By Andrew Melnykovych
Half a dozen things to take away from the best season ever for Louisville men’s soccer:
- It really was a breakout year. Louisville announced itself as a national presence and, with nine starters likely returning, a force to be reckoned with next year.
- Ken Lolla ought to be a top contender for national Coach of the Year. His main competition will come from Akron’s Caleb Porter and Michigan’s Steve Burns, who brought to the College Cup a program that was playing club ball a dozen years ago.
- Neither Louisville’s Colin Rolfe nor Akron’s Darlington Nagbe did anything to hurt their Hermann Award chances in the College Cup. They didn’t do much to help themselves either. Could that open the door for Indiana scoring machine Will Bruin?
- The coaching carousel in soccer is much slower than in football or basketball. That said, UofL Athletic Director Tom Jurich is not about to let Lolla get away. There’s already talk of a new soccer-only stadium.
- Which means that all those new fans who caught the soccer bug in November and December this year will need to stay infected in September and October of next year to make that a reality. Louisville has shown it can draw 5,000 for a tournament game in foul weather. Can they do it on a beautiful fall day against a run-of-the-mill non-conference opponent?
- Which means that it will be up to us – the fans – as much as the players and coaches, to keep the momentum going. You up for it? I am.
Gotta admit that I’ve never been much of a soccer fan. Besides watching my high school team play when I was in school, I never attended a soccer game until I covered a UofL women’s game earlier this year.
I didn’t get out to see any men’s games but got caught up in the excitement of the Cards’ push to the national championship. Will it be enough to get me out there to games next year?
Probably. Let’s hope Jurich can get these guys (and girls) a stadium of their own. There is a great deal of support for youth soccer in this community and a stadium could also be used for high school matches and visits from professional soccer teams.
The Hermann voting was complete before any of the College Cup games were played. The College Cup will have no effect on the chances of Rolfe or Nagbe.
Hopefully the Cardinals can get a new stadium. I had the chance to attend the game down there this season and though the facility is nice, it’s not for soccer.
A soccer only facility is a must if Louisville wants to continue to compete and draw big crowds.
Good luck next year, you’re going to need it if you want to get past my Zips.