Liberty League

[deutschfan]

I will get out my picks and pans once all the rosters are posted, as well as go where others have now gone to pick a player of the year.  For both of those tasks it is important at least for me to know whether Ibrahim is playing for Skidmore, or Gaudiano is playing for RPI.  In the meantime a trivia question--what family has a son rostered on Vassar and a son rostered on SLU?  Maybe that came up last year but I didn't notice.  I have always found it strange when brothers or sisters wind up on rival college teams that may play each other multiple times in a season.  Leaves the parents and other family members in a tough spot as to whom to root for.  At least when the Van Brewers played Travis was at Tufts and Hayden was at Vassar.  That was a really successful D3 soccer family!

[stlawus]

The Fauths, of course.  The SLU Fauth was a late preseason addition to the SLU roster last year, I think he might have been a walk on.   Hopefully he follows the same trajectory as his brother, who developed a significant amount over the course of his career.  On one of the away broadcasts for a SLU game last year the father was sitting right behind the camera as he provided some musings about the tuition costs for sending his sons to Vassar and SLU.

[deutschfan]

Perhaps in the words of the band Styx "I've got too much time on my hands" but I was intrigued about Aidan SLU Fauth's choice of college given his brother Owen's attendance at Vassar so I learned a little bit about him.  And while I usually am trying to put a damper on all the SLU effusiveness on this thread, when SLU is choosing poster boys Aidan should be one of them.  He comes out of Keene H.S. in the top 10 (rather than 10%) of his academic class in addition to playing basketball, captaining the soccer team, and being an all state soccer honorable mention.  He wins the RPI award as the top math/science student in his high school class which means if he goes to RPI he gets $30k a year.  He could have taken the money and walked on there if not recruited, and probably would have been a recruited athlete at Union and certainly Bard.  Academically he could have gone to most of the NESCACs and Centennials where he could also have tried to walk on.  Of course he could have joined his brother at Vassar.  Yet, with all these options, he chose SLU, which was likely the hardest school in the LL to walk on for soccer and he succeeded.  I hope some day some SLU student reporter interviews Aidan and he shares his thought process on school selection and kudos to SLU for attracting students of his caliber.

[Saint of Old]

Now I have to follow this kid's career.
Nice post fan.
I appreciate the knowledge you drop on these threads. We are all biased in our own way... loving football, D3 and especially the boys playing for our Alma Mater, but none of it works without knowledgeable posters who can take out emotion and drop some facts like you just did and normally do.

This kid reminds me of National Finals MVP for SLU back in Tha day, Codename 2000.

2000 was a walk on who singlehandedly kept thr entire soccer team's GPA respectable all by himself.

He was also an accomplished tennis player in college and became a real rock star as an attorney.
After being a walk on and on the bench his first 3 years, he became a starter and leader in 1999 and scored an amazing goal in National Finals after helping us to a shutout in the Elite 8 and Final 4.

Hoping this young man has a similar trajectory.

[deutschfan]

Totally agree and here's hoping that we get to see the Fauth brothers play against each other in the Liberty League Finals.

[Saint_Dad]

SLU starting 11?
Any predictions?  I'll take a shot.
GK
Ben Woelfinger
Defense
Jeremy Ogango
Will Baker
First year Baker Diaz
Jackson Malary?  Is he healed?
Midfield
Mike McDougald
Sam Peacock
Max Mogul or Owen Lillis
Offense
Ryan Campbell
Sam Pijpers
Max Mogul or Kyle Graber

[kevdog]

Looks like Bruno Mocumbi is not on the roster anymore.  I went to see an updated roster and he was not listed any more.  Maybe he just wants to concentrate on his academics which I applaud.  Doing anything extracurricular in college takes time and dedication.  Hope everything is well with him.

[Saint of Old]

SLU starting 11?
Any predictions?  I'll take a shot.
GK
Ben Woelfinger
Defense
Jeremy Ogango
Will Baker
First year Baker Diaz
Jackson Malary?  Is he healed?
Midfield
Mike McDougald
Sam Peacock
Max Mogul or Owen Lillis
Offense
Ryan Campbell
Sam Pijpers
Max Mogul or Kyle Graber

There is a man who follows the program.
Not a bad bet for the starting 11, but I do think a couple more freshmen will force their way on to the starting team, if not now, then in the very near future.

Hope young Jackson is ready to give us a great year.
I played with his old man, the great Styles, he could drop a 30 yard diagonal from his left back position and hit a winger in perfect stride on a consistent basis.
Love to see the next generation writing their own pages in the Book of Saints.

[stlawus]

We're probably annoying the rest of the non SLU folks on here, but this is one of the best times of the year so I'll partake.  I'll throw a starting XI prediction out. 



                            Pijpers

Graber                                           Mogul

          MacGillivray           McDougald

                            Lillis                         

Casner       Malary           Peacock       Ogango
                       
                        Woelfinger

[kevdog]

We're probably annoying the rest of the non SLU folks on here, but this is one of the best times of the year so I'll partake.  I'll throw a starting XI prediction out. 



                            Pijpers

Graber                                           Mogul

          MacGillivray           McDougald

                            Lillis                         

Casner       Malary           Peacock       Ogango
                       
                        Woelfinger

Flip Ogango with Peacock and replace Casner with Baker and I really like. 

[deutschfan]

Interesting to note that Kev and StLaw don't have Ryan Campbell, last year's freshman of the year, in their starting XI.  If they are right it will probably be the first time in LL history that a returning FY player of the year is not a starter.  In Campbell's case he wasn't a full time starter last year either--in fact he started less than half the games he played in.  Unless last year had like the worst LL freshman class ever there certainly had to be at least a full time starter who was an impact player and who could have been honored.  If not, it is amazing how the quality of last years freshman class had fallen. The LL has had some great FYs over the years--Gorman, Kelley, Jansen, Mrlik, Gaudiano, Dede just to name a few. 

[Saint_Dad]

Ryan became a key player for the Saints the second half of the year with his breakout game coming at RPI with a clutch goal in the final minutes to give SLU a tie.  I expect him to be a starter and a key part of the Saints offense. He is a very tough player and great in the air with his head. 
The question mark for this team are the three midfielders.  A couple freshmen may get involved off the bench, but quality and experience are with McDougald.  Owen Lillis should see a lot of time as well.  But I think the key moves would have Peacock moving up as defensive mid with his quality defense and ball control and Mogul moving to CAM with his playmaking ability and quickness in getting ball back in the middle.  You then can start both Ryan and Graber on the wings with Pijpers as the striker.  Newcomer Brown can come off the bench to help on offense.
The defense should still be solid with Freshman Diaz, Baker, Jeremy and Malary.
With this lineup and hopefully some improved bench players, I can see this team being a high powered scoring team that won't give up many goals.  Without the right three in the middle, I see a frustrated offense with an overworked defense.

[deutschfan]

RPI's roster is up after an extremely disappointing year for Coach Clinton (who I deeply admire) and his staff.  A losing season after retaining three grad students including Brezak, their 4 year starter at goalie, and Silva, their leading scorer with perhaps a record number of pks in a season.  One reason for the disappointment was the loss to injury of Gaudiano, who had the best first year since Gorman at SLU many moons ago.  I thought it was 50-50 whether Gaudiano would return or go D-1.  He still has 2 years eligibility and it would be like a Juco transfer to a Socal school like UCI or UCSD that has great graduate programs.  Perhaps one of the knowledgeable posters on this board can explain the general absence of Juco transfers to D3 schools.  One reason may be Gaudiano's love of Coach Clinton (I get it) and a "Be true to your school like you would to your girl" mentality.  Another may be that soccer injuries are difficult to come back from during the next year.  The absence of touches and the lasting physical effects are two reasons.  Looking at the 2023 roster RPI is a hot mess.  In addition to losing their longtime goalie and leading scorer they have recruited 15 freshmen.  Presumably some of them don't make the final squad but there they are 1 week before the first real game. (I just tried to access the roster to confirm my math and it has been taken down.  Maybe the coaching staff has reconsidered some of the 15 names.)  I am predicting another tough year for RPI.

[stlawus]

As far as the lack of JUCO transfers in the league, I think a lot of it comes down to demographics.  All Liberty League schools offer good aid and scholarship opportunities, but if you don't come from a family of significant means and don't have the grades to get scholarships then you're probably facing a significant cost to attend.   Often times players go to a JUCO school because of grades, and while it doesn't mean they'll have bad grades in JUCO, when you combine that factor with the JUCO pool comprising of many players slotted to transfer to D1 along with the aforementioned dynamics, the pool for potential Liberty League transfers is reduced quite a bit.   

As for RPI, I think they'll either be similar to last season or at the top.  They had some bad luck last year, but a part of that I think was still a correction from 2021.  They had a good 2021 regular season but won a lot of games 1-0 which was just not sustainable (Clarkson learned that last season as well).  That carried over a bit last season.   They're usually not out of it for long though and still bring back a few 5th year players.     I did not think their 5th year keeper last season played well, and while you can't count out experience there's a chance they are better off this year at the position. 

Skidmore broadcast their scrimmage against Oneonta the other day. Ibrahim is there as expected, but Oneonta had the better of them the first half.  I didn't watch the 2nd half but I assume they mixed and match lineups like most teams do in scrimmages.   

SLU wrapped up a preseason trip to Ottawa where they played St. Francis Xavier and Carleton.  It's odd how the Canadian teams treat those games like non-conference matches on their schedule whereas they are scrimmages for SLU.  Good competition either way, will be excited to see the team in action this Friday.

[deutschfan]

I agree with you that in the past cost was a barrier for Juco transfers.  However, some schools like Vassar have followed the Ivies, University of Chicago and others that basically give you a free ride if you come from a family with an annual income under a certain level.  I would think that the coaches from schools like Vassar would look for players from low income families that can get a great education for little cost.  Thanks for the update on Ibrahim.  For those who picked Max Mogul to be this season's LL POY that is a way long shot.  First, I agree that he will be playing outside mid.  I can't remember an outside midfielder winning the award.  Second, there are too many better returning players including SLU's keeper.  The top 5 players last year were Sibanda, above everyone else, and the next three in whatever order were Ibrahim, Fauth and Woelfinger, and then Vassar's keeper Wnorowski.  The middle three are back.  You add Gaudiano to the mix and it makes it a bridge too far for a junior returning LL honorable mention.  In terms of picking between Ibrahim, Fauth, Woelfinger or Gaudiano--if Gaudiano is fully recovered then flip a coin.