2008 Soccer Season Thread

[blueness]

CU and BU both start the season nationally ranked:

NSCAA Poll:
CU #6
BU #21

College Soccer News Poll:
CU #7

From what it sounds like, UE and DU should have stronger teams this season.

[jb399]

The Aces held their media day yesterday:

Day one of pre-season practice for the University of Evansville men's soccer team brought together 14 veterans and 11 newcomers this morning. They combine to form a team whose theme is 'The Future Is Now.'

The Aces play their first of three friendlies on Saturday, at the University of Louisville at 6:00. Fans wishing to reserve space on a fan bus to Louisville should contact the athletics department at 488-ACES. Below are notes from this afternoon's Media Day at Black Beauty Field.

Up & Coming

The Aces’ soccer program has changed dramatically in Mike Jacobs’ two years as head coach. UE has produced back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1995 and 1996. Last season’s team finished third in the Missouri Valley Conference behind two teams that reached the NCAA Sweet 16, and the Aces advanced to the MVC Tournament semifinals for the first time since 1999. In addition, UE finished sixth nationally in scoring with 45 goals, and won 10 matches for the first time since 1999.

Award Winners

Five players who earned MVC post-season awards last November return in 2008. The group is led by sophomore midfielder Robby Lynch, a Top Drawer Freshman All-American who was also the 2007 MVC Freshman of the Year. Lynch scored five goals and made five assists for 15 points. Also back are MVC honorable mention players Alec Dufty, Reggie Edu, Mike Luttrull and Kipp Erskine.

Blast From The Past

Also returning this season is sophomore forward Tom Irvin, who made the 2006 MVC All-Freshman Team after totaling five goals and six assists for 16 points. He missed all of 2007 with a broken foot.

Good In The Classroom, Too

Success on the field hasn’t come at the expense of academics. UE received the 2007 NSCAA Team Academic Award, given only to schools with a team grade point average of 3.0 or better.

High Profile Newcomers

This appears to be an exceptional freshman class, ranked 23rd nationally by College Soccer News. Goalkeeper Phil Boerger was a Parade All-American. Boerger and Mitch Day were chosen by College Soccer News as ‘Top 100 Freshmen To Watch’. Richard Menjivar was chosen in July to play for the U.S. U-18 National Team in a four-match series against Uruguay and Paraguay.

Replacing 23 Goals

The biggest challenge facing UE this season may be at the offensive end. Players who accounted for 23 of the team’s 45 goals are gone, including leading scorers Cory Elenio (7-9-23) and Dustin Awe (5-5-15). Three double-figure scorers do return–Lynch (5-5-15), forward Mike Luttrull (5-2-12) and defender Kipp Erskine (4-2-10).

The Season Starts Saturday

Evansville plays three exhibition matches prior to the August 29 regular season opener against Detroit. First comes a road match against Louisville this Saturday, followed by friendlies at home against USI next Tuesday and Bellarmine on Sunday, Aug. 24. Tri-Captains UE’s three captains this season are senior goalkeeper Alec Dufty, senior defender Kipp Erskine and junior midfielder Reggie Edu. Dufty and Erskine were high school teammates in Raleigh, North Carolina. Big-Time Schedule The Aces play three of the last four NCAA Division I national champions–2006 winner UC-Santa Barbara on the road Sept. 18; 2003 and 2004 champion Indiana at home Sept. 30, and 2005 champion Maryland on the road Oct. 17. The match against Indiana will be the first against the Hoosiers at Black Beauty Field since a dramatic 2-1 overtime win by IU in 1998.

Link (http://www.gopurpleaces.com/news/2008/8/13/MSOC_0813083152.aspx)

[jb399]

4 of the 6 Valley soccer schools received votes in this weeks SoccerTimes.com coaches poll. CU came in at second, Bradley tied for 25th, Evansville received 17 points, and Drake got 5.

UE will be without All-MVC honorable mention goal keeper Alex Dufty for one game. Dufty received a red card with six seconds remaining in the game against Butler.

[blueness]

Jays won't have a tough test until the Sept 19/21 tournament in California against Cal and Stanford...but have looked good thus far.

They moved up to #3 in the NSCAA poll.

Got to see SLU play this weekend as well (up here for a CU Diadora Invite), they are legit as well...and still playing without their best defensive player Calum Angus.

[jb399]

For the first time since 1996, the University of Evansville is 5-0-0. The Aces scored two early goals Sunday on their way to a 3-1 victory over Valparaiso University in the final round of UE's ProRehab Aces Soccer Classic at Black Beauty Field.

It was Evansville's first ProRehab title since 2003, and the school's sixth overall in the 21 years that the Aces have hosted the event.

Aces' sophomore forward Mike Luttrull was chosen as the tournament's offensive MVP, and teammate Kipp Erskine earned the defensive MVP award.

Luttrull scored the first goal of the match and his fifth of the young season at 13:37 when quick passes from Dan Gibson and Tom Irvin found him open eight yards in front of the goal. Sophomore Robby Lynch made it 2-0 with a header at 20:52 from Tom Irvin's long throw-in. Lynch flicked it off the back of his head and over Valpo goalkeeper Kyle Zobeck.

The 3-3-0 Crusaders broke up the shutout at 39:44 when Tyler Sellers broke free on the left side and put a shot past UE goalkeeper Alec Dufty. Lynch went to the air again early in the second period, taking Richard Menjivar's pass in front of Zobeck and sending it into the net to give the Aces a 3-1 advantage at the 53:31 mark. It was Lynch's second goal of the match and second of the season.

Evansville finished with 24 shots, 10 on goal, compared to five and two for the Crusaders. Sunday's match was played in high winds from Hurricane Ike that reached 50 miles per hour in the first half.

PROREHAB ACES SOCCER CLASSIC RESULTS

Evansville 1st (2-0), Valparaiso 2nd (1-1), Bradley 3rd (1-1), U. of North Florida 4th (0-2)

All-ProRehab Aces Soccer Classic Team: Matthew Hollyoak, Tony Restino--UNF; Drew Van Kampen, Travis English--Bradley; Andrew Stewart, Paul Leitelt, Tyler Sellers--Valparaiso; Kipp Erskine, Robby Lynch, Mike Luttrull, Richard Menjivar--Evansville.
Offensive MVP--Luttrull. Defensive MVP--Erskine.

[blueness]

Drake won last night as well to move to 5-0-0 (I think that is also a school record).

Creighton was upset by UMKC last night. 1-0. The Jays outshot them 22-3, but couldn't put one in (UMKC scored on a defensive lapse early in the first half and held on).

Creighton heads to Cali next weekend to play Cal and Stanford. This team will either rally and play back to form, or slip some more after their confidence took a hit at home against UMKC (at least the target may be off their back).

They should drop in the polls, but there were quite a few upsets in the Top10 last night...I think they drop to #15...and it wouldn't surprise me to see UE, DU on the brink.

The MVC season is going to be interesting and the most competitive since SMU peaced a few years ago.

[blueness]

#12 Creighton beats Stanford 1-0 on Friday and #6 Cal 2-0 to win the Stanford Nike Classic.

Drake lost to Cal on Friday night, but had a good showing today in their defeat of Stanford 2-1.

[DUBulldog]

#12 Creighton beats Stanford 1-0 on Friday and #6 Cal 2-0 to win the Stanford Nike Classic.

Drake lost to Cal on Friday night, but had a good showing today in their defeat of Stanford 2-1.

Drake was in the top 25 in a couple of polls prior to the Cal game. Not to make excuses (you don't need excuses when you lose to a top 10 team), but Drake was without their starting goalie for the Cal game....he had been red-carded in the previous game, and I guess that means an automatic one game suspension.

[blueness]

NSCAA Rankings 9/23/08

Creighton #8
Drake #25

[blueness]

This is the last weekend of conference play for men's soccer before the tournament in Evansville.

CU will be the 1-seed if they win or draw against Eastern Ill.

They are up to #2 in the NSCAA poll behind #1 Wake Forest (who they tied in the Spring season). If they win out (including the tournament), they should have home-field advantage all the way to College Cup/Final Four.

Drake looks to be the #2 seed in the tournament.

Word on the street is that the MVC will allow the teams in the Valley to play a home-and-home next season, which should provide for a better indication as to who the "best team" in the league is.

If Drake can get to the final of the MVC Tournament, they should get an at-large to the NCAAs

[MoValley John]

http://www.traintohell.com/misc/gun%20to%20head.jpg

[JJClamdip]

BUMP!

How about an update on this "Electric Season" from someone in the know?

[JerryBearSeinfeld]

CU beat Mo State 1-0 in the MVC final. Bears missed a easy header in the 1st half and few easy chances in the 2nd

CU scored a BS goal..the ball hit their player in the knee and than a our player ran into the ball..which went into the goal..

CU finishes 14-1-2
13-0 vs everyone else
1-1-2 vs state of missouri :clap:
win and tie vs mo state
lost to UMKC
tie with SLU

[MoValley John]

the ball hit their player in the knee and than a our player ran into the ball..which went into the goal..

And that my friends, is exactly why soccer sucks.
http://www.armyofmom.com/2-11-06%20bunch%20ball.jpg

[blueness]

FYI/FWIW

Creighton gets the #7 national seed...they are ranked #2 in the latest NSCAA poll..but the Valley's poor RPI in soccer affected their seeding.

CU gets a bye in the first round -- and will play the winner of UMKC/Tulsa in Omaha next Tuesday.

Drake received an at-large bid, and they will play at SLU this weekend in the first round.

[jb399]

Creighton gets the #7 national seed...they are ranked #2 in the latest NSCAA poll..but the Valley's poor RPI in soccer affected their seeding.


Might not be able to blame it on the Valley RPI. Creighton's final RPI was 10.

[blueness]

Right. But there were three teams in the MVC below 140:

BU: 170
E.Ill: 154
MSU: 142

Only 203 teams in D-I soccer...so no matter how high CU's RPI was in the non-conf...it was going to go down in the conference season...since they won all game (except a tie with MSU during the reg. season), it only went down a few points...had they lost to either of those three listed above...it would have pushed them out of a "bye" in the first-round.

Again, not surprised that they didn't have a higher national seed...just showing the reasoning behind it.