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Author: Matt Privratsky
Photo: Michael Lang
Quick (fake) scenario for you: St Thomas is currently 4-4-1 as they head into Summit League conference play this weekend. In the fourth year of their NCAA transitional purgatory where postseason play remains out of reach, Head Coach Sheila McGill calls me up and says “Matt, we want you to come in, talk to the team, and give us a pep talk and some guidance for the rest of the fall.” I tell Sheila I’ll be right there. I jump on my ebike and bike to the Tom’s meeting room and write two words on the white board: Villain Season. Let’s jump into this very real idea based on a very fake situation. Where Things Stand for St Thomas None of the results, on paper, stick out as super odd compared to what might be expected. Dropping a game at Marquette, a team that earned a tie against Milwaukee and fought the Gophers pretty hard? Nothing to be ashamed of. Losing on a 5-0 margin? That might be a bit outside of where you want to be. Losing to an ok Northern Illinois team on the road? Nothing we’re panicking over. Losing 4-1 after being tied at half (even considering the bad luck red card etc)? A little tougher to stomach. In short, the record isn’t too bad. They even snuck into the top 200 in RPI prior to the Marquette loss. But some of the margins are a little worrisome. So, with 8 games to go before that huge inaugural DI recruiting class finishes their senior season, I’m going to recommend a new motto/mindset for the 2024 Summit League season: this is now Villain Season. Villain Season Yes as a young program you want to focus on building your identity. Yes you want to focus on development. Yes you want to be good people and not complete jerks. But the truth is, the only substantial, real life impact the Toms can have as a transitional/purgatory/no postseason squad is to change *other team’s* results. Now, this has been true for each of the last three seasons as well. But this year feels a little different. As I’ve continued to say: the Toms have really solid talent. The players largely are there for this team to be a headache in the Summit League. But there hasn’t really been a ton you can point to – by stats (below) or the eye test – in terms of big steps forward. Obviously there's a possibility those improved xG/goals numbers stick, but for the sake of this piece, let's pretend they go back down to earth like last season. Part of that is the Summit League being far tougher than folks might appreciate. But for the sake of this piece, we’re going to pretend at least one small part of it (among many) is the overall mindset and goals of the squad.
So, in short, I’m proposing this team go full on super villain. I want them to go into every single training session, lift, bus ride, warm up, and game as if their number one goal is to ruin the week of their opponents. Oh South Dakota, you think you’re gonna battle for conference tournament contention and take three points off us? We are going to battle our asses off and force you to leave with a tie or a loss. Denver, you think you’re hot stuff? We’re gonna fly into Colorado and straight up steal a point off you. We are going to scrap. We are going to work hard. We’re going to be willing to try shit on the ball. We have literally nothing to lose and we are going to *play like it.* When I’m a St Thomas player defending an opposing attacker, I want them to fail. I want their day to suck. Yes I want to do well, but I also want them to *not do well.* You’re probably thinking: Matt this sounds sort of weird, maybe even a little mean, and definitely a little extreme. Well, yea, you’re basically right. But here’s the thing, being a college soccer player is hard. We like to hype them up, celebrate them, and point out all the rad stuff they do, but these players deal with an insane amount of mental and emotional pressure. And, at times, it can legitimately suck to be a DI women’s soccer player. It can! It’s really hard! And this St Thomas team hasn’t had a lot of opportunity to experience really really big on-field payoff through big post season wins and competitive tournament play that can sometimes make it more worth it. So that is why I’m (half jokingly) putting forward this motto as one for them to hold in the front of their mind for the rest of the fall. These players deserve to feel confident. They deserve to feel like they’re making an impact. And they deserve to feel like the time and energy they’ve invested into their college careers was worth it. They are super talented and I believe that entitles them – at least a little bit – to be super villains.
Some Stats, Surprises, and Sunshine Other than my unrequested proposal for a dramatic mindset turn, let’s also take a look at some midseason markers that jumped out at me when scrubbing through some tape and statistics.
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