The Formula to Post-Season Success: Kansas City Roos’ Men’s Soccer

The Kansas City Roos’ team improved mightily this season compared to last year. While they are young and inexperienced, the Roos’ have a chance to make a strong run this postseason. Here’s what they need to do if they want to make it deep in the Summit League Tournament.

Offense needs to show more consistency

  The KC Roos offense is wildly inconsistent. In some games, they are able to produce, while in other games they cannot seem to get anything going. 

  The Roos tend to be middle-of-the-road in offensive statistics, currently sitting fourth in the league for goals scored with 20. 

  One area that the Roos stand out in is shots per game, with 13.47 shots. This average is third in the lead, only behind Omaha and Denver. This is impressive, as Kansas City only averages 5.80 shots on goal, placing them fourth in the league. If Kansas City wants to excel in the playoffs, they need to be more consistent and create more scoring opportunities with more shots on goal. 

  Kansas City’s offense relies heavily on the passing aspect of the game. They are fourth in the standings of assists with 18. That may not seem significant, but when 90% of goals scored are assisted, it shows how dangerous offensive consistency is for this team. 

Underclassmen must keep performance at a high level

  Underclassmen make up more than half of the team, and have impressed throughout the season,  but they can they hold their own in the playoffs. 

  On the offensive side of the ball, the underclassmen are providing valuable minutes. Sophomore midfielder Shfeo Lar has been a staple throughout the season, starting the majority of the games this year with ten and scoring two goals and one assist. 

  Another freshman that is involved in the attack is midfielder Samuel Nagy, who has also started the majority of the games this season with nine, scored a goal, and has four shots to his name. 

  Freshman defenders Cade Martin, Bryson Gosch, and Camden Baker all have impressed so far holding their own on the back line. 

 Martin has led the freshmen defenders by starting nine games and amassing a total of 838 minutes; 494 coming from conference games alone. 

 The beginning of the season saw Gosch leading the freshmen and his teammates on the defensive line playing the majority of the games. Currently, Gosch started in eight games and played a total of 625 minutes. 

  Baker on the other hand is more active in the offense by having an assist and eight shots. 

  If the underclassmen continue to perform like they have been this season it’s not unrealistic for this team to be a contender. 

Team must keep composure

  Kansas City’s defense has been impressive this year. The Roos have only allowed an average of 1.40 goals this year and a total of 21 goals allowed. The only thing that can hinder this team and their performance are themselves. 

  Kansas City had an issue with fouls this year. They rank high on the total number of fouls in the league with 196 which places them with the fourth most, but only four more fouls away from third. The Roos average the second most per game with 13.07 fouls. 

  Kansas City also averages nearly two yellow cards a game with an average of 1.93 which is two places behind Oral Roberts. Not to mention that Kansas City is tied for third in most red cards with three while Denver and Omaha have fewer. 

  If Kansas City wants to make a run against other teams that are better disciplined, then Kansas City needs to be more cautious about fouls, especially before the playoffs or this team will collapse on itself.

  This young Kansas City team has shown major improvement throughout this season, and if they want to continue their success deep into the Summit Leauge tournament then this team will need to have more of a consistent pass-based offense, underclassmen continuing to perform, and not be their own worst enemy with fouls.