This article contains my previous week’s travel to Charlottesville, VA, Bronx, NY, Manhattan, NY, Providence, RI, Storrs, CT and Philadelphia, PA. This article includes the following schools: Radford, Virginia, Marist, Fordham, Monmouth, Columbia, Boston University, Brown, Cincinnati, Providence, Saint John’s, Connecticut, Long Island and Pennsylvania.

Next week, I’m watching several top teams in the country including Maryland, Charlotte, Creighton, Saint John’s and Notre Dame while caring for my darling wife who is having knee surgery. So, I’ll be staying close to home between Percocet-induced sleep sessions while I run out to games. Yes, I think she may nominate me for Husband of the Year. As an aside, because she mowed the backyard before her surgery, I wasn’t able to compare Connor Lade to my overgrown grass. Sometimes, she makes my life difficult!

Just a reminder, this year, I’m concentrating on just a few players at each game.

 

Providence, Rhode Island – In a drenching rain, Brown beat Boston University 2-0 in a game that Brown should have put out of reach much earlier than the latter minutes of the second half.

 

F: Dominique Badji

M: Cameron Souri, Ben Berube, Stephen Knox

DM: Vicente Colmenares, Derek McCaffrey

D: Taylor Washington, Sanford Spivey, Kelvin Madzongwe, James Holler

GK: Nick Thompson

F: T.J. Popolizio, Sean Rosa

M: Taylor Gorman, Jack Kuntz, Evan Coleman, Mike Manella

D: Kevin Gavey, Eric Robertson, Ryan McDuff, Alex Markes

GK: Sam Kernan-Schloss

 

Boston University had 2 players that didn’t play that I wanted to watch. Senior Michael Bustamante had a season ending injury in the spring. I expect to see him in 2012. Senior back Colin Henry left the last game in the first half against Massachusetts and did not return.

Senior Stephen Knox is a slender, quick outside midfielder that accelerates rapidly. He plays simply. At times, so predictably, he telegraphs his passes. Early in the second half, he was able to get deep holding off junior Kevin Gavey, but his shot was wide. In the 87th minute, he was able to get on goal, but his shot was wide, again. In the 74th minute, Knox served an accurate cross to Ben Berube in the box who was knocked down but the referee waved off the foul. Knox had a few dodgy touches and he generally helps on both sides of the ball. However, in the 41st minute, he was too slow to get back on weak side defense.

Senior Ben Berube had a chance to tie the game in the 79th minute taking a long ball from sophomore Max White and getting behind the defense. With just the goalkeeper to beat, Berube was stuffed by a superlative effort by junior goalkeeper Sam Kernan-Schloss. Berube was ineffective playing central midfield. He was better when he was trying to get behind the defense. However, I doubt that he is good enough and/or strong enough on the ball for MLS.

Sophomore Kelvin Madzongwe is a tall powerful central defender who tackles hard. At times, his tackles are reckless including earning a yellow for a two-footed tackle. He is tremendous in the air and is satisfactory with the ball. I’d like to see him improve technically and control his aggression appropriately.

Freshman goalkeeper Nick Thomson couldn’t catch a cold. By far, this was the worst goalkeeping performance that I’ve seen this year. Of course, one could blame the conditions, but he was unable to cleanly catch even the easiest struck ball. I am mystified why Boston University would travel all the way to England to get a goalkeeper. This would be like traveling to Brazil for a shortstop. Thomson’s performance helps me understand better how Robert Green could be the best goalkeeper that England could produce for the 2010 World Cup.

 

Like Boston University, Brown was missing several key players from injuries including juniors Thomas McNamara and Dylan Remick with senior Rob Medairos serving a red card suspension.

Senior forward Sean Rosa is a small gritty player who handles the ball exceptionally. He scored the second goal in the 88th minute that clinched the match. On the play, Rosa took a long ball from senior Evan Coleman held onside by freshman Sanford Spivey. Rosa advanced the ball into the box while fending off Madzongwe, before rolling the ball past the goalkeeper.

Rosa adeptly eluded a triple team in the 70th minute. He uses his body well to take on much larger players. He has quick feet. I’d like to see him finish more chances especially when it was obvious that the goalkeeper was struggling.

Senior forward T. J. Popolizio came out of nowhere to capture TopDrawerSoccer.com team of the week honors. While the small forward works hard and he’s a very competent college player, he lacks the skills for the next level. He takes advantage of the opportunities afforded him by the defensive attention to Rosa. Popolizio reminds me of former DC United forward Steve Rammel.

Freshman right back Alex Markes is a good athlete scored the first goal and is pretty good. Markes is someone to keep an eye on in the future.

Providence, Rhode Island – Providence College beat Big East foe Cincinnati 2-0 on a cloudy day with a field that was more akin to a mud pit than a soccer field. With the torrential rains from the night before, postponing the game was a possibility. The field conditions had no impact to the result but hampered play in certain portions of field because of the mud.

 

F: Cole DeNormandie

M: Shamar Shelton, Will Diebold

DM: Emmanuel Appiah, D. J. Albert, Matt Remaley

D: Wyatt Stephens, Sam Klosterman, Alex Hadley, Michael Millay

GK: Joey Barnard

F: Greg Davis

M: Marcos Ugarte, Daniel Fabian, Marc Cintron, Wilder Arboleda

DM: Phil Towler

D: George Hodge, John Raley, Brandon Adler, David Datilus, 

GK: Jhojan Obando

 

Cincinnati must have a terrific weight room, because all of the players are thick and strong. I was looking to watch junior Roger Thompson, but he’s been out for almost the whole season with an injury.

Junior Shamar Shelton was the best Cincinnati attacking weapon. With his quick feet and his confidence on the shot, he’s willing to take on defenders and unleash shots – at times too willingly. He lacks a right foot, but his left is fairly good. His long free kicks are inconsistent. In the 5th minute, his 40 yard free kick was struck impotently rolling toward the goal. However, in the 24th minute, he hit a much better free kick. Shelton served an outstanding cross to junior Leon Powell on the far post, but sophomore George Hodge was able to put up a flying boot to deflect the cross. I surmise that Shelton doesn’t trust his teammates, because he seems to be content trying to play by himself.

Senior Sam Klosterman is playing center back because of the injury to Roger Thompson rather than his normal left back. Klosterman is a solid tackler and he is a pretty good in the air. Klosterman’s passing is poor. In the 18th minute, he headed a ball back toward the goalkeeper after the goalkeeper called for it, almost resulting in an own goal. Klosterman is willing to get over to cut off passing lanes. 

Freshman Emmanuel Appiah doesn’t play like a freshman. He is too composed on the ball. Appiah has a good feel of the game and he makes quick decisions and distributes the ball quickly. In the 20th minute, he reset the attack changing the point with a single touch. Appiah is a slick tackler, not making the big hit, but deftly dispossessing opponents. Appiah likes to sit deep, and he’s too good not to be assertive in the attack. I noticed this in the first half, and he seemed to get forward for awhile, but slowly shifted to his more comfortable deep position.

 

I was happy to see that junior Marc Cintron has returned from a broken foot, playing 3 games in the previous 10 days. The rust is obvious – but so is the talent. If he keeps working hard, I expect that he will have an impact on the Big East tournament this year like he had in 2010. It’s the small touches where he softens a hard pass that I see the skill, but I attribute the off-target pass to be rust.

Senior Daniel Fabian has an unbelievable motor, but I like how the Providence coaching staff continues to push him for more. His game deteriorated as the half progressed – I suspect that it was to the previously mentioned 3 games in 10 days. Additionally, Fabian does a lot of the running for Cintron. I really like Fabian’s attitude. For example, in the 9th minute, Fabian made a poor play. He immediately hustled back to steal the ball from Shamar Shelton. Fabian wins more than his share of 50/50 balls.

Fabian started the play that led to the second goal with a steal. Providence methodically worked the ball eventually senior right back David Datilus crossed the ball find freshman Marcos Ugarte flashing to the near post to tap in the cross. This was Ugarte’s second goal of the game. Late in the second half, Fabian and sophomore Danny Mortemore got involved throwing forearms at each other in the Providence box before a corner kick. Fabian can’t get involved with this type of re-action given the crucial role that he plays for Providence.

At half-time, I wrote in my notes, Ugarte is a very technical small player that knows how to play the game. I guess it’s not too surprising after he scored 2 goals.

Senior David Datilus played right back with senior John Raley starting in the center whereas Datilus played center back against Sacred Heart. Datilus held his own with the challenging quick Shamar Shelton. At halftime, I noted that Datilus needed to get forward more often which he did. As part of the Providence tactical adjustment, they wanted to get more width which included having the wide backs getting forward.

Datilus had several forays into the attack including in the 55th minute, he combined with Cintron before unleashing a cross to junior Keith Jecewiz whose effort was blocked. I think that Datilus deserves a shot at the MLS combine.

Storrs, Connecticut – On a very humid c evening, Connecticut beat Saint John’s in their first 2011 Big East match for these 2 teams that both had almost flawless records. After losing to Maryland in their first game, Saint John’s has not allowed a goal to be scored against them. Connecticut had a perfect 7-0 record while only allowing 2 goals in these 7 matches.

While Connecticut has better talented players, Saint John’s was tactically superior.

 

F: Jimmy Mulligan

M: Jack Bennett, Walter Hines, Adrian L’Esperance

DM: Jamie Thomas, Pablo Battuto Punyed

D: Chris Lebo, Ido Ligety, Connor Lade, Tim Parker

GK: Rafael Diaz

F: Mamadou Doudou Diouf

M: Stephane Diop, Carlos Alvarez, Tony Cascio

DM: Colin Bradley, Jossimar Sanchez

D: Max Wasserman, Michael Mercado, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Nickardo Blake

GK: Andre Blake

 

Saint John’s pressured the ball high forcing Connecticut to rush their passing and turn the ball over.

Senior Connor Lade may be the shortest center back in college soccer. Surprisingly, he won several headers including against the much taller sophomore Mamadou Doudou Diouf. Lade even headed away a 60 yard punt in the 37th minute. Lade has good foot speed and a terrific engine – I think a Yamaha 125cc.

Senior Walter Hines was much more effective playing in the midfield than when I’ve seen him playing up top. With his quickness and skill, he was able to get the ball and cause havoc in the Connecticut defense. Getting Hines’ more touches, provides better opportunities for Saint John’s. Hines hung a cross high in the 37th minute allowing the Connecticut goalkeeper to snag the harmless cross.

 

 

Connecticut has 4 professional caliber attacking players in their starting line-up. Additionally, they have several more quality players in the back.

Sophomore attacking midfielder Carlos Alvarez has gotten bigger and stronger. He is technically adept with both feet. I was told by a Connecticut supporter that Alvarez doesn’t have any defensive responsibilities. However, Alvarez made 2 long runs to stop a Saint John’s transitional attack. I see this as tremendous progress.

Alvarez hit a 35 yard free kick that found freshman Allando Matheson in the box in the 74th minute that Matheson headed in from 7 yards. Alvarez served in another accurate free kick to senior Tony Cascio in the 80th minute but the goalkeeper was able to tip it wide.

In the 72nd minute, Alvarez smartly predicted that Chris Lebo was going to win a header. Instead of futilely challenging the header, Alvarez backed off and picked off Lebo’s header, but his ensuing shot was blocked for a Connecticut corner kick.

Alvarez has a bright future. Click here to here our recent College Soccer Review interview with Carlos.

Sophomore Mamadou Doudou Diouf scored the second goal in the 90th minute. On the play, Saint John’s was hurriedly threw the ball in and junior Stephane Diop tracked down the ball serving in a long ball that Diouf was able to pop past the goal keeper from near the side line.

Diouf is skillful and athletic. I was most impressed with his attitude and his mastery of English. He’s very well spoken expressing a mature outlook on the importance of focusing on the task at hand before prematurely worrying about games far in the future.

Diouf doesn’t play strong enough. He is knocked off the ball too easily. Additionally, I was surprised that he allowed the diminutive Lade to beat him in the air.

In the 78th minute, he beat freshman right back Tim Parker on the dribble, but his left footed shot was far off-target.

Junior Stephane Diop is a tall, powerful, swift midfielder. He is ready for MLS, now. His passing, dribbling and heading are all professional quality. In the 52nd minute, he beat 3 defenders before finding an open teammate. In the 78th minute, he took a long throw from his goal keeper, powering down the sideline before crossing to Matheson who took a soft shot directly at the Saint John’s goal keeper.

Senior Tony Cascio (presumably a Real Salt Lake academy product – don’t know how that worked) seems to have gotten taller. His performance was mixed. In the 15th minute, he dribbled hard to the end line, and his cross allowed Diouf to side volley a shot that was just wide. Cascio made a nice tackle in the 68th minute but his subsequent pass was poor. In the 69th minute, he received a pass from Alvarez taking 3 touches before unleashing a left footed shot that was wide.

I need to watch senior right back Nickardo Blake more closely next time. He’s a big guy who aggressively motors up the right side. He’s pretty good. He transferred into Connecticut last year from East Central Junior College.

Philadelphia, PA – Pennsylvania crushed Long Island 4-1 in a match that was postponed to later on Sunday after dowsing rain forced Friday’s night match to be postponed until Saturday

 

F: Rommel Forde

M: Nik Conklin, Josh Maley, Nick Cavaretta, Steve Jakubowski

DM: Elliott Kane

D: Andre LeBlanc, Dan Sauerhoff, Leis Kory, Rob Schroback

GK: Adam Janssen

F: Stephen Baker

W/D F: Christian Barreiro

M: Duke Lacroix, Nick Unger, Louis Schott, Travis Cantrell

D: Nicky Yin, Thomas Brandt, Jake Levin, Jonny Dolezal

GK: Max Kurtzman

 

While I came to watch seniors Steve Jakubowski and Nik Conklin, I came away more impressed with senior Rommel Forde and freshman Nick Cavaretta.

Conklin has unbridled speed and a superior left leg, but he doesn’t hit targets on the cross. This deficiency can be because he lacks vision or that his crosses were far off-target.

Jakubowski is a strong, sturdy player that can power through lesser tacklers. He’s a good player, but there are better players on other teams. 

Forde is the dangerous attacking option with above average speed. His passing and trapping are sloppy, but given sufficient space, he can gather the ball and get deep into the attacking zone.

Cavaretta has interesting skills and a nose for the ball. He’s small, but savvy.

 

Senior Jake Levin has been a pleasure to watch grow and mature from a skinny gangly freshman into a solid, strong center back. He is a verifiable talented center back and he’s worth watching this year at Penn before he’s a professional next year.

Levin is unbeatable in the air and he is apt to step into the passing lanes. He was able to mark the quick Rommel Forde 1v1. Levin puts his body on the line to block shots. In the 50th minute, he quickly stepped around his mark to win the ball from a throw-in.

Senior Christian Barreiro is extremely technical with above average vision. He’s a tremendous passer and he’s the key for generating the attack. Barreiro gets easily frustrated with his teammates. In the 40th minute, Barreiro at full speed was able to feint and jive before taking a shot that was blocked.

Senior Thomas Brandt is an adequate college defender but lacks enough up-side for the next level. He lacks the size of Levin, the speed of freshman Duke Lacroix or the skill of Barreiro. 

Lacroix is an interesting prospect who scored 2 goals that I’ll need to watch over the next few years.