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2020-21 WF Men's Soccer Thread - Yes, there is a Fall and Spring Soccer Season

did he come up through their youth program?

he's one of my favorites over the past three or so years
 
Why do players sign contracts instead of going through the draft?
 
as a new MLS fan, I'm still trying to learn all the ins and outs of roster construction (see chart below that is a few years old, but you get the picture on how complex it is)

guys can make rosters in a few different ways, but for guys coming out of college with no prior professional experience, there are two main ways:

- Homegrown program, where a guy is associated with a club's developmental program as a youth player and they have first rights to sign them; a player, I believe, can turn this down and enter the draft -- I don't know if there are financial incentives to sign with the Homegrown team, but my instincts say there are

- Draft: guys that did not come up through an MLS team's youth program (e.g. Jack Harrison) or do not want to sign with the one with which they are affiliated, are then draft eligible and can sign with the team that drafts them

Over the last decade or so, the local academies and Homegrown programs have gotten progressively stronger, including more frequently signing guys who are forgoing college in addition to those that go to college for some time before going to the MLS; as this improves, the draft is getting weaker and weaker

C4KQr2nWQAQQAYT
 
@Fayettenam...looks like 5 players enrolled early. Any you expect to contribute in the Spring?

Julian Kennedy
Bo Cummins
Nicolas Mancilla
Ryan Fessler
Trace Alphin
 
The Spring Schedule is out:

Feb 28 - Davidson
Mar 6 - BC
Mar 13 - State
Mar 20 - @ ND
Mar 27 - L'ville
April 2 - @ Clemson
April 9 - @ Cuse

Not sure if there will be a 2nd ACC Tournament, but there is time for one between the last currently scheduled game, and the start of the NCAAs in late April
 
Per theacc.com

- Spring league schedule starts the weekend of March 5-7 (determinations on when to begin practice and participate in any non-conference competition remain at the discretion of each institution).
- Teams will return to two divisions, Atlantic and Coastal, and play five matches within their division as well as one cross-division game.
- The Atlantic Division champion will play the Coastal Division champion at the higher seed on April 13.
- The winner of the divisional champion match will play at Clemson (which won ACC Championship in the fall) to determine the ACC’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament. If Clemson is the Atlantic Division champion, the April 13 match will not be played.
- The NCAA College Cup is scheduled for May 13-17 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.
 
@Fayettenam...looks like 5 players enrolled early. Any you expect to contribute in the Spring?

Julian Kennedy
Bo Cummins
Nicolas Mancilla
Ryan Fessler
Trace Alphin

So if you recall, we had to get creative with lineups and tinker with lineups throughout the fall season due to injuries and exposures and the likes. Moreover, we all know the talent we've lost in Harris, DeShields, McMaster, Pannenberg, Parente, and Chol.

The biggest move here was getting Alphin to campus. While I don't think he's going to come in and start for the spring, you never know. However, McNally looked good in the one half we saw him and was highly rated coming out of HS. But a simple injury or blowout, and Alphin is up. Those are the only two GKs currently on the roster.

So back 4? There are a couple sure starters it seems. Tubbs, Rula, and Benalcazar are clear starters. Now, do we see them all in the back line next year or Tubbs in a pivot in front of the 4, that certainly could happen. But Tubbs brings a huge presence to the back line which is great to have. So that leaves Escribano and Prince as options, both of whom had some really solid moments last year. Cummins coming in though is an interesting prospect. Wake listed him as a midfielder when he signed, but I think he's played left wing back at times. It could be a situation like Gdula where he excels at pressing down the left with a natural left foot, but again, hard to come in and knock some of the other guys down the order.

Midfield, another couple stalwarts in Suzuki and Omar. Now, Omar had some ups and downs last season, but I think the talent is incredible. So, who else is in the mix with them? Does Cummins play with them? Ryan Fessler is another who I actually thought might sign on HG so it's nice to see him there. I think he could be another. And then obviously Jake Swallen who started most matches. Lots to see here, and again, some of these guys might be moved up top to make the right fit.

Up top, clearly all roads go through Holcomb. He's an exceptional talent. Wrona and Thomas certainly could press and play up top, so it'll be interesting to see. Julian Kennedy though might be the guy though with the most likely road to stepping in day 1. What I read on him makes me think he'll fit in as Calvin's replacement. Big sized, athletic, and can score.

In the end, I always try to predict what a day 1 XI looks like and it's always wrong. But, here we go.
-----McNally-----
Escribano-Nico-Tubbs-Rula
Omar---Swallen---Suzuki
Holcomb--Kennedy--Sears
 
Last edited:
This season can't start soon enough...
 
So if you recall, we had to get creative with lineups and tinker with lineups throughout the fall season due to injuries and exposures and the likes. Moreover, we all know the talent we've lost in Harris, DeShields, McMaster, Pannenberg, Parente, and Chol.

The biggest move here was getting Alphin to campus. While I don't think he's going to come in and start for the spring, you never know. However, McNally looked good in the one half we saw him and was highly rated coming out of HS. But a simple injury or blowout, and Alphin is up. Those are the only two GKs currently on the roster.

So back 4? There are a couple sure starters it seems. Tubbs, Rula, and Benalcazar are clear starters. Now, do we see them all in the back line next year or Tubbs in a pivot in front of the 4, that certainly could happen. But Tubbs brings a huge presence to the back line which is great to have. So that leaves Escribano and Prince as options, both of whom had some really solid moments last year. Cummins coming in though is an interesting prospect. Wake listed him as a midfielder when he signed, but I think he's played left wing back at times. It could be a situation like Gdula where he excels at pressing down the left with a natural left foot, but again, hard to come in and knock some of the other guys down the order.

Midfield, another couple stalwarts in Suzuki and Omar. Now, Omar had some ups and downs last season, but I think the talent is incredible. So, who else is in the mix with them? Does Cummins play with them? Ryan Fessler is another who I actually thought might sign on HG so it's nice to see him there. I think he could be another. And then obviously Jake Swallen who started most matches. Lots to see here, and again, some of these guys might be moved up top to make the right fit.

Up top, clearly all roads go through Holcomb. He's an exceptional talent. Wrona and Thomas certainly could press and play up top, so it'll be interesting to see. Julian Kennedy though might be the guy though with the most likely road to stepping in day 1. What I read on him makes me think he'll fit in as Calvin's replacement. Big sized, athletic, and can score.

In the end, I always try to predict what a day 1 XI looks like and it's always wrong. But, here we go.
-----McNally-----
Escribano-Nico-Tubbs-Rula
Omar---Swallen---Suzuki
Holcomb--Kennedy--Sears

Aristotle Zarris?
 
I hope he’s a factor. He has suffered 3 significant knee injuries/surgeries in the last 3 years. He didn’t play the beginning of this year as he continued his recovery. The scar on his knee is gnarly. I hope he challenges for a starting spot and he’s a regular contributor, but hard to know until we see him on the field again.

https://wfuogb.com/9681/sports/mens-soccer-zarris-prepares-for-return-to-field/
 
-----McNally-----
Escribano-Nico-Tubbs-Rula
Omar---Swallen---Suzuki
Holcomb--Kennedy--Sears

So, we lined up in a more traditional 4-4-2 it looked like to start the game, although I thought from first watch we had some people pushing to change that. It was hard to tell as it was pretty fluid.
-----McNally-----
Escribano-Nico-Tubbs-Rula
Swallen-Suzuki-Hernandez-Forbes
Holcomb-----McMaster

So, McMaster was coming off an ACL injury, but was drafted in the first round by Minnesota. Minnesota has allowed him to remain on campus for the 7 game season and miss pre-season in order to rehab from his injury. I guess he hasn't signed yet with an agent or the team, allowing him to remain an amateur. Pretty cool of them.

I thought we played a pretty solid game overall. Some touches here and there you could tell were simply getting back into game speed, and some passes that were a few seconds behind when they should have been played. If we had finished better, the game wouldn't have been close at all. It got to be a little nervy as the game progressed. Suzuki was really elite in the midfield. He seemed to help everyone keep their shape, and I also noticed he was one of the speakers at the half time huddle with the team. Jahlane Forbes was excellent as well. Back 4 were good as were the guys who came into to relieve them. It seemed that Holcomb couldn't quite get into the flow of them game but that may have been a product Davidson never pushing forward with any of their back 4.

BSD has a new writer who is worth a read and follow.
 
So, we lined up in a more traditional 4-4-2 it looked like to start the game, although I thought from first watch we had some people pushing to change that. It was hard to tell as it was pretty fluid.
-----McNally-----
Escribano-Nico-Tubbs-Rula
Swallen-Suzuki-Hernandez-Forbes
Holcomb-----McMaster

So, McMaster was coming off an ACL injury, but was drafted in the first round by Minnesota. Minnesota has allowed him to remain on campus for the 7 game season and miss pre-season in order to rehab from his injury. I guess he hasn't signed yet with an agent or the team, allowing him to remain an amateur. Pretty cool of them.

I thought we played a pretty solid game overall. Some touches here and there you could tell were simply getting back into game speed, and some passes that were a few seconds behind when they should have been played. If we had finished better, the game wouldn't have been close at all. It got to be a little nervy as the game progressed. Suzuki was really elite in the midfield. He seemed to help everyone keep their shape, and I also noticed he was one of the speakers at the half time huddle with the team. Jahlane Forbes was excellent as well. Back 4 were good as were the guys who came into to relieve them. It seemed that Holcomb couldn't quite get into the flow of them game but that may have been a product Davidson never pushing forward with any of their back 4.

BSD has a new writer who is worth a read and follow.

I was really impressed by 26, Colin Thomas, who came on in the second half after an injury. He terrorized Davidson's back line. Even Mrs Siff thought so. Seriously, my wife was like "why is your coach taking 26 off?"
 
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