Some of our Olympic sports plateauing out?

[ASweet3781]

The strength of the athletic program at UConn besides our basketball teams and the development of the football program to 1-A were our fall sports mainly men's and women's soccer and field hockey.

Right now all 3 teams seem to be stuck in quick sand. Their seasons simply repeat themselves from the previous year at an alarmingly consistent rate. The trend continued this weekend. Men's soccer lost to ND 1-0 and Field Hockey was eliminated at home vs Maryland. Field Hockey and Men's soccer have great regular seasons. But Field Hockey cannot beat the ACC powers Maryland or UNC to save their lives. They always seem to finish in the top 4-8 but can't crack the championship game. That's a lot of good teams without the next step being taken. The coach Nancy Stevens seemed to be very pleased with her teams performance today. She never seems that bothered when her team comes up just short (they blew a 3 goal 2nd half lead to UNC last season to be eliminated). Perhaps that's one of the reasons they seem to come up just short a lot? Compare that attitude to an Auriemma even when they are eliminated by a better team they think they should have won.

And men's soccer has saved it worst soccer in recent seasons for the postseason, tightening up and usually losing by scores of 1-0 or in PK's. After undefeated home records and have the best team in the country they were upset at home in 2007 and last season to inferior teams. They have not been back to the Final 4 since 2000.

Women's soccer went from a top 5 program to a team that has missed the NCAA tournament 3 of the last 4 seasons. They had 1 deep run to the Elite 8 in 2007 and it's been mediocrity the entire decade. Time for Len Tsantiris to retire?

Between 1981-1985, before UCONN 2000, before Calhoun and Auriemma, these 3 programs won a combined 3 National Titles and made 11 Final Fours. Now in this decade they've won 0 national titles and made a couple of Field Hockey Final Fours. I just find that weird at a time when the University is in such a stronger state physically, financially, and prestige wise nation wide than it was back in the early 80's.

 

[Adios]

New coaching can help.

 

[uconNYC]

I was thinking the same thing. I guess we're kind of like PITT's mens basketball team. Hard to fire Jamie Dixon - no?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I could be wrong but I've been under the impression that the women's soccer program went south many years ago (save one surprise tourney run not quite a decade ago).

 

[Adios]

I was thinking the same thing. I guess we're kind of like PITT's mens basketball team. Hard to fire Jamie Dixon - no?

Our men's soccer coach has the second highest winning percentage of an active coach, so I guess that's a reasonable comparison.

 

[Rumrunner]

Of the three, men's soccer, women's soccer, field hockey, women's soccer has been the most disappointing over the past few years. There definitely is something structural that's preventing women's soccer from achieving any meaningful results.

 

[Adios]

We could use new coaches. Ray Reid won 3 championships at SCSU but only one at UConn so far? I don't know if one is good enough for a lifetime pass to coach till retirement.

 

[mets1090]

Baseball is currently on a steady rise. Some say (and evidence tended to support this until the Super Regional) that Penders coached teams have not faired well in tournament play. The Super Regional appearance helped that. I would say maybe 5 years from now we will have a clearer picture on where our program is headed. I think a team like that SR team is probably our peak and there is nothing wrong with that. It was absolutely stacked with basically nothing but local talent. Just have to continue to grab just about every top prospect in the area that doesn't go pro. It's hard to win recruiting battles with teams in warmer climates but the new training facility (which I believe is lumped in with the BBall facility project) will help.

 

[uconnfan68]

The strength of the athletic program at UConn besides our basketball teams and the development of the football program to 1-A were our fall sports mainly men's and women's soccer and field hockey.

Right now all 3 teams seem to be stuck in quick sand. Their seasons simply repeat themselves from the previous year at an alarmingly consistent rate. The trend continued this weekend. Men's soccer lost to ND 1-0 and Field Hockey was eliminated at home vs Maryland. Field Hockey and Men's soccer have great regular seasons. But Field Hockey cannot beat the ACC powers Maryland or UNC to save their lives. They always seem to finish in the top 4-8 but can't crack the championship game. That's a lot of good teams without the next step being taken. The coach Nancy Stevens seemed to be very pleased with her teams performance today. She never seems that bothered when her team comes up just short (they blew a 3 goal 2nd half lead to UNC last season to be eliminated). Perhaps that's one of the reasons they seem to come up just short a lot? Compare that attitude to an Auriemma even when they are eliminated by a better team they think they should have won.

And men's soccer has saved it worst soccer in recent seasons for the postseason, tightening up and usually losing by scores of 1-0 or in PK's. After undefeated home records and have the best team in the country they were upset at home in 2007 and last season to inferior teams. They have not been back to the Final 4 since 2000.

Women's soccer went from a top 5 program to a team that has missed the NCAA tournament 3 of the last 4 seasons. They had 1 deep run to the Elite 8 in 2007 and it's been mediocrity the entire decade. Time for Len Tsantiris to retire?

Between 1981-1985, before UCONN 2000, before Calhoun and Auriemma, these 3 programs won a combined 3 National Titles and made 11 Final Fours. Now in this decade they've won 0 national titles and made a couple of Field Hockey Final Fours. I just find that weird at a time when the University is in such a stronger state physically, financially, and prestige wise nation wide than it was back in the early 80's.

Men's soccer is ranked #4 for NCAA tourney. Three of the top 5 are Big East same division, including ND.

 

[mets1090]

Men's soccer is ranked #4 for NCAA tourney. Three of the top 5 are Big East same division, including ND.

Same old song and dance until they win another title in most people's eyes. I'm not a big soccer fan and don't know much about the program to be perfectly honest. But what I do know (should say I think, not positive) is that all 4 years I was there (2008-2011 seasons) the tournaments ended in disappointment. Pitt basketball was an apt comparison in this regard at least in terms of recent history (which is the point of this thread).

 

[Yonick]

The difference between UConn's soccer, and Pitt's hoops is UConn has won 3 NC's.

As far as baseball goes, yes, they are on the rise. I wish Penders would do more to promote the team. He seems very secretive with info about players. Both incoming, and existing players.

The baseball facility is not lumped in with the hoops practice facility. There is a seperate fund raising program for baseball, soccer, and hockey facilities.

Hopefully if Barnes, Springer, Olt, or Ahmed get big MLB contracts the donations can pour in.

 

[mets1090]

The difference between UConn's soccer, and Pitt's hoops is UConn has won 3 NC's.

As far as baseball goes, yes, they are on the rise. I wish Penders would do more to promote the team. He seems very secretive with info about players. Both incoming, and existing players.

The baseball facility is not lumped in with the hoops practice facility. There is a seperate fund raising program for baseball, soccer, and hockey facilities.

Hopefully if Barnes, Springer, Olt, or Ahmed get big MLB contracts the donations can pour in.

Agreed and thank you for the correction about the facilities. I was only supporting the Pitt comparison in terms of recent history because the OP is, I believe, about how our Olympic sports are somewhat stagnant these days in terms of what they were in say the 90's.

 

[ASweet3781]

Men's soccer is ranked #4 for NCAA tourney. Three of the top 5 are Big East same division, including ND.

We'll see if they take advantage of the home field advantage to make the College Cup, something they failed to do in recent years against teams they had no business losing to. Better hope it doesn't come down to penalty kicks!

 

[Gurleyman]

I don't think Reid has to win another title - UConn is a cold weather school and isn't a place where a soccer powerhouse is a given. Yeah, there's tradition, but other places have sunshine and money out the wazoo. He has flaws, but he does a very good job producing a quality team consistently.

I'd like to see a College Cup from him again sooner or later - it has been 12 years and we've had plenty of teams good enough to do it, including a couple of times when we just had to beat a weaker team at home to get there. It's past the point of just being snakebitten with bad luck. But the conundrum is that getting rid of him just for coming up short in the postseason creates a very real risk that we end up with a program that isn't nearly as good. I'd rather let him keep doing what he's doing and law of averages will get us back to the Cup eventually.

The parallel with Dixon is good in some ways, but one flaw is that in a one-game situation, a basketball coach has many more ways to control a game than a soccer coach. A 1-0 game will often just come down to which player finishes a chance, regardless of who game plans better.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Bad luck can be used in some cases for the men's soccer team (VT on a frozen pitch for example) but Reid's teams do have the habit of playing overly tight once tournaments (BE, NCAA) begin, where they no longer show much scoring ability and seem to give up a fluke goal that kills them.

I don't believe that we should replace him but something (perhaps philosophically on his end) is missing in the approach once the regular season ends.

 

[UConn990411]

Ray Reid is better than Dixon relative to his peers. The soccer team is always (and I mean four years out of five) ranked in the top 10 to start the year, and they generally don't have many underachieving seasons (2008-09 notwithstanding). He is a terrific defensive coach that does a great job recruiting internationally, which helps UConn constantly churn out professional players.

The problem with Reid's teams is the style of play. That kick-and-run/dump-and-chase/whatever you wanna call it style simply doesn't work at this level against quality opponents. It's the same reason Bob Bradley didn't last as head coach of Team USA - his teams were capable of pulling off the upset from time to time, but they were equally susceptible to being upset.

I would love it if Reid brought in an offensive specialist (i.e. the reverse Mike D'Antoni situation), but it's hard to tell a guy with the second-best winning percentage that his philosophy isn't working.

 

[huskymedic]

Ray Reid is better than Dixon relative to his peers. The soccer team is always (and I mean four years out of five) ranked in the top 10 to start the year, and they generally don't have many underachieving seasons (2008-09 notwithstanding). He is a terrific defensive coach that does a great job recruiting internationally, which helps UConn constantly churn out professional players.

The problem with Reid's teams is the style of play. That kick-and-run/dump-and-chase/whatever you wanna call it style simply doesn't work at this level against quality opponents. It's the same reason Bob Bradley didn't last as head coach of Team USA - his teams were capable of pulling off the upset from time to time, but they were equally susceptible to being upset.

I would love it if Reid brought in an offensive specialist (i.e. the reverse Mike D'Antoni situation), but it's hard to tell a guy with the second-best winning percentage that his philosophy isn't working.

He's been seen hanging w/ GDL...

 

[businesslawyer]

Same old song and dance until they win another title in most people's eyes. I'm not a big soccer fan and don't know much about the program to be perfectly honest. But what I do know (should say I think, not positive) is that all 4 years I was there (2008-2011 seasons) the tournaments ended in disappointment. Pitt basketball was an apt comparison in this regard at least in terms of recent history (which is the point of this thread).

You recognize, I hope, that national championship tournaments end in disappointment for all contenders that don't win the whole thing, correct?

 

[mets1090]

You recognize, I hope, that national championship tournaments end in disappointment for all contenders that don't win the whole thing, correct?

1 Final Four in 10 years is not an overly lofty goal for a top program in any sport I wouldn't think. Maybe things are different in soccer but if the basketball team doesn't make it to a FF in 10 years I think it would be fair to say that the program has dropped off. And this isn't about Ollie or whatever coach is at a certain program during a run, but where the Program is in 2012 compared to 2000 (our last Soccer title). If in 2020 we have no more FF appearances, it will be fair to say that the program has fallen off. That's not to say that if Ollie gets to say 1 E8 and 2 S16s in that stretch that he is a failure at all or that he should be fired, but that UConn basketball wouldn't be at the same level it was from 1990-2011.

 

[Waquoit]

We could use new coaches. Ray Reid won 3 championships at SCSU but only one at UConn so far? I don't know if one is good enough for a lifetime pass to coach till retirement.

Only one? One is huge. Morrone only won one and they named the field after him. They just won the Big East regular season. He has consistantly brought in good players and sells a ton of tickets. Talk about spoiled.

 

[Waquoit]

That's not to say that if Ollie gets to say 1 E8 and 2 S16s in that stretch that he is a failure at all or that he should be fired, but that UConn basketball wouldn't be at the same level it was from 1990-2011.

Don't you mean 1999-2011? Because UConn had never made it to the Final Four in its hoop history before 1999. In that stretch, UConn never went to the FF from 1990 to 1998 despite being the 1st or 2nd seed a bunch of times ( 5 or so). Good thing those in charge didn't let JC go.