Liberty League

Started by Saint of Old, August 12, 2014, 12:14:06 PM

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Part_Bart

Quote from: stlawus on October 04, 2017, 05:57:33 PM
SLU grinds out a 1-0 win at home against RPI.  Still a bit early but they appear to be righting the ship.  Hobart currently up 1-0 at Ithaca and look to be in control.  Pressure's on Vassar this weekend playing at home against Skidmore.

Hobart wins 2-0, completely outplayed in first half, quite positive in second and could have been a bigger score line save for some misses and great goalie play by Ithaca's keeper.  Ithaca a better team than their LL record would suggest.

Saint of Old

Quote from: Part_Bart on October 04, 2017, 08:34:24 PM
Quote from: stlawus on October 04, 2017, 05:57:33 PM
SLU grinds out a 1-0 win at home against RPI.  Still a bit early but they appear to be righting the ship.  Hobart currently up 1-0 at Ithaca and look to be in control.  Pressure's on Vassar this weekend playing at home against Skidmore.

Hobart wins 2-0, completely outplayed in first half, quite positive in second and could have been a bigger score line save for some misses and great goalie play by Ithaca's keeper.  Ithaca a better team than their LL record would suggest.

Indeed, Ithaca is a good team, especially at home.
It is really unfortunate for them.
They had  great start to the season.
They are a good team, know they are a good team, yet sit 0-3 in a brand new league.
Problem was they let a 1 goal lead slip and lost that first league game to Clarkson.
Cannot afford to do that in this league.

Luckily for them, the league is still young.
They have 6 games left and have already faced two of the more dangerous teams in the conference.
There is hope because the playoffs have 6 teams.

This league is almost like the prem.
There is as much intrigue at the bottom as there is at the top.

Saint of Old

Quote from: deutschfan on September 02, 2017, 01:35:11 PM
Hobart has to be incredibly frustrated by last year's ending. They should have prevailed against Skidmore in regulation and then to lose in penalties. If game goes other way they have Vassar at home and they dominated Vassar away with their physicality.  Hobart is my pick this year to rise above the rest. SLU offensively impaired again having the two most overrated returning first teamers on the offensive end.

Those two overrated Saints are finally coming around this year, with one of them assisting on the GW to the other :)

Goal scorer is actually a junior who scored his 2nd goal of the year, 10th of his career (All 10 goals either game winning or game tying goals).

deutschfan

I did give Mr. Augustine a shout out on his one goal this season and 10 goals in 3 years is approaching Jansennesque numbers.  So who wins the LL finals rematch in the biggest game of the weekend?  I would make a pick but then like last week would be embarrassed by its accuracy.  Does Skidmore come out charging using their physicality advantage knowing that 2 pks killed their NCAA hopes last year?  Which Vassar team shows up, the one that laid an egg against Wesleyan or looked very strong against Oneonta, the one that dominated RIT in the first half or the one that was dominated by RIT in the second?  So many questions, so little time.

Part_Bart

I'm not sold on Vassar.  Great talent and a more eye-pleasing brand of soccer than what I see watching RPI, or Hobart, or Skidmore (and am still not sure what I am seeing when watching the various SLU versions of soccer from this fall).  This said, Vassar struggles with physical play. Maybe they will be better this year with physical opponents (and the tie with Oneonta suggests this)?

Still, I see Skidmore grinding a 2:1 win this weekend

More broadly, Skidmore has some talent -- as others have noted; but, they win by smashing into people and grinding and making the game very disjointed.  Hobart does the same (and there were 37 fouls, eight yellows a a straight red card in the Skidmore/Hobart match -- and it could have been much more if the ref had been tracking the off-the-ball contact by players on both teams).  Both RPI and SLU are very committed to possessing and will work hard to get the ball away from opponents. This is not the same as the physicality of Skidmore and Hobart, but is still disruptive for a skill-based team, like Vassar, to thrive.

Ithaca and RIT seem to be unlucky in that they play smart soccer but still have some breakdowns.  Both these teams are working to succeed in LL, but maybe lack a little depth and wear down in games?

Union, Bard and Clarkson all seem to be struggling to match the skill and physicality of LL teams.  Bard actually is more physical than in past years, Clarkson seems to be going for the skill-based approach (head coach was at Vassar before taking this position), and Union just packs it in against LL opponents and hopes for a counter, while feasting on weaker non-league teams (as others have noted). 

Next weekend, Hobart will play at Union on Friday and then Saturday at Skidmore.  I can imagine no goals being scored in either game (given the defensive shape of the two home teams and Hobart's ability to not score).

So, my thinking is that SLU and Vassar are likely to be two of the top seeded teams for LL tournament (and showcase the two most different styles of play in LL).
Skidmore and Hobart will have some blemishes (lots of ties, maybe a loss or two, some wins) and will be tough outs. If they have to see each other early in the tournament, that could become an epic third-time's the charm for Hobart, or ...  I think one of these two wins LL.
Fifth and sixth place teams are not clear, but my bias is that RPI will be one of them. Still thinking that Ithaca, or RIT, or Union, will get in as a sixth seed (and then we'll see what they can do!!!).

Saint of Old noted in a recent post that the parity in the LL is such that teams currently in places 6-10 are all strong and capable and there is lots of soccer to be played.  Lots of the dust will settle after next weeks Fri/Sat double-game slates.  This weekend provides us the Skidmore/Vassar game and the other matches (if they play out as I suspect) will clarify top half and bottom half of the league.

Saint of Old

Quote from: deutschfan on October 05, 2017, 09:04:32 AM
I did give Mr. Augustine a shout out on his one goal this season and 10 goals in 3 years is approaching Jansennesque numbers.  So who wins the LL finals rematch in the biggest game of the weekend?  I would make a pick but then like last week would be embarrassed by its accuracy.  Does Skidmore come out charging using their physicality advantage knowing that 2 pks killed their NCAA hopes last year?  Which Vassar team shows up, the one that laid an egg against Wesleyan or looked very strong against Oneonta, the one that dominated RIT in the first half or the one that was dominated by RIT in the second?  So many questions, so little time.
Good ol Sebastian Jansen, one of the most dangerous strikers the league has ever seen.
Jansen, Beek and Gorman are perhaps the best strikers of the decade or maybe 2...
For a holding midfielder, 10 goals in a career is not bad, 10 game winners in 2.5 years is to me impressive.
As I am sure you know as a man of the game "there are goals and there are goals".
I had a coach once who was fond of saying that in a 7-0 game, he would see normally sedated players attempt overhead bicycle kicks in an attempt to score, when the game is tied or your team is down, the ball gets heavier, space gets tighter and time moves faster.
That's when the real ballers come to shine.

As for where we are now in the season:
Man, is this a crazy year or what.
I will just sum it up as saying that at this point, right now, I cannot with reasonably certainty rule anyone out of the conference tournament.



SandyMac

#861
Quote from: Saint of Old on October 05, 2017, 10:54:45 PM
Quote from: deutschfan on October 05, 2017, 09:04:32 AM
I did give Mr. Augustine a shout out on his one goal this season and 10 goals in 3 years is approaching Jansennesque numbers.  So who wins the LL finals rematch in the biggest game of the weekend?  I would make a pick but then like last week would be embarrassed by its accuracy.  Does Skidmore come out charging using their physicality advantage knowing that 2 pks killed their NCAA hopes last year?  Which Vassar team shows up, the one that laid an egg against Wesleyan or looked very strong against Oneonta, the one that dominated RIT in the first half or the one that was dominated by RIT in the second?  So many questions, so little time.
Good ol Sebastian Jansen, one of the most dangerous strikers the league has ever seen.
Jansen, Beek and Gorman are perhaps the best strikers of the decade or maybe 2...
For a holding midfielder, 10 goals in a career is not bad, 10 game winners in 2.5 years is to me impressive.
As I am sure you know as a man of the game "there are goals and there are goals".
I had a coach once who was fond of saying that in a 7-0 game, he would see normally sedated players attempt overhead bicycle kicks in an attempt to score, when the game is tied or your team is down, the ball gets heavier, space gets tighter and time moves faster.
That's when the real ballers come to shine.

As for where we are now in the season:
Man, is this a crazy year or what.
I will just sum it up as saying that at this point, right now, I cannot with reasonably certainty rule anyone out of the conference tournament.

Jansen was about the most overrated player the league has ever seen.  How many goes did he score in the LL tourney? NCAA Tourney? Big players score big goals in big games. Kid was a decent player who never got a Chance to prove it because his coach preferred the ego massage of winning 7-0 over anybody begging for a game.

deutschfan

A 2:00 a.m. rant against Mr. Jansen.  I hope you are on the west coast.  In the words of Samuel L. Jackson from Pulp Fiction, "well allow me to retort."  As Saint said, Jansen was one of the most dangerous strikers the league has seen scoring 20 goals in one year alone, 2012.  As you are fond of SLU perhaps your animus toward Jansen is that he broke SLU's heart and their Number 7 ranking with the winning header his senior year.  Or maybe because his laser off the goalie's chest in 2009 against SLU assisted on the winning goal that helped keep SLU out of the LL tourney that year.  Not only was Jansen the rookie of the year in 2009 but also was the LL player of the year in 2012 making All-American and routinely earning player of the week while amassing 21 points in league games alone.  He never scored an NCAA goal because Union never made the tourney.  Perhaps his greatest achievement was that he was a UNANIMOUS First Teamer in 2012.  Why do I capitalize that?  As I was looking up Jansen's accomplishments I noticed a dearth of LL first XI players with asterisks.  In the history of the league commencing 2004 only 9 players have achieved that honor (DeMello, probably the best player the league has produced--Saint may even agree with me on that-- stands alone at doing it twice) with the last two in 2013.  This is fewer than the number of All Americans the league has generated.  You don't get every opposing coach in the league to vote for you unless you are something else.  That is rarified air.  Here's to you Sebastiaan in this flashback moment and no I am not his brother nor was I born in the RSA.   

SandyMac

#863
I'm glad you went and did all that research. He earned  a great set of accolades, but I was never personally impressed by him. That's probably because I was never impressed with his team as a whole.

You know, if someone were to hold the opinion that a player was overrated, then listing their accolades would sort of back that up...

deutschfan

I get it.  At times I have been known to view certain players as overrated.  In Jansen's case his stats led to the accolades as opposed to when there is a disconnect between stats and accolades.  Union came out of its shell, dominated the second half, missed an open net in the 84th minute and RPI makes them pay with a 88th minute goal off a set piece.  Vassar and Skidmore scoreless after a foul filled 1st half and Ithaca destroys Bard.  Like those who have expressed this sentiment already, still don't know who is the cream of this LL crop.

stlawus

Extremely disappointing result for SLU today against RIT.  Huge lapse of focus at the end of regulation resulted in RIT equalizing.  Overtime was even worse.  Players losing their first touch all over the place and half of the passes made were directly to RIT players.  Seems like everyone else drew today in the league as well.

Mr.Right

So this is the goal that Vassar GK conceded to Skidmore today?  WOW I mean it's sunny out but that GK for Vassar would find the pine real fast if I was in charge.



https://boxcast.tv/highlights/vassar-mens-soccer-vs-skidmore-college-370798/752368/z7ysdl51iopgumhjklqm


Mr.Right

Quote from: stlawus on October 07, 2017, 05:33:04 PM
Extremely disappointing result for SLU today against RIT.  Huge lapse of focus at the end of regulation resulted in RIT equalizing.  Overtime was even worse.  Players losing their first touch all over the place and half of the passes made were directly to RIT players.  Seems like everyone else drew today in the league as well.


I caught the highlights on SLU's site. Those are 2 BAD goals to concede to RIT. Both goals were total loss of concentration and weak marking and not sticking your opponent. They need some bite in the back for sure. Also, the missed PK. Looked like it was raining so maybe that affected the field? Still as a SLU fan like you guys are you gotta be happy that everyone in LL seems to be beating each other up and that you look at the table and see SLU in 1st place. Still it will not matter much in November if you are defending like that

stlawus

Quote from: Mr.Right on October 07, 2017, 09:03:21 PM
Quote from: stlawus on October 07, 2017, 05:33:04 PM
Extremely disappointing result for SLU today against RIT.  Huge lapse of focus at the end of regulation resulted in RIT equalizing.  Overtime was even worse.  Players losing their first touch all over the place and half of the passes made were directly to RIT players.  Seems like everyone else drew today in the league as well.


I caught the highlights on SLU's site. Those are 2 BAD goals to concede to RIT. Both goals were total loss of concentration and weak marking and not sticking your opponent. They need some bite in the back for sure. Also, the missed PK. Looked like it was raining so maybe that affected the field? Still as a SLU fan like you guys are you gotta be happy that everyone in LL seems to be beating each other up and that you look at the table and see SLU in 1st place. Still it will not matter much in November if you are defending like that

The defending has been pretty good the last 3 games, but more often than not this has been the case.  I still would prefer 4 in the back.  The good news is that Dede is stepping up and taking over.  But I agree, none of it matters come November if the back line continues to have mental lapses.

Saint of Old

What a LL we have on our hands.

Clarkson does very well to tie Hobart.
Hobart having real trouble scoring and Clarkson seems determined to hang on for a post season qualification.

Too bad for them Ithaca also intends to get to the post-season and had the best weekend in the conference with a dismantling of Bard.
Ithaca will cause some people trouble this year and are seemingly putting it together.

RPI is RPI, they will be in the post season, you can count on it.

Skidmore will as well, but have tied too many games to have a realistic chance at #1 overall seed.
Vassar is doing very well and are poised to win the conference regular season title.

SLU could have really turned the season around in no uncertain terms, but fell 2 minutes short due to lack of concentration.

RIT is still in this thing.