Liberty League

[Bartman]

Looking forward to the Hobart-SLU matchup this weekend against two early season ranked teams. Hobart survived the Utica game 2-1 to stay undefeated, but winning in the North Country against an awakened Saints team would be tasty.

[stlawus]

Oh when the Saints...

[stlawus]

Big today tomorrow, the only league game being between Hobart and SLU who are both ranked.  SLU have been the hunters but now after beating Cortland that will give Hobart a little more sauce to beat back the up and coming Saints and extend their win streak to 7. 

My thoughts on SLU have been pretty clear in recent years, but so far some of those issues seem to have been addressed.  The biggest thing I'm seeing right now is player development. Sam Bothwell had pretty high recruiting pedigree going into his freshmen season last year, but he definitely needed the entire season to acclimate.  He has taken a huge leap, and was the best player on the field against both Oneonta and Cortland. The goalie got thrown into things as a freshman last year and showed some flashes but also needed the whole season.  He has been tremendous up to this point, commanding his box well and getting everything in the air and on crosses. 

Hoping tomorrow is an entertaining game where neither team experiences injuries. 

[Ejay]

It's nice to hear your optimism. This a banger of a game with huge implications. Good luck!

[kevdog]

Nice game today between SLU/Hobart.  SLU won 2-0 but could easily had 3 to 4 more goals.  They could have scored and should have scored 2 goals in the first 4 mins of the game as both Saints players had all day to write a 15 page term paper and still score but one hit the crossbar and the other just trickle wide of the net.  15 mins later they had a break away that they should have put away but the Hobart goalie made a good save.  It look like the the back 4 for Hobart was surprised that the player got behind them and was that wide open.  Hobart made some adjustments at half time moving some players around.  It just didn't look like the same teams from last year but both teams played well and should be there in the end. Hats off to SLU for pulling out the victory.

[stlawus]

Sandy is just a whole different animal.  SLU has been using home field advantage like they used to.  Hobart never really got a good look on goal.  Crowd was great too, very rowdy student section and just an all around high quality d3 soccer game. Kevdog is right that SLU could have got at least 4, they were just on it from the opening kick off.  I don't know what is in the water, but so far this is the the SLU we've been yearning to see.  I say so far because now SLU is going to be the hunted with a target on their backs.  But going 2-0-1 through the gauntlet of Oneonta, Cortland and Hobart is one of the best stretches the program has had in a long time.

Also, what a game by Clarkson taking down Rochester 4-2.  I know I'm supposed to naturally hate Clarkson but I love seeing them win and play well.  Clarkson has long been a school that has had tons of potential in athletics, they just never really invested much besides hockey.  They replaced their turf field for this season and seemingly have made some other investments on the d3 side so hopefully that continues.

Union was up 2-0 with 8 minutes left until Plattsburgh scored 2 of the best goals I have seen in a long time to force a tie.  An insane long ball and diving header for the 1st and an incredible bicycle kick to tie it . Platts even had the game winner with 1 second left cleared off the line.

[Bartman]

Sandy is just a whole different animal.  SLU has been using home field advantage like they used to.  Hobart never really got a good look on goal.  Crowd was great too, very rowdy student section and just an all around high quality d3 soccer game. Kevdog is right that SLU could have got at least 4, they were just on it from the opening kick off.  I don't know what is in the water, but so far this is the the SLU we've been yearning to see.  I say so far because now SLU is going to be the hunted with a target on their backs.  But going 2-0-1 through the gauntlet of Oneonta, Cortland and Hobart is one of the best stretches the program has had in a long time.

Also, what a game by Clarkson taking down Rochester 4-2.  I know I'm supposed to naturally hate Clarkson but I love seeing them win and play well.  Clarkson has long been a school that has had tons of potential in athletics, they just never really invested much besides hockey.  They replaced their turf field for this season and seemingly have made some other investments on the d3 side so hopefully that continues.

Union was up 2-0 with 8 minutes left until Plattsburgh scored 2 of the best goals I have seen in a long time to force a tie.  An insane long ball and diving header for the 1st and an incredible bicycle kick to tie it . Platts even had the game winner with 1 second left cleared off the line.

Congrats to the Saints for a fantastic win. Hobart has much to improve on if we expect to win when it counts as the season progresses.I think we can, but this was some ice cold North Country water in the face.

[kevdog]

Sandy is just a whole different animal.  SLU has been using home field advantage like they used to.  Hobart never really got a good look on goal.  Crowd was great too, very rowdy student section and just an all around high quality d3 soccer game. Kevdog is right that SLU could have got at least 4, they were just on it from the opening kick off.  I don't know what is in the water, but so far this is the the SLU we've been yearning to see.  I say so far because now SLU is going to be the hunted with a target on their backs.  But going 2-0-1 through the gauntlet of Oneonta, Cortland and Hobart is one of the best stretches the program has had in a long time.

Also, what a game by Clarkson taking down Rochester 4-2.  I know I'm supposed to naturally hate Clarkson but I love seeing them win and play well.  Clarkson has long been a school that has had tons of potential in athletics, they just never really invested much besides hockey.  They replaced their turf field for this season and seemingly have made some other investments on the d3 side so hopefully that continues.

Union was up 2-0 with 8 minutes left until Plattsburgh scored 2 of the best goals I have seen in a long time to force a tie.  An insane long ball and diving header for the 1st and an incredible bicycle kick to tie it . Platts even had the game winner with 1 second left cleared off the line.

Congrats to the Saints for a fantastic win. Hobart has much to improve on if we expect to win when it counts as the season progresses.I think we can, but this was some ice cold North Country water in the face.

It was the same cast of characters as last year except for one freshman for SLU. That is not what I expected but I am sure Griffin and the coaches will turn it around and I hope SLU can keep this up. SLU can be good when they are not playing like the laid back Larry reputation that sometimes precedes it.

[Saint of Old]

St. Lawrence 2-0 down at home and playing the ball through the Goal Keeper.

Is this a joke... This style of soccer will lose many games.
PLAY FWD... The concept is not difficult.
Not sure if these boys dont understand that the point of the game is to go fwd and score or not??? NO one cares about possession unless it results in goals. Jeesh.

As you can see, some of us have been making this point for atleast 4 years.
Look, this Saint team is not the Saint team who will attack attack attack like when some of us old timers played. The boys are coached to hold possession maybe at the price of penetration. I dont love it, but it is what it is and you just have to support the team and the boys.

Just wanted to make sure that I had been indeed calling out the backwards football for a decade.

Great to finally watch Saint Football being played again.

Not sure why it took so long.