Marius HammersmarkJoe's Big Board Hits Carolina - Part 2
September 8, 2011
Part 2 in a 2-part series. Click here for Part 1.
As James Taylor wrote, “In my mind I'm goin' to Carolina”
This article contains my previous week’s travel to Washington DC, College Park, Maryland, Fairfax, Virginia for the DC Cup, North Carolina for the Duke tournament, Rock Hill, South Carolina for the Big South/Southern showdown and to Chapel Hill, North Carolina for an early preview to a possible College Cup match-up. Unfortunately, an early season battle between 2 Big South contenders, Liberty and High Point, was postponed because of Hurricane Lee. This article includes the following schools: Georgetown, Virginia Commonwealth, West Virginia, Maryland, American, George Washington, Howard, George Mason, North Carolina State, Southern Methodist, UCSB, Duke, Georgia Southern, Gardner-Webb, Wofford, Winthrop, Louisville and North Carolina.
Next week, I’m traveling to New England for the Dartmouth tournament.
Just a reminder, this year, I’m concentrating on just a few players at each game.
Rock Hill, SC – In the early game of the “Battle of the South Conferences” or as I’m suggesting, “Battle of the Grits”, Georgia Southern from the Southern conference and Gardner-Webb from the Big South conference tied 1-1.
Starting Line-ups:
Gardner-Webb: 4-2-3-1
F: Ernesto Gaita
M: Richie Wall, Chris Davis, Chijioke Akujuobi
DM: Jovan Ivanovich, Eric Asanin-Miroux
D: Eric Yeager, Julian Morris, Jon Ole Reinhardsen, Marius Hammersmark
GK: Scott Krotee
Georgia Southern: 4-2-3-1
F: Witt Carlisle
M: Ethan LaPan, Luigi Clendening, David Vargas Masis
DM: Mathew Brennan, Hunter Norton
D: Drew Ruggles, Thomas Valikonis, Trent Doty, Nick Lane
GK: Ryan Platt
Gardner-Webb Observations:
Because of junior defensive midfielder John Sargent’s head butt ejection in the previous game, Jovan Ivanovich replaced him from his normal center back position. Ivanovich is not well equipped to play defensive midfield. I’ve seen more energy from cows in a Texas pasture in August than what Ivanovich exhibited on Saturday. He walks with authority. He is a big kid, good in the air and he is a very good passer. Ivanovich had a high ball go over his head.
Marius HammersmarkHowever, both junior Jon Ole Reinhardsen and Marius Hammersmark were more impressive on the ball. Reinhardsen actively switched with Ivanovich to get forward. He was pretty good doing this. Hammersmark is competent on corner kicks. These 2 are very interesting.
Sophomore Chijioke Akujuobi is exceptionally quick, but can’t play the ball accurately at this top speed. If he could, he’d be as dangerous as Dane Richards (New York Red Bulls).
Georgia Southern Observations:
Georgia Southern has some talented attackers but many of these players don’t commit to defend. The worst offender is freshman midfielder David Vargas Masis. He’s happy going forward. He’s quite proficient on the ball. In the 68th minute, Masis split 2 defenders with a pass in the box.
Senior Luigi Clendening is a tiny forward with quick dribbling moves. Despite his stature, he’s quite strong holding off the much larger opponent Ivanovich. In the 89th minute, he deftly brought the ball down off his chest.
Sophomore Ethan LaPan is extremely fast. He is the exception for playing on both sides of the ball. LaPan started the play that led to the goal getting the ball to Clendening in the box. Clendening made a quick turn squaring the ball across the top of the box to Witt Carlisle who took a shot against the grain into the lower left side of the net for the goal in the 86th minute.
LaPan is a good passer who makes aggressive runs.
Rock Hill, SC – In the championship game of the “Battle of the Grits”, Winthrop came back to force overtime and eventually win the game and tournament on an own goal 3-2 over Wofford.
Starting Line-ups:
Wofford: 4-1-4-1
F: Dennis Moore
M: Ethan Miller, Carlos Dominguez Gonzalez, Alex Hutchins, Turner Almond
DM: Bryan Eddy
D: Ryan Hurst, Forrest Lasso, Billy Padula, Taylor Grim
GK: Zach Woolever
Winthrop: 4-2-3-1
F: Alex Mantchev
M: Akeem Matthews, Tomas Brennan, Mpumelelo Matutu
DM: Alex Isern, Adam Brundle
D: Josh Mort, Grady Trimble, Josh Choice, Daniel Di Biagio
GK: Enrique Miranda
Wofford Observations:
Wofford is a nice team with layers of interesting players.
Freshman Carlos Dominguez Gonzalez opened the scoring in the 11th minute after junior Ethan Miller sent in a cross that freshman Forrest Lasso flicked on to the back post and Gonzalez finished. Gonzalez played defense like Kyle Nakazawa. In the first half, he played like UCLA Nakazawa, lackadaisical without effort to get back and not battling in the air. I was ready to write him off. But in the second half, he played like the Philly Union Nakazawa after having Piotr Nowak ride him for a year. He raised his level of defensive awareness and intensity. Now, if he can maintain that level, he could be a good player.
Dennis MooreSenior Bryan Eddy is an interesting player. He lacks speed and athleticism, but he reminds me of Brian Carroll. He reads the game quickly and he doesn’t make many mistakes. In the 30th minute, he showed too much of the ball with an outside of the foot dribble. But, he immediately won the ball back with his tenacity.
Eddy is a smart player who is composed in the midst of chaos. I’d need to watch him more to see if he can overcome his athletic deficiencies.
Sophomore Dennis Moore is an exciting forward with quick feet and explosive speed. He scored the second goal in the 25th minute. The play started with Moore and junior Alex Hutchins combining before Hutchins unleashed a shot that the goalkeeper blocked but it bounded onto Moore’s foot and he finished from just outside the box. Moore is a good passer, but he had a few with just too much spice. He is composed on the ball.
Winthrop Observations:
Junior forward Alex Mantchev is a soccer enigma. He is a big man who looks like he’s running a refrigerator on his back. He’s a lazy player, but he has a nose for the goal. If he wanders into an open space he is apt to finish his chances. A forward that scores can be irreplaceable. However, a forward that doesn’t work hard isn’t worth having around. It’s an enigma. I expect that if he continues he’ll shine in a professional league, maybe Thailand (kapun krahp – thank you), because professional teams in good leagues won’t waste their time on him.
At half time, Mantchev changed his banana shoes to black shoes, but he didn’t change his work rate. Mantchev’s first goal was scored in the 65th minute. The play started with senior Matt Horn got the ball forward to freshman Mpumelelo Matutu finding Mantchev who quickly turned and blasted the ball into the back of the net. Mantchev is tall, but plays much smaller in the air.
In the 84th minute, Mantchev tied the game sending it into overtime. On this play, freshman Akeem Matthews did the hard work, blazing from the sideline centrally eluding the defenders like cones before getting the ball wide to junior Alex Isern who crushed the ball off the post and it landed at Mantchev’s foot and he buried the opportunity.
Freshman Akeem Matthews is the real deal. He has explosive speed matched with tight footwork on the dribble and passing. He’s small, but strong. If he continues to work hard, I suspect that he’ll be a professional in a few years.
Matutu has potential as well, but he wasn’t near as dominating as Matthews.
This game had the perfect prototypical goalkeeper. Unfortunately, it was a combination of both goalkeepers. Winthrop’s junior Enrique Miranda has the physique, but makes too many mistakes – i.e., punching the ball when he could catch. While Wofford’s freshman Zach Woolever has good instincts and makes plays, but he may be the shortest goalkeeper in college soccer. Wofford has him listed as 5’ 7” – I assume that is in clogs (Elton John 1970’s platform shoes, perhaps).
Durham, NC – UCSB scored an early goal which was sufficient for the 1-0 victory over North Carolina State though the score could have been much worse.
Starting Line-ups:
UCSB: 4-3-3
F: Sam Garza, David Opoku, Dom Sarle
M: Luis Silva, Fifi Baiden, Josue Madueno
D: James Kiffe, Peter Schmetz, Tim Pontius, Mathew Glodack
GK: Andre Grandt
North Carolina State: 4-4-2
F: Nazmi Albadawi, Jaibat Nader
M: Monbo Bokar, Ollie Kelly, Ryan Metts, Matt Ingram
D: Gbenga Makinde, Moritz Steidten, Simon Cox, Justin Willis
GK: Fabian Otte
UCSB Observations:
Sophomore David Opoku continues to impress; fans in Santa Barbara are very fortunate to see him play regularly. He softly hit on the volley a 40 yard pass from Tim Pontius into the goal in the 16th minute for the only score in the game. Tremendous control. We’ve all seen players crush the ball on the volley into the parking lot. This shot had a flat trajectory that would have been on goal from 40 yards.
Luis SilvaI took another look at senior Luis Silva, because this will be my last chance to see him live. Silva had a wealth of set pieces around the box. He served them into good positions, finding his team mates but they weren’t able to convert. Silva even blasted one but the goal keeper was able to repel the effort.
In the 53rd minute, Silva air dribbled junior Moritz Steidten. Silva is a good player.
Senior left back James Kiffe is an adequate college left back. I like how he gets up the left side and he’s a good crosser. He has average speed and 1v1 tackling ability – competent but nothing special. In the 39th minute, he lost a physical challenge and sophomore John Lung’aho ran over him. Kiffe steps into passing lanes.
Junior Josue Madueno is an intriguing player. He’s very technical with soft feet. In the second minute, he feinted and moved around a Duke defender. Madueno uses his quick feet on defense to block passes and crosses. Madueno cycled over to a more traditional right midfield to provide more coverage to the right back with the injury to regular right back Peter McGlynn. Madueno is small which may impact what teams will be interested in him. But, he’s smart on the ball and I believe some teams will be rewarded by utilizing his talents.
North Carolina State Observations:
After the match between North Carolina State and Southern Methodist, I asked about sophomore center back Sonny Mukungu’s absence. I was informed by Coach Kelly Findley that Mukungu is not injured and he is a fantastic kid, but he has 2 talented players in front of him.
Mukungu was inserted into the line-up in the 65th minute. He looked awkward and tentative. He’s best playing a free role not responsible for marking anyone specific, but reacting to where he’s needed. Marking 1v1 is inconsistent – sometimes good, but against quick players can be dicey. Mukungu is exceptional in the air.
Mukungu needs to play better tactical defense and work on his defensive foot work and his foot skills on the ball.
The starting center backs junior Moritz Steidten and freshman Simon Cox are adequate in the air, but not exceptional. But both are better with the ball at their feet than Mukungu. If Findley wants to work the ball out of the back, these two are more proficient for this tactic. However, North Carolina State is terrible defending set pieces (too soft) and the infusion of Mukungu could help.
Additionally, both Steidten and Cox both give ground and without sufficient defensive midfield support, it opens a gap in the middle of this triangle. Findley solved this by inserting Mukungu into the back and pushing Steidten into the defensive midfield. This seemed to solve the problem.
Steidten has capable balls skills and he’s a big strong midfielder that was sorely missing.
Durham, NC – Duke lost another game in over-time, this time to Southern Methodist 1-0. Duke is better than their 1-3 record would indicate, but they are going to need to get results if they want to be playing in the NCAA tournament.
Starting Line-ups:
Southern Methodist: 4-4-2
F: Arthur Ivo, Juan Castillo
M: Robbie Derschang, Zach Barnes, T. J. Nelson, Damian Rosales
D: Diogo de Almeida, Aaron Simmons, Adam Still, Ian Kalis
GK: Jaime Ibarra
Duke: 4-4-2
F: Andrew Wenger, Christopher Tweed-Kent
M: Daniel Tweed-Kent, Andrew Morales, Nick Palodichuk, Rob Dolot
D: Jonathan Aguirre, Nat Eggleston, Sebastien Ibeagha, Alex Sauciuc
GK: James Belshaw
Southern Methodist Observations:
Sophomore Juan Castillo was much better today than he was on Friday. Perhaps, he shines in the heat and humidity of the North Carolina afternoon.
In the 94th minute after a scramble in the box, Castillo was able to get the ball to the deep side and senior Arthur Ivo buried it with his left foot from 14 yards.
Juan CastilloFreshman center back Aaron Simmons is a solid defender. He’s quick, good in the air and is tactically strong on defense. In the 25th minute, he provided correct instructions to sophomore Robbie Derschang when left back Diogo de Almeida was caught up the field. Good leadership from a freshman; this was very surprising.
Simmons and defensive midfielder junior T. J. Nelson work effectively together. Nelson is a smart player who reads the game quickly and has the technical skills to initiate the attack. In the 13th minute, he slickly stole the ball and blasted a low hard shot.
Both Nelson and Simmons are slight players of average height.
Derschang can be dangerous with a quick first step and the ability to take the ball into the box.
Duke Observations:
After playing center back on Friday, junior Andrew Wenger played forward against Southern Methodist with sophomore center back Sebastien Ibeagha returning from suspension. Wenger is pure class. For example, he noticed that Ibeagha was tying his shoe, so he hustled back to the defense to prevent trouble.
He is a complete ball player who does everything well, but he doesn’t have anything that is super-special (e.g., speed, height, power in the air, dribbling, shooting, etc.). However, I’m still comfortable rating Wenger as the best non-senior in the country.
Like many others, Andrew Morales wasn’t as sharp on Sunday after playing noticeably better on Friday. Morales is calm on the ball – remarkably calm for a freshman. He closes quickly and he has instincts that aren’t indicative of his age. In the 60th minute, he dribbled a corner kick harmlessly across the box. Morales has a bright future.
After having a head-turning Friday evening, senior Christopher Tweed-Kent played at a level that I’ve come to expect. It’s not bad, but his turns weren’t as sharp nor was he exploding out of these turns. In the 70th minute, Wenger delivered a cross right onto his foot, but Tweed-Kent didn’t finish. Minutes later, Tweed-Kent returned the favor but Wenger took a poor right footed shot (Wenger’s a natural lefty).
Chapel Hill, North Carolina – With several professional teams scouting this contest between the consensus #1 and #2 teams in the country, North Carolina beat Louisville 2-1.
Louisville didn’t play well. They’ve played much better over the past couple of weeks. Prior to this match, Louisville had not conceded a goal and had won every match to this point 2-0. If they would have done this again, I was prepared to vigorously propose that Louisville changes their names from the Cardinals to the “Dos-a-ceros”.
Both teams were missing a key defender because of a minor injury, Chase Rodgers (Louisville) and Drew McKinney (North Carolina).
Starting Line-ups:
Louisville: 4-2-3-1
F: Colin Rolfe
M: Nick DeLeon, Will Vitalis, Ryan Smith
DM: Kenney Walker, Paolo DelPiccolo
D: Greg Cochrane, Andrew Farrell, Austin Berry, Brock Granger
GK: Andre Boudreaux
North Carolina: 4-4-2
F: Ben Speas, Billy Schuler, Rob Lovejoy
M: Miguel Lopez, Enzo Martinez, Kirk Urso,
D: Jordan Gafa, Matt Hedges, Boyd Okwuonu, Jordan McCrary
GK: Scott Goodwin
Louisville Observations:
Senior Nick DeLeon scored against the run of play, momentarily stunning North Carolina, in the 34th minute. DeLeon softly received a long ball from senior Kenney Walker from midfield. DeLeon expertly brought the ball down and rolled it past North Carolina goalkeeper Scott Goodwin from 15 yards.
Senior Colin Rolfe was neutralized by senior defender Matt Hedges. Rolfe was ineffectual for much of the evening.
Billy SchulerBerry and North Carolina senior Matt Hedges are two of the best center backs in the country. I enjoyed the contest and the contrast between them. They marked each other on set pieces. Berry is a tad shorter, but much bigger (even though he lost some weight and looks good) than Hedges. In the air, they neutralized each other.
North Carolina Observations:
Red-shirt junior Billy Schuler is back. After suffering from a season-ending shoulder injury last year, he hasn’t missed a step. His dribbling is superb like he has the ball on a string attached to his feet. He erupts from coverage using his quickness. Schuler is a tremendous passer, but he’s willing to take responsibility for scoring.
In the 74th minute, Schuler scored the game winner after Lovejoy played ball into the corner for junior Enzo Martinez who dropped the ball to Schuler. Schuler sliced through into the box and slotted the ball past the goalkeeper. Schuler complements his quickness with a strong physique although not a tall player.
Senior Matt Hedges is outstanding tracking the ball in the air. He has a knack for being at the right spot at the right time. I like the way he reads the game, anticipating the play and where he needs to be – like a mind reader. Hedges is easy to overlook, because he makes things look so easy. He plays simply passing the ball to his open defensive midfielders. Hedges had a good battle against Austin Berry. I expect that these two will have many more battles in the future, but this was the first time that I’ve been privileged to see.
Senior Kirk Urso stabilized the defensive midfield. He’s a tall, strong player with a lethal right foot. Urso is willing to make a hard tackle. With his pedigree and talent, I’d be hard pressed not to consider that he has professional potential. But, I need to see him again, because he does a lot of the dirty work and I need to assess his tactical understanding on both sides of the ball more thoroughly – more an indication of an incomplete of me, not Urso.
Headlines
- Recruiting Roundup: April 21-27
- 2025 Women's Division I Transfer Tracker
- How Do I Get Scouted by TopDrawerSoccer?
- U14 BNT Central Regional ID Camp
-
Midwest High School Roundup - April
- TopDrawerSoccer TeamRank Update - Boys
-
Commitments: Santa Barbara Dreaming
- TDS Girls Regional Rankings: Class of 2028
-
ECNL Boys Texas U16 Players to Watch
-
Women's America East Breakout Candidates
IMG Academy Top 200/150 Rankings
