Player Updates

Joshua Yaro—Georgetown University
Prior to watching Joshua Yaro play at the IU Classic, Maryland Coach Sasho Cirovski said, “Josh is one of the best center backs in the country, and a sure thing to go pro,” which is high praise from a guy who is a Georgetown rival and has coached the likes of Clarence Goodson and Omar Gonzalez. It's also hard to dispute when you Yaro in action.

Yaro’s pace is blistering, but his positioning and timing are so impressive you only see it occasionally. Along with his fellow Georgetown backs, the Hoyas are as sound in their defending as they are capable of starting the attack. All four look to play the ball forward before they play back, and square passes are, in classic Dutch style, played into a forward position so receiving players can run onto the ball and take a first touch with momentum.

Yaro’s feet are sharp enough to get him out of pressure on the pass or dribble, and when he does show his speed he validates Georgetown’s track coach, who says he is the fastest student on campus. (The young Ghanaian is focused on improving his soccer game, so you won’t see him running ovals in the spring).

Beyond that, Yaro plays to the whistle, owns up to mistakes when (if, really) he makes them, and has exceptional vision to play to the feet of teammates when tracking and shielding under pressure with attackers on his back. If there’s anything to criticize it’s that Yaro and his three defensive partners are so good with the ball that sometimes he, and they, try to do too much. But he has all the tools to play at the next level, and if MLS (there’s no reason European sides shouldn’t be interested) gets him he’ll be a player who instantly improves the league’s quality and depth.

Brandon Allen—Georgetown University
Brandon Allen is as strong as an ox and possesses pure goal-scoring talent. Some have taken the junior forward to task for his movement off the ball and his ability to link with strike partners and midfielders, but his performance against Indiana last weekend shows that he’s getting better in both of those areas.

Allen’s combination play is mostly good, and at times very, very good. His ability to shield defenders (who can commit four fouls against him before the referee even notices) is second to very few, and he doesn’t make the mistake most strikers do of using one touch by default, when two or three will actually produce the best results. Allen is good with the ball, but not particularly tricky. That is, unless he needs to be to score a goal.

Against Indiana he spent much of the game without a clear look at net, but then the Georgetown forward received a pass five to ten yards outside of the eighteen, in the 58th minute, with his back to goal and a defender in tight proximity. In fluid motion, his first touch cut behind his balance foot, he turned with lightning quickness to prepare the ball, and without looking to goal struck a low curling shot that whipped around the keeper’s fingers in to the back corner of the net.

It was pure class. When I recently spoke with Hoyas head coach Brian Weise about those qualities, he said that the level has become so high that “teams like Maryland and Notre Dame are capable of beating an MLS team on the right day.”

To be fair, he’s being modest in not listing his own. And with that in mind, I haven’t even mentioned that the best player on the field that night was a Georgetown sophomore, named Alex Muyl. Harvard and Wisconsin have their work cut out for them this weekend against the Hoyas.

Nick Besler—Notre Dame
Nick Besler is a really good player but also the kind of player who might have gone unnoticed last weekend unless you knew what to look for.

For a central midfielder of his caliber you may might expect more, but for a match against a strong opponent in Marquette, where field temperatures reached 95 degrees, he did exactly what was necessary: keep the game moving without exerting too much energy and position himself deeper in the midfield so he could pick his spots to be involved in the attack.

One of Besler’s most impressive attributes is the quality of his passing, and not just its accuracy. He puts the right weight on ball, plays into good spaces, adding the slightest backspin on passes along the grass, which makes it much easier for his teammates to receive. Besler may not be a one-man game breaker who will dribble through his opposition and score eye-popping goals. But he is a solid coordinator whose tracking speed is very good, whose patience is evident, and whose tackling and defensive instincts will put him in position to play any role in defensive midfield or along the backline at the next level.

Axel Sjoberg—Marquette
At one point mid-way through the second half, Marquette and Notre Dame were gridlocked 1-1 but the Golden Eagles had a 10-minute window where it gained enough momentum that head coach Louis Bennett said he was confident one or two more set pieces were all his side needed to take the lead off of Axel Sjoberg’s head.

Those chances didn’t come and Notre Dame closed out the match, but Sjoberg was nearly perfect throughout. As tall as he is, he doesn’t move with much pace and he doesn’t look particularly quick, but very few people get past him and with his long strides he covers more ground in one step than opposing strikers can cover in two.

His positioning is good, back tackling is very good, and he’s almost impossible to beat out of the air. The lengthy Swede will find his way into the pro ranks—perhaps in MLS, perhaps in Europe—because his size and defensive strengths are just that good.

C. Nortey—Marquette
A knack for scoring goals is a valuable commodity at any level of play, and C. Nortey, who is on the MAC Hermann Award watch list, has that knack.

He proved it early in last weekend's Marquette-Notre Dame contest, forcing a midfield turnover that caught the Irish off guard, leaving Nortey in space to run on to a well played ball at the top of the eighteen, where he confidently slotted home an impressive finish under pressure.

Though the Irish did well to limit his chances the rest of the game, Nortey is a handful to keep up with, buzzing around the defensive back line and moving wide to disrupt the opposition’s defensive shape. In wide positions he can face up, elude defenders, and deliver quality service as well.

At the pro level he’ll could be a quality strike partner with a forward who works well with his back to goal, or as wing player. Like Joshua Yaro, Nortey was a part of the Right To Dream Academy that has brought numerous Ghanaian students to the United States—and to college soccer.

Karson Payton and Paul Hoffmeister—Utah Valley University
If you didn't have a chance to catch NSCAATV’s broadcast of Utah Valley University’s inaugural match, go watch the archive online. UVU opened its season ranked dead last in the WAC, but by the end of its 5-1 route against UMass, the WAC has been put on notice.

The Wolverines are loaded with talent all over the field, but so much of what they do well is a result of Karson Payton and Paul Hoffmeister. These two well-rounded, dynamic playmakers are no fluke. Payton is an exceptional athlete: strong, fast, and fearless with the ball at his feet (something too few American players display). Hoffmeister has similar athletic and technical ability, which is why the two can seamlessly interchange from the center to left and right wing positions at their discretion.

Payton tends to have a direct eye for goal, and Hoffmeister is more the fluid connective creator in transition (the two linked to score UVU’s opening goal, on one of two assists from the former Bundesliga prospect). Don’t sleep on Utah Valley, as it travels to Chicago to play DePaul and Loyola, and don’t be surprised if you hear more from Payton and Hoffmeister.

Look Out For Louisville

If you’re looking for evidence of soccer’s arrival in the United States—and college soccer’s place in it—last Friday Louisville opened Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium to a standing room only crowd 7,047 fans. The new ground is a state-of-the-art arena that comfortably seats over 5,000, has abundant space for extra supporters, and training facilities that would be the envy of many soccer institutions.

In a tightly played match against Maryland broadcast on ESPN3, the Cardinals met the emotion and significance of the event with an equally remarkable win over the No. 2-ranked Terrapins. Oh yeah, and the home team did something pretty special to score against United States U-20 goalkeeper Zack Steffen. Take a look here.

Two Matches Worth Watching

Most of the major European leagues are off this weekend, so why not consider taking in an NCAA soccer match? Here are a few noteworthy contests scheduled for this weekend.

UMBC vs. Maryland (Friday at 7:30 pm; NSCAA TV)
Players to watch: Oumar Ballo (UMBC); Dan Metzger and Zack Steffen (Maryland)

UConn vs. Wake Forest (Friday at 7pm; Wake Forest All Access)
Player to watch: Adria Beso (UConn)