Syracuse soccer has been growing for years now. Professionally, the Salt City has an indoor team, the Syracuse Silver Knights, and an outdoor team, Syracuse FC. Now, the women are getting in on the action!
Today, the Syracuse Developmental Academy officially announced their arrival to Central New York. Now, to be clear, the Syracuse Developmental Academy has existed in Central New York since 2004, allowing girls and boys from ages 4 to 19 to learn soccer and grow their game as they mature. However, this summer the organization has started a women's team that will join the United Women's Soccer League. The UWS considered the second tier of women's soccer in the United States. This comes after two summers where the SDA Lady Knights played in the Women's Professional Soccer League. Now, the organization is rebranding and starting out fresh. SDA will be coached by Kevin Shaulk, who is a former assistant coach for the Syracuse Silver Knights. He will be joined by Matt Paolini, who will serve as SDA's General Manager. As for a home venue, SDA will take to the pitch at LeMoyne College for their home games. The Fair Cuse Sports Report will continue to cover the SDA and any more news that breaks. :Last weekend, the Syracuse Silver Knights saw their 2017 season come to a close. On Friday, it was a situation of joy quickly squashed. After battling with the Baltimore Blast for 59 minutes, the Knights scored with no time left on the clock to force overtime. However, Baltimore would score 29 seconds into overtime and end the Knights playoff hopes. On Sunday, with only the pressure of finishing with a win, the Silver Knights finally took down the Florida Tropics, beating them 14-8 behind four goals from Kenardo Forbes. Antonio Manfut, Nate Bourdeau, and Joey Tavenese also added goals in the Knights win. Thus, it was the end of the 2017 campaign. This season was very much full of ups and downs for the Syracuse Silver Knights. At the beginning of the season, Tommy Tanner promised fans this was the best team in franchise history. He would give up the reins as Head Coach, focusing on his role as General Manager. Instead, he brought in long time keeper Bryan O'Quinn as head coach and Ryan Hall as assistant coach. With most of the 2015-16 roster back and some new signings, such as Moises Gonzalez, the Knights looked ready to run the MASL table. Over the summer, the MASL went through a face lift. After the Baltimore Blast temporarily left the league and created a whole new league (which included Harrisburg, Florida, and St. Louis,) the MASL resolved all issues and focused on improving team, match, and overall quality of the league. This would prove to be problematic for the Knights, who saw massive improvements in the East Division. Take for example the Harrisburg Heat. Last season, the Heat went 1-19, picking up their only win at the very end of the season. This year, the Heat got a new owner and bulked up their roster, looking to avoid another disaster season. They did just that, clinching their first playoff birth since the early 2000's. They will go up against the Baltimore Blast in the first round of the Ron Newman Cup playoffs. However, Syracuse was able to clinch the season series with the Heat, three games to one. The Florida Tropics, on the other hand, proved to be a thorn in the Knights' side. One of the fresh new franchises to the MASL, the Tropics got out of the gate fast, defeating the Knights at the War Memorial early in the season. The teams would not meet again until the end of the season, where Florida stole both of their home games against the Knights. Those loses would ultimately prove deadly to the Knights, making their playoff chances extremely slim. In the last game of the season, the Knights would finally take down the Tropics 14-8, avoiding a season sweep and finishing 6-7 inside the East Division. Like in most of the past seasons, the Baltimore Blast were the juggernauts of the East Division. The would take a game from the Knights in the midway point of the season, winning at the Old Barn 6-3. The two teams would not meet again until the end of the season, where things would become most interesting. With the Knights; playoff hopes in the balance, the Blast picked up a win on their turf, dismantling the Knights 8-4 on February 17th. In a turn of events, the Knights would return the favor, slamming the Blast 7-2 just two days later on Baltimore's home floor. The most important match up would fall on February 24th, where the Knights scored with no time on the clock to force overtime against the Blast at the War Memorial, But, as stated earlier, the Blast would quickly score in the extra frame and end the Knights' playoff chances. Once again, the Blast would foil the Knights. Outside the East Division, the Knights struggled to gain wins, losing many of their matches by close margins. The Cedar Rapids Rampage would sweep the Knights, winning both match-ups. Kansas City took their lone game against the Knights down in Kansas City in a close 6-5. The Knights were also victims of their own play. On December 18th, the Knights would go up 6-1 on the Chicago Mustangs, cruising to what looked to be an easy win. However, Chicago would take advantage of the some sloppy Syracuse plays and comeback for a 10-7 win. When the rematch took place in Syracuse on January 29th, the Knights made sure this didn't happen again, destroying the Mustangs 11-2. In that game, Bryan O'Quinn made his return to keeper, shutting out Chicago for almost 55 minutes. The only other out of division opponent for the Knights was the mighty Milwaukee Wave. In the first match-up in Milwaukee, the Knights would get a great game and crash the Wave 6-3. However, the Knights could not repeat that effort in Syracuse, losing 8-6.The Knights finished 2-5 outside of their division, another factor in why the Knights missed the playoffs. So, where did the Knights go wrong? One reason may be the change in leadership. Bryan O'Quinn's didn't get a complete first season as head coach. With the Knights faltering half-way through the season at 4-7, the decision was made on February 25th to have O'Quinn return to keeper and have Ryan Hall become head coach. Tommy Tanner, who gave his coaching job to focus on his general manager role, returned to the bench as assistant coach. This move would prove fruitful with the Knights, picking up two wins the weekend after the coaching change. Unfortunately, the still finished the season with a 4-5 record post the coaching move. Not much improvement there. Other issues the Knights faced was a lack of team offense and defense. Many games featured individual players having great games but not getting much support, For example, Joey Tavernese scored five goals against the Heat on December 10th in Harrisburg. However, with a lack of others scoring and defense, the Knights fell 10-8. One player can do a lot, but a team effort will clinch wins. Look at the game in Chicago on December 18th. Most teams who go up 6-1 in a game go on to win. But, due to weak defense, the Mustangs came back and took down the Knights. With the negatives came many positives. Kenardo Forbes had another great season, scoring 21 goals and assists and picking up the team MVP award. Slavisa Ubiparipovic provided several great moments, using his pinpoint accuracy to score on several free kicks and difficult chances. Joey Tavernese provided plenty of scoring, leading the Knights with 26 goals on the season. Moises Gonzalez proved to be the best pick-up for the Knights in the off-season, scoring the game tying and overtime winning goal against Harrisburg on January 27th. He also provided the goal of the year in Baltimore with his epic bike kick. Jer Jer Gibson provided the most heart warming moment this season, proposing to his now fiance on the field down in Harrisburg on January 27th. Of course, you also have to include Bryan O'Quinn's return to the field on January 29th and his solid performance in the Knights' win in Baltimore. So, what's next? To answer the most annoying question, yes, the Knights are coming back next season. But, will another familiar team return as well? Soccer Sam, the former owner of the Rochester Lancers, is trying to bring the Lancers back for next season. If they return, will the Knights lose players like Jake Schindler and Joey Tavernese? Who will be coaching the Knights next year? Will Ryan Hall stay at the helm? Will Bryan O'Quinn return to the bench or in the net? Will the Knights make any trades or signings? Will any of the Knights play for the new Syracuse FC franchise this summer? We at The Fair Cues Sports Report will try to keep you up on any developments and get these questions solved during this off-season. |
Nicholas Episcopo
Broadcasting Graduate Archives
November 2018
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