Liberty League

[stlawus]

Union were the better team too, thoroughly outplayed RPI on their home turf.  Major props to Bard, haven't had more than 2 points in a season since 2016, and got them off 2 very good teams.   Could see some tiebreakers at play come end of the regular season.

[stlawus]

Vassar might have got some luck on their 2nd goal as it looked it a potential hand ball, but it counts nonetheless.  2 goals off 2 corner kicks to rescue a draw against Middlebury.  Set pieces have carried the Brewers the past 2 years, they continue to remain a force on dead balls. 

[deutschfan]

Have to hand it to Vassar--went back to last year's playbook to get the draw.  They have been down to Drew, Skidmore, and Middlebury and found a way to salvage a 2-0-1 record keeping their slim pool C chances alive.  Kudos to them.  Also, it is nice to know that the Liberty League plays at a very high level across the board.  When Vassar can tie one of the top NESCAC squads, and Bard can tie Vassar, then by the transitive property of soccer results Bard is as good as any NESCAC team. 

[Saint of Old]

I agree with your assessment stlawus.  It was horrendous.  SLU tries to move the ball around and work it upfield.  Unfortunately without Peacock in the midfield, the only midfielder who has control of the ball is Macdougald. And half the time he plays the ball back.  They can't seem to keep the ball more than a few passes.  No creativity on throw ins.  Direct kicks in opponents side of the field go back to their own goalie.  Besides a play early in the game we didn't see much from Mogul.  They need to find a way to get him the ball or he needs to come get it.  They left the goal scorer all alone on that header.  They need to do something about that midfield or start playing over them.  Dismal performance. I thought they may come out if it with a tie when Pijpers made an excellent run from midfield but he didn't pull the trigger.  All in all the worst performance of the year by far.  Expect their opponents to follow Ithaca's game plan.

Saints got outworked.
Tough sentence to type or admit but that is what happened in Ithaca, they just wanted it more.
No problem losing a game, it happens but as a team we should always give that effort. These things can happen and I'm sure the boys will be back, but it is time to start picking it up.

[saint_forever]

Other than the Clarkson commentator having the mic literally in his mouth for half the game, great win for SLU. Clarkson back to reality after starting non-conference hot (as always). Big win for SLU!

[stlawus]

Great game, great atmosphere.  Raucous Clarkson student section and they also had the pep band.   That was definitely the most technical I've ever seen Clarkson play against SLU, which is a testament to the improvements of the program. 

They say you play how you practice, which is how SLU got their goal.  In warmups Eric Edmonds was drilling one touch shots into the upper and lower corners, don't know if I saw him miss.   On the goal he got practically the same exact type of touch he was getting in warmups and sure enough, put his head over the ball and drilled it.  Goal was a product of Henry Brown's run, so a very good freshman to freshman link up to get the game winner.

As I said Saturday, right now the league is Hobart's to lose as they get yet another win to vault up to 4-0.   

[Saint_Dad]

I have to agree Stlawus.  Erik Edmonds brings a ton of energy off the bench.  He has a powerful shot and stays over the ball where many of the players on both sides of the field were skying the ball over the crossbar.  The goal came on hustle from the two freshmen as Brown ran through the ball and the defender for the steal while Edmonds anticipating this sprinted downfield and got himself in position for the loose ball in front.  Goals don't come easy and sometimes its takes making those runs over and over.  Brown and Edmonds had the energy and will.  It also came when they played more direct.  I love SLU's possession game but hope they can mix it up with some long balls to the offense for these type of opportunities as well as opening up the defense.  And with the speed of Mogul, Edmonds, and Brown, they will have opportunities.  Seven shots in their last two games will not bring many victories, even though their defense has been terrific.  Welcome back Peacock. 

[Saint of Old]

I missed the SLU v. CU game, but from the stats and people I have spoken to, sounds like Clarkson played great.  Moving the ball really well and creating some chances from going side to side and then back middle.

I think that the young season tells us that this LL is very strong from top to bottom. I cannot recall when there has ever been much parity in the LL and I have been following the LL before it was called the LL.

Where there is extreme parity there will always be a lack of clarity.

At this point only the most prescient forecaster will still have their pre-season predictions intact. I feel bad for the dude who had Clarkson last

[stlawus]

Vassar rescues a point against Hobart.  Vassar scored yet another corner kick goal to tie things up at 1. 

Union is taking care of business, that program has made some huge strides which is beneficial for the league.

Not really sure what RPI is doing, disappointing by their standards.

Clarkson also gets burned again by another improved squad in Ithaca, big matchup between them and Union next week. 

SLU will take the 3 points against RIT.  Not much going on in the first half, largely due to the weather.  Brutal wind and rain, but that let up at halftime and the Saints took over.  Not sure why Peacock started at LB but once he moved back to the midfield in the 2nd half things opened up for SLU offensively. 

[saint_forever]

Tale as old as time: Clarkson and RIT burning out in the league after starting hot in non-conference. RIT only had a chance whenever SLU wanted to give them one, which again, is typically how SLU concedes. If SLU can grab 4 points from next weekend, playoffs are essentially locked up. Hobart vs. SLU to end the year seems to be lining up to be the title decider, as it usually is. Excited for the SLU boys, but a lot of season left. Side note, I said it before the season, but I want to double down: Bard WILL win one of their last 4, and looking at who those opponents are, it will have massive implications to league positioning and postseason birth.

[Saint_Dad]

Definitely a tale of two halves for the Saints.  The first half SLU was even more passive when it comes to being direct than normal.  They would get a direct kick in the final third and rather than sending it into the box or doing something creative with a winger, they would pass back to a midfielder who in turn would pass back to Woelfinger who may then boot it up field where it lands approximately where the direct kick was originally taken.  I just don't understand.  One of the midfielders on SLU played the ball back more in the first half than he did forward.  These were usually the only way RIT had their chances.  I'm a fan of "the beautiful game" but you don't get points for passing the ball around.  You score goals by taking risks going forward.
I'm not sure what happened at halftime, but things certainly changed.  I think it was more than the weather.  Yes Peacock was needed in the middle, freshman Edmonds was again on the wing bringing his energy, McDougald started attacking more, and Jeremy was playing more like a wing back, making runs and trying to hook up with Mogul.  It was great to see them work together.  Then finally Pijpers was back to where we like to see him, on the end of a beautiful run and pass by Mogul for a deadly strike.
They'll have a tough match against Vassar Friday, and will hopefully be able to recover for Bard as the bench is used less and less.

[kevdog]

Possession with a purpose. It is ok to possess the ball but you don't get the win by time of possession. There is a saying be safe in your third but take chances in their third. I wish SLU would shoot more from outside the box. Too many times that want that nice pass. You don't have have the nice goal. Sometimes a deflection is nice one too. It doesn't matter how it goes in the net. Plus it will open things up because now the defense will not sit back and has to challenge the shooter. As a coach once said nothing pays off like good shooting though.

[stlawus]

This year I've been trying to track injuries for all teams in the league to see who's been impacted the most. 

I am not sure if he's injured so this would only be speculation, but if he is injured it seems Kamal Ibrahim is the highest impact individual injury.  15 goals last year and so far only played 3 games for Skidmore, and still had 2 goals in those games. 

Vassar seems to have had quite a bit of injury good fortune, as all of their top players have played or started just about every single game.  Same goes for Hobart who have not seemed to have much if any major impact from injuries.   

Looks like Ithaca have had a few minor injuries, but no one has missed extended time, which would partially explain their improvement this season. 

RPI looks to have had a few injuries, but otherwise all their top players seem to have been available.  Very odd season for them.

By the numbers Clarkson looks to be the overall healthiest team in the league so far, with 7 players starting all 10 games.  I think I saw maybe one player not suited up against SLU earlier this week.

Union is similar to Clarkson and all high impact players have played every game give or take 1 or 2. 

SLU unsurprisingly have had a good amount of high impact injuries.   Pijper missing a few games and now Campbell out for what will probably be at least a few weeks if not more.  CB Jackson Malary has also been out most of the season and Sam Peacock missed a string of games and had to be removed early in one of two others.   A pretty highly touted freshman winger also looks like will miss the entire season without having played a single minute. 

So all in all it looks like Vassar, Ithaca, Union and Clarkson have been the most healthy.  SLU and Skidmore likely the least from a pound for pound standpoint.   

[Saint_Dad]

STLAWUS, Why do you think SLU has so many high impact injuries the last few years?

[kevdog]

Who is the highly touted freshman winger that is out for SLU?  Having Campbell out does hurt and so does Malary not being in there. Hopefully they can get healthy and come back.