Jump to content

NCAA Canadians 2018

Havoc88

By Havoc88
in Men's National Teams

 Share

Recommended Posts

Havoc88 Newbie

Havoc88

Posted
Posted

I know there isn't the same hype around the collegiate game as a few years back, but I still thought it would be worth sharing some insight/analysis of some players seen at the SIgma showcase a month ago and information on a few players already committed to programs for 2018.

I will preface this the same as last year where Aaron Neilsen and I spent a full day at the event watching as many academies as possible and keeping an eye out for some players we had already heard about to see/confirm if there were as advertised. Of course, the main issue is seeing only the second day and gauging how much the players are putting into these exhibition games. However, one thing is for certain, every year when Sigma and Vaughan go head to head, they go all out and you really get to see a tight game.

If you look at the NCAA 2017 thread I think my review is still on page 1, so you'll note some of the players from last year remain as prospects up until today.

Up front, this was probably the best showcase we've seen yet, as this was an even better Sigma side in terms of player potential than last year, and this was the first time we saw real talent on a team outside of Sigma and Vaughan (Durham). Pretty much every game had a team with some interesting players to watch and assess.

Ok on to Sigma.

Two players from this 2000 / A1 team have already committed and I will make note as I run through key prospects.

This team was very well organized from the back and probably the most cohesive A1 team I've seen from back to front over the last four years. The centre back pairing were from the B1 team last year and they have come along nicely. Now that I'm looking at the team sheet I'm worried I'm mixing these two guys up. There is a shorter CB who is built like a brick sh*thouse, Dumebi Iheanacho who lead the back and was very solid. I don't know if his future is at CB because he is 5'9, but who knows, he could definitely be an RB. His parter, Cheikh Tchouambou, I feel was the star of the backline and because of his size (6'1), pace could be a future RB (I think he got L1O minutes at RB) or still be CB to keep an eye  on. He has good ups and headed a corner off the woodwork in one of the matches.

At the time I wasn't sure how highly I rated him, but part of me thinks that #8/DM Mathew Kolakowski might have the biggest upside from this team, if only for his incredible work rate and constant tenacity on and off the ball. He's not a big kid but was fearless tracking down the ball, was smart getting into positions off the ball and tidy with his passing. He apparently has a reputation in training where no one wants to work with him because he's always going at 100%. Of course the only red flag is that surname HA HA :S 

I would flag him as one to watch as he seemed like someone who will always be working harder and constantly striving to improve. I don't have any details on him yet, but was told there was a good chance he would have committed to a school once the showcase was over, so this is a name we should be hearing about with regards to a program.

The player it seemed like Sigma were very excited about was Hilli Goldhar, who has committed to Syracuse. The first match I saw him I didn't really notice to be honest, however, the second game against Vaughan he really stepped up and his attributes of tireless workrate, really good pace, and high technical ability were all on display. He wears #10 and had one moment where he took a free kick and bent it waist high around the wall to force the keeper into an diving save. His technical awareness is really high and should fit in well at Cuse.

Up top, striker Ivan Nikolic has committed to Akron, and while he didn't score any goals on this day, he was active up top, had good size where he still has room to fill out (as in he was a bit wirey) but par for course with Sigma was a very technical player with the ball at his feet, held it up well and distributed to his teammates.

I would expect the three guys not already committed to be off to good programs next year. Baj Mann (keeper) is 6'4 and didn't see much action but I remember him from last year as being pretty good, Justin Sotys also was a player who I feel likely will be in D1 next year as well.

We only watched one B1 game but will publicly make note of a kid named Jonothan Neil who looked pretty good as an attacker and created alot in the game we saw. Also I think it's a safe bet that Kofi Awuah might be Kwame's younger brother, so he'll be one to watch next year as well.

We only saw one match from Vaughan this year and I'm pretty sure Ryan Raposo, who has committed to Syracuse, was not playing. Not sure if people here are aware of him but many are pretty high on him as a future prospect.Unfortunately, the player I think who stood out the most for Vaughan I can't find out who he is!! There was a #11 who, when he had the ball at his feet, was VERY good at taking on players and scored the only goal against Sigma by pretty much tooling the LB and burying the chance he made for himself.

So finally, the last team/players of note were from Durham. This was a team who last year dominated their division and has a couple players who were off the charts in terms of goals. They played very well, usually starting slow with one striker up top alone, but as the two games proceeded, they really turned it on and brought heaps of attacking pressure. THis was clearly a team who have played together for some times as they were very much in sync and had many "Wooooooooooo" moments of flicks and tricks.

I made note of them last year and can now comment on having seen for myself. I will start by saying of the years I've gone to the showcase, easily the best individual talent seen was Duwayne Ewart. Now coming in second, for me, is O'Vonte Mullings. He didn't score any goals but his talent on and off the ball was the best I saw during the day. He always knew where to be, and any ball sent up to him he always made the right decision, whether it be a simple short pass back or off to the side, or take on his player 1v1 - I don't think I saw him turn over or be dispossessed in the two games I saw him. His best moment was taking down a crossfield long ball off his chest down to his feet, and with his back to a 6'+ CB closing him down, volleyed it over the defender, spun around him backdoor to pick up the ball and dribble it to the touch line to cross it into the 6yr box, which unfortunately was not converted. My one concern was his work rate, as it appeared to be pretty casual at times and can see NCAA coaches possibly flagging that as a negative. However, his skills are undeniable. I will fully concede that I had similar thoughts regarding Ewart and he has yet to advance his career, but do feel sometimes the right environment is everything and I hope we hear more from Mullings in the future.

Lastly, speaking of Ewart, his younger brother Dumari Ewart was very noticeable on this team as well. It was pretty unfortunate because he could have been the player of the showcase as in the day we saw him he created about 4-5 1v1 chances with the keeper and couldn't convert any of them. He had really good pace and was able to beat defenders from 20+ yards out to within the 18 for these chances... but it was not to be. However, he has alot to offer and could be a good winger for sure.

Apologies for the crazy length on this post but thought it would be useful to keep an eye on these guys as there were so many players I feel need to keep playing and could potentially turn pro. Finally, ESSU did a podcast on this showcase and interviewed Bobby Smyrniotis regarding the event - just skip to 30 min mark where Aaron and I discuss it or the 40 min mark for the interview. Thanks.

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/east-side-stand-up/id386508579?mt=2

PlayerFM: https://player.fm/series/east-side-stand-up

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 282
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Scorpion26 Apprentice

Scorpion26

Posted
Posted

@Havoc88 This was a good post and those are players that I hope will go to CPL in 2019. They would be great adds for a new league and will hopefully grow with the league for quite sometime until Europe calls. Would be nice for them to go to MLS, but damn that I would love for them to be in CPL and help make this league great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Havoc88 Newbie

Havoc88

Posted
  • Author
Posted
17 hours ago, Northvansteve said:

Why don't any of these guys ever get called up to Canadian youth teams? The national team coaches must be aware of them.

Well when I was trying to figure out Iheanacho and Tchouambou, Iheanacho was called up to the U15 team.

If I could put my tinfoil hat on for a minute - I would suggest first it's probably easy to just call up players from TFC/VAN/MTL and know you'll get a decent level of development. It's unfortunate but you would hope/expect at this point to see more Foothills, Sigma, Vaughan (and I'm sure people here could throw in many more teams) players scattered in the call ups, but it would also require much more extensive scouting, at least in the traditional sense, or player awareness in the form of some kind of central scouting database which nobody in Canada seems that interested in. Part of me wonders too if there is a political element as well ie the three MLS clubs put in so much $$$ that they either need, demand or secure their kids are front line for CanMNT call ups. I mean, as it stands the optics are if you want to play for Canada your best shot is coming through those three academies. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
Havoc88 Newbie

Havoc88

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Interesting development - TFC sent three kids to high profile programs

Rimi Olatunji / Providence -  Gianluca Catalano & Steffen Yeates going to UCONN

Providence is where 2017 ROY Julian Gressel went to school. We all know UCONN.

Anyways - TFC, unless anyone can point otherwise, has been very late to the game in terms of sending academy grads, who aren't ready for the leap, into a top NCAA program. IMO this is smart so they can keep rights and allow them minutes they might not otherwise get.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
harrycoyster Contributor

harrycoyster

Posted
Posted
Just now, Havoc88 said:

Interesting development - TFC sent three kids to high profile programs

Rimi Olatunji / Providence -  Gianluca Catalano & Steffen Yeates going to UCONN

Providence is where 2017 ROY Julian Gressel went to school. We all know UCONN.

Anyways - TFC, unless anyone can point otherwise, has been very late to the game in terms of sending academy grads, who aren't ready for the leap, into a top NCAA program. IMO this is smart so they can keep rights and allow them minutes they might not otherwise get.

Catalano and Yeates are both MOU commits. They are allowed to seek other pro and NCAA options through May and UCONN doesn't guarantee them they won't be redshirted or cut as a result. 

I don't think Catalano ends up at UCONN. They have two redshirt freshman GKs and have commitments from two other GKs, one of which has a USMNT youth cap. Time will tell, but nowadays most Catalano level recruits who commit to an NCAA school do it as a backup plan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Havoc88 Newbie

Havoc88

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
15 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

Will any of them have a shot at MLS in a few years ?

The way MLS is changing/evolving, I think it will be very difficult. I'm sure most are either looking at CanPL or abroad. MLS seems to be more interested in signing S.Americans these days then developing their own players.

That being said, the top Sigma players year to year still get drafted and MLS teams are taking players from the best NCAA programs, even when they don't have a great year (ie Mo Adams was a Syracuse and they had a poor season). I think if you're still at a high profile program, with a track record of producing MLS talent (Syracuse, Akron, Indiana, Maryland, Wake Forest, Louisville, UNC etc...) you still have a decent shot. The fact a bunch of guys above are going to programs that have had ROY players (ie Gressell and Larin) will help their chances.

Edited by Havoc88
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 4 months later...
Guest Tg11

Guest Tg11

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, masster said:

Theo Bair has given his verbal commitment to the University of Vermont. Could he be a target for CPL?
http://aftn.ca/residency-week-hat-trick-hero-theo-bair-continuing-to-rise-to-the-big-occasion/

I say it is likely even though I feel he would be better suited playing in the MLS at this point. If he goes to the CPL then that's great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SkuseisLoose Enthusiast

SkuseisLoose

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Tg11 said:

It shows that US are definitely making moves out here

Their not really making moves that are significant. I don’t know if you read the article but they’re just making their games under normal rules in soccer by making games 90 minutes no roll on roll off subs and a bit more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest Tg11

Guest Tg11

Posted
Posted

It shows that they are adapting to how soccer is played around the rest of the world 

Won't be too long before they make more significant changes all over their program

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
Fullback Collaborator

Fullback

Posted
Posted (edited)

Some news out of UCONN and Oregon St. involving some Canadians.

https://www.theuconnblog.com/2018/7/30/17630516/uconn-huskies-mens-soccer-announces-incoming-class-ray-reid-niko-petridis

https://osubeavers.com/news/2018/7/26/mens-soccer-beavers-add-14-players-to-2018-squad.aspx?path=msoc

At UCONN Nicolas Apostol is leaving. They add Gianluca Catalano and Steffen Yeates out of TFC. This leaves them with 4 Canadians including Yeates, Catalano, Dayonn Harris, and Munir Saleh.

Nicolas Apostol will be joining Oregon St and along with him so are Gloire Amanda and certified baller Rachaun Palmer. 

 

Edited by Fullback
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 4 weeks later...
Bison44 Grand Master

Bison44

Posted
Posted

TopDrawer came out with there Top 100 preseason upper classmen list.  

#20 Callum Montgomery CB Charlotte Senior (Victoria highlanders PDL) also Top drawer best 11 second team Allstar

#43 Alex Comsia FB North Carolina Senior

#54 Tajon  Buchanon Syracuse F Sophmore

#81 Markarian Colgate Mid junior

Other news, Matt Constant is now with North carolina, transferred from new mexico. And I had to check but Syracuse really does have 8 CDN on its roster, might have 4 starters.  They are very high on freshman Rapaso (cough cough forge) who has scored already in the preseason.  He was the top player in the Canada summer games last year.  Might be a up year for CDN in NCAA, these kids will be the first to be able to jump to CPL teams if MLS doesnt come calling.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...