I had a chance to officiate numerous Wheaton games from 1988 to Coach Bean's retirement in 2006.  He was an intense competitor who was a true gentleman at all times.  Going to referee at Wheaton was always a treat, and Coach Bean was a big part of that experience.  RIP to a wonderful man.

The d3 Coaches meeting men's and women's combined.  There was a lot of pushback from coaches about the dials being set after coaches had already finalized schedules for this past season.  While the dial settings for the women are a bit different, the complaints were similar, although the NESCAC feels they got screwed in favor of the UAA, which got 7 teams in on the women's side.  One point the director made repeated is that the NESCAC's out of conference record was so strong that it put their teams in a great position.

Per NCAA D3 Men Championships director with the NCAA here at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Chicago, the dials for NPI settings are locked for the next two seasons and any changes would not apply until the 2027 season.

I will make a few general remarks on the video review process and procedures.

First, it was available to use all season, and it could be as simple as an iPad.  The goal is to fix egregious errors, not to re-referee the games.  The NCAA D3 Men's and Women's Soccer Committees decreed that video review would only be used at the final four during the tournament.

Second, Coach Bianco is the current chair of the Rules Committee and has been a passionate advocate for the use of video review. 

Third, the rule states: "Indisputable video evidence, in the judgment of the referee, must be present
for the call on the field to be overturned."

Fourth, all I saw is what was shown on the broadcast.  I do not know what angles were available to the referee. 

Fifth, the teams were aware that video review would be used.

Finally, as many participants in this forum know, I am not a neutral in this case.  My son was the starting goalkeeper for Middlebury from 2019-2023, and I am a huge supporter of the program, the coaching staff, and the players and parents.  Any statement I make about the accuracy of decisions would be seen through that lens and might be taken as an official verdict. 

Referee for one semi is from Alabama and the other semi is from Illinois.  Ref for final is from California.

Gavin has a twin brother who plays for Tufts.  His mom logs lots of minutes on the sidelines for two NESCAC squads.

Quote from: Bucket on November 30, 2024, 04:54:08 PM

Quote from: SimpleCoach on November 30, 2024, 04:16:54 PM

Quote from: Bucket on November 30, 2024, 12:15:13 PM

Quote from: SimpleCoach on November 30, 2024, 07:05:16 AMI think it will be an Amherst Conn final.  Don't think W&L has it to beat Conn, and not sure if Middlebury can really step into this game and rise to the occasion.

SC.

Middlebury can very well lose this match, but it won't be because they "can't step into this game and rise to the occasion." What a terrible take.

The Panthers have lost one game all year, in the NESCAC title game. And this is the Final Four. The last four teams standing, every one of which has had to "step into a game and rise to the occasion" to get here. To question any one of these teams on that "metric" is head-shakingly bad.

Shakingly bad indeed.  What was I thinking.

SC.

2024 - 17-1-4
Lost to Conn in the NESCAC Final 3-1

2023 - 15-2-4
Lost to Tufts 2-1 in the NESCAC Semis
Lost to Amherst 1-0 in the NCAA Quarterfinals... and I was rooting for Middlebury in his one.

2022 - 10-5-3
Lost to Amherst in OT 1-0 in the NESCAC Semis
Lost to Rowan 3-2 in the NCAA First Round

2021 - 13-5-1
Lost to Tufts in the NESCAC Semi's 1-0
Lost to Amherst in the NCAA Semi's 1-0

2020 - No Season

2019 - 13-5-3
Lost to Tufts in the NESCAC Finals 2-1
Lost to RPI in the NCAA 2nd Round in PKs.

Are we talking history or this year's team?

LOL.

Yes, yes, you always say you'll never trust Middlebury until they do . . . what?

Make several elite 8s? Oh wait, they've done that. Still can't trust.

Earlier this year it was handedly beat a non-conference team. Oh, they did that, still can't trust.

Made a Final Four this year. Still can't trust. Let's see them get to a Finals. Then you still won't trust.

My hot take? Midd wins a national title and SC says, "Well, let's see if they can win back-to-back."

PN was right in his responses to me: can't argue with anything he said, and I was overly defensive and shouldn't have validated this bizarre obsession with Middlebury's "inadequacies."

I'll take Midd's year (no matter what happens this week), as well as its history—recent or decades' long—considering they are in a tier of success that has eluded about 97 percent of the programs in all of Division III soccer.

@SimpleCoach:  There is a world of difference between Midd circa 2019 and now.  The 2019 team was very hard to score on, but they had a quite limited offense.  They went 9-3-8 (this in an era where they actually played overtime).  They beat Conn 2-1 in OT and lost to Tufts 2-1 in OT.  That team finished 6th in the NESCAC and only made it to the NCAA's by virtue of run to the NESCAC championship game, beating Conn on PKs and then shutting out Amherst at Amherst before losing to a late Tufts goal in the final.  Failing to advance past the second round on PKs at RPI is not exactly choking.  Midd's co-leading scorers that year had 4 goals apiece and the team only scored 28 all year while allowing 10.  In 2021, they scored 29 and allowed 9, with Jordan Saint-Louis leading the way with 8.  They lost 1-0 to Tufts in the NESCAC semi before beating Oneonta, then Franklin and Marshall at Franklin and Marshall, then John Carroll before dropping a 1-0 to Amherst.  2022 they definitely underachieved in the post season, as any one on that team would tell you.  2023--undefeated regular season, including defeating Tufts 3-0.  They lost by a goal to Tufts in the NESCAC semis, and then beat Hopkins in 2nd round and Cortland State in 3rd round at Amherst before losing again to the hosts.  2024--another undefeated regular season and lost in NESCAC final 3-1 in a game that could easily have gone either way. 

Relative to the other NESCAC powers of the last decade, I can understand why you might think Midd has not held up its end of the bargain.  It should be noted, however, that Tufts and Amherset have hosted on a regular basis, and 2023 was the first time Midd got to host.  This was partially due to the dominance of the field hockey squad, who just won their 7th consecutive National Championship, and often took priority over men's soccer.  Tufts hosted the first weekend in 2024, two weekends in 2023, two weekends in 2021, and one in 2019.  Amherst hosted a weekend in 2024, the 2nd weekend in 2023, two weekends in 2022, the 2nd weekend in 2021, and the 2nd weekend in 2019.  So Tufts and Amherst have hosted 6 weekends over that span, while Midd has hosted 3 (all in the last two years).  The last two NCAA quarterfinals between Amherst and Midd were at Amherst. 

Quote from: Hopkins92 on November 27, 2024, 10:00:35 AMThey would lose every away game due to travel and win every home game due to travel.

Obviously the same applies to the Final Four :-)

I think Oneonta would struggle to finish in the top half.  Since 2019, they beat Hamilton in 2019, Lost to Hamilton and Middlebury (NCAA) in 2021, beat Hamilton, beat Tufts (NCAA), lost to Bowdoin (NCAA) in 2022, tied Hamilton in 2023, tied Hamilton in 2024. 

Cortland lost to Amherst (NCAA) in 2021, lost to Middlebury in 2023 (NCAA), lost to Williams and has no wins against NESCAC teams.  They are good programs, but I cannot see them doing better than 5th or 6th. 

As a NESCAC fan, I would much prefer to play SLU and Vassar instead of Trinity and Bates.  Better quality competition from those two LL sides.  Vassar has played Middlebury two years in a row, tying 2-2 at home in the regular season and then losing this year in the playoffs at Midd.

For those unfamiliar with the Midd broadcasts, the English accent belongs to former Midd coach David Saward, who coached the Panthers from 1985-2017, compiling a record of 359-126-59 (.714), including the 2007 National Championship.  He also coached Alex Elias (current Midd coach), Kyle Dezotell (current Tufts coach), and Scott Wiercinski (current Bowdoin coach). 

Agreed.  Whenever the HS team I coach has had a GK take a penalty, we always wait until after they have saved one or at least faced a couple of shots before having them go.

Also, a Middlebury vs Trinity elite 8 game would be a rematch of the 2007 National Title Game, won by Middlebury on penalty kicks.  Current Midd Coach Alex Elias was a key member of the 2007 title winning team.

Quote from: Fitz@615 on November 18, 2024, 11:39:30 AMCSO. Can you elucidate the no call 6 yards from CR  in MU half in 2OT that led to transition game winning goal?

Just looked at the video and was able to blow it up and look at it frame by frame.  Here are my thoughts.  The video is not conclusive to me, and there is only one angle.  That being said, my gut instinct is this is a foul.  Some thoughts (speculative) on why it was not called:
1.  The referee is looking right at the play from the opposite angle to the camera.  The Williams player places his left arm on the Messiah player's right shoulder.  At this point, it is incidental contact.
2.  There is no foot to foot contact by the William's player's left foot to the Messiah player's right foot.  I believe this is where the referee's eyes were focused.
3.  The left knee of the Williams player appears to have made contact with the knee/quad area of the Messiah player (the Messiah player's right leg appears to move as if contact occurred.)
4.  The Messiah player's right leg never returns to the ground as he begins to fall.

As I said before, I think this is probably a foul.  I am trying to explain what the referee may have been looking at.   

Quote from: Fitz@615 on November 18, 2024, 11:04:11 AMTake a gander at the offsides call at the 38:30 mark of 2nd half, made by the CR.

Video is not helpful here as you cannot see where the Messiah player is in relation to the second to last defender when the ball is played by his teammate near Messiah's endline.  The officials were using headsets to communicate.  There is no way the refereee made this call without input.  If the AR has the Messiah forward in an offside position when the ball is last played by a teammate, he will verbalize that to the referee.  The referee concluded that the Williams player attempting to head the ball was a deflection and not a controlled play.  That aspect of the play was correctly officiated.  The Williams player has to make a desperate leap for the ball as it bounces over his head.  This is a textbook example of what both IFAB/FIFA and the NCAA consider a deflection and not a deliberate play that would reset offside.  The only thing that is not clear from the video is whether the attacker from Messiah was in an offside position when his teammate sent the long ball.