UCONN Soccer
- Thread starter Geosfun
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Based on last season and the draft, it would seem like we have a hole at Striker. Cyle Larin has been playing for Orlando City and has scored.
UConn soccer is a tough follow simply because it's not on TV.
UConn men were a very young team on the pitch last season, with 8 starters being underclassmen. It's hard to win with that many freshmen and sophomores in the lineup. Under normal circumstances, the normal process of being older and having more experience would make them a better team this season.
However, two of the sophomores are gone from the team. Larin went pro and Vanacore Decker transferred to Louisville. Combine this with Beso Marco graduating, the three top goal scorers will be gone from the team. I have no idea who is coming into the program, but Ray Reid definitely needs someone to put the ball in the net.
Thank you, dbmill. It seems that both programs have hit the doldrums, especially the Women. Though Ray Reed has had a nice run, his program seems to also be on the wane. Coach Len has had a solid career with the Women; but, his program has been pretty lackluster for a long time.
Neither program has had much success recruiting the top CT talent. For that reason, and to bring some excitement, I have suggested that Christine Lilly (who went to HS in CT, now lives in CT) be brought into the Women program.
I'm a soccer fan and bleed UConn Blue. I sure hope Warde does something to bring some new life into both programs.
Neither program has had much success recruiting the top CT talent. For that reason, and to bring some excitement, I have suggested that Christine Lilly (who went to HS in CT, now lives in CT) be brought into the Women program.
I'm a soccer fan and bleed UConn Blue. I sure hope Warde does something to bring some new life into both programs.
They don't make the NCAA's for one year and the men's program is on the wane? I'm not sure I'd agree about that just yet. Still, like I said, UConn needs some goal scorers, so hopefully Ray Reid was able to get a couple in this recruiting class, whether they be foreign or domestic. It will take a while before we know anything on that, considering Reid never announces his recruiting classes. Whatever the case, I expect Ray Reid will be a part of the UConn soccer scene for the foreseeable future.
The women's program is another story. Still, at least they made the NCAA's last season for the first time in a few years, and they ended up going to the second round. In Rachel Hill, they now at least have a big time goal scorer, a commodity the team has been lacking since the days of Kristen Graczyk and Jessica Gjertsen some ten years ago. Hill is going to be a Junior this coming season, and I suspect that as long as Hill is playing that they will make the NCAA's.
I've written this before on the Boneyard, but it bears repeating. I think the biggest reason the UConn women are not the program that they once were is because of the soccer facility they play in. Morrone Stadium is hardly a state of the art venue. It is old, and it is badly showing its age. For the women's program, it is a detriment to recruiting at this point. UConn's decline as a women's soccer power goes hand in hand with more big time Power 5 schools not only adding women's soccer programs over the last 20 years or so, but also with all these schools building new soccer venues that have some nice amenities that go with them. About the only real improvement that has happened to Morrone Stadium over the last 15 years is that lights were added around the turn of the century. The best thing that could happen for the women's program is for the new UConn soccer stadium to be built and up and running. That would certainly help the women with recruiting.
By contrast, I don't think Morrone Stadium hurts the mens team as much. I'm sure the fact that UConn is always one of the top schools in attendance for men's soccer is a big Ray Reid selling point when it comes to recruiting.
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Spoke to a friend who played on the UConn women's team back int he late '90's. her comment on their recent so-so-showings is that
- UConn has had major injury issues for several seasons now
- UConn's academic standards are high and that does put a cap on some recruiting, though not as much as that issue impacts the revenue sports
- The talent pool for women's soccer has spread-out from its original base in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to Florida, Texas, and other population hotbeds making it harder to recruit
- The biggest issues is that a lot of money due to primarily IX issues has been poured into women's soccer by the football powers in the p5, which has put schools like UConn and other traditional programs (Santa Clara, Portland, UMass, etc.). Just look at the final 2014 Women's soccer rankings, out of the Top 25 teams, 7 are from the XII & SEC programs who do not even sponsor men's soccer (A&M, Florida, S Carolina, WVU, Texas Tech, Kentucky, Auburn) and 3 are from ACC and PAC 12 teams that I believe were established less than 20 years ago (Florida St, Virginia Tech, Washington St).
Any word on the new UConn (and potentially lacrosse) stadium to be built?
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I thought we received a big gift from a soccer alum that was supposed to take care of the stadium issue?
It seems like the nexus of college soccer power has shifted south and west. Tons of talent in the ACC and the PAC 12. UConn is an outlier, and maybe what they should be doing is tapping into the NYRB, NYC FC, Revs, Cosmos and maybe even Montreal's Academies. Make a pipeline of sorts. Some of these guys have no desire to slog it out in USL and UConn being close by means that the pro coaches and scouts will have an easier time keeping tabs on their players. Sort of like how the Sounders are keeping tabs on Jordan Morris.
It's interesting because MLS Academies have been derided recently for holding "signing day" events for their players signing LOIs. It seems that not everybody understands that not all Academy prospects sign pro contracts as soon as they are able to.
It seems like the nexus of college soccer power has shifted south and west. Tons of talent in the ACC and the PAC 12. UConn is an outlier, and maybe what they should be doing is tapping into the NYRB, NYC FC, Revs, Cosmos and maybe even Montreal's Academies. Make a pipeline of sorts. Some of these guys have no desire to slog it out in USL and UConn being close by means that the pro coaches and scouts will have an easier time keeping tabs on their players. Sort of like how the Sounders are keeping tabs on Jordan Morris.
It's interesting because MLS Academies have been derided recently for holding "signing day" events for their players signing LOIs. It seems that not everybody understands that not all Academy prospects sign pro contracts as soon as they are able to.
They did get a big gift from a soccer alum, but the new facility hasn't been built yet. UConn is still fundraising for the new stadium, and there has been no announcement on when the new facility will be ready for action. Until they actually build something, they are still playing in an outdated facility, and that doesn't help recruiting.
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Could be worse, BC has a newer soccer field that has as a capcity of just 1,000 and that is a cough, cough, P5 school. The field is actually on BC's law campus, which is about 3 miles from the main campus and the local Newton residents would put Storrs residents to shame as even a hint of expansion on BC's campus will bring out the pitchforks and torches.
http://www.bceagles.com/view.gal?id=33924
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While this past seasons men team started out slow due to unknown identity and lack of goalkeeping, by the end of the year the younger players started to turn the corner.
This years team will be one of if not the best defensive team in the nation. This Uconn team will end the year in the top 15 with a solid shot to make the college cup. The team is led by 3 solid MLS prospects: Kwame Awuah, Jakob Nerwinski, and Cheikh Stephane Coly. When you add in Dylan Greenberg, Elliott Ackroyd, and Scott Levene in goal, this team is stacked in the defensive 3rd.
The weakness as we have seen for the last few years would be putting the ball in the back of the net. Expect some new recruits from Africa and one or two from Europe to slide into the lineup for Ray this fall.
Should be a solid season from the men with a favorable schedule including 11 of the 18 games played at home.
This years team will be one of if not the best defensive team in the nation. This Uconn team will end the year in the top 15 with a solid shot to make the college cup. The team is led by 3 solid MLS prospects: Kwame Awuah, Jakob Nerwinski, and Cheikh Stephane Coly. When you add in Dylan Greenberg, Elliott Ackroyd, and Scott Levene in goal, this team is stacked in the defensive 3rd.
The weakness as we have seen for the last few years would be putting the ball in the back of the net. Expect some new recruits from Africa and one or two from Europe to slide into the lineup for Ray this fall.
Should be a solid season from the men with a favorable schedule including 11 of the 18 games played at home.
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