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Rutgers Men's Soccer Set To Meet Ohio State Sunday on BTN

This year they've played a lot of close games and the good fortune they had earlier in the season has now gone the other way. They don't have a goalscorer but most of the other pieces are there. They've shown they can play with anyone in the conference, but their inability to finish off chances or create something in the opposition's box just isn't there.

Tiao's loss has also shifted how this team has to play, as now everything is funneled down the right hand side. When they had Tiao and DeVizio as their fullbacks the attack was much more balanced.

Give this staff one more recruiting cycle to bring in their #9 and this team will be very good.
 
This year they've played a lot of close games and the good fortune they had earlier in the season has now gone the other way. They don't have a goalscorer but most of the other pieces are there. They've shown they can play with anyone in the conference, but their inability to finish off chances or create something in the opposition's box just isn't there.

Tiao's loss has also shifted how this team has to play, as now everything is funneled down the right hand side. When they had Tiao and DeVizio as their fullbacks the attack was much more balanced.

Give this staff one more recruiting cycle to bring in their #9 and this team will be very good.

the bolded above is very well said...his absence is noticeable. that kid is an energizer bunny and plays like an upper classman. Excited to see what he will do over the next few years.
 
It’s still a large rebuild. Gonna be a few years before we compete with the top teams.

Not to blow up on your comment, but I hear this all the time for every sport at Rutgers. And I'm calling BS on it. It doesn't take YEARS to rebuild every program at RU. The expectation level is not championships, its being middle of the pack, making the conf tournaments, not being dead last.

OSU was not a good team last year and their record isn't great this year either. So its one of those teams that we should hope/expect some wins against within the conference.

We can't continue to hide behind every rebuild takes multiple years. Lets expect and demand more (which right now is simply to be average).

Lots more season to play out for soccer to get it right, but not a great start in the league when they did a pretty great job outside the league this season.
 
Not to blow up on your comment, but I hear this all the time for every sport at Rutgers. And I'm calling BS on it. It doesn't take YEARS to rebuild every program at RU. The expectation level is not championships, its being middle of the pack, making the conf tournaments, not being dead last.

OSU was not a good team last year and their record isn't great this year either. So its one of those teams that we should hope/expect some wins against within the conference.

We can't continue to hide behind every rebuild takes multiple years. Lets expect and demand more (which right now is simply to be average).

Lots more season to play out for soccer to get it right, but not a great start in the league when they did a pretty great job outside the league this season.

We were one of the worst teams in the nation last year. Please keep that in mind :ThumbsUp

...also we’ve lost 3 games in conference thus far, and while yesterday’s 1-0 loss stings, the others were to the defending NATIONAL champ and a national semi-finalist.
 
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We were one of the worst teams in the nation last year. Please keep that in mind :ThumbsUp

...also we’ve lost 3 games in conference thus far, and while yesterday’s 1-0 loss stings, the others were to the defending NATIONAL champ and a national semi-finalist.

Yeah.... And its soccer. We outplayed them and lost 1-0, it happens.
 
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Not to blow up on your comment, but I hear this all the time for every sport at Rutgers. And I'm calling BS on it. It doesn't take YEARS to rebuild every program at RU. The expectation level is not championships, its being middle of the pack, making the conf tournaments, not being dead last.

OSU was not a good team last year and their record isn't great this year either. So its one of those teams that we should hope/expect some wins against within the conference.

We can't continue to hide behind every rebuild takes multiple years. Lets expect and demand more (which right now is simply to be average).

Lots more season to play out for soccer to get it right, but not a great start in the league when they did a pretty great job outside the league this season.
And I'm calling BS on this post.
 
the bolded above is very well said...his absence is noticeable. that kid is an energizer bunny and plays like an upper classman. Excited to see what he will do over the next few years.
Yes. Also thought we had the better of the play.
 
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We were one of the worst teams in the nation last year. Please keep that in mind :ThumbsUp

...also we’ve lost 3 games in conference thus far, and while yesterday’s 1-0 loss stings, the others were to the defending NATIONAL champ and a national semi-finalist.
And I'm calling BS on this post.

Thats fine. It is harsh given where the program is. But I really can't stand the blanket excuse of "this program need 4-5 years to rebuild". Lets challenge ourselves to be more specific and a little higher expectations. I want people around here to have more expectations because that is what drives the demand for our school and its programs to do better.

For example - the soccer team needs to improve its offense in the next recruiting cycle or two. Or we need to upgrade the staff to improve offensive recruiting. Or we have a roster of 8 freshmen who need another 2 seasons of experience to mature and develop.
 
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Thats fine. It is harsh given where the program is. But I really can't stand the blanket excuse of "this program need 4-5 years to rebuild". Lets challenge ourselves to be more specific and a little higher expectations. I want people around here to have more expectations because that is what drives the demand for our school and its programs to do better.

For example - the soccer team needs to improve its offense in the next recruiting cycle or two. Or we need to upgrade the staff to improve offensive recruiting. Or we have a roster of 8 freshmen who need another 2 seasons of experience to mature and develop.

I don't think anyone is saying 4-5 years, and you are not wrong that many RU supporters are far too tolerant of mediocrity. That said, let's judge this coach once his first season is in the books. He has not even gone through his first full recruiting cycle yet, and the talent he brought in out of the gate has been difference making. I think that on the whole, people will agree we are greatly improved, especially for year 1 of the new coach's tenure... but let's see how they finish the season.
 
I don't think anyone is saying 4-5 years, and you are not wrong that many RU supporters are far too tolerant of mediocrity. That said, let's judge this coach once his first season is in the books. He has not even gone through his first full recruiting cycle yet, and the talent he brought in out of the gate has been difference making. I think that on the whole, people will agree we are greatly improved, especially for year 1 of the new coach's tenure... but let's see how they finish the season.
Yes, greatly improved!!!
 
Thats fine. It is harsh given where the program is. But I really can't stand the blanket excuse of "this program need 4-5 years to rebuild". Lets challenge ourselves to be more specific and a little higher expectations. I want people around here to have more expectations because that is what drives the demand for our school and its programs to do better.

For example - the soccer team needs to improve its offense in the next recruiting cycle or two. Or we need to upgrade the staff to improve offensive recruiting. Or we have a roster of 8 freshmen who need another 2 seasons of experience to mature and develop.

I think we’re all on board with this and, by the looks of it this far, this isn’t going to be a 4 to 5 year rebuild.
 
I think we’re all on board with this and, by the looks of it this far, this isn’t going to be a 4 to 5 year rebuild.

They will be an NCAA Tournament team next year if they can bring in a forward as good as the foreign players that were brought in this year, a CB as good as the departing Longo, and some pace on the wings. They could probably use another CM option for depth, but I like what the Norwegian Freshman and Borden have been able to offer. I'd expect next year to be:

Asher
Devizio New CB Hugo Tiao​

Borden Jorgen

Temple Avila New Winger​

New Forward​
McElderry brought in 5 difference makers in his first recruiting cycle and he was late to the game. With a full recruiting cycle to work with, I'm expecting him to bring in another 3-4 strong pieces that will put this team into the upper-half of the conference.
 
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When Coach Pike came in to replace Eddie Jordan, it seemed to me that the current players were enjoying being on the team more and he was getting more out of them in effort. Is there something similar going on with the new soccer coach? Do they seem to want to be better for him?
 
When Coach Pike came in to replace Eddie Jordan, it seemed to me that the current players were enjoying being on the team more and he was getting more out of them in effort. Is there something similar going on with the new soccer coach? Do they seem to want to be better for him?

Donigan was really poor last year as a coach in all facets. I won't go into details, but from what I've heard he had pretty much mailed it in.

I think the difference this year is that the team has a clear strategy, a clear formation, and everyone is aware of their roles. They've stuck with the 4-2-3-1 formation and there hasn't been much change to the lineup outside of changes forced by injury.

The biggest thing, though, is the talent level. The staff brought in 5 major contributors this year who are all quality Big Ten additions. If they can continue to recruit at that level the program is in good hands moving forward.
 
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Didn’t RU only win 4 games last year or am I missing something here on expectations this year?
 
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