|
|
Post by uwmfutbol on Feb 8, 2007 11:13:08 GMT -6
|
|
|
|
Post by Enoch77 on Feb 8, 2007 18:46:00 GMT -6
These recruits sound very good. I could only watch a few games last year, notably those in Madison, but I don't feel the team was that far from being a good team. Hopefully, some of these recruits will give us a boost to get back to our winning ways.
|
|
|
|
Post by JimmyLemke on Feb 8, 2007 22:14:18 GMT -6
At least Bennett could only scrounge up one Wisconsin player, and since that kid went to Marquette High, I don't really count it as a loss.  Notice we got a kid from Gurnee, as did they. I can't wait to see that storyline play out. Still have Antou's younger brother Tim, and two others from their hometown. Who knew there was a Milwaukee-Uppsala, Sweden connection hotbed. Next season's game, we should be busing students to Valley Fields for Battle 1 in the War of 2007. Man, I can't wait to match up against MU, sport-for-sport. |
|
|
|
Post by uwmfutbol on Feb 11, 2007 19:19:48 GMT -6
It doesn't surprise me that UWM and Marquette didn't go for many Wisconsin natives. UWM has had much success taking talent from Minnesota (keep in mind that Minnesota does not have division 1 soccer teams), and Louis Bennett--with his increase in funds and resources--has begun to branch outward to attract more talent out of the midwest. He's going to struggle, though. A lot of Illinois talent is snatched up by teams like Indiana, Notre Dame etc. and the St. Louis area (one of the hotbeds of soccer talent) is competitive with SLU as well as other schools nationwide.
Marquette's biggest disadvantage is its Milwaukee location. Many of the Big East teams can scour through east coast talent which is far superior to that of the midwest (look no further than the ACC's 9 NCAA tourney bids last season).
What should be really interesting, however, is Wisconsin's recruiting class. Jeff Rohrmann is a product of Maryland soccer (one of the top programs in the country) and seems to recruit from all over the place, including the midwest, the east coast, and even a few Spanish players.
|
|
mwu
Sophomore
I am U-Dub U-M
|
Post by mwu on Feb 11, 2007 23:27:13 GMT -6
with the addition of lights this past summer our recruiting should be on the up and up, with the mu game as a showcase. i think its time to start thinking about more permenent stands for englemann. granted it took us how many years just to get lights, its gotta take an average of 7 years for construction on campus (unless donors step up). set the wheels in motion now and by 2014 we'll be sitting pretty.
|
|
|
|
Post by JimmyLemke on Feb 12, 2007 9:55:47 GMT -6
The placement of Engelmann Field is a huge recruiting tool that Marquette and Wisconsin don't have.
Funny that the mid-major is in the advantage, but Bennett is going to have to work around the fact that he has to take recruits far from campus in order to show them the field. Add on top the fact that Valley Fields is in an industrial district and not the prettiest field, and he's at a disadvantage.
Wisconsin is much worse. Their soccer field doubles as a T&F stadium, and the fans are disconnected from the game. The stands are not only separated by a track, but the bleachers are 15 feet up a hill from the track. I wouldn't be surprised if the players could barely hear cheers. You may not think that is big for recruits, but high school athletes love to feed of the crowd, no matter the sport. Wisconsin's field is also in a bad spot campus-wise. While it's still on campus, the truth is the campus is so huge, and the field is so far from the action of State St, University Avenue, and the like that it is essentially off-campus. I have many friends at UW, and the few I know that are huge soccer fans (as in, played 4 years in HS and follow the English Premier League and MLS religiously) don't go to UW games because the dorms are literally miles from the soccer fields.
Now, take a look at UWM. 14,000 students live on campus, with as many as 40-50 at every game during the school week. The field, on campus, is within a short walking distance from the dorms, and most students that live in the neighborhood are only blocks away. The field itself is situated in between all the buildings, a truly unique home stadium that has many advantages. There is parking on either side of the stadium. The buildings not only make the stadium look really cool, they also have concrete appeal (looks aside, a couple of them are ugly: see Chem, EMS) in the fact that any fan sound that is made bounces off the walls, creating a sort of echo that can make 1,000 people in the stands sound like 10,000. If you were at the Marquette game last season, you can not deny that the fan experience at the game ranks in the top 5 of all UWM athletic games, regardless of sport. I know that may come as a shock to some people on this board, but I can honestly say that I had just as much fun at the MU-UWM "Under the lights" game as I did at the UWM-UDM 2005 HL Men's Basketball Championship game. And I love basketball much more than I do soccer.
Louis Bennett was a whiz recruiter, but he wasn't the reason all those players came to UWM. Sure, he got the Jallows (at each school), the Dombrowskis, and all these other players, but so did the coaches right before him. I ran into Jon Coleman last season giving a kid a tour of the campus, and the kid was having a good time (he signed with us). I believe Coleman will do just fine bringing in the same level of talent as Bennett, perhaps higher. Out of all UWM's facilities, Engelmann Field has the biggest impact on signees than any other. Soccer is kept competitive by that stadium. It should be a priority to build those permanent seats that mwu talks about.
|
|
|
|
Post by uwmfutbol on Feb 12, 2007 11:30:19 GMT -6
Keep in mind that one of the reasons why we get so many Minnesota recruits is the fact that Wisconsin and Marquette share tuition exchange--thus it's much easier to recruit players without needing to offer them a scholarship. Bennett knew this when he was at UWM, so he primarily stuck with Wisconsin and Minnesota players. Now that he's at Marquette and is in a private institution, he's much more likely to convince a player from out of state to pay the tuition to come to Marquette.
We're lucky Marquette is known for having such a mediocre soccer program, because if they were even a .500 team in the Big East Louis Bennett would be bringing in several NSCAA all-americans to that program. Being in the 2nd toughest soccer league in the country is going to be a huge recruiting tool for Marquette.
From what I heard, several upperclassmen clashed with Coleman and Spielmann for nearly the entire first half of the season last fall. If that does not change, it won't matter what recruits we bring in--we're not going to win. Especially with Bob Spielmann as an associate head coach (former MUHS coach and Bavarian coach), it was expected we'd bring in good talent. Now we have to see what they're capable of as D1 coaches.
|
|
|
|
Post by uwmfutbol on Feb 12, 2007 11:34:51 GMT -6
Oh yeah, and we NEED to get a lot of fans to Valley Fields this year. the UWM/Marquette game is going to be a big rivalry in the coming years, and we can't have 50 fans at their games. Not surprisingly, the two teams hate each other |
|
mwu
Sophomore
I am U-Dub U-M
|
Post by mwu on Feb 12, 2007 22:11:31 GMT -6
i cant believe i forgot to include this in my original post:
fall of 2005, a senior studio designed a permenent section of stands that explored the use of precast concrete. some of the old models are in the community design solutions (cds) room on the 3rd floor. our pitch is truly unique, its good to see our school has some good planning sense once and awhile.
i cant wait for the mu game next fall, this past year was so incredible! also we get madison here next year right? another chance to pack the house!
|
|
|
|
Post by PantherU on Feb 13, 2007 9:27:52 GMT -6
What do you guys think about having buses to Valley Fields next fall? We easily had 500 students at the game this past fall, but with it down in the valley, are students likely to hop on 1, 2, 3, or 4 buses and go to a night game that might be on a school night?
Just wondering what you all think.
|
|
|
|
Post by uwmfutbol on Feb 13, 2007 11:01:03 GMT -6
The game would need to be hyped like the UWGB basketball game was last month. Still, there were a LOT of fans at the game this past fall. You would assume they wouldn't mind travelling less than 10 miles.
There would need to be flyers, previews in the newspapers etc. We'll just have to see. Even if a large crowd doesn't show up I'll be there.
On a side note, I also find it very annoying that Charles Gardner has yet again written an article where Louis Bennett and Marquette are the main part of the article, and UWM is the small footnote. I can understand it with basketball to a certain degree, but last time I checked, we own a 25-7 all-time record with the Gold.
|
|
