Where's our soccer team????

[redpony]

With less than 15 min. to play Tulsa is trashing our men's soccer team (and this is an 'at home' game) 3-1. This is after this team has underperformed against two other non-ranked second tier teams.
Is anyone else concerned about our performance??
I would expect our national rankings to fall substantially.


GO PONIES

[gk00dad]

Absolutely the worse game I've seen them play. Horrible night for the keeper. Could tell before the first goal was scored that he was going to have a long night. Two balls going over his head and uncertain decision making from the beginning. If you had never seen him play before you would have thought a freshman with no experience was thown out there. Unfortunatly, his lack of confidence seem to seep into the rest of the defense. The midfield was not too bad forced to play higher up because we were on the back foot most of the night. Shots were actually fairly even, so it wasn't like we weren't getting good looks. I think the keeper and back four need to get back on the same page or this could turn into a long season real quick. And before we trash the coach, this loss is all on the players. coach can't go on the pitch and make the saves. The good news is we play Memphis next. Should be a good chance to regain some confidence.

[jkflamebo]

i'd say our midfield was a disaster, way too many inexcusable turnovers in the second half. tulsa had all garbage goals and we were deflated when it was 3-1, didnt have a chance to come back. not looking too good

[redpony]

And before we trash the coach, this loss is all on the players. coach can't go on the pitch and make the saves.

I agree, the coach can't play however, I believe it is his responsibility to have his players mentally and physically prepared to play. He is also responsible for the overall strategy to be employed. It doesn't sound to me like this team was ready to play. It is especially irritating since they were in Tulsa recently and had the opportunity to do a really first class scouting job on them. Let's just hope someone turns this thing around very quickly.

GO PONIES!!!

[PonyPride]

They did scout last weekend. But Tulsa had numerous starters out last weekend - and the weekend before, when they got beaten by George Mason and Oakland in the SMU tournament - so that scouting was not indicative of the team that came down last night. In addition, no team is more familiar with SMU than Tulsa (they do much of their recruiting in north Texas, so a lot of the players from both teams have faced each other for years), and they had a great gameplan last night and executed it perfectly. They played well, we didn't, and the score reflected it. Tulsa scored on set pieces, which SMU needs to defend better, but there's no question the Mustangs can - see their results at the UVa and Cal tournaments. Got a few kinks to iron out - that's all. They'll be fine.

[redpony]

they had a great gameplan last night and executed it perfectly. They played well, we didn't, and the score reflected it. Tulsa scored on set pieces, which SMU needs to defend better, Got a few kinks to iron out - that's all. They'll be fine.

In other words our coaches did not have a good strategy, did not have our team prepared and most importantly the coach was totally unable to generate any level of motivation for success!!! I am afraid the only kinks we are going to see is the rapid free-fall in the standings. If we can't beat so-so teams in our conference then how can we expect to be a top 5 national team?

GO PONIES!!!

[gk00dad]

In other words our coaches did not have a good strategy, did not have our team prepared and most importantly the coach was totally unable to generate any level of motivation for success!!! I am afraid the only kinks we are going to see is the rapid free-fall in the standings. If we can't beat so-so teams in our conference then how can we expect to be a top 5 national team?

Look, there's a reason that Tulsa was picked to finish first in the conference and last night showed it. Once your down two goals the gameplan goes out the window and you push as many people foward as possible to try and pull a goal back. We had some good looks and on any given night would have made a couple of them. The bottom line is no matter how good the gameplan is, if it's not executed, failure usually follows. So now the boys, especially the keeper have to dust off and get back on the horse "so to speak" and go get some wins. BTW Tulsa isn't some so so team. They have been hovering around the top 25 all season long, and if it weren't for the miscue week before last they would be firmly in the top 25. Bobby Clark and Notre Dame just got knocked off by Louisville so by certain logic he should be fired too. "my bad he's got a national championship" so that loss is excusable. See how that logic sounds.

[redpony]

Simply put- a top 5 or 10 team should not be losing to teams that are not even in the top 25. The loss to Tulsa was not the first time we have lost to 'non-ranked' teams!

GO PONIES!!!

[abezontar]

So I guess Pete Carroll (sp) and Urban Meyer get fired this week?

[redpony]

I suspect that if USC or Fla. had been beaten a couple of weeks ago by NIU, then barely gets by Hofstra and then took an [deleted] whipping from another unranked team those coaches (Pete Carroll and Urban Meyer)would be on the 'hot seat'. I believe the winning percentages of both of those teams this year far exceeds the winning percentage of our soccer team. Besides, both of those coaches have proven coaching records.

Just how far down do you expect us to fall before anyone else gets concerned?? Perhaps our soccer team should fall to the depths of our football team. At the rate this team is going it shouldn't take too long.

GO PONIES!!!

[jkflamebo]

wtf are you talking about? we've lost two games and the program is all of a sudden falling? your post has no credibility whatsoever

[giacfsp]

Against NIU and Hofstra, we were without two key starters and had two or three others banged up, and we still gave them both all they wanted (including the victory over Hofstra). Tulsa scored on free kicks, and against a weakened defense when we pressed forward for the equalizer. The game was nowhere near as lopsided as the score suggested, although Tulsa was the better team last night. We will be fine. There's too much talent on this team to get worried just yet, and there's more top-shelf talent on the way.