If I lived in or near Tulsa I’d be there. Hope there’s a good crowd for this team. They deserve it. Watching on ESPN+
TU Men's Soccer Fall thread
- Thread starter TU_BLA
- Start date
Tom is a great guy and the model of the kind of coach we need at TU. Though not a national champ (yet) he has been consistently a winner and often a tourney team or better.
USF is playing a very disciplined compact and defensive style tonight. The couple forays USF has had into The attacking third have been off of TU turnovers. You can see that TU is frustrated by the lack of space in the middle of the field and the balls over the top just aren't connecting tonight. Yet.
TU wins 4-0. After they found an opener things loosened up as USF sent more forward trying to find an attack. And the 4th goal was an absolute disaster for USF as the ball never touched a TU player. Defender passed the ball back to the keeper except it was chest high and the keeper couldn't get a touch on it and it went directly in. TU removed pretty much all the regulars with about 15 left and there were some dicey moments in preserving the clean sheet. The back up GK nearly butchered a couple of distributions that led to chances for USF. The crispness of the 2nd string backs just wasn't at the same level.
TU now 9-0. 24 GF, 5 GA. Pretty solid.
TU now 9-0. 24 GF, 5 GA. Pretty solid.
I like that the team built a nice lead, albeit with the extra gift from USF, and Tom put in some other players to give them game time experience. I believe those near misses will be learning experiences for these players, and it can’t but help in the long run.
TU’s football coaching staff could learn something from the futbol staff.
TU’s football coaching staff could learn something from the futbol staff.
Watching the game on TV last night and those smoke blasts were annoying. It got to the point we could not see the far side of the field. Anyone who was there last night, did the smoke just linger because it looked like it did on tv and I dont know how the players could see anything near the benches.
100% lingered for a long time because there was ZERO breeze which is rare for Oklahoma at any time of the year. We actually thought it might have screwed up the GK from USF on the 3rd and 4th goals.
There weren't as many fans there as for the SMU game which was understandable for a number of reasons (Sunday night at 7pm, USF isn't very good). But the regulars have created a great atmosphere to be a part of. And a good part of it is how good this TU team is. I'm not going to get on fans for lighting smoke bombs off on a fluke day where there wasn't a breath of breeze.
You could tell TU was frustrated and growing impatient in the 1st half because USF was packed deep and took away the middle of the field. At one point I counted 9 USF defenders in 2 lines between the top of the 18 and 6 yards further upfield and within the outer legs of the 18.
So it was fans who let them off? I just noticed the first happened literally as the first half ended. So I thought it was a signal the half was over. The second happened right after the first goal. So I thought it was TU setting them off. On TV it looked bad but the camera is up high and couldn't tell if the smoke was on the ground or floating above the pitch. There were a couple times when play was by the sidelines that I couldn't even see the players anymore.
I dont blame fans for having fun either but I do wonder if TV will let it happen again.
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I can't imagine TV can stop them really. It's fans. They lit one at the start of the game. We were a couple minutes late and could see the cloud hang over the pitch. The lingered between 3-10 feet off the ground.
TU holds at #4 in Top Drawer soccer. Tough to move up when #1-3 are also all undefeated, untied. TU is 1 spot ahead of defending national champion Marshall.
SMU fell to #8 meaning voters actually watched the game and didn't hammer them for losing to a team that is high quality. Missouri State is still at #12 with their only loss being TU.
NCAA and coaches poll out tomorrow.
SMU fell to #8 meaning voters actually watched the game and didn't hammer them for losing to a team that is high quality. Missouri State is still at #12 with their only loss being TU.
NCAA and coaches poll out tomorrow.
There's a specific bias for ACC teams and I bet 75% of the coaches who vote haven't actually watched us play. The bias for Marshall is they are defending national champions with mostly the same exact team. Marshall is good and they have some quality attackers. Right now TU's backline is a lot better than Marshall's. Because of how they attack they sometimes leave themselves exposed. In the national championship game last year while they were pushing for a 2nd goal, they let Indiana have some chances that originated on the wings. Even with as much talent as they have up front, they were in tight games throughout the NCAA tournament. TU is built differently. Fazio and Zinnhardtare studs in the CB roles for TU and Henry Sach is a fantastic 2-way 6. Tom uses him like the US used Michael Bradley when he was younger. Everything keyed through the middle. The 3 of them control the middle defensively and it's really hard to beat them (this is a welcome change from the past few years where the central defense struggled, especially against set pieces). When you add Rooks Hunter, Will Edwards, and Chase Bromstedt to the wing defenses, you have guys who can defend 1 v 1 and then turn the attack around once they win the ball. Bromstedt is TU's version of Trent Alexander-Arnold as his service into the box from the wings is excellent and he can really hit a shot from outside too. He's a better 1 v 1 defender than he is given credit for. TU also has some great depth up top. There are 6-7 guys who can put defenders on skates and create great chances.
I also didn't realize that TU's core now looks like a mash-up of the Spanish and German youth national teams. I didn't realize how many players we had from Germany and Spain on the roster and then you add in the local kids.
Yeah, 1st half was flat for TU but it remained scoreless. 2nd half, UCF scored 2 goals pretty quickly. TU pulled one back with about 17 minutes left. UCF scored a 3rd a couple minutes later. TU scored a 2nd with about 5 minutes left and then TU started to play with some urgency and desperation. Ben Barkley missed tying the game with about 1:30 left on a wide open header he steered wide. Meinhard had another golden change with about 20 seconds left that the GK made a really good save on.
TU will be alright. UCF showed a lot of speed and athleticism and it's been the 1st time all year anyone has been able to get TU out of what they want to do. UCF was a top 15 team to start the year and they got off to a slow start. They've got a lot of talent. I think TU will be able to figure things out and be ready for the rematch Nov. 5th
Some rankings update:
College RPI: TU #5
NCAA Coaches Poll: #8
Top Drawer: #7
I think people who watch and know college soccer knows TU is legit a top team this year.
Saturday vs Temple 7:00pm Hurricane Soccer and Track . Temple is 2-6-2 and 0-5 in the American. Time for TU to get back to winning.
And in looking at the rest of the schedule...why the hell were both TU v SMU games scheduled on Wednesdays. The return trip to Dallas is on Oct. 27th. Why??
College RPI: TU #5
NCAA Coaches Poll: #8
Top Drawer: #7
I think people who watch and know college soccer knows TU is legit a top team this year.
Saturday vs Temple 7:00pm Hurricane Soccer and Track . Temple is 2-6-2 and 0-5 in the American. Time for TU to get back to winning.
And in looking at the rest of the schedule...why the hell were both TU v SMU games scheduled on Wednesdays. The return trip to Dallas is on Oct. 27th. Why??
When did TommyMac start recruiting the Waste Mgmt Youth Program? I assume 22 is named Moltisanti.
For anyone who didn't watch the game vs Temple last night, it was pretty clear Temple's game plan was to keep 10 behind the ball and try to wait out TU until TU got impatient and started forcing things. It worked for a half. TU got the opener after a short corner and Meinhard just blowing by the Temple defender who hauled him down in the box. Meinhard converted the PK. Temple caught a break about 2 min later when the TU right defender got caught up field and the CBs last track of the attacker in that side. Walked in and scored a pretty easy goal. It was a rare mistake in the back from TU. TU found the winner from Zinnhard on a header off a corner kick. At this point TU made Temple chase the game and the ball all over the field. TU had a few good chances to add but just couldn't convert. Temple had a late chance with the ball bouncing all over the box but never could find a clean shot.
The officiating in this game was as bad as I've seen in a college game. How Temple finished the game with a full complement of players still on the field is beyond me. He called a ton of touch fouls and frequently called the defender on any contact going up for a 50/50 header. He missed several where the defender had gone up and the attacking player slide under and cut him. The game ended with Taka Wyett dribbling the ball in the Temple box, he lost it and the Temple defender cleared it and then basically cup checked Taka with the referee and AR turning from the play to head upfield. It was right in front of me. It was bad.
The Temple captain whined about everything the whole game. He started right away when the student section heckled him. How he didn't pick up a card is puzzling as several times he touched and poked the referee several times.
TU is at home against Memphis this coming Friday.
The officiating in this game was as bad as I've seen in a college game. How Temple finished the game with a full complement of players still on the field is beyond me. He called a ton of touch fouls and frequently called the defender on any contact going up for a 50/50 header. He missed several where the defender had gone up and the attacking player slide under and cut him. The game ended with Taka Wyett dribbling the ball in the Temple box, he lost it and the Temple defender cleared it and then basically cup checked Taka with the referee and AR turning from the play to head upfield. It was right in front of me. It was bad.
The Temple captain whined about everything the whole game. He started right away when the student section heckled him. How he didn't pick up a card is puzzling as several times he touched and poked the referee several times.
TU is at home against Memphis this coming Friday.
TU moves up 2 spots to #5 in Top Drawer rankings. Can't tell who in front of them lost...Georgetown fell out of the top spot as they did lose but only dropped 1 spot to #2.
Good news for TU is that Missouri State is rolling right now at 11-1 with the lone loss being to TU. SMU has fallen out of the top 25. The OT loss to TU has sent SMU into somewhat of a tailspin. They've lost 3 of 4 including a 3-2 2OT loss to Memphis (the Tigers aren't good), and a 2-1 loss to UCF (who is pretty good).
SMU needs to be careful...they still have games left vs TU and UCF while USF has games against SMU in Tampa, Memphis, Temple and UCF. There is a chance if USF can get a surprise result they could overtake SMU for the 4th spot knocking SMU out of the conference championship. I think TU probably needs to win out to host the tournament and if TU wins out they could be looking at a top 4 seed in the NCAA tournament as the NCAA RPI likes TU a lot.
Good news for TU is that Missouri State is rolling right now at 11-1 with the lone loss being to TU. SMU has fallen out of the top 25. The OT loss to TU has sent SMU into somewhat of a tailspin. They've lost 3 of 4 including a 3-2 2OT loss to Memphis (the Tigers aren't good), and a 2-1 loss to UCF (who is pretty good).
SMU needs to be careful...they still have games left vs TU and UCF while USF has games against SMU in Tampa, Memphis, Temple and UCF. There is a chance if USF can get a surprise result they could overtake SMU for the 4th spot knocking SMU out of the conference championship. I think TU probably needs to win out to host the tournament and if TU wins out they could be looking at a top 4 seed in the NCAA tournament as the NCAA RPI likes TU a lot.
I have noticed the last couple games that we are just way more talented than the other teams on the field. However, we take a full half to really adjust to the strategies of the teams we are playing. I am not sure if we are not preparing well or teams are coming in with a completely new game plan against us. Either was it takes us almost a full half to really get flowing correctly. The other issue I have is we tend to not press as hard when we have a lead. I have always always hated prevent defense..in football and soccer. Even our 5-1 win, 5-2 win....we let the team have wayyy too many shots near the end.
**Edit**
I have always been of the mind of keep playing the way that got you the lead in the first place.
**Edit**
I have always been of the mind of keep playing the way that got you the lead in the first place.
It would be pretty badass to host a bunch of games down on Delaware.
Hosting all the way to the College Cup would be great. And the crowds have been good and loud and everything you want to see from a soccer supporter group.
ADD: Even though the smokebomb lit after TU's first goal the other night lingered without moving for about 15 minutes. NO BREEZE to speak of. It got so bad they moved the bucket they lit it in to the other side of the east bleachers and I think they poured water on it to douse it. BTW, the smoke bombs were provided by someone in the athletic dept. for those questioning how someone could get them into the game.
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I thought Rippin bought the smoke bomb on some Qanon forum/ Jan. 6 surplus sale.
TU beats Memphis 5-0 last night. TU opened the scoring in the 1st half off a header from Alex Meinhard. Memphis stayed pretty compact and kept all 10 out field players in their own half whenever TU had the ball. I think this is going to be a common tactic for most opponents this season. Meinhard actually had a chance to put TU up 2-0 in the first but the Memphis keeper made a really nice read and aggressive challenge to take the angle away from Meinhard. After half time, it only took TU a minute to score to make it 2-0. Meinhard again after a long pass up the sideline, Meinhard cuts it in a couple times and turns the Memphis D inside out, nice slotted finish into the lower left corner of the net. Only about 2 min later, Meinhard gets another over the top ball and brings it into the box and being the savvy goal scorer he is, he cuts in front of the defender who is trying to recover and gets run over and the ref calls the PK. Meinhard with goal #3. Meinhard scored his 4th of the game on another PK (this one was a little more questionable as I'm not sure the player fouled was in the box nor did I think the foul was actually a foul). 1st time since 1988 a TU player has scored 4 in a game. TU emptied the bench and a bunch of players got minutes. Ben Barkley scored the 5th on a fantastic connection and through ball.
Meinhard now has 12 goals on the season and 2 assists
Meinhard now has 12 goals on the season and 2 assists
If someone scored 4 in a game in 88, that had to be Shane. Next guess would be Frankie but he was a freshman that year. I could’ve sworn he dropped 4 on SIU in 90 or 91 but maybe it was a hat trick.
Before my time. My friend who played in '89 said Schwab and Velez were 2 of the best players he ever played with and he mentioned Kevin King a few times.
Kevin King was the best player I was ever around. He got called up to the USMNT at one point in '93, but turned an ankle in training and never got called back up. They apparently thought Lalas was the answer. Kevin was pretty much done with soccer at that point. He was ready to get married and settle down.
Alex Meinhard was named the AAC Offensive POW and the College Soccer News National POW. TU is #6 in the college soccer RPI. Coaches poll for this week hasn't been released. And somehow TU dropped from 8 to 11 after beating Temple. With that type of logic they should drop out of the poll altogether after beating Memphis 5-0.
Ryan Pore gets my vote. The dude just murdered it while he was at TU. As a junior, he cracked out 22 goals and 11 assists.
Ryan was the best player I ever saw play at TU. Meinhard is close and he's just a Sophomore. Pore's JR year was probably the best team in TU history with some really outstanding players all over the place. Kyle Brown, Lawson Vaughan.
This year's team may proved to be better. There is way more talent on this team along with some really talented role players coming off the bench.
New NCAA Coaches poll has us back up to #8. It's weird because they have Marshall at #2 with a loss and 3 ties.
If they use the RPI for seeding I'm fine. I don't think we want any part of Georgetown before the College Cup final 4. Then again there were a ton of highly seeded teams that lost early in last Spring's tournament included the vaunted ACC heavyweights (Virginia, Clemson, Wake, Maryland). Remember, the ACC played the regular Fall season as well last year so they got in a practice season before the revamped Spring season.
I think TU is positioned well this year to make a deep run. They will need to avoid injuries...right now Malik Henry Scott hasn't played the last couple of games and I hope it's precautionary with 2 tomato cans on the schedule. TU will need him tonight vs SMU.
If they use the RPI for seeding I'm fine. I don't think we want any part of Georgetown before the College Cup final 4. Then again there were a ton of highly seeded teams that lost early in last Spring's tournament included the vaunted ACC heavyweights (Virginia, Clemson, Wake, Maryland). Remember, the ACC played the regular Fall season as well last year so they got in a practice season before the revamped Spring season.
I think TU is positioned well this year to make a deep run. They will need to avoid injuries...right now Malik Henry Scott hasn't played the last couple of games and I hope it's precautionary with 2 tomato cans on the schedule. TU will need him tonight vs SMU.
