OT: RU Soccer avoids the season bagle
- Thread starter RUich
- Start date
How in the world can the state university of New Jersey be so bad in men's soccer ?
Not enough 4-star recruits ?
They were good last year. Sports are cyclical for most teams because the roster turns over so much.
Went to the B1G semis and NCAA 2nd round last year. DD was B1G COTY. Lost 2 of our 3 best kids to injury for the season, over the summer, and were missing a few other key kids this this as well. Played an insanely difficult schedule (IIRC 8 top 25 teams with 6 in the top 15'ish), especially 1st half of the season, and things just steamrolled over to some games we probably should have won but, instead, played very poorly. Very, very difficult season for DD and the kids, however, it was as bad as it gets so if he loses his job nobody can argue against it (myself included).
Well...we have lots of guys back who didn't play this year...and hopefully DD (or whomever is HC) scales back the OOC schedule to open the year. This is a group that's going to need a TON of confidence early-on in 2017. Lot of work to be done, however, no question.
If you're really good you play the top teams and beat some or most of them despite missing 2 or 3 guys. No go 1- 13.
No, if you're one of THE top teams you do that, and we weren't going to be one of those regardless of anything. What was expected was another NCAA season, however, ANY shot of that went by the wayside when we lost Sa and Hawkins. Brutal season, no question, no excuses, but there were reasons without question.
Just curious Nuts do you write that summary of whys from scratch each time or are you cutting and pasting at this point? People ask and you are there with the response each time.
"cutting and pasting"? Yeah, because it's such difficult info to remember, lol! I respond with facts - as I ALWAYS have - so people don't have to guess and make assumptions about things. That's all.
How in the world could you spell "bagel" wrong ? Are you living in ny/Nj area?
So....due to lopsided scores, in the B1G semis and NCAA 2nd round, our season ended "horrifically"? Interesting.
Horrific is a little extreme I would say but the ending was a disappointment. The men had a chance to win the regular season Big Ten Championship which would have been a big deal for the University Athletic program as a whole. The team last year was very athletic and dangerous but would get exposed by skillful and tactfully superior teams.
The Akron game was over within 20 minutes. That type of loss to end the season initiates the type of scrutiny that reexamines the legitimacy of our record. In other words, maybe we were not that good but had the ball bounce our way often enough to win some games. The ball has obviously not bounced our way this year. The interesting thing is that the team has been competitive with some of the better teams on our schedule this year. The disturbing part is that we were embarrassed by teams like Princeton and NJIT. We should have enough depth in the program by now to overcome the injuries and remain competitive with most of our schedule. If we throw out this year as an aberration then it will all come down to recruiting. There will be huge losses in personnel in both quantity and quality after next year. The question for the program is are there enough quality players in the freshman and sophomore classes to keep the program moving forward and what will the next two recruiting classes look like.
Next year's team will be exponentially more talented then this year's. It should be able to get back to the NCAA's. Where we go from there is the question.
The Akron game was over within 20 minutes. That type of loss to end the season initiates the type of scrutiny that reexamines the legitimacy of our record. In other words, maybe we were not that good but had the ball bounce our way often enough to win some games. The ball has obviously not bounced our way this year. The interesting thing is that the team has been competitive with some of the better teams on our schedule this year. The disturbing part is that we were embarrassed by teams like Princeton and NJIT. We should have enough depth in the program by now to overcome the injuries and remain competitive with most of our schedule. If we throw out this year as an aberration then it will all come down to recruiting. There will be huge losses in personnel in both quantity and quality after next year. The question for the program is are there enough quality players in the freshman and sophomore classes to keep the program moving forward and what will the next two recruiting classes look like.
Next year's team will be exponentially more talented then this year's. It should be able to get back to the NCAA's. Where we go from there is the question.
Most of the "good" soccer players don't go to college -- they are either picked up by a Euro pro team or are in the Development Academies.
Further, unlike football, most kids don't get full rides -- the scholie numbers are very limited and many times they go to kids from overseas who washed out at their local pro club and are now going all-in on education.
And of the "good" kids that fall through the scouting cracks, they tend to cluster at "known" programs (Akron, UCLA, & MD immediately come to mind) where the emphasis won't be on winning but on player development.
There is a huge difference in playing to develop vs playing to win. Playing to develop would mean doing things like playing the ball from the back and through the middle -- high risk activities when you're up against a superior squad. Playing to win would be sort of like parking the bus in front of the net and then hoofing the ball up to the fast guy up front on the break. These tactics do not foster the ball possession skills and situational awareness required to play at the next level.
The ironic part about it all is since the known development teams get the best players, they also tend to win big and it becomes an Alabama football-type self-perpetuating cycle: Get good players --> win --> get more good players --> win some more...
Further, unlike football, most kids don't get full rides -- the scholie numbers are very limited and many times they go to kids from overseas who washed out at their local pro club and are now going all-in on education.
And of the "good" kids that fall through the scouting cracks, they tend to cluster at "known" programs (Akron, UCLA, & MD immediately come to mind) where the emphasis won't be on winning but on player development.
There is a huge difference in playing to develop vs playing to win. Playing to develop would mean doing things like playing the ball from the back and through the middle -- high risk activities when you're up against a superior squad. Playing to win would be sort of like parking the bus in front of the net and then hoofing the ball up to the fast guy up front on the break. These tactics do not foster the ball possession skills and situational awareness required to play at the next level.
The ironic part about it all is since the known development teams get the best players, they also tend to win big and it becomes an Alabama football-type self-perpetuating cycle: Get good players --> win --> get more good players --> win some more...
" Most of the "good" soccer players don't go to college -- they are either picked up by a Euro pro team or are in the Development Academies"
Not true at all Mike
NY Redbulls won the National Championship at 18 an under in 2013
8 of the starting 10 field players in the final went on to college and 2 Haitian players ended up back in Haiti
Ethan Decker Uconn but now at Rutgers
Erik Sa Rutgers
Kaz Boschen U Del
ALex Muyle Georgetown
Arun Basuljevic Georgetown
Adam Najem Akron
Chris Lima Georgetown
Kevin Politz Duke
6 of the 8 players listed were at one time part of the US National Team
This group defines the top level players in the NY/NJ area and 80% went to college
The top players still choose college.
Style of play and history of winning/ just like any other sport
Not true at all Mike
NY Redbulls won the National Championship at 18 an under in 2013
8 of the starting 10 field players in the final went on to college and 2 Haitian players ended up back in Haiti
Ethan Decker Uconn but now at Rutgers
Erik Sa Rutgers
Kaz Boschen U Del
ALex Muyle Georgetown
Arun Basuljevic Georgetown
Adam Najem Akron
Chris Lima Georgetown
Kevin Politz Duke
6 of the 8 players listed were at one time part of the US National Team
This group defines the top level players in the NY/NJ area and 80% went to college
The top players still choose college.
Style of play and history of winning/ just like any other sport
Boarder: I would argue that those players are "good" for the US talent pool.
But if measured against their Euro peers, there're probably closer to "average".
If you're not on a club team by college age, your chances of going on to play in Seria A or Premiere League probably aren't very good.
But if measured against their Euro peers, there're probably closer to "average".
If you're not on a club team by college age, your chances of going on to play in Seria A or Premiere League probably aren't very good.
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