Liberty League

stlawus · September 08, 2023, 04:51:10 PM

I knew something was up when this spring the USL 2 team Little Rock Rangers announced Sibanda was on the team. That's mostly a collegiate summer league. It's a lot harder to play an extra year at a school like SLU when you don't have a full scholarship and there's no real graduate program apparatus. Vassar has a similar situation but I'm pretty sure several of their 5th year players took semesters off, which comes with its disadvantages (and advantages I suppose). It's why I'm looking forward to the covid year players cycling out so we will have a good understanding of eligibility as well as the playing field being level again.

deutschfan · September 08, 2023, 10:19:38 PM

While the transitive property of soccer is very erratic, tonight's RIT result against Geneseo puts its LL opponents in this ranking: 1) RIT; 2) SLU and 3) Skidmore. I feel your pain about Sibanda. Playing in the middle of nowhere for a NAIA program that won't do anymore for his professional aspirations than playing a 4th season at SLU. There are plenty of D1 programs who would have given him money and would him far greater exposure than a NAIA school.

stlawus · September 08, 2023, 10:28:45 PM

I do not think he was eligible to play D1, since he only had 2 years eligibility to play D1 if he matriculated to a D1 program as a first year.

NAIA has some really good programs, but he was limited in his 5th year options. At least with NAIA he likely has a full scholarship.

Saint_Dad · September 09, 2023, 07:06:58 AM

Quote from: kevdog on September 08, 2023, 03:37:46 PM
I am glad that Sibanda is doing well. Wish he use that last year of eligibilty to play for SLU but understand that he needs to move on. Hope Tosh can find that next great player or someone needs to step it up. It seems they always find that player who above everyone else.

I think they may have that player this year. Let's see if he can put a couple in the net today.

deutschfan · September 09, 2023, 09:59:08 AM

Thanks St Law. I was thinking about the Amherst POY who spent his graduate year at Maryland. on a different subject, Vassar heads to Waltham for an interesting UAA tilt. Brandeis had some great NCAA runs pre covid and last year flamed out in the UAA. The last time these teams met was in the second round in 2012 after Vassar had dispatched a Tufts team that would win a national championship the next year. The game against Brandeis was an up and down affair with great chances on both sides. In the last minute Sam Ocel broke Vassar's hearts. I hope this year's Vassar team can even the score, although the Brandeis squad does not look to be the same stature as the 2012 team.

kevdog · September 09, 2023, 03:57:39 PM

Somehting must be wrong with the feed for the Hartwick/SLU game because it is not coming up and the live stats still say it is pre game. Anyone else having this problem?

stlawus · September 09, 2023, 04:02:18 PM

I just got a stream come up momentarily, seems like there must have been a delay.

kevdog · September 09, 2023, 04:02:56 PM

Quote from: stlawus on September 09, 2023, 03:59:49 PM
Yea they crapped the bed on this one it seems. Unless there is a delay, but there is 0 communication from Hartwick right now about any of it so there's no way to know.

Honestly, this has been the worst season for streaming I've seen thus far and we're only 2 weeks in. It was more reliable 10 years ago when it was still a fledgling enterprise for most schools. The parents of these kids likely plan out their weekend to be able to stream these games, I'm sure they are thrilled with the situation.

Yeah I thought maybe it was the weather but I checked the Oneonta game and the weather seemed to be fair. Your right. It was much better 10 year ago.

stlawus · September 09, 2023, 04:03:30 PM

And oh lord do we have the uniform I've been waiting for. Saints are decked out in a fresh brown kit. I've wanted to go back to the browns, at least as an alt uniform, for quite some time.

(deleted a previous comment since it aged like milk on the surface of Mercury) Oneonta moved their game up an hour, and with this game being delayed it makes me think there might be some lightning. There have been several games cancelled due to lighting this week, and Vassar had their game in Boston delayed because of it today.

stlawus · September 09, 2023, 06:14:40 PM

It's the year of the implosion for SLU. Another horrific defensive miscue costs them. You simply never see a SLU opponent regardless of quality make the mistakes this team makes. Penalty was also blasted into the Catskills. They've pretty much erased any pool C chance and it's only 3 games in. If they want any hope of pool C they have to beat Oneonta, and given the history of this team in Oneonta it's not a bet I would take. Vassar is far and away the class of the league right now.

kevdog · September 09, 2023, 06:34:33 PM

Quote from: stlawus on September 09, 2023, 06:14:40 PM
It's the year of the implosion for SLU. Another horrific defensive miscue costs them. You simply never see a SLU opponent regardless of quality make the mistakes this team makes. Penalty was also blasted into the Catskills. They've pretty much erased any pool C chance and it's only 3 games in. If they want any hope of pool C they have to beat Oneonta, and given the history of this team in Oneonta it's not a bet I would take. Vassar is far and away the class of the league right now.

Yup. The ball got tangled up in Diaz's feet. I feel sorry for the kid but that is the breaks of the game. Got a nice assist on the goal but unfortunately he got two of them today. I still like the kid. Hopefullly he can bounce back. SLU dominated the game but they lack imagination in the offensive third and they need to attack quickly when the ball is switch. They have numbers up and too many times I see the guy stop and pull up and then play it back. That PK is still traveling to the Catskills and probably to the Berkshires. That was not well taken. Again they do not have that player that is above everyone else. Maximus was no where to be seen today. Does anyone know what has happened to McVillary(spelling). I was anticpating he be a valuable contributor to this team but he has not played yet. Is he hurt, sick? Hopefully this team can turn it around or it will be a long season. This is a game they should have won.

stlawus · September 09, 2023, 07:07:25 PM

There are a few players out due to injury or something else, maybe he has something going on.

Hobart is going through similar pains that SLU is experiencing, as one of their CBs whiffed a clearance leading to the game winner for Mary Washington.

RPI also not playing very inspired right now with a 0-0 draw against a seemingly resurgent Plattsburgh.

Clarkson won another game they were supposed to.

Skidmore, I just don't know. Don't know what to think of the league until we start seeing some head to head matchups. Either everyone is simply getting up to speed and having bad luck, or these teams are simply not high quality. Truth probably lies somewhere in between.

Saint_Dad · September 10, 2023, 12:07:20 AM

Agreed, a tough loss, I mean tie, for SLU. First of all, I wish Sam Pijpers well as he was taken by ambulance to the hospital after the last play of the game resulted in a head collision with a Hartwick player.
Pijpers started the scoring but couldn't finish on a beautiful run by Mogul, showing off his quickness and speed, who fed Graber who laid a perfectly weighted drop bass to Pijpers. His shot unfortunately went over the crossbar. As mentioned by stlawus and kevdog, his pk to win the game had the same misfortune. I was surprised that the coach didn't have Mogul take it as he completed the last one with ease.
Hartwick put one man on Mogul for the entire game. Mogul played in the middle today and with the added attention given to him, Graber, Ryan, Pijpers and Brown saw the ball more.
The aggressive Brown drew the penalty.
I Dont believe Griffin is hurt. It's coaches decision not to play him right now. That may change soon. Lillis seemed to get banged up today. We will see if he gets back on the pitch tomorrow.
Graber played well but needs to adjust his corner kicks to be lower liners. His popups were easy pickings for the goalie. Oneonta will be tough, especially on short rest with many players playing all 90 today and Pijpers seems unlikely to play.

Saint of Old · September 10, 2023, 09:17:09 AM

Yes.
We all wish the Dutchman well.
He has had a really strong start to the season. These boys are still adjusting to playing without an All-Time great Saint in their ranks. This is very hard to do. Not since the 97 season (PostDre/Manny) has the team had to adjust to such a massive loss of individual talent. These boys have been playing well, defending as a team and still undefeated this season with 11 men playing despite going up against good competetion. This is how the guitar players develop hard fingers that allow them to play well for longer periods.
I have all the faith in this team and Coach to have a good season. We just need a game or two more to get the red train rolling right!

stlawus · September 10, 2023, 02:32:12 PM

SLU-Oneonta moved up to 3 PM for any interested parties.

Hobart seems to have a very enigmatic start to the season every year, would not be surprised to see them defeat JHU.

Union will be looking to build upon their good start, they had a good draw yesterday against New Paltz and could have scored a few more goals.