are a big fan and know the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 I would also like to know about Jason Cole. I hope he has decided to be a defender ... and has his heart in it. If he would embrace defense ... I think he could be in the MSL soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLURadioBoy Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 We probably are getting a bit too ahead of ourselves talking about a Final Four run or National Championship this year, but it's hard not to with these kids playing on such a mature level. They might be too young this year, but I don't see why they can't threaten for a National Championship next year with all these froshes coming back and Hutton being in goal one more year. Unfortunately next year Gannon, Wickhart, and Pusateri will be gone so we might be a little thin on the defensive side of the ball. Do you think Dan will recruit mainly defensive players next year after losing most of his defense and having a lot of young offensive weapons on the team already? "Praises we sing, to you our alma mater, Praise to the white and blue. Our hymn shall ring, in tribute strong to you, We hail Saint Louis U." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 You are probably right ... but you win in soccer with defense and transition out of the back. As you know we are not young in that area. Our keeper is one of the best in the country, 2 of our midfielders John D and Grazier have National team experience and I'm sure will prove to be more experienced than most upperclassmen. That just leaves us with can we score, come together as a team, and how do the new guys handle the rigors of a long season and the transition to college. The talent looks to be there and so far the answers are very positive. I'm not saying I think we will win a National Title, but I won't be surprised to see us in the hunt this year. I'm really excited about seeing them play at home and get a better opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLURadioBoy Posted September 7, 2003 Share Posted September 7, 2003 That's a great point Skip...you do win in soccer with defense and we're certainly not unexperienced in that area. I certainly wasn't saying we won't be in the National Championship this year, I was just saying that we probably shouldn't get too ahead of ourselves quite yet. Although, if our young froshes can keep this up on the offensive end, we definitely could be in the hunt with our experienced defense. I definitely didn't think we would be this good this fast, but I was pleasantly surprised. I don't see how some SLU fans can care less about our soccer team? I love rooting for a team that has a chance to win it all almost every year! Maybe Brad can get our basketball program up to that level some day too? "Praises we sing, to you our alma mater, Praise to the white and blue. Our hymn shall ring, in tribute strong to you, We hail Saint Louis U." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MusicCityBilliken Posted September 7, 2003 Share Posted September 7, 2003 The frosh I concentrated on (Verdad, DiRaimondo & Will John) all played great. To me they played like more experience players, great positioning and passing. Did catch that feed from Spiess to DiRaimondo for the first goal that was very nice. I will be at the Furman game tomorrow (supposed to be a great day weather wise) and will concentrate on some of the other frosh. This Billiken team seems loaded! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtside Posted September 7, 2003 Share Posted September 7, 2003 Peplinski was a a finalist for national gatorade player of year in high school. I expect big things from him in midfield after this season. Hutton, I thought he was good at times, but not consistent enough for me. He let in soft goals that cost a handful of games. ...Including to Maryland in post-season. I think he was a good keeper, not great...sounds like he is off to terrific start. As long as SLU can get a couple of studs next year...no offense to last year's class, the 4 Texas kids and Chaminade kids, but they are not elite players...a few will be starters later in career and solid players, but nothing special. Cooper McKee is a terrific example. Played on great high school team, is a good player...but this is a different level. If you can get some players like that with elite players sprinkled in you can do fine. McKee is not fast enough to play up front or creative enough...but had to part of last season. At midfield, he is in much better spot. As long as Hutton plays great, and Wickart, Pusateri etc...hold up in back...by mid-season, the guys up front can put SLU in a position of playing with first half leads of 1-2 goals, and create some comfort level with possession soccer. Like in any sport, I believe BALANCE wins championships...now you can get that in different ways, great offense, not so great defense, great defense, with not so great offense, or both equal, you just cannot have a glaring weakness, and either be solid in every area, or elite in a few. So far so good this season, and I love the schedule non-conference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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