Gettysburg @ York College of Pennsylvania Div III (Andrew Wheeler)

Pre-season #5, York College of Pennsylvania (YCP) thumped Gettysburg 5-1 in a NCAA Division III match-up in York, PA.

EDITOR: HUH? Why are you covering Div III? Have you lost your mind?

ANSWER: There’s a senior at York that has drawn my attention. He lit up the PDL this past year to a tune of 14 goals with 5 assists in 16 games earning All-League honors and league MVP runner-up. Last year, he was a first team NSCAA Division III All-American. He was a NJCAA All-regional in 2004. The same year that Michael Randolph was a JUCO MVP. The player that I was interested in watching is Andrew Wheeler. I wanted to see if he’s ready to be a professional. Short answer, nope – not yet.

My understanding is that he was ineligible to play Division I/II because his grades were insufficient. It’s too bad, because he hasn’t had that day-to-day competition pushing him to get better and work harder. In a competitive environment, he skills and determination could be finer honed.

After watching some of the 4 best college teams (UCLA, IU, ND, MD) in the nation over the week-end, it was a let-down to watch an uninspired first half by both teams. York did much better in the second half, combining with each other to attack more quicker and unbalance Gettysburg.

Wheeler got an early goal by stealing a back pass faking the keeper and finishing the opportunity within 2 minutes of the start of the game. Then a minute later, he settled the ball and passed the ball to an open Justin Suchoski that went just wide. Wow. I was gearing up to see an exhibit of skill. It didn’t materialize.

After scoring, Wheeler wasn’t too effective. A head flick here, a flick on, a couple of step-overs. But he was generally too static. He has good dribbling skills and is a tall target (6′3″). Kind of reminds me of Jacqua (at least for being tall). Wheeler seems to like to get wide to give himself more time for his first touch and to isolate the outside defender in a 1v1 situation.

Wheeler has a hard shot but today it was erratic killing many low flying birds in the area.

His work rate was woefully inadequate. I wonder if he’s lazy because he doesn’t need to run hard to receive the ball or is it that he isn’t challenged. Perhaps, this is his personality. At times, he tries to be too clever (e.g., unnecessary back heels) that might give credence to his being bored.

The second half was much better. Wheeler took a very wide position. On one play, he headed the ball over his defender getting behind the Gettysburg defense, and centered the ball to an open Jason Mancuso who let the ball run to give himself more space and finished. On the play, Wheeler didn’t assertively put himself in a better position (rebound, pass back), instead, he did that “fake half run” (if you have ever coached kids, you know this one – half run looking like the player is working, but going nowhere).

I observed other runs/thoughts that make me wonder about his tactical complexity. Does he make the proper run? With the run, does he attack at various change of pace? Is he thinking ahead, where is the ball going, where should he be? What could unbalance the defense? I don’t think so. He’s very competent running onto a through ball or taking on a defender 1v1. I have seen him shoot with power from speed.

Luckily, I will see Wheeler two more times this year to either confirm my initial observations/suspicions or refute them. Right now, I don’t think he’s a MLS quality draft candidate.

 

7 Unheralded Players

Here’s a list of random players that impressed me last year. Some of these players are unknown (outside of their immediate family and closest friends). Others may actually have friends that know their names. lol.

Senior Stephen Reihner, from Penn State, is a talented outside defender that was able to combine with graduated senior Simon Omekanda very well. He passes well, can get forward, but most importantly, he’s a solid defender. I look forward to seeing him play in the Big 10 tournament in November.

Sean Kelley is a sophomore goal keeper for George Mason University (GMU). He was Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) rookie of the year. Additionally, he was named to the All-rookie first team by Top Drawer Soccer. I saw him play against Hofstra in 2006 that by all accounts should have been loss for GMU in the first half. Kelley kept GMU in the game that they eventually won 3-2. I’ll agree that Kelley isn’t totally unheralded – but he’s yet to become a household name. Let’s see if he can continue to impress as a sophomore.

Another goalkeeper that I saw stand on his head in 2006, is Billy Chiles from Towson University. He, also, starred against Hofstra. Wonder if it was just Hofstra? I don’t think so. He saved 16 shots and was barraged with 26 shots. He’s very athletic. He’s a senior that transferred from Rutgers. How many people can honestly say that they’ve seen him play?

Staying with the CAA, Matthijs Maruanaya, a senior midfielder at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), has one of the sweetest touches that I’ve seen. It’s so soft and well conceived. VCU had a disappointing year, but Maruanaya still earned 2nd team CAA honors.

Continuing south, Zach Shilawski is a sophomore forward for Wake Forest. In the ACC tournament, he impressed me with his speed, strength and touch. He was named to Soccer America 2nd team freshmen All-American team.

Midfielder Jeff Scannella is a scintillating dribbler at South Carolina. I saw him play a few times on TV last year and was simply amazed at his skill. He was named Freshman of the year for Conference USA.

Last year, I went to several UNC-Greensboro matches to watch their 2 All-Americans (Scott Jones and Randi Patterson), but came away more impressed with the play of Junior Defensive Midfielder Jokull Elisaberason. He’s a smart player with exceptional passing ability and terrific timing on his tackles. His corner kicks are bent with both the inside and outside of his foot.

If you knew of these seven players before reading this post, you too are a soccer junkie. Welcome to the club.   :lol:

I realize that these are all east coast players, but those are the teams that I see most often. The only teams that I saw live from the west coast in 2006 were UCSB, UCLA and San Francisco. This year, I’ll see a few more games. Live is the best way to assess. TV is ok – just not as good.

 

Omar Gonzalez, Maryland

Omar Gonzalez, an imposing defender from Maryland, didn’t receive any accolades in 2006. He will be a Sophomore in 2007. As a freshmen, he scored 1 goal and had 3 assists. Gonzalez can play central defense and forward. Because of the lack of size of the Maryland back line, he was a key component in solidifying a transitioning defense. In 2005, Maryland graduated 3 defenders (Lancos, Bertz and Glaudemans though he wound up coming back as a grad student). Gonzalez is equally adept as a forward. Sasho Cirovski, Maryland coach, would typically move him up to forward if Maryland was behind late in games – and risk giving up a goal by compromising his defense.

Gonzalez is a sturdy 6′ 5″ player that seems to enjoy playing. He is an intimating presence in the air. Additionally, Gonzalez has tremendous dribbling ability for a “big man”. He appears that he will not be on the U20 roster in Canada in July, but was in the picture earlier this year. His body positioning on defense and his acceleration need to improve before he’s ready for the MLS. He’s a player that may make a consistent contribution. Watch him.

 

Jonathan Villanueva, Virginia

Jonathan Villanueva, a midfielder from the University of Virginia (UVA), was highly acclaimed when he entered UVA in the fall of 2006 after trialing with Ajax. Some people have claimed that 2006 was a disappointment – I would dispute those claims. He had 3 goals and 5 assists as a freshmen which aren’t exceptional stats. In this case, the numbers don’t tell the whole story. He earned membership onto the 2006 Soccer America All-Freshmen team.

He has significant skill and athletic ability. More important, he works both sides (defensive as well as well as offensive). A true 2 way midfielder. He’s been playing with the U20 team. His role seems to be more as a backup to Freddy Adu (as AM) and backup to Robbie Rogers (Left Wing). I believe that he’ll shine this summer in Canada. In 2006, he was on the All-ACC freshman team.

 

Yannick Reyering, Virginia

Yannick Reyering, a forward from the University of Virginia (UVA), was a 2006 pre-season Soccer America All-American and on the full and post Hermann watch list. Reyering will be a junior in the fall. However, he’s lost a year of eligibility because of his Osnabrueck’s first team appearances. UVA successfully appealed to the NCAA to apply the loss of eligibility to be applied in his senior year rather than his freshmen year. Therefore, we should expect that Reyering will be going professional at the end of this season. I was surprised that he didn’t come out after this past season. His birthday is July 10, 1984. Therefore, he’ll only have 1 year of YI classification if he enters MLS in 2008.

 

Ben Nasson, Virginia Tech

Ben Nasson, a central midfielder for Virginia Tech, will be a red-shirt senior in the fall. He did not receive any national accolades in 2006. I believe that he fell out of public view because he lost all of the 2005 season (except for 2 games) to injury. In 2006, he scored 6 goals and added 11 assists.

Nasson is a very heady player. He makes very quick decisions and is a steadying influence in the back. He doesn’t make many mistakes and is a strong ball winner in midfield. His game isn’t to beat people on the dribble – though he was doing that against AU. This was more of an aberration.

Instead, his game is moving the ball, running off the ball and working hard. He continues to impress with his work rate and his honest effort.

I like him a lot. I’d watch him carefully. This is the type of player that New England targets.

 

Patrick Nyarko, Virginia Tech

Patrick Nyarko, a forward for Virginia Tech (VT), will be a junior in the fall. He was a 2006 CSN pre-season second team All-American and a Soccer America pre-season All-American. In 2006, he scored 16 goals and added 8 assists. As a freshmen in 2005, he tallied 8 goals and 6 assists.

Patrick has a problem staying healthy. I saw Patrick play early in 2006 against UMBC when he was coming back from injury. He was brought in to score a goal and then relegated back to the bench. He has exceptional speed and skill. At that time, Nyarko was gasping for air early in the 2^nd half. He reminds me of Dom Oduro (FCD), but a little smaller and significantly more spindly. VT only scored when Nyarko was on the field.

Against UMBC, his first goal was worth the price of admission. At 17:07 in the first half, he took a long pass on the near side, beat a defender with a good first touch, pulled the ball back, moving across the box, faking, driving (leaving defenders on the ground and in his wake), he finished with a sweet touch into the corner of the goal. Minutes later, he stole the ball from a bad pass from a UMBC defender, one move around the gk and calmly buried the ball into the net. The third goal, again, was because of Nyarko. He took a 40 yard pass, air dribbled over the goalie with his first touch, could have been a penalty, but Nyarko stayed up. He regained his balance and took the ball into the corner, leaving the GK trying to cut the angle. Nyarko calmly centered the ball to Vickers for the winning goal. In the ACC tournament, he was unable to lead VT past NCSU despite scoring 2 goals and adding an assist. He is a terror when on the field. The problem is getting him on the field – because of injury and/or fitness. In the spring of 2007, he’s out because of injury, again. He has a world of talent. I will be watching his minutes this year. If he can stay in shape and healthy, he’s a potential first round pick, even as youth international.

 

Charlie Campbell, Virginia Tech

Charlie Campbell, an attacking midfielder/outside midfield for Virginia Tech, will be a sophomore in the fall. He’s not on anyone’s All-American list. He’s received accolades for being on the 2006 all-ACC
freshmen team. In 2006, he scored 1 goal and added 7 assists.

I saw Charlie play early in 2006 and was stunned with his poise for a freshmen. He played against UMBC and was remarkable. He was playing AM and was doing many subtle things with the ball – putting him in good position to make a positive influence. At the time, I remarked that he reminded me of a young Steven King.

The next time that I saw Campbell play was in the opening round of the ACC against NC State, the coach, Oliver Weiss, had him playing an outside midfielder. He was not exuding the same confidence that he displayed earlier in the year. I wonder if the coach’s style is hampering his psyche. Don’t know for sure – but I was not impressed with what I saw there. I recently saw

Campbell play in the spring of 2007 against American University and University of Penn – he was still playing outside. His touch was lacking and the tentativeness was still exhibited. Against Penn, he played forward and was more aggressive. I think that Campbell may not get an opportunity to play AM this year with Nasson and Reed both playing central midfield. He will need to develop to make a professional impact.

 

Stephen King, Maryland

Stephen King, an attacking midfielder for the University of Maryland, was a 2005 Soccer Times honorable mention All-American.  He was a key member of the 2005 National Champions.  King will be a senior in the fall.  2006 was a substandard year for King.   I would classify the year as a disappointment.  King scored 6 goals with 7 assists in 2006.  The prior year (2005), he scored 15 goals with 8 assists.  In his freshmen year, he scored 7 goals and tallied 5 assists.  So, his productivity was equivalent to his freshmen productivity.  He’s going to have to do better. 

The biggest difference in 2006 was the lack of an experience forward that he had in 2004 (Abe Thompson/Jason Garey) and 2005 (Jason Garey).  Graham Zusi (sophomore) and Jason Herrick (freshmen) didn’t frighten other ACC teams up top.  Also, losing Robbie Rogers (to Holland) right before the season may have affected him.  But, that’s an excuse.  King is going to need to play better if he hopes to play in MLS.

 I have watched and admired King since his freshmen year.  His passing is extra-ordinary.  He is able to give himself time on the ball by brilliant first touches.  He plays strong and isn’t easy to knock off the ball.  He is able to score goals by making good runs.  He understands the game. 

 He may have a tough senior year.  With Mo Edu and Chris Seitz both leaving early (and the aforementioned Rogers), King is going to be the only senior in the attacking positions.  With Edu gone, I wouldn’t be surprised if King is slotted back into a defensive midfielder position which might be beneficial for his professional prospects.  Zusi seems comfortable in the attacking midfield position.¼/p>