This is a REAL halftime show!

If you've ever wondered what goes on during halftime at DC United games...

What can I say?

DC United...

... awesome.

Season in Review: Virginia Tech

It was an interesting match in Charlottesville between Virginia Tech and UVA during the regular season. Kind of hard to know whom to cheer for, since I like both teams. But, as Tech alumnus, I had to pull for the Hokies.

That said, I felt that UVAclearly had the more deeply talented side. Patrick Nyarko, though, the Tech forward, was clearly and by far the best player on the pitch. He is the best college soccer player I have ever seen, period.

At any rate, the match ended a 1-1 draw. I really felt that UVA had the better chances, and almost won the match. But the thing about Tech, as I have said for two years now, is that they are extremely well coached. Oliver Weiss and his staff get "more than all"out of each one of their players. Tech is extremely disciplined, patient, and organized, and play superb positional soccer. They exceeded all expectations, certainly mine, by making it to the final four of the NCAA College Cup.

In the Elite Eight, Tech beat an absolutely awesome UConn team in Storrs, CT. Unbelievable. I felt certain Tech would lose. My heart said they would go on and win it all. My head said, though, that Wake Forest, Tech's semifinal opponent, was too strong, too talented, and with too high a soccer IQ for Tech to beat.

My head was right. The 2-0 scoreline could have been much worse. Tech degenerated into bootball almost from then get-go. The reason they did was because Wake Forest was putting very heavy pressure on the ball, and that rattled Tech for pretty much the whole match. Those few times Tech did settle down and play to feet, Tech was dangerous. But such interludes were all too few and all too fleeting. Wake Forest dominated this match, and once it was over I knew WFU would win it all, which they did.

But this season Virginia Tech put itself on the college soccer map. I remember what Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer said after Tech won the 1995 Sugar Bowl. He said, "It's a new day for Virginia Tech", meaning, Tech football was now a major player on the national scene. Beamer proved quite prescient that day.

With Tech's rise to the NCAA Final Four this season, I say it is a "new day" for Virginia Tech soccer.

~ Ron

Seasons in Review

With the seasons over, I'd have to say it has been mixed results for the soccer clubs I follow.

First and foremost, DC United. On the one hand, we were bounced again from the playoffs by Chicago. On the other hand, we played extremely well over the 9-month regular season after a rough start; winning the Supporters Shield yet again. We played some wonderful football, and let me tell you that Luciano Emilio was a revelation. The real deal, and a dangerous striker in every sense of the word. Also let me tell you there is nothing quite like taking in a soccer match at RFK, standing (yes, STANDING! that is the only way to watch the beautiful game!) on the "loud side".

Second, UVA. Though I am actually an old Hokie (Va Tech graduate), Charlottesville being only 80 minutes from my house (as opposed to Blacksburg which is a good 4.5 hours) I go to a few matches in Thomas Jefferson's old stomping grounds. Two main things relegated UVA to an early (for them) exit from the ACCs as well as the NCAAs. One is the failure of Jonathan Villanueva to live up to the hype that preceded him to Charlottesville. His pattern seemed to be to make some flashes on the ball early, then disappear for stretches of the match, then get unceremoniously subbed out around the hour mark. Also contributing to UVA's woes was the late season-ending injury to Yannick Reyering. He was their go-to guy in the box, their goal-getter, and other than Chris Tierney, no one stepped up to fill the void of the goal production.

Later, thoughts on the campaigns of Virginia Tech, as well as the Stanford Womens soccer team.

~ Ron

You Simply Must Try This...

I got this from the Soccer Blog par excellence, Steve Goff's Soccer Insider.

If the results are not sufficiently cool the first time around, then switch the order, substitute your middle name, etc. Also, the algorithm seems to have a linguistically masculine bias. For female names, you will need to do a bit of research into Portuguese and make the appropriate adjustments to arrive at proper feminine derivatives.

A Freddy Update

can be found here...

A very nice writeup by Jason La Canfora, who has had the "Freddy beat" at the Post ever since Freddy joined DC United as a 14-year old.

~ Ron

And There's the Kickoff...

Welcome to ThreeFrontRunners, a soccer blog by Ron, Reuben, and Isaac Tiemens. I, Ron, am the old man. Reuben and Isaac are my two oldest sons.

We are soccer fans. We do not claim to be soccer experts, though we do know what we like and what we don't like when it comes to soccer.

Well, enough with the preliminaries. Let me dive right in. One thing I like in the realm of soccer is Freddy Adu. People's opinions of Freddy are all over the map. Put me down as a fan, and one who has high hopes for Freddy at Benfica and (hopefully) the US National Team.

Here is a nice Freddy-highlight compilation. Oooh what a schweet touch...