The Oldest College Newspaper in Pennsylvania

The Lafayette

The Oldest College Newspaper in Pennsylvania

The Lafayette

The Oldest College Newspaper in Pennsylvania

The Lafayette

Mike’d Up: U.S. soccer misses out on the Olympics and NCAA Final Four analysis

Miked+Up%3A+U.S.+soccer+misses+out+on+the+Olympics+and+NCAA+Final+Four+analysis

By Michael Kelley ’14 & Mick Kowaleski ’14

Photo by Steve Tringali ’13/ The Lafayette

What happened to US Soccer?

Kelley: It was a must win situation for the U-23 United States soccer team. A bid to the Olympics was on the line and El Salvador stood in their way.

Last Monday night, the U-23 United States soccer team tied with El Salvador 3-3 in what was a must-win game, effectively ending their Olympic hopes. The US led 3-2 with seconds left in stoppage time, but substitute goalie Sean Johnson let a ball bounce of his hands and into the net. 2012, along with 2004 and 1976, are the only three years that the US has missed out on the Olympics.

What does this mean for the future of U.S. soccer? First off, the young players on this team, most notably captain Freddy Adu, are losing out on invaluable experience of playing in a worldwide tournament, something that does not come around often. With the World Cup around the corner in 2014, gaining experience for is the most important thing for the US to field the best possible team when it really counts.

Hopefully missing out on the Olympics does not hurt the development and progression of these players, but only time will tell.

 

Kowaleski: This is a disaster for the U.S. under-23 soccer team. Not only is it embarrassing that we lost to Canada and tied with El Salvador, but it said a lot more about the future of American soccer.

The first is the obvious: the state of U.S. goaltending after incumbent keeper Tim Howard steps down. Howard is a huge reason for the current state of the American team, and we honestly can’t afford that much of a decline in that particular arena. So what did we see from his heirs apparent?

Not a lot of promising things. The loss to Canada and allowing three goals to El Salvador said a lot about Bill Hamid and Sean Johnson. All Johnson had to do was keep the ball out of the goal in the final seconds against El Salvador. I can’t even think about it…

It wasn’t all bad. Adu and Terrence Boyd showed shining rays of promise. They really stepped up big time, playing effectively, actively, and capably. Those guys are going to be great despite this major setback for USA soccer’s momentum.

 

Who will end up waltzing out of the Big Dance with the National Championship?

The Final Four has boiled down to four consistent powerhouses: Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State, and Kansas. 

Kowaleski: This isn’t even close. Kentucky has demonstrated consistently and without question that they are the team to beat in the NCAA Tournament. Their overall talent and ability to overcome their inexperience is nothing short of remarkable. They have manhandled everybody that they’ve encountered, from a great Baylor team to a Hoosiers squad that handed them their only regular season loss (on a buzzer-beater).

Louisville has exceeded expectations as a four-seed, but they won’t have the juice, the speed, or the firepower to take down their in-state rivals. Side note: Isn’t it sad that the only Cinderella team left isn’t even a “Cinderella” team…but a four seed? VCU, how you’ve spoiled me.

Jared Sullinger and the commentator-favorite Aaron Craft will give Ohio State a fighting shot against the Jayhawks, but the well-rounded Kansas team will send Sullinger straight to the NBA Draft and Craft straight to the scrapbooks of Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery. Which leaves a Battle of the Blues: Wildcats vs. Jayhawks.

This NCAA Championship game will be more exciting than last year’s, but only because Kentucky won’t stop scoring. Wildcats by at least seven points.

 

Kelley: For the first time in awhile, we are agreeing on something. I’m not gonna say it feels refreshing, though. Kentucky is going to win their final two games and be cutting down the nets in the Superdome. But the games won’t be blowouts.

Coach Cal, despite taking three different teams to the Final Four (UMass, Memphis, Kentucky), has never been able to win the big one. His teams always seem to choke when the game is on the line (see Memphis v Kansas, 2008). Can this be because of the young players with no big game experience always play the biggets roles on Calipari’s teams? Is it that Kentucky is basically a NBA academy grooming players for the draft the following year and the players have a lackadaisical approach to winning?

However, these questions will be answered by the likes of Anthony Davis, Marquis Teague, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Terrence Jones. There is simply too much talent on this team.

In the other game, Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor are absolute beasts and will get past Sullinger and go on to give Kentucky a ton of problems in the final. But not enough to prevent Coach Cal from being atop the ladder holding the net.

 

Disagree with one of our opinions? Write a letter to the Mike’d UP guys ([email protected]) with your opinion and a reason behind it. 

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

If you wish for your response to an article to be submitted as a letter to the editor, please email [email protected].
All Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *