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Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: December 4th, 2021, 7:03 pm
by olldflame
47/5-2 wrote: December 4th, 2021, 4:26 pm
cruzan_flame13 wrote: November 30th, 2021, 1:45 pm By chance, does the soccer program recruit overseas like some if our other programs? Does well for field hockey.
They do. Not as heavily as some programs. Some programs rely almost exclusively on internationals. Lot of advantages to recruiting internationals in the sports that are not able to give everyone athletic money. But there can be some real risks committing your roster fully in that direction imo. Much harder to vet (in both directions... you/them & them/you) and I think it's really important for all programs to know they are getting the right guys for their culture (obviously, very important at Liberty).
For the record, 8 of the 29 players on our current roster are shown as being from somewhere outside the US. This does not necessarily mean they were all "recruited internationally". Many foreign athletes come to the US and play their sport in HS first, in which case they are recruited basically the same way as American recruits.

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: December 4th, 2021, 7:27 pm
by flameshaw
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ 8) 8)

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: December 4th, 2021, 8:03 pm
by Purple Haize
I know I’m happy to see what gets put on the pitch next season

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: December 4th, 2021, 9:28 pm
by LU 57
flameshaw wrote: December 4th, 2021, 7:27 pm ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ 8) 8)
Ha. For any other team than LU I agree, but I found myself watching a few games this year. Loved seeing them take down P5s the last couple of years.

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: December 5th, 2021, 1:23 pm
by 47/5-2
olldflame wrote: December 4th, 2021, 7:03 pm
47/5-2 wrote: December 4th, 2021, 4:26 pm
cruzan_flame13 wrote: November 30th, 2021, 1:45 pm By chance, does the soccer program recruit overseas like some if our other programs? Does well for field hockey.
They do. Not as heavily as some programs. Some programs rely almost exclusively on internationals. Lot of advantages to recruiting internationals in the sports that are not able to give everyone athletic money. But there can be some real risks committing your roster fully in that direction imo. Much harder to vet (in both directions... you/them & them/you) and I think it's really important for all programs to know they are getting the right guys for their culture (obviously, very important at Liberty).
For the record, 8 of the 29 players on our current roster are shown as being from somewhere outside the US. This does not necessarily mean they were all "recruited internationally". Many foreign athletes come to the US and play their sport in HS first, in which case they are recruited basically the same way as American recruits.
Eh, for other sports, perhaps. But for men's soccer very few kids are coming here for high school because of soccer. You don't leave the academy systems of England, The Netherlands, Spain, France, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Brazil to come play in the US youth system, and definitely, not high school. The opposite happens.

You may come for educational opportunities or because you have connections, a family that values prestigious education, or a parent that travels to the US a lot for business, etc. There are probably kids at places like The Pennington School, Haverford, Trinity, Georgetown, etc. that happen to be decent soccer players with home addresses still abroad... but most of the internationals you see on Division 1 soccer rosters are just that. Internationals.

The structure in the US is still relatively young. Some of your top clubs have their paws in places like Central America, Columbia, Venezuela, etc. but those kids are being brought in with the anticipation that they will be first team players for those clubs. Schooling is secondary, at best, for most and we can only pluck them from most of those places because the countries themselves are poor, unsafe, etc. My youngest had his hotel set on fire in Columbia a couple months ago. While it will never be proven, it was extremely fishy. Those are places that the US Academies are able to pluck some talent from and be more appealing to a talented player. But again, they are only making that investment if they see first team potential.

The vast majority of kids who are international and end up on college rosters are internationals who were released from academy back home at 17/18 not being offered a professional deal. Some are even much older having gone to college at home and are now taking grad school here. Some have bounced around in semi-pro/lower-level leagues and are just coming to the states to keep playing and get an education.

My oldest has a teammate from Germany who is a 22-year-old freshman. Literally, was working for BMW before being recruited (or seeking opportunity) to come over. Many have agents that place them.

I hosted 3 international players for Thanksgiving, Denmark, Norway, and England. All of them had been released after their amateur contracts expired when they were 17-18. In some ways, they are fortunate. They at least are let go at a time when the idea of taking advantage of their skills and getting a college education is doable.

You ever go to your son's soccer practice and hear several English accents? Often, those are the guys who banged around lower divisions for a bit and got hurt, or just aged out at some point and never took advantage of the American college system. It's not a knock, but they got to their mid-20's and all they had ever known was soccer. So now they are teaching the sport and making their living coaching/training in the US. They can do well doing that... but the guys who got released earlier and took the college route have more career options.

Liberty is a little different then some because you can have missionary kids who buck the mold. But most internationals playing soccer at US Colleges never went to high school here, and often, never set foot on their initial college campuses until they first reported for school.

I did some research a few years ago (I think it was based on 2019 Division 1 Rosters) and a boy had less then 1% of a chance of going to high school and playing soccer in the US and making a Division 1 roster. Forget athletic scholarship money. Simply being on a Division 1 Men's Soccer roster. For reference, baseball was 2.5 times more likely, football was 3.5 times more likely, and lacrosse was 4 times more likely. That's a random sidenote. But I've used that statistic many times with pie in the sky parents here in the States.

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: December 5th, 2021, 1:28 pm
by 47/5-2
Purple Haize wrote: December 4th, 2021, 8:03 pm I know I’m happy to see what gets put on the pitch next season
It should be interesting. It's also going to be interesting to see where we actually play after next year. The conference change certainly puts that up in the air. We could stay as an affiliate in the ASun I suppose. It doesn't look like Conference USA is going to be able to maintain Men's Soccer. Do the Kentucky's of the world stick around? Affiliate in the Sun Belt? Affiliate in the A10? America East (interesting thought to me because they are unbalanced in Men's Soccer)? I don't know. Any thoughts?

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: December 5th, 2021, 1:31 pm
by 47/5-2
LU 57 wrote: December 4th, 2021, 9:28 pm
flameshaw wrote: December 4th, 2021, 7:27 pm ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ 8) 8)
Ha. For any other team than LU I agree, but I found myself watching a few games this year. Loved seeing them take down P5s the last couple of years.
Not a better spectator sport in the world then a top-class soccer/football match. I probably felt the same way as you 30 years ago. But today, I will watch a random soccer match over any other random sport 10 out of 10 times.

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: December 5th, 2021, 1:33 pm
by flameshaw
Purple Haize wrote: December 4th, 2021, 8:03 pm I know I’m happy to see what gets put on the pitch next season
Hey, this thread is for soccer, not baseball. Come on man. :D

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: December 5th, 2021, 1:52 pm
by LU 57
47/5-2 wrote: December 5th, 2021, 1:31 pm
LU 57 wrote: December 4th, 2021, 9:28 pm
flameshaw wrote: December 4th, 2021, 7:27 pm ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ 8) 8)
Ha. For any other team than LU I agree, but I found myself watching a few games this year. Loved seeing them take down P5s the last couple of years.
Not a better spectator sport in the world then a top-class soccer/football match. I probably felt the same way as you 30 years ago. But today, I will watch a random soccer match over any other random sport 10 out of 10 times.
It’s growing on me. My youngest was into Chelsea for a while and I enjoyed watching those games with him.

Definitely impressed with the growth of the LU program.

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: December 5th, 2021, 3:24 pm
by cruzan_flame13
47/5-2 wrote: December 5th, 2021, 1:28 pm
Purple Haize wrote: December 4th, 2021, 8:03 pm I know I’m happy to see what gets put on the pitch next season
It should be interesting. It's also going to be interesting to see where we actually play after next year. The conference change certainly puts that up in the air. We could stay as an affiliate in the ASun I suppose. It doesn't look like Conference USA is going to be able to maintain Men's Soccer. Do the Kentucky's of the world stick around? Affiliate in the Sun Belt? Affiliate in the A10? America East (interesting thought to me because they are unbalanced in Men's Soccer)? I don't know. Any thoughts?
I made a suggestion in the CUSA thread awhile back, but I'm not sure if it is possible. I thought if we could send those teams who may not have a home to the Big East since field hockey was there. I realized that women lacrosse would need a home since CUSA doesn't sponser the sport. Of course that's just an idea because I don't think the Big East needs any more affiliates for those teams. I don't think the ASUN would accept those teams since basketball is the key sport for the conference. I may be wrong though

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: January 25th, 2022, 4:13 pm
by 47/5-2
47/5-2 wrote:A player who has proven he can stick it in the back of the net (you would find him around the top of a recent season in goals scored across D1)... I haven't heard any update on him this week though. I also believe they have picked up a verbal (or are about to) from a very nice attacking player who originally committed elsewhere (High Point) in their '23 class.
A late update on this... the possible transfer ended up going back closer to home (Rutgers). Honestly, watched him play a lil over winter break and was not impressed. I know Rutgers was excited to get him... but I think he's going to struggle to find the field much in the end.

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: January 30th, 2022, 1:47 am
by sstaedtler
Where will men's soccer go? CUSA has few teams. Do they move the Sun Belt which is trying re-establish soccer? Do they go to the MAC which has 7 teams right now?

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: January 30th, 2022, 3:24 am
by Ill flame
sstaedtler wrote: January 30th, 2022, 1:47 am Where will men's soccer go? CUSA has few teams. Do they move the Sun Belt which is trying re-establish soccer? Do they go to the MAC which has 7 teams right now?
Good question. It seems like everything is on the table at this point. There appears to be no bad blood with the asun so I wouldn't rule that out. Based on the link below we should try to join the MAC since they are at 7 teams and are one of the best conferences. MVC is at 6 with loyola Chicago leaving so they will likely also be looking for another team.

What would probably be the best outcome is the 2 c-usa, 4 sunbelt and 2 sec schools joining a conference together. Since 6 of the 8 are already in c-usa it makes the most sense for c-usa to stick together and for liberty and Georgia southern to make the switch. Although with the sunbelt having the most teams I could see them sponsoring soccer and inviting the sec and c-usa schools.

https://www.lflrankings.com/conf.php

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: January 30th, 2022, 8:29 am
by olldflame
I'm not a big fan of having a bunch of sports in different conferences. If C-USA can cobble together enough to be eligible for an automatic bid, I like that, even if it's not as strong a soccer conference as some other options might be.

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: March 31st, 2022, 6:14 pm
by cruzan_flame13
Anyone know who the prospect that committed?


Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: April 1st, 2022, 8:26 am
by olldflame
cruzan_flame13 wrote: March 31st, 2022, 6:14 pm Anyone know who the prospect that committed?

I don't know, but it's an interesting "strategy" by the soccer team to simply announce they have a new commit with no further info, which is totally permissible. If they were to identify the recruit, it would be a violation. It's basically what HF does with "yahtzee', without the inside joke element.

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: April 6th, 2022, 8:57 pm
by BlueBlood
SBC is adding men’s soccer, fall 2022.

James Madison
Marshall
Old Dominion
Coastal Carolina
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
Kentucky
South Carolina
West Virginia

C-USA will be left with only FIU and LU

Where does LU soccer go? Stay ASUN? AAC?

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: April 6th, 2022, 9:29 pm
by Ill flame
Based on geography LU fits like a glove in the sun belt and would bring that conference to 10 members. Based on that we would probably end up in the MAC or something

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: April 7th, 2022, 5:52 pm
by 47/5-2
cruzan_flame13 wrote: March 31st, 2022, 6:14 pm Anyone know who the prospect that committed?

Yes, it's a CB from Charlotte. He's the defensive partner of one of our 2022 commits (Bryce)

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: April 9th, 2022, 3:09 pm
by cruzan_flame13
Some new faces joining the squad:




Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: June 21st, 2022, 4:43 pm
by 47/5-2
I don't know if the Fall scheduled has been brought up here since it was released a while back but a nice visit out to UCLA early in the season. The out of conference schedule includes visits by Radford, Winthrop and Davidson.

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: June 28th, 2022, 11:57 am
by 47/5-2
Away at Maryland has now been added to the early part of the schedule replacing Winthrop.

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: August 15th, 2022, 10:24 am
by 47/5-2
Nice start to the preseason with a 1 nil result against a borderline Top 25 Virginia Tech side. Sure, it's preseason, but it's still a positive imo. Good test coming up on Friday against a very experienced UMBC squad that should be at the top of the America East this season.

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: August 25th, 2022, 10:02 pm
by Purple Haize
3-nil in a feisty game. Always good to get a win.

Re: Men's Soccer- What is needed?

Posted: August 26th, 2022, 9:48 am
by 47/5-2
Purple Haize wrote:3-nil in a feisty game. Always good to get a win.
First 20 minutes were really ugly for Liberty. Radford is in a "rebuilding" phase to put it nicely. We did what we had to from the midway point of the 1st 45 on and college soccer can be ugly. This team has talent (and of course they are veteran heavy despite the classification for some of them) but I have some lingering fears from what I have seen so far.