Disappointing season

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

8 returning starters from an NCAA Championship team and an influx of an All-American MFer and a very talented CFer, yet we're bumbling through this season like a team who may have to sweat it out on selection day and certainly won't have more than one home match, if that many, if we're fortunate to make the playoffs.

Other than the first 20 minutes or so, Notre Dame was by far the better team. Certainly not the season I expected, and certainly not what the players and coaches could've anticipated either. I wonder if there are any chemistry issues....or if the 2 defensive positions we're replacing are just that difficult to cover?

 

[GeddyHoosier]

If we miss the NCAA's, would this be the first time ever for IU soccer? Even in Jerry's "lean" years-like 2000, we were still good enough to get in and do some damage. I'm still hoping we can get hot and have a good winning streak, but time is starting to run out and losses are piling up.

 

[iub]

IU last missed the NCAA tourney in the mid 80's. I don't recall exactly which year, but there was as season where the team won only 9 games and missed the tourney. I believe that it was the only time in program history where we did not reach double-digit wins. Overall, I think IU has missed the NCAAs only a small handful of times (maybe 3 or 4) in the 40 year history, none of which happened in over 25-28 years.

We lost to the #2 team in the nation, at their place. So I don't want to over react to one result...but the problem is that it's not just one result. Losing to ND can be forgiven, but losing at home to WVU and surrendering FIVE goals is inexcusable- as is losing a 2-0 lead with 3:45 left to Butler and going on to lose the game; not even salvage one point.

I agree that this has been a tremendously disappointing season; although to be fair I think us winning the NCAAs last year was the exception and maybe a mediocre-to-good team is more of the rule. Remember that last year leading up to the tourney, we were on a bad streak and were wondering if we'd even get a top 16 seed (we did barely be getting #16). So despite the glorious 5 game run in December last year, maybe we aren't some great dominant team in either 2012 or '13 like we got used to in the late 90's and early 00's.

Still, this team has way more talent than to be under .500 at this point. I would guess that we will rally at least enough to make the NCAAs, but the fact that that's still even a question in the month of October is disappointing.

 

[iub]

Most teams would take our 'lean' year

Just had to laugh at 2000 being a 'lean' year, considering we won like 15 games, went 6-0-0 in B1G reg season and made the NCAA Final Four (where we had a lead in the semis before losing).

But yes, there were more losses that year than normal- esp in the midst of the greatest run in IU Soccer history (97-04). So of course I know why you put that in quotes, but it still made me chuckle.

 

[GeddyHoosier]

That 2000 team

Started out so slow coming off back-to-back titles. I remember the bad losses at home to Portland, UCLA, and a pounding from Creighton in Indy (who beat us again in the semis). They pulled it together in Oct/Nov and had that great run to Charlotte, but I just have a hard time seeing the 2013 Hoosiers doing something similar.

2000 was probably one of my favorite squads ever. We lost Korol, Yuri & Nick Garcia to the pros and Hannig was never healthy in goal, so nobody expected much. To reach the Final 4 for the 4th straight year was pretty amazing.

This post was edited on 10/3 4:32 PM by GeddyHoosier

 

[SWINDIANAIUFAN]

Not over yet

This will be the year we will sweep the Big Ten. Unlike last year

 

[iub]

Re: That 2000 team

I remember all of that as well...including having to go on the road for all 3 games before the Final Four (smashing San Jose St, upsetting Washington and then beating UNC who had been the #1 team in the nation- but who got their revenge in '01!). The 2000 team overcame huge losses to continue the Final Four streak and nearly won IU's 3rd in a row...agree with your sentiments.

 

[Sope Creek]

When we were . . .

at the UAB match earlier this year, it just seemed like that overall UAB's guys were much bigger, both in terms of height and muscle.

Has anybody else had the same observation about this year's team?

Also, Matt McKain didn't see the field, I don't think, against UAB. Has his insertion into the defense helped stabilize things?

 

[OpieJuan Cannoli]

Disappointing so far ... yea ... I agree. BUT ...


can you not recall teams/seasons that started with mediocrity ... meandered along at a maddenly slow pace ... then got really good late? I can.

While I would like to see and read about more domination ... but I'm hardly ready to give up on the season for all the reasons you mention in Paragraph 1. Not to mention that the goalkeeping has been better than I had expected.

Let's see what happens now that the B1G season has started ... and let's pay special attention to mid-to-late November and December results ... as those are the ones that really count.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

We may not make it to mid-November this year

THis is truly looking like a 'win the B1G Tourney or else' kind of season, unless we start a run.

 

[cannonfolk]

Agreed it's disappointing, but I still think we'll get there...

For me we don't resemble last year's team on the defensive side. We knew we would struggle early with a freshman center back, as we did with the Sarkodie class, with Zayner, with just about every high-level freshman back. But the one thing I think we didn't count on was losing Kerel at the same time, which has affected us in other ways forcing shifts in position, killed our flow out of the back, our shape, etc. etc. We just seem unstable in the defensive mid, even porous, and we are NOT defending as a team the way we did even last year.

Now if this were the basketball board, I'd start making wild suggestions about a proposed reshuffle based on this team's chemistry/dynamics clash: maybe suggest we need Tommy and Tanner more in the mid, to bring Harrison and Dylan out wide (rotate AJ wide/center off the bench), to play Femi and Nicky up top for now (maybe draw Femi back as a second holding mid to hold leads?), and to leave Bushue in holding mid permanently, to use Sparks/Ballard/Vollmer to gas up the energy, etc etc.

But it's not the basketball board, so I won't.

 

[OpieJuan Cannoli]

There's still time ... but ...


i don't wanna wait til mid-Novermber. I want to win in the B1G now. "Now" as in "Right Now".