(08-16-2017 08:57 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  Cuse has become a national contender on lots of foreign players. Decent soccer in the NE...but it helps to bring in the Euros.

The game of college soccer has drastically changed in the last decade, and really, even in the last 5 years. The rise of MLS academies and other U.S. Development Academies has pushed a lot of elite prospects to the pro ranks in their teen years instead of seeing them play college soccer.

From people who follow top American soccer prospects & the college game (such as outlets like Top Drawer Soccer), the reason you're seeing more Europeans in the college game is more or less two-fold:

1) Europeans who may not see a path to the pro ranks in their own country, but are still solid players, are starting to see the value of the experience college soccer can provide. They still get to play the game they love, while also getting the opportunity of a great education in the U.S.

2) With top-level American prospects choosing to eschew college soccer, those Americans in the tiers below are just a bit less skilled than their European counterparts. Not drastically so, but enough for college coaches (where the bottom line is winning) to choose Europeans over domestic prospects.

Honestly, it will be interesting to see how the game of college soccer develops from here. There has been a push (mostly on the men's D1 side) to make soccer span both semesters and better approximate the professional game, rather than compressing the schedule solely into the fall (which often necessitates multiple games in a weekend). The benefits to that schedule change would allow for better training schedules, more rest & recovery from games, and potentially a change away from the wacky substitution rules currently in the college game.

I think such a change would actually be more beneficial to the long-term development of soccer in the U.S., but it might also be a way to better monetize the game at the college level. Stretching the schedule to have games in the spring semester may boost attendance, plus make the College Cup a more viable moneymaker rather than holding the marquee event in early December where the games are often cold & dull as a result.