2007 HS Soccer

Hard to believe that captains practice is starting in the next week or so. Time for some high school soccer talk. With the relative parity last year, will this year provide one or two dominant teams? Who are your favorites to win State for AA and A? Who will be the surprise teams? Who are the favorites for Mr. Soccer? Note the links for getting to the coach's site, schedules and stats and the State high school league.

2007 MIAC Men

The MIAC was very competitive last year and the talk is that a number of teams will be much improved over last year. For anyone who had a chance to see any games, you know that the MIAC is very entertaining soccer. With St. Johns and Gustavus finishing 5 points ahead of the the 3rd place team, can anyone else rise to their class?

That said 3rd - 8th place were also very good teams and capable of beating #1 and #2 on any given day. I will predict that 2 of the top 4 teams will change this year. Even though Augsburg may have snuck up on a few teams last year, with their young team, transfers and coaching, I will go out a on a limb and say they will finish even higher in the conference this year. Look for MAC and Carleton to also be improved. Should be a great season.

U20 World Cup; Men's National Team; Copa America; American's Overseas

A place to talk about non-MN youth soccer. Lets talk about the U20 World Cup, the Men's National team, the Copa America and Americans overseas (mostly Europe).

What happened? Where are we going?

Even 3 years ago, Wings SC were poised to be MN's top soccer club. With the recent updates to the gotsoccer.com club rankings, the Wings have officially slipped to #3 and have been surpassed by their next door neighbors PSA.

OK, gotsoccer.com may not be the best team ranking, but it does reflect relative club strength. Before anyone jumps on PSA being a 1 trick pony with 15 Boys, 3 years ago, Bangu was reliant on the original Tsunami Sota girls for club ranking points. Congrats to PSA.

If I recall previous rankings point totals, Wings have accumulated about 1/2 of the points they had just 2 years ago. I think most would agree that the former DOC Steve Bellis was instrumental in building the club to notoriety. Has his departure led to their slide? Can they recover?

I think most would agree that having a number of top clubs, focused on developing elite players and teams, is probably the best scenario for MN youth soccer. This post is not meant to dig at the Wings, or their current DOC or board, but to create a spot for discussion around what is next for MN club soccer. How will clubs continue to attract and develop top players and teams?

Regional Scores

A spot for USYSA Regional scores and comments.

MYSA Rules Proposal Deadline

The deadline for suggestions/ideas for rule changes is fast approaching. All rules change proposals are due to MYSA by August 6th at 5:00 PM. Make sure you dot your "i's" and cross your "t's" or is that "cross your eyes" and "grit your teeth?" To quote the topic suggester:

" I smell a bumper crop of bloviated bureaucratic bulls*** coming to an AGM near you this fall..."

Here is a link to the form: http://www.mnyouthsoccer.org/forms/rulessubmittal.pdf

Thank you to the topic suggester, for suggesting the topic! I wasn't sure if "bloviated" was an actual word but I looked it up. According to a free dictionary online it means:

To discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner: "the rural Babbitt who bloviates about 'progress' and 'growth'" George Rebeck.

Regional Draw

The Regional draws are out. Here is a boys list by age group, a relative strength of group and my opinion of the MN team's chance of getting out of their group. Overall a pretty good draw for MN teams with 2 teams that should win their groups and 2 others that have a reasonable chance if they can overachieve in 1 game.

U13 Boys MN United
* Draw is MO, ND and NE
* Average to weak group
* If they get by MO they should coast out of their group although 13s is a tough age group to predict.

U14 Boys Bangu
* Draw is IL, SD and NE
* Strong only because IL is in the group
* IL will keep Bangu from advancing

U15 Boys PSA
* Draw is MRL2 (MI), OS, ON
* Strong group with with all respectable teams
* If PSA is at the top of their game, they will win the group

U16 Boys Bangu
* Draw is MRL2, SD and KS
* Strong group with MRL2 and a good Bangu 16s team
* MRL2 is not identified yet, so I say 50/50 chance to get out of group

U17 Boys Valley United
* Draw is WI, IL and KS
* Very strong group as IL, WI and Valley are all very good.
* Tough to predict wins over IL and WI, but Valley are a talented side.

U18 Boys Bangu
* Draw is ON, IL and KY
* Very strong group even though it contains a jelly-filled KY team
* Can't envision a scenario were Bangu can beat IL. Will probably hope for tie and look to goal differential for a chance.

U19 Boys Eagan
* Draw is IN2, OS and KY
* Weak to average group and a tough age group to predict
* Could go 3-0 or 0-3...no prediction here

'07 State Cup Finals

It's official. Eagan winners for U19 Boys, Bangu Tsunami Sota winners for U19 Girls. Both 2-0 winners over their opponents.

Bangu with 8 titles. With no other club winning more than one, and the Wings and Eden Prairie winning no titles, it would be tough to argue club supremacy.

Bangu Tsunami FC - B14, B16, B18, G13, G14, G16, G17, G19
Minneapolis United - B13
Plymouth Soccer - B15
Valley United - B17
Eagan - B19
Woodbury SC - G15
St. Croix SC - G18

My picks for teams with the best chances to advance out of group play at Regionals are Bangu 19 Girls, PSA 15 Boys, Bangu 17 Girls, Valley 17 Boys, Bangu 18 Boys, Bangu 16 Girls, and Minneapolis United 13 Boys. Of course, it will all depend on the draw.

Congratulations to all the teams and players that participated in this year's MN State Cup.

Favorite Soccer Memory

Thanks to the parent who suggested a great topic. Please share your favorite soccer memory with the rest of the soccer community. Please, let us hear about the game you watched in South America, or Europe or in Blaine watching your U8 player? Or could it be about a post game party at Pizza Hut? Or a national showcase tournament where your underdog team beat a nationally ranked team? Or a weather delayed game where both teams huddled under a shelter? Or a special coach or parent volunteer who touched your child's life?