Liberty League

[Saint of Old]

I doubt Brown is moved from up top. Every year coaches get behind a player to promote him with accolades, deserved or not. This is Brown's year for that. Give the pks to Mogul, by far the team's best player, and you have a whole different dynamic. This year's LL tournament is going through Gordon—-the best pitch in the league with a quaint field of dreams atmosphere. Keker is back and Vassar will get the most out of Tobolski until the Ivies or Serpone start calling at the end of the year. Despite the north country keeper hype Vassar has all clean sheets in league. Someone should do an analysis of the fall of Hobart. They had the best returning player and there is a good chance they will not make the playoffs.

I don't understand why Tosh or any coach would get behind a second year player when he has arguably the best player in the league (a senior) on his team. And Tosh's goal is to win, not to promote a player. I'm sure he is flexible enough to make changes. The ball must go through Petrone and Mogul for SLU to move forward and to start scoring some goals. Brown should be a big part of making that happen. Not the focus. It should be a great game Friday. Perhaps the appetizer for the rematch in the finals of the LL tourney.

Mogul might be the best player in the league but he needs to start producing if wants to obtain that title at the end of the year.

Met the kid when he was a freshman playing in the NCAA tournament.
Has a love for the game, appreciates the history of the team and has been writing his page in the book of Saints for 4 years.

He is going to have a great year.
Luckily for us he might be saving those goals for when the Saints need it most.

[kevdog]

I hope you are right. When I was watching him yesterday and he was close to the camera, I said to myself he so smooth and he makes it look effortlessly. Unfortunately, some coaches look at stats and not how one effects the game beyond the stats

[Saint_Dad]

He's a crossbar and a side post from being the leading scorer in LL games. With that said, he needs to produce. Friday's game will try to answer the two questions. Who is the best team in the league? Who is the best player? Looking forward to it. 

[deutschfan]

Crickets from the SLU alums.  Here is the update.  SLU is down 3-1 at home near the 70th minute and is passing it around in the back which Vassar is more than happy to let them do.

[Freddyfud]

Be careful what you wish for.  Looks like the game ended 3-3 

[deutschfan]

Crazy finish.  Brown gets two in last dozen minutes for a season saving tie but title still runs through Gordon.

[Saint of Old]

Crazy finish.  Brown gets two in last dozen minutes for a season saving tie but title still runs through Gordon.

You are absolutely 💯 correct.
SLU got lucky but as you said above, that type of football (pass around the back slowly and without penetration) will never bring success.

Hopefully we have a good stretch run in the league.

Looks like only the Tourney winner will have a change to dance.

[stlawus]

Instant classic on Sandy today.  Massive culture shock after watching Tufts-Amherst earlier in the week.  Whatever that was, and then today two teams moving the ball on the floor with fluid build up in front of goal. 

SLU really should have been up 3-0 in the first half.  A point blank miss off a set piece rebound and a 1 on 1 with the defender beat which resulted in another shot in front of a wide open goal going over the bar.  Thought after that miss the game might turn in Vassar's favor which it did.  Looked like a pretty clear dive to set up the first goal, but a good header nonetheless to give the Brewers momentum into halftime.  Vassar took advantage of their chances in the 2nd half with a nice shot outside the 18 and getting a 3rd off a set piece cross bar rebound.  Did look pretty dire late in the 2nd half but I thought if SLU could sneak one before the 10 minute mark they'd have a shot, and that's exactly what happened.  Great play by Ryan Campbell to keep the ball moving forward and getting to Diaz for a cross leading to the equalizer. 

All other league games were 1-0 affairs, so SLU-Vassar was definitely the game of the day from spectator's standpoint.

I also wasn't aware that SLU alums were required to comment as a game was ongoing especially the ones who attend in person.

[Freddyfud]

You are absolutely 💯 correct.
SLU got lucky but as you said above, that type of football (pass around the back slowly and without penetration) will never bring success.

I don't follow.  Scoring 2 goals in 20 minutes to level the score is not success?  Was it just luck?

[Saint of Old]

You are absolutely 💯 correct.
SLU got lucky but as you said above, that type of football (pass around the back slowly and without penetration) will never bring success.

I don't follow.  Scoring 2 goals in 20 minutes to level the score is not success?  Was it just luck?

No,
I mean success as in scoring more goals than the other team more often than not.

[ArsenalFan]

I don't see a team that passes around the back with no purpose. I saw SLU trying to play between lines and be dangerous going forward. They are trying to take risks and at times they do play negative to maintain possession. But certainly they have some tools in different phases of their buildup that can break teams down and there is a clear concept beginning to emerge. Playing good footie is very difficult, takes time to develop and the college season is so short that often it doesn't really take shape until tournament time. I believe this group's best is yet to come.

[Saint_Dad]

Crazy finish.  Brown gets two in last dozen minutes for a season saving tie but title still runs through Gordon.

You are absolutely 💯 correct.
SLU got lucky but as you said above, that type of football (pass around the back slowly and without penetration) will never bring success.

Hopefully we have a good stretch run in the league.

Looks like only the Tourney winner will have a change to dance.

I think Vassar may be the top ranked team in the region so they have a great chance to have an at large bid even after SLU beats them at Gordon in the LL final.
As STLAWUS mentioned, Mogul missed a couple great opportunities in the first half but set up the first goal (not sure why assist wasn't given) and got the assist on the second.
Terrific never say die attitude from SLU, especially Ryan Campbell off the bench, Brown and Diaz.   Not sure why we aren't seeing more of Campbell.  Did a great job at wing back in closing 10 mins, setting up tying goal. Two great finishes from Brown. Tough kid.
It seems that every team has a game plan to stop Mogul. Does SLU have a game plan to make sure he gets the ball? Where are the creative set pieces?
Who would have expected a 3-3 game with two teams and goalies that had let up a combined one goal in 8 games coming into this game? Was glad to see SLU score some goals. As STLAWUS said, there easily could have been a couple more.   Let's hope they can get a few goals tomorrow against Bard and look to keep second place.

[stlawus]

Vassar leaves the window open ever so slightly with just a 2 point weekend in the North Country.  Clarkson is looking to be in pretty good shape for a playoff spot.  Hobart has also reversed course to get 3 wins in a row, and that's without having Madsen the past few weeks. Skidmore is the surprise of the season so far, as they shut out Ithaca on the road and have a good shot at a home playoff game. 

SLU took care of business, never really needing to get out of 2nd gear playing up a man for the 2nd half and rotating a lot of depth to get them some experience.   Bard's pretty well coached and they have a lot more skill than what they used to have, and did well to get a goal down a man.   Henry Brown now shares a lead for the most goals with 9.  A brace in the last 12 minutes to get a draw against Vassar and another one today gives him a good chance for offensive player of the week which I'm sure will be criticized for not being good enough.

[Saint of Old]

Something about this Henry Brown lad really has me thinking he will do BIG things for the Scarlet and Brown.
He comes from a solid program. Has a good work rate and is young and hungry. He needs to keep that hunger and he will be an all-time Saint.
Boys had a good weekend.
I can understand the frustration with back passes, even if we have a quarter back playing goalie, but this is not your Daddy's Saints.
The Tosh Saints do not wear you out with flair and speed, not as quick  from defense to attack as the old school, but he builds his teams for the post season. Boys get stronger as the year goes. SLU beats teams that beat them early in the year because by November it is a different team. They play a possesion and are a team that is hard to beat when the temperature drops.

There is a reason why Tosh is maybe the only Coach to win a LL Championship by winning 3 tourney games as underdog.

I said this about Harry Brown almost a year to the day. I have never missed on a great Saint since the 90s.
I saw an awkward skinny kid that didn't do many special things and knew he was a star. Turned out to be the program's only 3time AllAmerican.
People must understand the love some of us have for the program and the boys. There's no disappointment without expectation.

[kevdog]

I'll say this about Brown. He might not be this flashy, going to dribble by 3 players and score an incredible goal type player that makes you go wow but he gets the job done and that is what good goal scorers do.  Last year I saw a player in the beginning of the year who didn't appeared to like to be touched and would throw his arms up if he did. That stopped as the year progressed and kudos to him to realizing that refs don't like being shown up. This year I see a kid who is just a menance in the goal area. He never gives up on a play and is fearless. I used to hate playing against players like that because you could never rest and you always have to know where they were especially in the penalty box. His 9 goals this year is a testament to his hardwork and knowledge of what college ball is liked. I hope he continues to have success and hopefully next year Tosh can pair him up with another big body type goal scoring forward. With his speed, I think he could be even better. I know those big body, skilled, scoring forwards are hard to fine but would love to see what Brown could do with another forward upfront with him that defenses have to worry about also. Sorry for the rambling but this kid has really impressed me so far this year compare to last year.