We clearly have taken care of business against lower competition -- see Ohio Wesleyan, Oberlin, Allegheny. We just need the right players in the game playing confident and loose. We also need to avoid being so one diminsional that we are easy to gameplan against. Coach can recruit -- we have the players.

Quote from: DagarmanSpartan on October 06, 2026, 09:57:20 AMI hate to think that we play down to our competition.  We can't afford ANY more mishaps in conference.

Quote from: DagarmanSpartan on October 06, 2026, 09:57:20 AMI hate to think that we play down to our competition.  We can't afford ANY more mishaps in conference.

The problems the second half of the year can't all be blamed on UAA being tough (it typically starts right before UAA begins).  Rochester (Massey 93) and John Carroll (Massey 119) are not nearly as good as Kenyon (Massey 18) and are worse than Wooster (Massey 83) Lycoming (Massey 88) and Juniata (Massey 105).  John Carroll is closer to Ohio Wesleyan (Massey 189) than it is to Kenyon.

Rossen missed John Carroll, but he was there for Rochester.  What is going on Coach?

Quote from: VASoccerDad on October 05, 2026, 08:17:04 PM

Quote from: DagarmanSpartan on October 03, 2026, 10:10:25 PMUgh.  Needed this one.

How did this scoreless tie compare to the JCU game?

The tie certainly didn't help. I guess if you look at the latest NPI rankings, Rochester is 111 and JCU is 124. Neither are good, just means Case is going to have to do better against the rest. Problem is, the rest are pretty good also.

Latest NPI has Case at 14, 2nd in UAA. Means they would be favorites (based on NPI) against all but Chicago. I think they need to get to 12 wins to qualify but depends on everyone e else also.

Otherwise it's looking like the last couple of years- great non-conference record, but bad UAA = no ncaa tournament.

Case Western tied Rochester 0-0. Case clearly was the better team and had a couple of chances that you have to put in the goal? Was Trosch hurt?

You aren't kidding. My heart has been broken before with UAA gauntlet, but when is last time we won 8 of first 9 with a tie? Didn't see Trine game, did anyone else see what happend? 2-0 sounds comfortible. When does Rossen return?

Quote from: DagarmanSpartan on September 27, 2026, 09:22:24 AMAll right.

Good to finish non-conf with a win over Trine.

I am glad to see this because I remember that school bouncing us from the football playoffs some years ago.

The UAA schedule is always a tough row to hoe.

Hope we do well!!!

If there is anyone who can generate good shots and goals that is sitting on the bench, I don't know why you don't at least try them against John Carroll. Especially strikers. Until the end, it is not like the offense was doing anything anyway. How much worse could the offense be than then?

Quote from: VASoccerDad on September 25, 2026, 07:09:06 AM

Quote from: CalJohn on September 24, 2026, 12:54:01 PMYes, the strikers, forwards and attacking midfield should finish when they have opportunites, but the problem is in the midfield not providing any opportunites any more. The first half of the Lycoming game showed that the midfield has the ability to connect passes to their teammates, possess the ball into the final third, and get shots and goals for their attackers.

John Carroll is an inferior team to Lycoming that dominated possession last night. When Case got the ball, the midfielders dribbled into pressure or passed short passes repeatedly to the wrong team. If the defense got the ball, the midfielders did not show for the defense, so the defense just long passed it to John Carroll's back line.

I am concerned that the similar pattern is happening again this year where the team tightens up due to coaching, chemistry, injuries or something unknown and then turns into a shell of the early season. I agree that the substitution patterns are strange and maybe the absense of key players that play with confidence like Rossen, apparently injured, and Trosch, who knows, cause the rest of the team to play jittery under pressure.

One last troubling thing is, like last year, last night the defense either went longball or went to the right side, where the midfield gave the ball away until the last 15 minutes. Their captain and, probably outside of Rossen, best player Cormack A. was able to connect passes and get push up the left side, but he barely touched the ball last night.

Come on Coach, this team can be special if you let it. Coaching, confidence and chemistry matter.



"TBH, Case was lucky to get a tie. Got out worked, out muscled, out hustled, everything. JCU was stronger and fought harder, just didn't have much offensively. If JCU had any sort of offensive threat, they probably win.

Rossen has been out for Case the last couple of games so the D1 transfer is starting. Playing well, but then the backup has been a reserve center back. Big and tall, strong and fast, but is clearly not a goal threat. No idea what the coach is thinking- he has 2 very capable striker subs that he could be playing that are definitely goal-dangerous, but is not for some reason. His sub patterns have been strange and questionable, not sure if this is an every-year thing, but this year it's been odd."

Good analysis! Keying in on the center forwards...they haven't been playing with what I would consider a true center forward, someone that can score in the box off crosses, run in behind, check in when necessary, etc. Rossen wanders around all over the field- he's quick and can get in behind defenders but he's not a true center forward, although he has been effective. As for the D1 guy, he positions more centrally but acts more like a winger, would rather dribble around then get to goal. I feel like they need a true center forward that can be strong and physical but still fast enough to get in behind. Strikers are aggressive and typically a bit selfish, their main job is to score. The only people with that mentality are on the bench.

IMO, this is the difference between a true center forward and someone they just stick there because there are no other options. The problem is, they do have those options- there are 2 people that have barely played that can take up that position. Maybe it's just a coach preference, I don't know, but it's frustrating knowing there are players that can play that position and score at this level that are just wasting away on the bench.

I am no fan of JC either, which is why I am not happy their tie with us raised them almost 30 NPI ranking in one day while ours went down 10 or so. Rankings aggregator has Lycoming 142 and JC 176, so it is closer than I thought between those two than my eye test thought. I will say JC's defense, size and athleticism was no joke. That doesn't change the fact that we made them look better than they were for 3/4 of the game.

Yes, the strikers, forwards and attacking midfield should finish when they have opportunites, but the problem is in the midfield not providing any opportunites any more. The first half of the Lycoming game showed that the midfield has the ability to connect passes to their teammates, possess the ball into the final third, and get shots and goals for their attackers.

John Carroll is an inferior team to Lycoming that dominated possession last night. When Case got the ball, the midfielders dribbled into pressure or passed short passes repeatedly to the wrong team. If the defense got the ball, the midfielders did not show for the defense, so the defense just long passed it to John Carroll's back line.

I am concerned that the similar pattern is happening again this year where the team tightens up due to coaching, chemistry, injuries or something unknown and then turns into a shell of the early season. I agree that the substitution patterns are strange and maybe the absense of key players that play with confidence like Rossen, apparently injured, and Trosch, who knows, cause the rest of the team to play jittery under pressure.

One last troubling thing is, like last year, last night the defense either went longball or went to the right side, where the midfield gave the ball away until the last 15 minutes. Their captain and, probably outside of Rossen, best player Cormack A. was able to connect passes and get push up the left side, but he barely touched the ball last night.

Come on Coach, this team can be special if you let it. Coaching, confidence and chemistry matter.



"TBH, Case was lucky to get a tie. Got out worked, out muscled, out hustled, everything. JCU was stronger and fought harder, just didn't have much offensively. If JCU had any sort of offensive threat, they probably win.

Rossen has been out for Case the last couple of games so the D1 transfer is starting. Playing well, but then the backup has been a reserve center back. Big and tall, strong and fast, but is clearly not a goal threat. No idea what the coach is thinking- he has 2 very capable striker subs that he could be playing that are definitely goal-dangerous, but is not for some reason. His sub patterns have been strange and questionable, not sure if this is an every-year thing, but this year it's been odd."

So Rossen started against Wooster and Trosch didn't, so I guess I don't have to quit watching.  Seems like Trosch would be rewarded with more minutes for bailing out the team the day before.  I really don't know what Trosch has done to deserve so few minutes, but Case coach must be doing something right in winning 6 straight this year.  I am glad to see the tinkering so early in the season rather than right before conference play.  Maybe Case is learning from past years' mistakes.  I am trying to stay positive and support my team with its recent national ranking!

I hear you and get what you are saying, especially with Rossen. I didn't know he was hurt. With regards to defenders at Case, usually starting means 80-90 minutes with subs getting no minutes or single digits.  Trosch logged a tremendous amount of minutes last year before being benched 9 or 10 games in and seeing virtually none after losing his starting position. It may be coincidence, but I think only one goal vs Case last year while he was a starter and I think they were undefeated and ranked. After his benching, the bottom fell out for wins and goals against. I thought he was hurt, but apparently he wasn't. Trosch is only a symptom of what has happened for years at Case, though the last couple of years he seems the poster child of it.

There is hope at Case Western. After a blowout of Ohio Westleyan the first game that seemed closer than the score, Case welcomed Juniata. Juniata went up 1-0 early with Case's offense and defense looking off. Case didn't have a shot until lastyear's standout then doghouse player Gavin Trosch entered in the game with 13 minutes to go at center back (a head scratcher because he seems so offensive minded) and almost immediately had a shot on goal. The substitues for Case looked better than the starters, especially Trosch and Rossen. Trosch then scored off a long shot from outside the box (not sure why a center back was that far up, but it worked). Case quickly scored again for a 2-1 lead at half. The second half starters included Trosch and Rossen (who along with second year Eby were clearly the best players on the field).  The  second half was all Case.  Rossen and Trosch together had as many shots and shots on goal as the starters combined -- 4/3 and 2/3.  Case wins 2-1.

Prediction:  Even though Case was a different team with Trosch and Rossen on field, Case Coach does not start them in today's Wooster game.  If that happens, I won't watch another game.

Emory vs. Case Western:  16th game for Case and senior day.  Case Western had chances they couldn't convert against a good Emory team. Emory 1, Case 0.

Case Coach shakes up defensive minutes again.  Benches Senior Back Washington for last 10 minutes of SENIOR day.  Plays new defender for 20 minutes, even though he had only seen a total of 49 minutes in 2 years.  Plays offensive minded left back Trosh spot minutes at center back at end.  Not a shock that Case Western gives up another goal on a corner kick missed defensive assignment.  Of course, if no goals are scored you cannot win.

This kind of shuffling should happen during preseason or the season's start, not in a must win game against a top conference foe. It seems as though Case coaching staff is searching for goal scoring by shuffling the defense and sitting back, which makes no sense.

Next year looks bright for Case as long as key players don't quit or leave and if they find a decent replacement of their great senior keeper Winter. I suspect many of their best players would get snatched up quickly by other teams if they wanted to leave; the talent is there. Of course, even if the good players return, they can't help if they are not played or if their psyche is destroyed by the kind of shenanigans that happened the last two years.

I have followed Case Western Reserve's soccer team for a few years.  It is extremely frustrating to look good early only to repeatedly underperform starting right before conference play.  I couldn't hold it in another year and had to vent.  Sorry for the long post.

This year eerily follows what I saw last year:  The team through 8 or 9 games looked good in 2024, while the games after the team looked like a totally different team.  It was a different team after the Coach started tinkering with the lineups, especially the defense. 

What happened this year is unbelievable.  The team was great at first.  Through 9 games, the defense gave up 1 goal and was statistically the best defense in the country.  Though the keeper, Winter, is one of the best around, he hardly had to make any saves in the first half of the season, because the defense was so stout.  Though underutilized, the left back, first year Trosh, played box to box, giving Case an extra midfielder and forward on offense while getting back for defensive duties.  The speedy junior right back, Vlastaris, mostly played on the defensive half of the field, but was very successful, shutting down his side defensively and has a very long throw.  The left center back, first year Eby, played great defense and was technically very good.

Though the team was very successful at first, a good coach could see some cracks that could be exploited.  Play was predictable.  The first year left center back had trouble passing/seeing left and predictably passed almost exclusively to the senior right center star back Phillip Washington.  Once it got right, the ball almost always stayed right while the midfield had a bad habit of dribbling into pressure and turning it over.  Finally, Case had trouble completing easy finishes.  Regardless, the team started out 6 wins, no losses, and 3 ties, looking like a playoff team.

Then, like last year, the coach decides to switch up the defensive players and the strategy.  Trosh was benched, going from playing 90 minutes to none.  At first, I thought he must have been injured, because to me (and the announcers of the games) he seemed like Case's best overall field player, I don't remember him turning it over, his passing was fabulous, and he had a great left foot.  Apparently, he was not hurt, just in dog house. 

Then the coach switches its best player Phillip Washington to the left back, where Case never plays to.  It also appears that Case started playing extra defensive midfielders, while the backs rarely went forward as Trosh had been doing (maybe going forward is what upset the coach).  So all of the sudden, Case turned into a team that sits back on defense while the other team fires shots.  This may work for a team with great counter attack speed, but Case doesn't really have that.  When Trosh came in during the Chicago game, it was at right back, where he sat back like a center back, clearly told not to go forward like he had.

The Case coach, as in previous years, tinkers too much and screws up a good thing.  I am not sure he understands how important chemistry is to a team.  Since his shake-up:  1 win against horrible NYU team on fluke goal, 3 losses, and 2 ties, all together with 3 goals for and 5 goals against.  Worse yet, if it were not for the amazing goalkeeping by Winter, who now is making a ton of saves, it would be far worse.
Hopefully Case gets it back together and wins the next two games and gets a playoff chance.