Liberty League

[deutschfan]

My condolences as well from a fan wo greatly respects the Saint nation even when tweaking them every once and a while.

[kevdog]

My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.

[Saint_Dad]

My condolences STLAWUS to you and your family.  Looking forward to more of your posts in the near future. 

[Crossit4fun]

Will not be in attendance for tomorrow's SLU game due to funeral services for an immediate/close extended family member, I wish all Liberty League teams the best of luck in tomorrow's fixtures and hope for a great season for all involved!  (as long as it's not at SLU's expense of course).

God bless peace to you and your family

[Crossit4fun]

One of Brockport best players hurt his knee near end of season not sure he will be healthy to start the season

So RPI has one of the more intriguing LL openers tomorrow traveling to VA to play Mary "We Knocked Amherst out of the NCAA Tournament after Amherst thrashed SLU" Washington. If RPI puts up a good fight it will be a harbinger of positive things to come.  West Conn gets to prove at home that last year's win over Vassar was no fluke and remind last year's NCAA voters that their exclusion was a mistake.  Union starts its new era of scheduling tough non-conference fixtures with a really tough non-conference fixture--Oneonta.  Props to Union whatever the score.  Clarkson gets to renew its acquaintance with its old coach Chris Taylor on the road in another contest that will tell a lot about a team's future prowess in the Liberty League.  Finally, Brockport and RIT, coming off of strong years, try to break the tie that started last year's season.

[Golden_Fan]

As far as I know, he is fit and ready to go. Watch out for his brother as well.

One of Brockport best players hurt his knee near end of season not sure he will be healthy to start the season

[deutschfan]

So far a day of biblical simile--the last will be first and the first will be last--Bard wins 3-1 and Vassar goes down early 2-0 on two horrific defensive plays. 

[kevdog]

i hope that SLU doesn't go back to the style of play of the keeper having a lot of touches but so far Woeflinger has had a lot.  There were times when they could have easily attacked Genesoe's defense but played it backwards. Lots easier when watching then playing.  Need toget more men in the box though. Hopefully the 2nd half can lead to some goals with all of this possession. 

[Saint_Dad]

Overall I thought SLU looked pretty good in the first half.  I like that they're attacking more with their corner kicks, bringing in Baker Diaz from defense to go for headers in the box.  First year Baker Diaz is looking very good.  Peacock strong in the middle.  Max Mogul had 5 shots, but was over the frame too many times, almost scoring on a diving header at the end of the first half.  I'm expecting SLU to finally break through as they get more confidence and hopefully take more risks in the attacking zone.

[kevdog]

Overall I thought it was an average game although Mogul had a nice opportunity that would have have been a sensational goal at the end of the 1st half. Diaz in the back was solid and very composed for a freshman. Brown did all right but I think he was little surprise that just because you get touched doesn't mean you're going to get the foul. He is young, so hopefully he can get better. Seems like they had more juice when Pijper, Campbell, and Oglech, came in. I like how Campbell plays. He gets the ball and attacks the defense. This puts the defense on their heels and it's not fun.  I thought McDougald played steady. He appeared to get frustrated with some of his passes weren't going where he wanted them but that will improve.  Peacock was solid and just does the little things.  Baker as well was solid.
The one thing that they are missing is that dominate player who is head and shoulder above everyone else. Before they had Sibanda and Dede, but this year they don't have one of those guys. It's early but so maybe someone will step up and be that player.  The other thing that I have noticed is open field tackles in the offensive third. For some reason, Durocher's team were really good at that and they would quickly change the attack. The season is early so hopefully they fixed the stuff they need and start scoring some goals.

[Crossit4fun]

As far as I know, he is fit and ready to go. Watch out for his brother as well.

One of Brockport best players hurt his knee near end of season not sure he will be healthy to start the season

Good to read he is back, never want to see a college player hurt.

[deutschfan]

A very inauspicious start for the Liberty League, 2-4-3, with Bard and Hobart getting the only wins against lower tier programs.  My top three teams Vassar, Skidmore, and SLU manage to score one goal total, a soft penalty for Vassar at that, and Vassar hasn't scored in the run of play now in 4 games.  Woelfinger saves SLU against a team they normally own, Coach Tosh leaves 14 players on the bench, and last year's LL rookie of the year doesn't start.  RIT and Brockport will have to wait til next year to break their tie and RPI travels to Virginia to get shellacked by Mary Washington.  Clarkson loses to its former coach on a keeper mistake in the last 5 minutes (can't defend against keeper error) but at least Union can find solace in playing Oneonta close.  The worst loss was Vassar's.  Other than goalie they returned their entire defense from last season.  The first two goals were on giveaways, and the backbreaker was a penalty after a defender steamrolled a West Conn forward in the box.  They started a sophomore goalie over a junior and senior, and he does not inspire confidence.  Fauth was without a shot other than the gratuitous penalty.  Vassar put 17 players on the field, West Conn played 24.  This is the third year in a row Vassar has lost to West Conn after a 7 game win streak.  The 2021 loss probably cost them a NCAA bid. Vassar was able to avoid the same fate by going undefeated in League last year.  West Conn is going to be a RR team and unless Vassar repeats its last year's league success their season is already on the brink.

[Saint_Dad]

Re the SLU first game vs Geneseo, we see that the strength right now is the defense. As Deutschfan points out, Woelfinger saves the day.  Ogango came off the bench and played very well on defense, even delivering a beautiful ball to Mogul, who's diving header would have been on the highlight reel for years to come.  I expect Ogango to get the start going forward along with first year Baker Diaz who played all 90 minutes.  Diaz has great foot skills.  He and Malary are about 6'3" and they go forward on corner kicks which created chances.  I'd like to see them treat some direct kicks on the opponents side the same way and bring them up (just as Amherst did to them in the NCAAs last year).  Will Baker seems fit and injury free as the fourth defender.  Peacock has moved up to midfield and his ball control is needed there.  Hopefully he can stay injury free.  McDougald also played well, although I'd like to see him take more chances on the attacking side of the field.  The midfield needs to improve as they gave the ball away too many times.  Hopefully the team is a bit deeper than the first game showed, only using 4 substitutes, with first year Arguetta coming on only because of Peacock's injury.  Ryan Campbell showed a lot as a substitute.  Last year's LL rookie of the year attacked the defense and made them retreat, opening up opportunities.  I expect to see Campbell starting going forward, or at least playing a lot more than 36 minutes today.  Coach tried a few different options at striker.  Newcomer Henry Brown showed promise, but between he and striker Pijpers, they had one shot between them.  They had the most success on offense when Mogul (who I didn't expect to play striker) spent some time there and received a through ball that he could have converted as well as the already mentioned delivery from Ogango.  Mogul seemed to play 3 or 4 different positions, attacking many times from the left.  I wouldn't be surprised to see him at CAM more during the game.  This would also enable Campbell to get more playing time.  He is needed on the pitch.

[deutschfan]

Geneseo's beatdown of Skidmore was a huge plus for SLU. It shows Geneseo is a quality side. For Skidmore it bodes another year of a middling overall record that will prevent it from ever receiving an at large bid which it hasn't in forever.  Often the bridesmaid, never the bride. Ithaca's scoring woes continue. League has now played 11 games and it is 2-5-4. That should improve today as Vassar should easily handle MSM. Cortland is a monster game for SLU.

[kevdog]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what happened to Griffin MacGiviliary?  Is he injured?  I thought we would see a lot more of him playing.