RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
Posts: 4,602
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Post by RusskyHoya on Apr 10, 2021 9:05:03 GMT -5
Home field advantage on the line today:
This is less than ideal:
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SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 18,298
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Post by SSHoya on Apr 10, 2021 15:25:49 GMT -5
1-0 Hoyas lead at the half.
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Elvado
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,481
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Post by Elvado on Apr 10, 2021 15:48:24 GMT -5
Should have had aPK early second. Ref somehow missed blatant handball.
In full control but need to add on.
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RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
Posts: 4,602
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Post by RusskyHoya on Apr 10, 2021 15:59:21 GMT -5
Cheeky cheeky
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RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
Posts: 4,602
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Post by RusskyHoya on Apr 10, 2021 16:56:16 GMT -5
Kind of an uneven performance - would've liked more goals against a St. John's team missing 9 players, and conceding the penalty late in the game was tough. Huge props to "G" - as Polvara called him in the post-game interview - for making the save to preserve the win.
Having said that, Belson can be a tough place to play with the roof turf and the weird wind patterns. Our demolition of St. John's there last season was when I first really started feeling like we could go all the way. So you take the win and the experience of the new normal sans Montes and Rio and you go from here.
Great to play host to the Big East tournament once more, where we do so well on the fast Shaw grass. It will be tough to not have that for the NCAA Tournament... although I assume all of the host locations in the Tarheel State are also grass.
I enjoyed Spiro Dedes busting out the authentic Greek pronunciation for all things related to Giannis.
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DanMcQ
Moderator
Posts: 30,547
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Post by DanMcQ on Apr 11, 2021 8:36:16 GMT -5
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DanMcQ
Moderator
Posts: 30,547
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Post by DanMcQ on Apr 11, 2021 8:46:58 GMT -5
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Elvado
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,481
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Post by Elvado on Apr 11, 2021 10:27:27 GMT -5
Classy exit from a very classy player and person.
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RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
Posts: 4,602
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Post by RusskyHoya on Apr 11, 2021 13:00:17 GMT -5
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hoyaduck
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Hoya Saxa
Posts: 1,447
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Post by hoyaduck on Apr 12, 2021 13:20:20 GMT -5
Clemson fell from #1 to #3 in the national coaches' poll last week. Georgetown stayed at #2 and Pitt jumped to #1. Clemson dropped another game this past week, while the Hoyas and Pitt won theirs, so that order should remain the same with the possibility of Clemson falling more. It looks like the ACC is skipping straight to a final for the ACC crown with Pitt traveling to Clemson for the game. It's too bad the Hoyas weren't able to get that exhibition game in against Pitt early in the season.
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RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
Posts: 4,602
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Post by RusskyHoya on Apr 12, 2021 14:06:20 GMT -5
Clemson fell from #1 to #3 in the national coaches' poll last week. Georgetown stayed at #2 and Pitt jumped to #1. Clemson dropped another game this past week, while the Hoyas and Pitt won theirs, so that order should remain the same with the possibility of Clemson falling more. It looks like the ACC is skipping straight to a final for the ACC crown with Pitt traveling to Clemson for the game. It's too bad the Hoyas weren't able to get that exhibition game in against Pitt early in the season. I would certainly enjoy giving "If you can't go to college, go to Pitt! *Clap!* *Clap!*" and their throws-his-team-under-the-bus coach another thrashing like last time. He's clearly a very good coach and has propelled the program to new heights, but he seems badly in need of an attitude adjustment. Yeah, this jumped out at me... really, coach? You're gonna say that your team rolled over and not shoulder any of the responsibility yourself? Or emphasize the positive, since it was the most successful season in your program's entire history? Or give any credit to your opponent? That's a big yikes from me, dawg.
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RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
Posts: 4,602
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Post by RusskyHoya on Apr 14, 2021 14:28:30 GMT -5
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BSM
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 489
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Post by BSM on Apr 14, 2021 14:55:25 GMT -5
I know we've lost Montes and Rio. Creighton, Marquette or SH lose players going into the Big East?
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Elvado
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,481
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Post by Elvado on Apr 14, 2021 15:07:46 GMT -5
The consistent underrating of Sean Zawadzki is maddening.
He is the fulcrum on which this team turns and its truly indispensable piece.
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RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
Posts: 4,602
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Post by RusskyHoya on Apr 14, 2021 19:16:04 GMT -5
I know we've lost Montes and Rio. Creighton, Marquette or SH lose players going into the Big East? The only player from any of those three schools taken in the SuperDraft was just-crowned Big East Offensive Player of the Year Diego Gutierrez of Creighton, taken by Timbers with the 70th pick. Not only is he playing out this season... he's going to play in the fall as well! With the Timbers 2 on hiatus for the 2021 USL campaign, I guess they figured it was better for his development to have him continue logging beaucoup competitive minutes in college. Seton Hall took home Coaching Staff of the Year honors for taking a squad with no one remotely looking like an MLS draft pick, picked to finished next to last in the division, all the way to a #11 national ranking. The consistent underrating of Sean Zawadzki is maddening. He is the fulcrum on which this team turns and its truly indispensable piece. I felt the same way about Chloe Knott on the women's 2016 College Cup team and Grace Nguyen on the 2018 edition. Low on stats, extremely high on impact. Also... a continuing pet peeve of mine... you would think that with these awards being voted on the coaches, it would be more balanced, recognizing the vital contributions of every position. 6 forwards, 3 mids, 3 fullbacks? When was the last time you saw a soccer team roll out a 3-3-6 formation?! Come on' man.
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Elvado
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,481
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Post by Elvado on Apr 15, 2021 11:00:43 GMT -5
Feared this would happen.
No Dodson as MLS has come calling yet again.
Next man up!!!
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Elvado
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,481
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Post by Elvado on Apr 15, 2021 12:08:33 GMT -5
Scoreless at the half.
Creighton had the better of the game.
The manpower loss is hurting the Hoyas. Zawadzki is fine in central defense but there is no Zawadzki to replace him as a holding midfielder.
We need more from Rivière in half 2
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Elvado
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,481
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Post by Elvado on Apr 15, 2021 12:55:39 GMT -5
1-0 Hoyas.
5 to go.
Joe DaLuz w first career goal.
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Elvado
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,481
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Post by Elvado on Apr 15, 2021 13:03:53 GMT -5
1-0.
Rest up for Saturday boys.
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RusskyHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
In Soviet Russia, Hoya Blue Bleeds You!
Posts: 4,602
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Post by RusskyHoya on Apr 15, 2021 13:29:25 GMT -5
Hard to what was the proportion of:
1. Figuring out how to play without Dodson for the first time 2. The missing Michael Bradley-like central distributor now that Zawa is on the backline, as astutely noted by Elvado 3. Looking past Creighton and toward the final, whereas Creighton was jazzed just to be here 4. Creighton just plain being a good, strong program with very good coaching and gameplanning and a high-effort, play-the-right-way culture
This is where I would remind everyone that Creighton tied us at Shaw in the regular season finale in 2019, as we were on our way to the national title while they finished the year 8-7-2 following a first-round exit in the Big East tourney. Even when they're not at their best, they are a tough out.
Regardless of the exact proportion, it all made for a nervy afternoon. Our depth is what probably saved us here - Creighton wore down in the second half, had some cramping issues and generally could not track all over the field as well as they did in the first half. That opened the game up, which plays to our strength on our home field (I enjoyed the "DEAL WITH GRASS" key to the game for Creighton on the broadcast).
A lot of times the semifinal is the toughest match - see again 2019, when it required a 4-3 PK differential for us to surmount Butler. Let's hope that proves to be the case here as well.
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