Liberty League

[kevdog]

Interesting SLU recruiting class. Smaller than other years but SLU lost I believe 5 kids to graduation.  No foreign players although Maidment was born in England I believe and moved to the US when he was 12 due to his father transferring jobs.  Also interesting was that 4 out of the 6 recruits came from public schools where before they would come from the prep schools. I wish all of the recruits at all the schools a healthy and great season. It is a fun experience that many people do not get. The relationships that you built with your teammates will last a lifetime. Enjoy the experience because it will go by quickly.

[stlawus]

I'm off for a good bit this month so did a little deep dive into returning players for the top half of the league. This is all approximate and in some cases enters the realm of guesswork with uncertainty of covid year returners.

Hobart returns their top scorer in Madsen, but lose about 6.5 starters.  I say half in this context referring to a player who started most or all games he played in before going down with injury halfway through the season.  This included 4 graduate students.

Union loses 5 starters including their top 2 scorers.  The Garnet were dealt a blow with Perugini transferring to Conn College.  Decent recruiting class, however.

Ithaca loses 4.5 starters, with one player having played in all games but started in ~half.  This includes 2 graduate students. 

SLU loses 3.5 starters including a 5th year in Woelfinger but brings back the top 2 goal scorers.  Due to injury there was a lot of mixing and matching in the starting lineup.

RPI loses 5-6 starters (one may be returning) which includes 4 graduate students and their top 2 scorers.


As for the rest of the league, time will tell.  Clarkson didn't lose much overall but did lose their top 2 scorers.  Will have to see what the new class and transfers do.   Vassar lost their engine in Fauth who created most of their chances last year.  Someone will have to step up and fill the void. 

[Freddyfud]

Vassar lost their engine in Fauth who created most of their chances last year.  Someone will have to step up and fill the void. 

Keep an eye on this young man who played for son's rival club team.  Captained his team to the MLS Next Cup semis last month but lost to the eventual champions.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7FLqXwp3gV/?img_index=1

[stlawus]

Thanks for the info will keep an eye on for sure.  North Carolina seems to be a rising hotbed of talent. Vassar brought in a player last year from NC who scored a ton of goals in HS and got a good amount of playing time as a first year.  SLU has a keeper coming in from there this year as well. 

[Saint_Dad]

STLAWUS,
Thanks for the information.  Preseason should be starting in about a week.  Summer flew by.  Who are the top teams this year?  Are we expecting a lot of parity?  With Fauth gone, who are the top 5 candidates for LL POY?
And what does SLU's starting team look like?  Most importantly, who will the midfielders be with Mcdougald and Peacock gone?  And will they be deep enough to play two games in a weekend without getting injuries (see Oneonta, Hartwick weekend).  They seem to get a few long lasting injuries every year up there.  Who will be the new team leader for SLU?  Lots of questions. 

[stlawus]

At least on paper there will be a lot of parity.  I would assume the top 6 will be mostly the same teams in any order.   The league has never been this open ended going into a season.  The league is a microcosm of the major changes to the national recruiting landscape and player pool over the last 15 years.

In my opinion the preseason favorites for LL POY would be Madsen (Hobart), Mogul (SLU), Keker (Vassar), and then maybe either Brown (SLU) or Rodriguez (RPI).   DPOY contenders are Nana (RPI), Koschineg (Hobart) and Ogango (SLU).

As for SLU's midfield, I think one of the questions is answered with the return of Pijpers for a 5th year.  I would assume he will be starting in the attacking midfield position.  SLU should have more depth given that highly touted recruits last year missed the whole season due to injury, but we've said this several years only for there to be more injuries so time will tell.  SLU's attack is pretty well set in stone I think with Brown up top, Pijpers behind and Mogul and Campbell out wide. Only one of the CB spots is not obvious, as it could be Scheibler, Malary or someone else taking a step up.

[Saint_Dad]

Thanks for your insight. I think SLU is looking pretty good. I think the midfield will be the key as they have a good defense and offense. I'm thinking Petrone, Mogul and Oganga in the midfield with Baker, Lillis, Diaz, and a freshman on defense. I think the Dutchman is best at striker with a lethal shot.  He and Brown could share that spot with Brown playing some on the wing. You also have Campbell and Edmonds as wingers, as well as a freshman I'm sure. Mogul was double and triple teamed on the wing. He will see more of the ball in the middle. If they get a consistent strong midfield, I think they can be on top of the LL this season.

[stlawus]

SLU going with another SUNYAC alum for the assistant position.  Doesn't hurt to have a 1st team AA on the bench.  https://saintsathletics.com/news/2024/8/14/general-toshack-adds-hanna-to-mens-soccers-coaching-staff.aspx

[Kuiper]

Ithaca has posted its 2024 Roster

A few observations:

- 30 on the roster, compared with 31 last season

- They pick up a few transfers.  One with an interesting family background is defender Riley Donelan, who comes from DII Limestone University. Donelan's Mom was on what effectively was the first US women's national soccer team from 1984-1986 (Here's an interview where she is mentioned). Other transfers include Bryson Shaull, a 6'5" GK who came from DI University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Myles Ryan, a 6'4" defender who transferred from Franklin & Marshall after starting 17 games in 2023.
 
- Presumably, one or more of the transfer defenders will compete to replace Brendan Lebitsch, who was first team all Liberty League, Connor Tieb, who was honorable mention all Liberty League and other regular starters/contributors on defense such as Abidi Thaib and Shaull will compete for time at goal with last year's starter Johannes Berghahn.

- M Reefe Harrison, who started 14 games last year, returns for a grad year

- 7 freshman

[stlawus]

Hobart roster is up.  1 transfer (keeper from D1 Lehigh) and 8 first years.  https://hwsathletics.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster?sort=class


Hobart lost a lot of experience from last year's squad, but bring back contenders for POY and DPOY. They will hope players like Outerbridge take a bigger step forward after having a good freshman campaign.   

[Saint_Dad]

I imagine with the new smaller roster sizes coming to division 1 soccer, there will be an influx of division 1 transfers to lower tier division 1 schools and to division 3 schools. 

[Kuiper]

Bard has posted its 2024 Roster

A few observations:

- 30 on the roster, compared with 26 last season

- 7 freshman

- Young team last year that returns almost all of their top contributors

- One of the few regular starters departing is D Nick Agugliaro

[stlawus]

Got to the SLU scrimmage this afternoon so nice to get back into that new season feeling. It's just a scrimmage and I have no baseline to judge the strength of competition as they were a traveling academy team from Toronto, but the final result was 5-1 in SLU's favor. Won't betray tactics and all that before the season starts (though I doubt anyone will even read this who could get an advantage) but SLU looked really well drilled and organized for only having 3 days of preseason before today. First half goals from Sam Pijpers and Henry Brown, with Brown's goal being a beautiful diving header off an even better cross from Ryan Campbell. Second half goals from Griffin MacGillivray and Aidan Fauth (2).

I won't put unrealistic and lofty expectations on the kid yet but newcomer Grant Gilmer looks like a potential recruiting coup on Tosh's part.

Max Mogul will once again draw double and triple teams all season, he looks poised for a great campaign.

[Kuiper]

I won't put unrealistic and lofty expectations on the kid yet but newcomer Grant Gilmer looks like a potential recruiting coup on Tosh's part.

Gilmer is legit. He suffered through some soft tissue muscle injuries this past year that caused him to miss time and probably contributed to him going the D3 route, but if he's healthy and can stay that way when the weather turns colder, he can be a force right out of the gate

[RalphyReinbeck]

stlawus: Thanks for your recent updates. I always appreciate how plugged in you are to both the soccer and hoops worlds! Since you referred to tactics in a recent message, I'll try to ask a few things I've wondered about for a while.

What's a typical practice like for a team that plays possession? What's the most common—or most useful?—drill that a possession team does during the week, and how does it enforce their style? The obvious follow-up, of course, is about a team that plays more directly. What are they doing at their practices? How do they develop their habits? I realize there are countless approaches to training, and the St. Lawrence version might be similar to the Hobart version to the RPI version, but I guess the thrust of my question is: how do teams implement a possesion approach at practice every day? And how does that evolve between late August and late October?

(Saint of Old: I'm especially curious about your thoughts here. You and I were on campus the same four years and even spent some time in the same circles; you with the soccer guys, me with the basketball guys. Fish was our mutual acquaintance  )

Over the years, I've watched lots of Saints' games and notice their style. They string together plenty of passes, and sometimes I cringe when that slow-roller is headed to a back or the GK. They also build some lovely sequences, and every season, some of their goals are really impressive. But their opponents are no slouches, and even the prototypical example—someone like Amherst—imposes plenty of possession on their opponent (right?), though it might not look quite as...polished? Is that the correct word?

So I'm guessing this next question has a subjective answer, but how does a serious fan classify a team? Is it just the Eye Test? Do you watch enough games and get a sense for a style of play? There's no metric for this distinction, right? None of this is meant to doubt or second-guess. I'm just genuinely curious!

Finally, how do coaches recruit for their tactical preferences? Do possession coaches only recruit from possession clubs and HSs? Or do coaches go in search of skill, fitness, and athleticism and trust that they can mold the player to fit the tactics?

Thanks!