UMD vs UMD Alumni

(College Park, MD) – On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, UMD convincingly beat the UMD Alumni 2-0 on the UMD practice field. As expected, the UMD team was just too fast, technical and organized against a brave, hard-fighting team. The Alumni had a core of players who could equal the UMD skill, but there was a huge drop-off over-all. I give the Alumni credit for hanging in there and making a game of it.

UMD play was shoddy. While I understand not making grueling tackles against the Alumni, the finishing, passing and the combination was vastly inadequate and should upset Sasho Cirovski (Md’s coach).

Official disclaimer: With spring games, players switch uniform numbers and there is no official roster provided. So, assume that I’ll have some numbers/names incorrect. If there’s a discrepancy, please let me know. I am confident about the UMD team, but I’m positive that I’ll mess up some Alumni. They didn’t have numbers at all.

Here is a list of the Alumni that played (including the last fall season that they played):

Goal Keepers:

• Steve Powers (‘86)
• Craig Salvati (‘05)

Defenders:

• Spencer Allen (‘07)
• Mark Dubyoski (‘77)
• David Glaudemans (‘06)
• Rick Smedley (‘91)
• Dave Ungrady (‘76)

Midfielders:

• Leo Cullen (‘97)
• Ed Gauss (‘82)
• Chris Lancos (‘05)
• Christian Lewis (‘00)
• Bob Pass (No idea – may have the name wrong)
• Ian Rodway (‘04)

Forwards:

• Brian Barbazette (‘80)
• Aki Kadatoni (‘07)
• Steve Kane (‘70 – I think this is the right guy?)
• Russell Payne (‘96)
• Larry Smedley (‘91)

2 guys were organizing the Alumni – Lance Billingsley (‘60) and Joe Cryan (‘66 – I think).

Don Kraft (‘77) snatched the shirt, hung out for a few minutes and then hit the road!

DC United fans: Since Dom Mediate is nursing a hamstring injury and didn’t travel with DC United, he attended. Of course, he didn’t play. He has a cute, little Boston Terrier puppy.

The Good:

Ed Gauss is smooth. Given that he left MD before all of the current players were born, this is a testament to him. He still has a nice first touch.

Leo Cullen was the key in the middle, providing the best service. The weight on his passing was a joy to watch.

Steve Powers while yielding the second goal, kept the Alumni in the game by making key 1v1 stops and thwarting point blank shots. I remember watching him in the 80’s and it looks like he hasn’t lost a step. Perhaps, I’ve lost more than a few brain cells!

Russell Payne was able to out sprint Rich Costanzo. Are you kidding me?

Spencer Allen did a yeoman’s job in the back considering that he was continuously covering for his other defenders.

Chris Lancos hit a 40 yard shot that was just over the cross bar.

Finally, no injuries – though I expect that the wives heard a lot of groaning on Saturday evening!

The Bad:

With the score 1-0, the Alumni earned a PK for a hand ball. None of the Alumni looked anxious to take the PK, so Cullen stepped up and shot it over the cross bar. Not a horrible shot, but he should have put it on frame. I would have had Allen take the PK – he took one against Loyola in the NCAA tournament last year.

The Ugly:

Tactically, the Alumni could not sustain possession. Instead, most of their best opportunities came from hoofing the ball down the pitch for a forward to try and get behind the MD defense.

In the second half, the Alumni bunkered with 15 players in the box – that isn’t a typo – on a corner kick.

Some of the players, have lost more than a step and their technical proficiency has waned even more significantly.

UMD Analysis:

UMD has some major holes to fill in the fall. The largest task is how to replace perennial All-American candidate Stephen King (who scored his first MLS goal with Chicago against New England, Saturday evening). Graham Zusi is the most likely replacement currently on the team with perhaps Drew Yates my second choice. Though, if incoming freshman, Matt Kassel, is the player that I expect that he’ll be, he may slot into the attacking midfielder position on day 1.

Over the last 2 years, Spenser Allen has manned an outside back position. Who will replace him? The likely candidates are A. J. Delagarza and Sean Flatley. I don’t think that Flatley can be successful out wide and I don’t think Delagarza plays outside very well, either. He’s much better in the middle, reading the game. I didn’t see any answers yesterday. I don’t have the answer, but I don’t think Flatley or Delagarza out wide is the answer.

Neither goal keeper claimed and held the position last year. Can Will Swaim or Thorne Holder play well enough to make it a battle against incoming freshman U17 goal keeper, Zach MacMath? Swaim played the first half and Chinn played the second half. Neither was challenged sufficiently. This is still an open question. I believe that MacMath will win the starting position.

The last major hole is determining who can put the ball in the net up top. Last year, when Jason Herrick was injured in the summer and subsequently missed the year, consistent scoring from the forwards was sorely lacking. Bad news: Herrick was on crutches on Saturday. If this is a continuation from last year, it may put a damper on the fall. This is something to watch for in the fall. Casey Townsend (freshman), Billy Cortes and Yates will fight for one position with Jeremy Hall either playing up top or on the wide right midfield. Scoring consistently continues to be a problem, today though.

Starting Lineup:

GK: Will Swaim (he didn’t have his #21 on, but it looked like him)

D: Rich Costanzo, Omar Gonzalez, Sean Flatley, A. J. Delagarza

M: Billy Cortes, Rodney Wallace, Graham Zusi, Drew Yates

F: Tyler Mishalow, #13-Casey Townsend

Townsend is confident with his shot. He needs to get more accurate on his shot. He turns well and has speed to get away from closing defenders. He’s pretty good. He opened the scoring from a rebound off the goal keeper from a hard shot by Zusi/Yates (I was blocked on the opening shot).

Billy Cortes’ shot was more erratic. He needs to finish – at times specifically with the goaltender at his feet – he was too cute. Cortes was too fast and powerful for the aging defender, but still didn’t get on the score sheet.

Mishalow didn’t add to the attack.

Yates was a problem in the first half with his deft dribbling and the lack of quality in the back. He received a back pass from Zusi that he crossed to Townsend, but Salvati blocked the attempt.

Zusi played AM. His passing and vision is reminiscent of King. He scored the second goal in the second half by picking up a turn-over from Ian Rodway near midfield. No one closed on Zusi and he shot low and hard from the 18 yard line. Moments before, Zusi attempted to bend the ball around the goalie, but a superior effort by Powers saved the goal.

One of the surprises for me is that Rodney Wallace has moved from left midfield to defensive midfield. Cirvoski likes to have a stable central midfield. Wallace will get more touches. Mo Edu made the same move in his sophomore year. It’s not a bad move. But I really liked Wallace out wide where he could aid in the attack and he had the motor to stretch the defense. Something to watch in the fall.

Gonzalez made a pin-point cross field pass that was nice to see.

Costanzo (besides being toasted by Payne) made a long pass that Townsend headed down and looped over the goal keeper for what looked like a nice goal. However, Townsend was called off sides by linesman, Jeremy Hall. I’m not sure why Hall wasn’t playing. He got some stick from his teammates for making the call.

The passing wasn’t sharp from many of the offensive players. Given the numerous opportunities, a larger difference from accurate shooting would have been reasonable. The leadership loss from King graduation may be the cause. Captains’ practice are an example of the quality on game day in the spring.

 

Towson @ Georgetown

(Washington, DC) – On a warm Saturday afternoon with rain threatening, Towson beat a tired Georgetown 3-2 in the second game of their doubleheader.

Official disclaimer: With spring games, players switch uniform numbers and there is no official roster provided. So, assume that I’ll have some numbers/names incorrect. If there’s a discrepancy, please let me know.

Gtown Lineup -

GK: 0-Matthew Brutto

D: 4-(I think it’s Alex Pangraze and not Richard Diaz), 15-Brandon Pfluger, 21-Ben Slingerland, 10-Mostafa Ebrahimnejad

M: 6-Joslin Hunter, 13-Ibukun Otegbeye, 16-Sean Bellomy, 7-Conor Neusel

F: 3-Jose Colchao, 8-Peter Grasso

Towson Lineup (4-4-1-1) -

The only difference in this lineup and 2 weeks ago was Finney for Otero.

GK: 31-Sean Durkan

D: 2-Rob Nwosu, 14-Maxx Hurkamp, 13-Scott Horta, 3-Phil Greatwich

M: 12-Chris Zecha, 16-T.J. Jager, 27-Eric Finney, 18-Nino Mangione

W/D F: 5 Matt Beckman

F: Liam Maloney

Gtown:

Gtown started their reserves in the first half, with a few exceptions (GK, Bellomy, Ebrahimnejad). With a scoreless game at half time, Gtown finally found their scoring touch coming back from a 2 goal deficit. However, they gave up 3 second half goals.

In the first half, the young defense was not stepping up to stop the advancing Beckman.

Diggs got on the score sheet in the 74th minute on a 5 yard head flick from a long cross from Pangraze to make the score 2-1 (at that time).

Diggs started the second goal by serving in a deep corner kick that Grasso drops to C’deBaca at the top of box. C’deBaca shot weakly and Verdi redirected it from 8 yards into the near post with 4 minutes remaining in the game.

Diggs didn’t make a shielding run allowing Hurkamp to clear the ball in the second half.

Grasso is very active and is a good complementary player. He has a thorough understanding of the game and could be successful with a “poacher” up top. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him playing a central midfielder role.

Joslin is an active, pest of a player that adds bite to the midfield. He may not have enough talent for the next level, but he’ll be important annoying the other team. He has good wheels.

Some of the differences between C’deBaca and Neusel is that C’deBaca keeps his head up and Neusel doesn’t and C’deBaca can accurately pass while on the move and Neusel can’t. I think this is what puts Neusel on the bench behind Larrabee.

The battle between the two freshmen goal keepers (Matthew Brutto, Mark Wilber) seems pretty clear. Brutto yielded 0 goals in 2 halves and Wilber surrendered 4 goals in 2 halves. I like Brutto from last year. Wilber hasn’t done anything for me to reconsider. It’ll be a good battle in the fall.

C’deBaca played central midfield in the second half. While I like him out wide, his mother told me that he typically played centrally before college. With his talent, if I were his club or high school coach, I’d want him to touch the ball frequently. He has the skill to be successful in either position in college. However, I don’t think he has enough skill to play central midfield in the pros, but he could be very successful wide. For his personal development, he would be better served to learn to play wide right for the next 2 years. It’ll be interesting to see if Gtown coach Weisse does what is best for Gtown or C’deBaca.

Georgetown lost 8 of their 11 games last year by 1 goal. They need a way to tighten their defense and capitalize on their opportunities. I have confidence that Gtown will have a good trip into the NCAA in the fall.

Towson:

Towson seems to like going forward. I’m not too confident about their ability to defend. They lost one of the best goalies, Billy Chiles, to graduation this year and an accomplished central defenders, Nigel Marbles, to graduation last year. Chiles covered up many of the mistakes in the back.

In the 58th minute, Nino Mangione pulled in a long pass and drove to the end line.  He delivered an accurate cross that Finney buried from 12 yards with a snap header.

8 minutes later, Beckman deflect a cross from Maloney to take a 2 goal lead at that time.

In the 82nd minute, #11 (it’s not Angus Burke – I think it may be Cesar Cisneros, but I’m not positive) crushed a ball for the winning score.  The play began when #21 (I don’t think it’s Mouhamed Tall) combined with Maloney on a give and go then went by Bill Byers like he was a spectator.

Nwosu is technically deficient.

Greatwich doesn’t cover tightly enough.  He appears to lose his man too easily.  Concentration?

Maloney didn’t break down the Gtown defense.  He had some chances, but wasn’t as sharp as he was against Oakland.  For example, he was able to get away from Byers (like so many others), but his shot was off target.  In the fall, it will be interesting to see who the best young English forward in Baltimore is between Maloney and Loyola’s Phil Bannister.  My money right now is on Bannister.

Zecha is a very good player and delivers superior crosses.

 

VCU @ Georgetown

(Washington DC) – On a warm Saturday afternoon, Georgetown was beaten 1-0 by VCU in the first game of their doubleheader. While Gtown had the better and more numerous opportunities, they were unable to convert and were shut out.

Official disclaimer: With spring games, players switch uniform numbers and there is no official roster provided. So, assume that I’ll have some numbers/names incorrect. If there’s a discrepancy, please let me know.

VCU Lineup -

GK: 1- Andrew Dykstra

D: #12 (no idea), 4-Dirk Dittrich, 23-Damian Friday, 7-Otavio De Luca

M: #5 (no idea), 8-Gerson Dos Santos, 10-Matthisj Maruanaya, 13-Ben Rojsuontikul

F: 14 Jake Van Yahres, 6-David Rosenbaum

Gtown Lineup -

GK: 0-Mark Wilber

D: 13-Ibukun Otegbeye, 19-Len Coleman, 12-Alex Verdi, 18-Mark Zeman

M: 9-Seth C’deBaca, 22-Robert Burnett, 17-Corey Zeller, 5-Scott Larrabee

F: 14-Chandler Diggs, 16-Sean Bellomy

VCU:

They scored on one of their few opportunities and the only set piece near the Gtown goal.

In the 15th minute, De Luca struck the 20 yard free kick from outside the near post around the Gtown wall. Gtown goalie, Wilbur, was able to deflect the shot away from his far post, but #5 (no idea) pounced on the deflection from 4 yards and finished into the unguarded net.

The VCU defensive marking on the weakside was sloppy and the general defensive awareness was grossly inadequate. The defense gave up too many set pieces and should have paid if Gtown was more adept at these chances.

I’ll miss watching senior Maruanaya in the fall, but this pales in comparison to the dilemma that VCU will be faced. His touch is golden.

When Lyonnais came on in the first half, he made VCU much better. With both him and Dos Santos manning the middle VCU will have a semblance of a central midfield.

When Dos Santos left early in the 2nd half, VCU lost all possession of the midfield. Dos Santos made the perfect pass in the first half, but the VCU forwards couldn’t hold possession or take a shot.

Both Rosenbuam and Van Yahres need to be stronger on possession, because Gtown muscled them off the ball for most of the day. Van Yahres had a good shot late in the game which could have ended the suspense but was thwarted by a strong save by Brutto. The last time that I saw Van Yahres play was last year before he transferred from American U. Here was my report and my impression of Van Yahres,

Sophomore forward Jake Van Yahres is extremely quick and deceptive. He scored the second goal less than a minute after the first goal. He used his speed to cause Lehigh left back Patrick Starsinic to fall, then made Lehigh central defender look like a traffic cone and bended the ball into the net. This was a pretty goal.

Friday doesn’t play defense very well. His anticipation was lacking and he gave up too much ground.

Goal keeper Dykstra made a ton of saves but needs to limit rebounds by catching the ball cleanly. Relying on punching the ball away, only delays the punishment rather than ending the attack. He needs to improve his hands. He drops the ball too much – perhaps that is why he’s so content punching. He has gotten bigger and thicker and is starting to have a GK body. Now, he just needs to get the hands.

Dittrich needs to provide more leadership and direction to his young defenders.

De Luca is able to get forward, but he needs to improve on his defensive footwork and his positioning.

Gtown:

Gtown must be disappointed. They did enough attacking to win, but couldn’t score. Their defense and midfield do not support each other well enough on transition. Similar to VCU, Gtown seems to rely more on individualism rather than quick team play.

Their set pieces were unorganized and this was the different in the game. They need to find someone who can finish the numerous crosses in the box and the free shots in the box. It seems that Diggs, Bellomy, Grasso and Colchao are fighting for the starting position (with the first 2 with the inside track). If one of these could become a legitimate scoring threat, this player would see a lot of minutes.

C’deBaca had an off first half with numerous bad passes and bad touches and bad dribbles. He needs to be more consistent. He was much more dangerous in the second half. He may be the best crosser on the team.

Larrabee on the left side of midfield is not a bad crosser either. He was making a statement in the first half after overlapping, he sent in several dangerous crosses.

In the second half, Mostafa Ebrahimnejad came in to tally even more crosses into the box.

Gtown needs to find someone on the end of these crosses and finish their opportunities. How Coach Weise has any hair left is a mystery to me.

Otegbeye had the best cross of the day overlapping C’deBaca in the first half and receiving a perfect pass from him that he sent back to the penalty spot. Grasso crushed it at the goal that was denied by a Dykstra reflex save. Larrabee hit the rebound with a first touch that was blocked by a defender with a final rebound shot from C’deBaca on his left foot for a corner kick. This type of flurry was a regular occurrence, today. Unfortunately for Gtown, so was the lack of finishing.

In the fall, I wouldn’t be surprised if Otegbeye beats out Zeman for the right back position.

Diggs and Bellomy have to finish.

Coleman continues to be a strong presence in the defense.

I like the way that Burnett continues to be a force in the back. Destroying the VCU attacks, then calmly providing the first pass to transition.

Last thing, many of the Gtown team just got buzz cuts. Luckily, I am familiar enough with them, otherwise; this would be a huge stumbling block for identification. Over the past week, the freshmen were initiated with many bad haircuts and other stunts from the upper classmen. The only way for many of the freshmen to salvage their appearance was to get the buzz cuts. Burnett instead went with a goofy looking short Mohawk. I was disappointed to learn that my “hair style” was not starting to be fashionable!

 

ODU @ Georgetown

(Washington DC) – On a warm Saturday afternoon Georgetown tallied two second half goals to win 2-0 against a rudderless ODU team that continues to define their team amidst the loss of three key seniors (David Horst, Yomby William and A. J. Kulp).

Official disclaimer: With spring games, players switch uniform numbers and there is no official roster provided. So, assume that I’ll have some numbers/names incorrect. If there’s a discrepancy, please let me know.

ODU Lineup -
GK: Evan Newton
D: Dylan Montambo, Ollie Lutton, Albert Kamga, Adam Roscioli
M: Trevor Banks, Bobby Foglesong, Nane Joseph, #3 I think it’s Jason Loizou
F: Steffan Robbie, Stig Haddal

Gtown Lineup -
GK: Mark Wilber
D: Mark Zeman, Len Coleman, Alex Verdi, Mostafa Ebrahimnejad
M: Seth C’deBaca, Robert Burnett, Corey Zeller, #8 – No idea, but it’s not Peter Grasso because he’s #5
F: Chandler Diggs, Sean Bellomy

The game started badly, with players unable to connect with each other and slowly, gradually improved throughout the half. In the first 2 minutes, Bobby Foglesong and Gtown #8 collided. A foul was assessed to the Gtown midfielder though he got the worse of the collission. He did not return.

ODU:

I liked Trevor Banks out wide better than up top of in the middle. He still wasn’t able to lead his team consistently with quality offensive opportunities. For ODU to be successful, he will need to put his stamp on this team.

Dylan Montambo provided good deep service in the run of play and from set pieces. Occassionally, some of his set pieces would be floated rather than driven, but over-all some of the best chances came from his crosses.

Evan Newton continues to be steady in the back but was unable to keep a clean sheet. He positioning was correct, but the defense let him down.

Ambane Emmanuel appeared to show up while the team was warming up. Was he supposed to be late because of another commitment? I am not sure, but he didn’t start. If he missed the bus, he has a lot of explaining to do to his teammates. Not showing up on time, exhibits a disregard to his teammates and a lack of respect to the team. I hope that I’m reading more into this than what really happened. He didn’t do much when he was on the field anyway.

Bobby Foglesong played the AM position, I’m not sure that he’s competent enough to be effective. It’s not that he’s a bad player, just is he good enough. He may be the best option. If so, ODU is looking at a long year.

Albert Kamga showed speed and power in the back.

Rabben and Haddal didn’t do much up front today. The Norwegians appeared to wilt in the heat.

Gtown:
Captain Sean Bellomy may need to provide leadership in the fall by leading from the bench. He’s not very good. While, he scored a few clutch goals late last year. I don’t see that Gtown can be successful with him over the long run with him up top. He scored the second goal on a typical Bellomy goal based upon perseverence and hustle. He received a long pass that he dribbled into the box with ODU captain Ollie Lutton marking. Lutton tackled the ball, but it squirted away with Bellomy able to get to it first, slotting it past an onrushing Newton.

Seth C’deBaca didn’t see enough of the ball in the first half. He scored the first goal beating 3 of the 4 defenders with a wonderful dribbling exhibition. It was beautiful, but entirely too easy. C’deBaca received the ball at midfield taking his first touch off his chest to get behind left back Roscioli. He brought the ball down to his feet sidestepping the speedy Kamga. Accelerating away from a tracking Roscioli, he went around Lutton with deceptive speed and finished to the far post with an accurate struck ball. Worth the price of the gasoline! C’deBaca was tasked with a central midfield role late in the 2nd half when Gtown was emptying the bench. He did fine, but I’m not sure that this would be best for Gtown or C’deBaca. I can’t blame Coach Wiese for experimenting in the spring.

Neusel and Zeller don’t make good supporting runs.

Diggs wasn’t making good decisions on the ball. For example, in the first half, he received the ball deep in ODU territory with 1 man pressuring. He had a choice, beat the man on the dribble, combine with someone or turn the ball over. Because he didn’t have support, he chose to give the ball up. He should have beaten his man (or at least tried). While he had a few opportunities in the second half, he didn’t convert the best opportunity because of a poor first touch in the box.

I really like Len Coleman. He has a big body and is a leader in the back. Speaking of the back, Gtown is returning their 4 starting defenders from last year. I wouldn’t be surprised if Verdi or Zeman is fighting for his position in the fall.

Mostafa added to the attack with his precise crosses and with his ability to send a long ball over the the top to switch the point of attack.

Rob Burnett was calm on the ball, effectively breaking up the ODU flow. He needs to turn his head more to be aware of challenges from the rear.

If Gtown avoids injuries and works hard, Georgetown is going to have a very good season. Round of 16 would represent a successful season.

EXTRA BONUS COVERAGE (no charge):

Following this game, the Gtown Alumni played the Gtown 2nd string. Because the Alumni couldn’t field a full team and I believe that they wouldn’t last on a regulation field, a small field was used with 7 on-a-side including goal keepers.

Gtown:

GK: Matthew Brutto

D: Ben Slingerland, #15, Richard Diaz

F: #11 (Not Glaccum), Ibukun Otegbeye, Bill Byers

Alumni – they didn’t really play positions, so I’ll just list the starters!

Mark Wilber (2nd String Gtown GK)

Doug Grasso (Class of 2007)

Tim Convey (Class of 2007) primarily played up top!

Peter Grasso (current player)

Kevin Sindelar (Class of 2006 )

Max something (small bushy headed guy)

Mike Glaccum (Class of 2008)

Jeff Curtin (just signed with DCU) roamed the sidelines. At Friday’s reserve game, he went over the top of Columbus forward, Steven Lenhart (Akusa Pacific). I believe that he could have played in Alumni game, but he wanted to avoid risking injury. He mentioned, that he “hurt his head and was fortunate that the ground was soft. In the summer, it would have been much worse.”

I started packing my bags after GTown went up 5-0. The alumni salvaged 2 goals to stop the bleeding. When I left the score was 5-2 with the game continuing.

 

College Classic – PA

(Lancaster, Pennsylvania) – On an overcast day with thunderclouds looming, the College Classic tournament began. I was happy to see that Oakland was playing the first game. Oakland and Columbia were swapped on the schedule to accommodate Oakland ability to catch their flight.

Official disclaimer: With spring games, players switch uniform numbers and there is no official roster provided. So, assume that I’ll have some numbers/names incorrect. If there’s a discrepancy, please let me know.

I liked the way that the Manchester cup was run. With staggered starts, every minute of the day was occupied with soccer. College Classic was supposed to have both fields starting at the same time, but the refs started the 11am game early which allowed a small overlap. Also, the stands are on one side of one field rather than in the middle.

Oakland vs Bucknell.
What started as a warm day, cooled throughout the first half. Bucknell beat Oakland 2-0.

Bucknell Lineup:

GK: Joey Kuterbach
D: Alex Meisel, Patrick Selwood, Ross Liberati, Eric Ferson
M: Chris Hennings, Sean King, Justin Wolf, Mark Schmiegel
F: Conor O’Brien, Alex Russo

Oakland Lineup (playing 3-5-2) midfield is triangle in the middle with 2 wingers:
GK: #23 Steve Case
D: #15 Stew Givens, #9 (was #3 last year) Ian Daniel, #19 (was #12 last year) Vuk Popovic
M: #2 Josh Bennett, #17 Piotr Nowak, #8 Martin Sandell, #11 Gabe Hernandez, #21 Dimitri Seros
F: #4 Sebastian Harris, #6 Stefan St. Louis

Referee called a very tight game. Overall, Oakland allowed too much space in the defense. They appeared to lose confidence when they went down a goal. Backs were erratic with the ball. At times, making the right play to initiate the attack. Other times, just kicking it haphazardly.

Nowak had the best shot of the day for Oakland, but it was saved by senior goal keeper Joey Kuterbach. He starts too deep. Because of this depth, he is not available to make that finishing pass that leads to a goal.

St. Louis is a strong dribbler with excellent skill and the ability to shrug off physical challenges.

Harris puts his head down while dribbling missing better opportunities.
Bucknell won the game because they pressured Oakland into a point of discomfort. Bucknell hustled the entire day. This is a testament to their off-season conditioning and discipline.

Selwood is steady in the back.

Kuterbach is going to be sorely missed in the fall. I expect that Bucknell’s season will hinge on the quality of the new goal keeper.

Russo is very skillful. He beat 2 players and got fouled outside the box. He cursed the ref and should have got the yellow immediately. He got it moments later for his mouth.

O’Brien scored both goals. The first was a “Wow!” moment. He took a long pass from Meisel into the corner. From this acute angle, he chipped Oakland GK into the side netting from 6 yards from touch and 20 yards from the near post! Terrific goal. He deserves to be observed more by the media (er, me).

The second goal was on a penalty that O’Brien deftly buried into the lower left corner.

O’Brien is very active and is the key to Bucknell’s success.

Left back Corey Curnutte is very confident on the ball.

Colgate vs Temple. The only draw of the day 0-0.

Colgate Lineup started playing a 4-4-1-1:

GK: #1 David Cappucino
D: #4 Alex McClure, #15 Glenn Volk, #16 Paul Visgilio, #14 Daniel Kerley
M: #24 Matt Leach, #8 Adam Costelllo, #22 Alex Weekes, #12 John Zaback
Withdrawn F: #5 Chris Ross

F: #13 Steven Miller

Temple Lineup:

GK: #0 Derek Long
D: #24 Brant Hovington, #5 Mackenson Altidor, #3 James Suevo, #18 Martin Dell’Arciprete
M: #21 Brain Weinhardt, #4 Matt Chevrollier, #6 Jared Harris, #14 Francois Sagna
F: #9 Augustin Coly, #27 J. T. Noone

For both teams it was an uninspired effort for most of the day excluding an occasional highlight. With a solo forward, Colgate had a problem if the forward didn’t check back, drop it to an advancing midfielder to give time for his support to get forward.

Miller is good in the air.

Kerley has a long throw-in.

Ross provides good service.

The GK is too “immobile”. He’s a liability in the back when he needs to save the Colgate defense.

The attack generated between Stephens and Batson is stilted and jerky lacking competent technical ability and tactical understanding.

At the end of the game, Colgate started pushing the attack and amassed a fistful of opportunities that they weren’t able to convert.

Temple isn’t very good. They seem disjointed and insufficient.

Their best skilled player is probably Coly. But, he holds the ball too long and is subsequently dispossessed. His passing is not well honed, either.

Chevrollier is calm on the ball.

Sagna has good speed and anticipated well, but doesn’t add enough to the attack.

Suevo seemed clueless with the ball though he seemed fully competent when the ball was nowhere near him and he could just stand on his feet.

Penn vs Columbia. Penn won 2-0.

I watched the game from the other field – i.e., I would look over during lulls of the Colgate-Temple game. It appeared that Penn had the most offensive attacks. Derek Hobson and Topi Olopade both had good opportunities. I don’t know who scored, but it wouldn’t surprise me if either of these two figured in the scoring.

Towson vs Oakland. Towson thumped Oakland with 3 first half goals and coasted to a 3-0 victory in their only match of the day.

Towson Lineup: started playing a 4-4-1-1:

GK: #31 Sean Durkan
D:#2 Rob Nwosu, #14 Maxx Hurkamp, #13 Scott Horta, # 3 Phil Greatwich
M: #12 Chris Zecha, #10 (was #17) Xavier Otero, #16 T.J. Jager, #18 Nino Mangione
F: withdrawn fwd – #5 Matt Beckman, #9 (was #26) Liam Maloney

Oakland Lineup (playing 3-5-2) midfield is triangle in the middle with 2 wingers:
GK: #1 Mitch Hildebrandt
D: #16 (was #14 I think last year) Josh Mahoney, #9 (was #3 last year) Ian Daniel, #15 Stew Givens
M: #2 Josh Bennett, #17 Piotr Nowak, #8 Martin Sandell, #11 Gabe Hernandez, #12 No idea who this is!
F: #4 Sebastian Harris, #6 Stefan St. Louis

Towson sliced up the Oakland defense early and often and breezed to an easy victory over a team that appeared to be unprepared and the biggest disappointment for me.

Maloney is a player! He is money for scoring goals. He scored 2 goals and added an assist. His first goal was served by a long deep cross (on a rope) from Zecha that Maloney hit with power from head at 8 yards that was unstoppable for the GK to stop!

His second goal was courtesy of Beckman making a bone jarring tackle dispossessing Mahoney with the ball getting behind the porous Oakland defense and the Oakland GK didn’t have a chance 1v1 against Maloney and he slotted it past him.

Beckman started the first goal by tossing a long throw in that bounced around the box until Maloney fed Zecha who finished from 5 yards.

Maloney earned a straight red (and it was justified) in the second half. The play started with Seros fouling Maloney in the Oakland end near the sideline. Maloney took exception and violently leg whipped Seros. Daniel pushed Maloney (and should have received a yellow for it). Dumb play. He needs to keep his head in the game.

Beckman has a powerful shot and understands the game. He needs to improve his work rate.

Zecha serves in a nice ball.

Towson GK needs to work on his ball skills and release the ball quicker.

I’ll need to watch the Towson defense more closely next fall.

Oakland was a disappointment.

Mahoney doesn’t mark well enough.

Nowak while showing creativity sparks; didn’t put his stamp on the game. He’s one of the reasons that I came to this tournament. He didn’t produce. His touch was sloppy.

St. Louis has powerful runs and is very strong. He was the only offensive option.

Popovic isn’t a forward. He had a few opportunities that he promptly squandered.

Sandell is a steadying influence in the middle.

Outscored 5-0 in 2 games. They have talent, now they need to work.

Bucknell vs Temple. Bucknell won 1-0.

I didn’t see who scored nor did I really watch this match.

PSU vs Columbia. In the only match that was not a match, PSU dominated Columbia 5-1.

PSU Lineup started playing a 4-1-4-1:

GK: #28 Liam Fitzwater

D: #19 Diego Correa, #6 Andres Casais, #27 Bobby Bohlen, #3 Andrew Machi

DM: #26 Matt Smallwood

M: #20 Vincent Salvatico, #8 Drew Cost, #10 Frank Costigilola, #14 Jacobo Vera
F: #18 John Gray

Columbia Lineup started playing a 4-4-1-1:

GK: #1 Alex Contratto (maybe)
D: #14 Hayden Johns, #19 Ryan Scully, #20 Isidore Smart, #4 Steven Keker
M: #5 James Pounder, #7 (was #13) Pepe Carotenuto, #16 Shaun Rowatt, #25 Patrick Huston
F: withdrawn forward # 10 Gaby Da Silva, #6 Bayo Adafin

Columbia was completely and thoroughly over-matched by a team that while toying with them was having a walk in the park. I was almost wishing for the mercy rule!

Columbia has 3 players that have competent technical ability. They are Huston, Carotenuto, and Adafin. After that, they have players that try hard, but in the end are over their heads. By the end of the 1st half, PSU had figured out that Adafin needed to be covered closely and would have 3 defenders converge on him. Adafin couldn’t lay-off the ball because most of his team mates couldn’t shoulder the responsibility. At this point – game set match!

Huston is a good passer and can handle himself well with the ball.

It’s not easy to identify the talented PSU players because of the disparity of the competition. Several players shined.

Salvatico scored 2 goals and was a menace on the wing. I’m not sure that he’ll be as successful against quality competition. His first goal was delivered by a precise cross from Vera that Salvatico finished from 4 yards. His second goal was from a GK rebound.

Gray’s 1st goal was created by a bad pass from Keker that forced the Columbia GK to kick the ball off Gray and it bounded into the Columbia goal – ugh!

Senior Barkley Miller was able to add to the tally when he received a pass from Correa, held off a physical challenges from Smart, cut back to open the goal and shot it pass the GK.

Moments later Gray broke through the disheartened Columbia defense and rolled a ball past an on-rushing Columbia GK.

Costigilola and Cost are very, very good. They deserve more attention and observation.

Vera was a handful out wide. His speed, size, power and skill was too much for Columbia.

Correa was competent to jump start the attack from the back.

Colgate vs Penn. Colgate won 1-0.

Coincidentally, I saw that Alex Weekes scored in the second half with a powerful header for the only goal in this game!

UPDATED: I missed the nightcap between PSU and Harrisburg (USL2).  After 8 hours of games and a 2 hour gap, I needed dinner and I needed time to write up the day’s games.

According to the unofficial PSU men’s soccer team, Harrisburg won 3-0.  Here are the details.

 

Monmouth @ Delaware

(Newark, Delaware) – Spring is here, today. A beautiful spring day with a mild breeze foreshadowing the approaching front pending this week-end. Monmouth beat Delaware 2-1 in a match that was a played as shoddy as the field. It illustrated the lack of congruity from teams in the spring that aren’t practicing sufficiently. Hopefully, that is the reason rather than the talent level.

Back to the field, it made me reminisce about my high school playing days. It’s unbelievable that this is considered a division I quality field. To be positive, it was a nice sunny day. Also, they didn’t have a clock.

Official disclaimer: With spring games, players switch uniform numbers and there is no official roster provided. So, assume that I’ll have some numbers/names incorrect. If there’s a discrepancy, please let me know.

Monmouth Lineup -
GK: #1 Bryan Meredith
D: #25 Dan Haydu, #5 Daniel Bostock, #4 Angelo Amato, #8 Chris Ell
M: #23 Rob LaRocca, #21 Chris Riordan, #18 Michael Pereira, #2 Andreas Klang
F: #11 Ryan Kinne, #3 Rich Baker

Delaware Lineup -
GK: #33 Taylor Thames
D: #13 Andrew Cohen, #9 Tolu Olowolafe, #7 Kyle Davis, #17 Steve Cavalier
M: #4 Demar Stephenson, #12 Matt Laudeman, #16 Jon Scheer, #11 Paul Danaher
F: #18 Darren Christie, #23 Greg Delva

Del doesn’t run to open spaces for each other. The defenders lack the technical proficiency to build from the back. While they have some talented individuals up front, they don’t play well together.
Del GK Taylor Thames dislocated his thumb and had to leave the game right before half time. Based upon his pathetic handling of a free kick minutes into the game allowing the first goal, losing his hand may help Delaware. He was saved from conceding several more goals in the first half by defenders clearing the ball off the line.

The central defense was dreadful. Kyle Davis was continuously scorched in the first half. He was relieved from further embarrassment by not playing in the second half. Instead Kevin Mitten filled “his position” demonstrating a total lack of tactical understanding, a dearth of athletic ability and only a physical presence as his sole positive attribute. He justifiably should have earned 2 yellow cards in the half.

Matt Laudeman has terrific dribbling skills. He had several jaw-dropping moves/feints that floored several Monmouth defenders. It was entertaining to watch. However, after making these killer moves, he would give up the ball needlessly because his passing on the run was atrocious.

Demar Stephenson has speed to burn and is aggressive. He’s a fine talent. He is too weak on the ball, hoping that the ref will bail him out. He needs to get stronger.

Darren Christie appears to have tons of talent, but he’s a petulant child without ambition and drive. Making his team’s offense stall by holding the ball too long and not combining with his teammates was frustrating to watch.

Paul Danaher was blasting around the Monmouth right side the entire second half. His service was adequate but the finishing was lacking.

Courtney Hewitt started the second half and scored the lone goal on a botched Monmouth off-sides trap. He finished into the open net after alluding the on-rushing goal keeper.

Monmouth was better. But I’m not sure if that’s really a compliment. They settled for long balls to initiate a quick counter attack in the second half which seemed more from impatience rather than a sound tactic to break down an over-matched Delaware defense.

Andreas Klang knows how to play. His free kick 2 minutes into the game from 25 yards was driven low and hard. A competent goal keeper would have scooped it up, but it was the only goal in the first half. Nice shot, but perfectly stoppable. Klang impressed me more with his intelligent first touch losing his nearest defender with an adept touch. His day ended with a straight red card (I didn’t see what precipitated this action – though it was surprising to me) with less than 25 minutes to play.

Ryan Kinne has skill. In the first half, I was disappointed on a break-away, he didn’t aggressively get by his defender. Instead, he gave up ground and time and allowed Delaware to recover defensively. He looked better in the second half, when he was spraying the ball around a hapless defense. His shot dis-located the GK thumb’s. He needs to get stronger on the ball.

The second goal was initiated by an ill-advised square pass from Delaware’s Eric Shadoff at midfield. Michael Millar intercepted the pass. He passed the ball forward to team mate Chase Barbieri who patiently held the ball while the Delaware defense converged on him. Shadoff circled around the left side and Barbieri looped the ball over the top to him. The Delaware defense closed on Shadoff like drunken elephants ambling from a bar after closing time. He took his time and slotted the ball into the far post for the winning goal.

Rob LaRocca made a terrific run beating two defenders into the box. They brought him down for a PK. He took the PK and may have overtook Roberto Baggio (in 94) and David Beckham (in Euro 2004) for the worst PK of recent times. It was way wide and way high – worse then Beckham’s!

Hopefully, this week-end in Lancaster will have better soccer.

 

PA College Classic Preview

The schedule has been posted for the Pennsylvania College Classic on April 12, 2008.

Bucknell vs Columbia	4/12/08	9am	11am
Oakland vs Penn	4/12/08	11am	1pm
Colgate vs Temple	4/12/08	11am	1pm
Bucknell vs Temple	4/12/08	1pm	3pm
Columbia vs Towson	4/12/08	1pm	3pm
Oakland vs PSU	4/12/08	3pm	5pm
Colgate vs Penn	4/12/08	3pm	5pm
PSU vs Harrisburg (USL)	4/12/08	7pm	9pm

I’ll be attending the Bucknell vs Columbia, Oakland vs U of Penn, Columbia vs Towson, Oakland vs PSU and PSU vs Harrisburg. If I could see one other team, I’d like to see Colgate play live, because they looked pretty good on TV last year. But, I’d rather see Oakland play more. It’s too bad that Oakland and Colgate both play at the same time.

Note. I missed the Naval academy games on April 5, because of family obligation. Since I’ll see PSU on April 12 and Georgetown on April 19 and 26, it isn’t too big a loss.

Also, Maryland will be playing Real Maryland (USL-2) on April 11 conflicting with Monmouth at Delaware. I’m thinking that I’ll still go to the Delaware game, but if work interferes – I may reconsider.

Also, I’m starting to work on the fall 2008-2009 plans as schedules are published.

 

Manchester Cup Results — UPDATED

UPDATED:UPDATE – Evening session. It’s colder, windier and the rain more consistent.

UPDATED with late games.

(Rock Hill, South Carolina) – Friday’s 80 degree day is just a sweet memory on a cold, windy, rainy Saturday at the Manchester Cup. 10 games are slated today on 2 adjacent fields. While the games overlap, the ability to turn to watch the other game is neat. All of the games will be played with 35 minute halves. With spring games, players switch uniform numbers and there is no official roster provided. So, assume that I’ll have some numbers/names incorrect. If there’s a discrepancy, please let me know.

Here are the first 5 games.

UNC Wilmington (UNCW) vs Charlotte (USL). A bad start with 0-0 draw. UNCW played a 4-4-1-1.

UNCW Lineup -
GK: Brock Duckworth
D: Jeffery Shapiro, David Acosta, Indy Smith, Caito Helland
M: Kirk Hudgins, Daniel Roberts, Albert Alwang, Allen Lomax
Withdrawn forward: Michael Gallimore
F: Devan Carroll

Charlotte didn’t have numbers, so I can’t identify any of the players though some seemed vaguely familiar.

UNCW was overmatched by Charlotte’s technical and physical superiority. They compressed the defense to the detriment of the offense. Other than Acosta in the back, the UNCW defense is very slow especially Smith. UNCW wasn’t able to hold possession in the midfield.

Alwang is the focal point for initiating the attack. The defenders try to get him the ball to transition to the attack.

Lomax, on the left midfield, was able to get behind the defense with speed and has a nice cross. UNCW didn’t have enough players in the box to convert his crosses.

Helland goes to ground to defend too easily and could be beaten while he’s on the ground.

The lone forward Carroll has some skill but he rushed shots because the 4 Charlotte defenders could converge on him without him being able to lay the ball off to a nearby teammate.

Goalkeeper Duckworth was quite busy. But Charlotte kept delivering high lofted crosses that the wind held up for Duckworth to snag. He did have a few fumbles but over-all was a steadying influence.

With 10 minutes left, I swiveled to watch the next game.

South Carolina (USC) vs Old Dominion (ODU). The best game of the morning session ended with USC thumping ODU 3-0.

I’ve seen ODU enough to know that they’ve switched numbers, but I don’t know them well enough to be positive. #11 is not Jason Loizou because it’s Stig Haddal. #8 is not Yomby William, but I don’t know who it is. His teammates were calling him “Robbie”.

ODU Lineup -
GK: Evan Newton
D: Dylan Montambo, Ollie Lutton, Albert Kamga, Adam Roscioli
M: #3 (not Haddal) I think it’s Jason Loizou, Nane Joseph, Trevor Banks, Bobby Foglesong
F: #8 “Robbie”, Stig Haddal

USC Lineup -
GK: Jimmy Mauer
D: Mark Wiltse, Will Traynor, Tyler Ruthven, Mario Burstein
M: Blake Brettschneider, Josh Stewart, Kevan Hawkins, Jeff Scannella
F: Mike Lindsay, Sam Arthur

ODU lost both of their central defenders: Yomby William and David Horst to graduation. They’ve moved right back Lutton into the center and pulled Kamga off the bench (I didn’t see him play last year). With 15 minutes remaining in the game, Joseph earned a straight red card on a vicious kick that knocked Mark Wiltse off his feet and eventually he had to leave the game. ODU looked pretty bad throughout.

Banks spends too much time on the ball. In the second half, he allowed 3 defenders to converge on him. He will need to provide service much quicker if ODU is going to have a chance to be successful.

“Robbie” is a tall player that timed his runs well to stay on-side. He looks like he could be the scoring threat which has been sorely missing since ODU lost Jared Kent and Edson Elcock.

Ambane Emmanuel was the most improved player from last fall. In the fall, he would hold the ball too long – well until he was dispossessed! Today, he would beat someone on the dribble and make a pass. Only once did he beat 3 defenders at the top of the box before passing to his open teammate in the box. If he keeps passing the ball and moving, he will be an asset for ODU.

Zachary Waters seems over-matched in the back.

I was surprised in how small Jeff Scannella is – guess that I need a bigger TV. He had a few brilliant moments. Scannella turns quickly and delivers the ball accurately. He pinches in too much. He’d be better served by staying wider to give himself more time before the defense can close.

Lindsay is a beast up top. He’s fast and strong. On the first goal, he did all the work and was credited with an assist. He split the 2 central defenders and ran onto the ball at midfield. He gathered the ball, advancing into the box unimpeded. GK Newton closed the angle and Lindsay crossed the ball to an open Sam Arthur who finished with his first touch into the open net.

The second goal was prettiest goal of the morning. Stewart got the ball wide to Wiltse on a good pass with considerable pressure. Wiltse brought the ball down the line and delivered a beautiful cross that only Arthur could reach at the penalty spot. Arthur hit a diving header that went into the lower corner of the side netting.

With the game winding down, Waters held on 3 players including Schuyler Reardon who fired a cannon from 20 yards to finish the scoring.

Mauer was not pressured too much and was able to cleanup anything that came to him.

Winthrop vs College of Charleston ended with Charleston winning 1-0.

I watched the first ten minutes (during HT of the USC/ODU match) and the second half.

Winthrop Lineup -
GK: Patrick Mitrovich

D: Tilton Cooper, Henry Kalungi, Otto Loewy, Cameron Alksnis
M: Grant Wise, Stephen Nsereko, Sean Weron, Said Abdi
F: Magnus Leung, Daniel Revivo

Charleston Lineup -
GK: Didn’t get (ooops)
D: Wes Knight, Ryan Kell, Branko Gavric, Sean Bateau
M: Casey Gold, #25 (no idea), Justin Fojo, Drew Fuzy
F: Zach Prince, Kareem Yearwood

In the first half, I had the teams backwards and I was wondering who the #10 was – he was fantastic. Then, it became much clearer after I straightened out the teams. #10 Revivo is huge! He can jump and is a powerful forward. He almost scored off a corner kick in the opening moments of the first half.

Nsereko is the play maker for Winthrop. His passes are well weighted.

Charleston’s Knight is a good dribbler.

Neither Yearwood nor Fojo did anything of note.

The Charleston player that impressed me the most was Casey Gold. He served 2 terrific passes that weren’t converted, but should have been. Justice was served when he got the lone goal on a good cross from Prince that Gold touched from 12 yards with the outside of his foot into the far post.

Clemson beat UNCG 2-0 in a game that I only glanced over periodically.

The first goal was scored by Nathan Thorton and I didn’t see the second goal.

UNCG’s Jokull Elisabetarson is not playing this spring because of an unspecified injury.

Furman outlasted Kentucky with a late goal to win 1-0.

Furman Lineup -

GK: Maros Valko

D: Takato Ban, Lewis Chaloner, Micahel Erwood, Chris Klute

M: Gregg McPheely, Patrick Murray, Rob Victor, Caleb Suri

F: Chris Davis, Eric Baffour

Kentucky Lineup -

GK: Dan Williams

D: Aaron Swanson, Barry Rice, Brad Frederick, Andrew Alexander

M: Mark Halma, Masumi Turnbull, Bingy Lara, Jirijoonas Kanth

F: Issam Sawtarie, Luke Maitland

Haris Cekic is not playing because of an unspecified injury.

Klute (whose name was not corrected to me until the second game) has good anticipation and good soccer smarts. This makes sense since he was on the U17 team.

Ban made a good goal saving tackler on Maitland cutting through the box. He needs to keep his emotions in check. He was fouled and the opponent got a yellow. While on his back, he shoved his studs into the Kentucky player’s groin. If the ref had seen it, he would have been showed a straight red.

Chris Davis scored the only goal with 12 minutes remaining in the second half with a squibber past the goal keeper.

Furman has a boatload of injuries and has a ton of work to do for next year.

Kentucky was playing much quicker than Furman. In the second half, KY was not getting back with sufficient numbers.

Rice was steady. His driven passes from the back are struck on a rope. He got behind the defense but his shot was lacking.

Lara, Turnbull and Halma pass well with each other and can play out of tight spaces.

Maitland is very quick and has the goal scoring responsibility. Late in the 2nd half, Maitland was able to get around the defense, 1v1 with the goal keeper, but he slotted the ball wide.

More to follow on the next 5 games……

---

UNC Wilmington (UNCW) vs Winthrop. Winthrop 1-0.

UNCW Lineup -
GK: Brock Duckworth
D: Jeffery Shapiro, David Acosta, Indy Smith, Zach Matthews

M: Kirk Hudgins, Daniel Roberts, Albert Alwang, Caito Helland

Withdrawn forward: Luke Grothe Shawn Guderian (see note below)

F: Devan Carroll

UPDATE: I was informed -

“You made an error on the game report for Winthrop vs UNCW at the Manchester Cup. You listed Luke Grothe as the player in the game from UNCW. The player is actually Shawn Guderian a freshman who came to UNCW this spring after graduating high school in January.”

Thanks – since roster or line-ups aren’t provided, I only have the 2007 rosters to use. Thanks again.

Winthrop Lineup -
GK: Patrick Mitrovich

D: Cameron Alksnis, Henry Kalungi, Otto Loewy, Matthew Skonicki

M: Grant Wise, Stephen Nsereko, Sean Weron, Said Abdi
F: Magnus Leung, Daniel Revivo

UNCW played much better in the afternoon. While they came away with the loss, their attack was more cohesive with Grothe Guderian (see note above) in the lineup. He was able to get behind the Winthrop defense, but his shot was weak.

Right back Jeffery Shaprio’s first touch was sweet and well placed. He uses his arms to play defense which another referee might find fault with this technique.

Acosta stymied many attacks in the back.

UNCW’s best scoring opportunity came from a Helland cross that Carroll sliced in front of the keeper, but Carroll’s header was high.

Revivo continues to impress. It’s not just his size, but it’s his change of pace that enables him to create his own shot. A shot that is powerful but can be erratic. He needs to be more selfish and take more responsibility for scoring. He seems to be content with passing the ball when he is being marked with a player that he is able to beat at will.

Biggest surprise was seeing Saidi Isaac take the field. While he was rusty, since he’s in school finishing his degree and hasn’t been able to practice with the team often. His speed is still there.

Winthrop has many talented individuals. Melding them into a team will be the challenge. Nsereko and the coaching staff are going to have to insist that everyone is on the same page. One of the ways they get exposed is because Winthrop likes going forward even to the detriment of the defensive balance.

In the first 10 minutes of the game, Magnus Leung headed in a Weron corner kick that was unstoppable for the game winner.

Said Abdi is technically proficient and is difficult to knock off the ball.

Kalungi patrols the defense, using his speed and size to squelch attacks.

UNCG upended USC 1-0.

USC Lineup -
GK: Jimmy Mauer
D: Mark Wiltse, Will Traynor, Tyler Ruthven, Mario Burstein
M: Blake Brettschneider, Josh Stewart, Kevan Hawkins, Jeff Scannella
F: Mike Lindsay, Sam Arthur

UNCG Lineup -

GK: Oops (missed him)

D: Matt Strine, D.J. McCurry (switched number?), Matt Elliott, Joe Burnett

M: Corey Maret, Matt Betts, Thomas Campbell, Michael Bonilla, Travis Young

F: David Worthen (seriously doubt this is him #6)

UNCG overcame a 2-0 spanking from Clemson and USC had dominated ODU 3-0. So this result was a surprise and is typical of college soccer!

UNCG has waves of speed. This is how they’ll need to beat teams in the fall. Young, Manyama, Maret, Kadam all have speed and quickness. With Elisabetarson back in the fall, to set them up with precise passes, they’ll do alright.

The goal was scored by a Tim Master’s header from a Manyama cross. This cross was not pressured by Mark Wiltse. But the preceding pass from midfield wasn’t closed down by USC either allowing Manyama to easily receive the pass. Kevan Hawkins was missing from the USC defensive midfield and Stewart was unable to mark all of the UNCG midfielders.

In this second game, I noted that the defense looks unsettled compared to the first game. Wiltse returned from a late injury against ODU.

Stewart is a hard tackler wreaking havoc on any AM that floats through his area with his head down.

Lindsay reminds me of George Josten from Gonzaga who was a physical player that had surprising speed and a nose for the goal.

Scannella was able to shrug off a shoulder charge from a much larger opponent.

Traynor’s concentration was failing in defense, but he had a good header on corner kick that was just off target.

Wiltse’s dribbling was too predictive and slow.

David Smith almost tied the game that hit the cross bar and the post with a wicked shot that was unstoppable if on target.

KY scoring drought continues with a 0-0 draw with Charleston. This was an entertaining game where neither team was able to score.

Charleston Lineup -
GK: Brendan Smith

D: Wes Knight, Ryan Kell, Branko Gavric, Sean Bateau

M: Casey Gold, John Bello, Justin Fojo, Drew Fuzy

F: Zach Prince, Kareem Yearwood

Kentucky Lineup -

GK: Matt Troop

D: Jase Griffiths, Barry Rice, Stephen Beiro, Andrew Alexander

M: Lucas Carden, Masumi Turnbull, Bingy Lara, Brad Frederick, Issam Sawtarie

F: Luke Maitland

KY maintain plenty of possession near the midfield. They are unable to put the ball in a good scoring position or if they do, the shooter is unable to convert adequately. They left South Carolina without scoring in either game.

Sawtarie has an accurate free kick.

GK Troop made a late game saving tackle on Yearwood right outside the box.

KY will need an infusion of forward talent to be successful in the fall.

Charleston played much quicker and with more purpose in this game.

Yearwood was making dangerous runs.

Fojo was motoring around the midfield, as opposed to playing tentative (scared) in the first game.

Zach Prince is technically proficient, physical and the key to the attack. However, Prince is not fit and he’ll need to improve his self-discipline if he expects to play at the next level.

Bateau is active and has the ability to get down the line as a typical left back. He has above average skill, speed and instincts.

Charleston is my favorite to with the Big South in the fall.

ODU scores 2 late goals to upend Clemson 2-0. ODU was thumped 3-0 by USC earlier in the day. Additionally, ODU had lost the services of red carded DM Nane Joseph.

I watched this match during HT and warm-ups of the other game.

Clemson Lineup -

G: Didn’t get

D: Sam Petrone, Dalle Claudin, David Newton, Bryson Moore

M: Eric Cava, Keegan Priest, Paulo Bonfim, Tommy Drake, John Tardy

F: Michael Brooks

ODU Lineup -
GK: Evan Newton
D: Dylan Montambo, Ollie Lutton, Albert Kamga, Adam Roscioli
M: Trent Reid, “Little Foglesong”, Harry Gillespie, Trevor Banks

F: #8 “Robbie” Norwegian, Ambane Emmanuel

“Robbie” a Norwegian scored the first goal of the tournament for ODU with 12 minutes remaining in the second half.

Emmanuel put the game out of reach in the final minute.

Clemson doesn’t play very attractive soccer and I’ll see a lot more of them in the fall during the ACC schedule and tournament.

Furman was humiliated with a 3-0 torching by USL-2 Charlotte Eagles.

Furman Lineup -

GK: Josh Zimmer

D: Takato Ban, Lewis Chaloner, Michael Erwood, Chris Klute

M: Talon Stroud, Rob Victor, Caleb Suri, Patrick Murray

F: Chris Davis, Eric Baffour

Furman could not adapt to the speed of play pushed by Charlotte. When they did try, it led to rushing and turn-overs and mistakes.

Furman has almost more players in the stands than on the bench.

 

Spring Games and Manchester Cup Preview

Vacation is over. It’s time for spring soccer.

On Saturday, March 29th, I’ll be in Rock Hill, South Carolina for the 10 match Manchester Cup.

Teams	Date	Start	End
Charlotte vs UNCW	3/29/08	1045am	1215pm
ODU vs South Carolina	3/29/08	1200pm	130pm
Charleston vs Winthrop	3/29/08	1230pm	200pm
UNCG vs Clemson	3/29/08	145pm	315pm
Furman vs Kentucky	3/29/08	215pm	345pm
UNCW vs Winthrop	3/29/08	530pm	7pm
South Carolina vs UNCG	3/29/08	600pm	730pm
Kentucky vs Charleston	3/29/08	715pm	845pm
Clemson vs ODU	3/29/08	745pm	915pm
Charlotte vs Furman	3/29/08	845pm	1015pm

It’ll be impossible to see every minute of every game. I’m really looking forward to concentrate on a few players.

• Sophomore defender Barry Rice (KY). I’ve seen a few tapes of his play and I can’t wait to watch him live.
• Sophomore wide midfielder Jeff Scannella (SC) is special who I have been constrained to watching only on tape, too.
• Junior forward Daniel Revivo (Winthrop) will learn to score up top without his graduated strike partner Saidi Isaac. Revivo from Ontario, Canada is a strong scoring threat. I got to see him last year in the Big South tourney where he opened the scoring against High Point on the way to a 3-0 victory on a brutally cold evening. Winthrop lost some key players besides Isaac – defender John Gilkerson and midfielder Sean Weron. It will be interesting to see how Winthrop adjusts.
• The College of Charleston has two players that are noteworthy. Sophomore forward Kareem Yearwood from Tobago (13g, 3a) and Freshmen (3rd team freshmen All-American) midfielder Justin Fojo. Last fall, Charleston challenged Furman for Southern Conference (SOCON) dominance.
• Furman has lost 2 key players that got my attention at the 2007 SOCON final and made me a believer at the MLS combine – Shea Salinas and Jon Leathers. Furman still has a few more weapons in their arsenal including 1st team freshman All-American, Haris Cekic who scored an OT goal to win the SOCON championship.
• Junior defensive midfielder Jokull Elisabetarson (UNCG) is an accomplished player that has tremendous ball skills and an accomplished soccer brain. 2 years ago, I went to see senior All-Americans Randy Patterson and Scott Jones several times. Freshman Elisabetarson was the one that kept impressing me. His passing is precise and his set pieces are dangerous.
• ODU has lost their key senior central defenders Yomby William and David Horst. This is a huge hole. Stalwart sophomore GK Evan Newton is going to be pressured with tall, talented Nane Joseph tasked to defend more (I wouldn’t be surprised to see Joseph inherit the central defense role in the fall). I saw ODU play 4 times last fall and they have a few complementary players (Banks, Haddal, Beaulieu), but no one special.
• I’ve seen Clemson several times in the fall and came away unimpressed. No underclassmen impressed.
• I don’t know anything about UNCW, but with only 3 wins in 2007. Perhaps, I’m not missing much. We’ll see.
• Charlotte is an USL2 team.

I’m not sure what kind of internet access that will be available. If there is, I’ll post my reports as time permits. If not, I may need to wait until late Saturday or late Sunday.

On April 5th, I’ll be at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD to see Penn State, Georgetown and Navy play a round robin tourney.

Friday, April 11th, I’ll watch Delaware host Monmouth (a team that I invariably miss, but have been wanting to see for a couple of years). Over the week-end, I’ll be in Lancaster, PA for the College Classic tournament. If the organizers would post the schedule, I could provide more details. I know that Penn State will play Oakland University (Piotr Nowak).

ODU plays at Georgetown on 4/19 and VCU is at Georgetown on 4/26.

Other than the 3/29, all of these are tentative depending upon other available games.