Quote from: EnmoreCat on November 13, 2022, 06:22:48 PM
St Lawrence 2 Amherst 4

Sadly work interfered with my viewing in part, but I came away with nothing but respect for the way Saints play and the pro-Saints posters have every reason to be proud of their team. Nevertheless, it's not the first time Amherst has started hot and on the first goal, there were two other players who were ready to score.  The 3-0 scoreline was as much about momentum and Saints really took over about 30 minutes in and at 3-1, I felt nervous, knowing the potency of their attack. The 4th Amherst goal calmed the nerves, but everyone knew it wasn't going to finish 4-1.

4-2 not long into the second half and the Saints' tails were up and the Mammoths were pushed back.  It wasn't always pretty, but ultimately in my clearly biased view it felt like there wasn't lots of dangerous play in Amherst's area.  But of course, it only takes a moment to change that and Saints clearly have players who can unlock that particular door.  Amherst did create chances too and ultimately were rewarded for the ones they did take

Not sure what comes next and it's hard to believe we have seen the last of the upsets. 

Foul count was 26/12 and 4/3 in yellows, well above pace for Amherst.

I was on the RPI team that played Amherst in the Elite 8 in 2019 and had an eerily similar experience. I had never really seen anything like the intensity that Amherst brought to every aspect of the game. My impression of Serpone was that he was kind of an a-hole but that he had his guys firing on all cylinders and operating at their most intimidating. When we played them it was like 40 degees, pouring down rain, their grass field as essentially an unplayable mudpit, but these guys were fired up and swaggering. They had this palpable arrogance about them, like they knew they were the #2 team in the country and they were going to put us down, it was unreal. They scored their first goal and the kid did like a 15 foot knee slide right in front of our bench, and it was just over at that point.

They actually moved the game to the turf at halftime (don't get me started) and we got a goal back and arguably had the run of play in our favor the last 55 minutes or so, but I've got firsthand experience of seeing how their mentality, reputation, and intensity can catch teams off guard and get you boat-raced before you even know what hit you, even in a massively important match. I'm assuming it's a NESCAC thing, that the rivalries there are so intense and the conference is so high-quality that a) the intensity is just at peak levels and b) the top NESCAC teams come out of that conference with a certainty that they're better than anything else in the country has to offer.

I hope the Saint fans won't get too mad at me for putting the inevitable jinx on... but I'm expecting a comfortable Saint victory today. 2-0 would be my specific prediction. I've been very impressed by SLU this year. In the years I was playing it always felt as if SLU was one of the best teams we saw all year, with fantastic individual players, yet as a side they connived at their own self-destruction, or were prone to switching off for individual moments of games which led to goals. This year it seems to have come together and they seem to have found the ability to grind out a close result.

Quote from: deutschfan on November 01, 2022, 06:27:56 PM
I just saw LL Alum's earlier posts.  He/she is absolutely right that the dangerous play foul that was called in the second overtime was incredibly soft.  That being said, the service into the box was excellent and RPI's goalie failed to punch the ball or otherwise intercede in the connection.  RIT's fans were far more vociferous than the RPI fans.  I don't know if that was a function of where they were sitting versus the camera or if they were that much more vocal.  They will certainly be traveling to Sandy to cheer RIT on.

oh absolutely correct on the analysis of the play, the alum side of me chose to ignore that part )

Quote from: LL_Alum on November 01, 2022, 05:14:31 PM
The ref in the RPI-RIT match is having an absolute nightmare... completely misses an RIT player haul an RPI CB down in the box to get open for a cross . Also just generally has completely failed to keep the game under control.

In other news, my stomach is about halfway up my throat right now

And RIT get a second off a free kick after a horrible call for dangerous play. Unless something drastic happens here, RPI loses their 4th straight LL playoff game in either ET or PKs and has their first losing season since 2006

The ref in the RPI-RIT match is having an absolute nightmare... completely misses an RIT player haul an RPI CB down in the box to get open for a cross . Also just generally has completely failed to keep the game under control.

In other news, my stomach is about halfway up my throat right now

I recently graduated and would have to agree that our coaches never had to articulate that no posting on this site should happen by active players, that was an unwritten but pretty obvious rule. Even now, I'm still careful about what I say and will keep my alma mater lowkey for a year or two, since I don't want to be put in a position where I'm being asked to speak about guys I played with/against. But I'd say around 25%-30% of my team regularly read the LL and National Perspective feeds to see what alums and the frequent posters were saying about us.

Chance that appeared out of nowhere. Just checked and RPI is now in danger of losing 3 straight LL semis after getting a top-2 seed and a first round bye. Should be a fascinating last 35! I will say SLU is not a team I'd like to try and come from behind on. All that possession can get really tiring as you chase the game, and them, around the field.

Quote from: deutschfan on November 05, 2021, 08:37:16 AM
Excellent per usual.  New Paltz loses its semi-final to Oswego who is having quite a run and the post game article says that New Paltz's season is done.  Vassar sits at number 2 in the region.  Even if RPI wins out its wins will be against unranked opponents and it will maintain its abysmal RvR ratio.  If RPI stumbles, its season may be over.  Judging by the lack of quality results in non-conference games overall, the league's national impact declined from 2019 and I don't believe whoever goes to the dance will be staying very long.

I don't know I think that the LL scheduled pretty well, but a number of non-conference opponents who usually perform well had down seasons. UofR, Brandeis, Plattsburg, Oneonta once they fell off the map in the SUNYAC, Williams etc. all had down seasons. I think what will really hurt the league is the bevy of favorites in other conferences who have gone down. I think that's pushed Vassar to the wrong side of the bubble.