SLU dispatched
UMass fairly handily on Sunday with a 4-1 win to claim their fourth A10 tourney title in a row. I think most people felt he semifinal between UD and SLU was for the mahogany.
I watched a little bit of Sunday's match. Once again, SLU just has too much physicality and speed over a 90 minute game to contend with and eventually they are going to crack through. Their ability to push bodies around -- especially in the midfield and on defense -- is a big reason why I feel they had the highest ceiling in the league this year despite finishing third. Finishing third with their talent was honestly an underachievement and they had no business dropping three conference games in the A10.
Dayton was just too charitable once again against SLU on Friday and that's been a recurring theme over the last 5-6 matches with them that have all been big factors in the losses. Surrendering own goals, surrendering penalty kicks, surrendering inexplicable poor clearances in the defensive third right to the feet of SLU attackers. Against bad teams perhaps you can overcome some of those gaffs, but to take down the favorite you can't spot the opponent 1-2 goals a match and have a realistic chance of knocking them off.
As I mentioned, the two biggest "gaps" that need filled to truly even the run-of-play between these two programs is physicality and speed. Dayton has physicality and speed - but only at certain parts of the field. Sheldon is as fast and dangerous as any attacking player in the A10. Diana Benigno -- despite her size -- is an absolute bulldog and uses her weight to punch above her fighting class. But we do not have high-level speed and physicality dispersed evenly across the entire field and that's where SLU kept hurting us. They could knock us off the ball, dispossess, or shield to maintain possession in a majority of positions. They also had strikers that could turn the corner against our defenders, as well as mids- and backs that were fast and strong enough to make getting around the edges or winning loose balls in the box very challenging. We have had some success, but its been piecemeal. SLU on the other hand can exert their will because the tools are dispersed across the field in relatively equal amounts. There are fewer areas and players to pick on.
The speed and physicality departments manifests itself in other areas. It shortens your window of opportunity with the ball at your feet, forces you to rush and make mistakes, and limits quality chances to catch the opponent out of position. These are the areas we must focus on in the offseason.
Speaking of strength, it was also present on leg strength. We need to get stronger in the lower body. A lot of our clearances are not fully clearing the ball away and we need 10-15 more yards on those boots. SLU however is able to run quality set pieces from midfield because they have very good leg strength and can send longer balls into the box. Same with clearances out of the back.
Just some things to think about this offseason. The nucleus of the Flyer team returns. Lots of solid pieces in place, but we do need to continue to get better. The gap continues to narrow but SLU will not be sitting on their hands either.
