Wow! What a last 5 years for top academic NESCACs. Athletes at Williams and Amherst really do it all, juggling such a hard class load with top-flight soccer. Listen to this stat: Williams or Amherst has been in the national final EACH of the last 5 years!!! Unbelievable

My predictions for the Sweet 16 - would love to hear everyone else's as well:

Midd vs CMS: 3-0 Midd
Trinity vs Babson: 2-1 Trinity
Midd vs Trinity: 1-1 (Trinity advances 3-0 on pens)

Buffalo State vs Dickinson: Dickinson 2-1
W&L vs Williams: W&L 3-0
W&L vs Dickinson: W&L 2-1

Amherst vs Wis-Superior: Amherst 3-1
WEC vs Wis-Platteville: WEC 2-0
Amherst vs WEC: Amherst 2-1

UMW vs Denison: UMW 1-0
Conn College vs Kenyon: Conn 2-0
UMW vs Conn: 1-1 (Conn advances 4-1 in pens)

Quote from: PaulNewman on November 19, 2024, 02:56:31 PMGonna leave this here with no comment other than to say where one gets one's news apparently does matter...

https://ephsports.williams.edu/news/2024/11/17/mens-soccer-spectacular-overtime-goal-tough-defense-see-williams-beat-messiah-1-0-and-move-on-to-the-round-of-16-of-the-ncaa-national-tournament.aspx

What about this is biased PN? Just read it through as a neutral fan who was in Williamstown for the game Sunday, and it seems pretty accurate to me. Obviously whoever the student reporter is painted everything in a positive light for the Ephs, but the Falcons definitely didn't dominate the game overall. They had more of the ball, but that's consistent in all of their games, and as we know, it certainly does not directly correlate to having the upper hand in a game.

The only thing I could imagine being biased is stating that two Williams players "combined defensively to dispossess" Messiah. But do we expect the write up to say it was a foul that the ref let go? Williams had the better chances in the game and was the more physically imposing team. Messiah definitely got unlucky with an offside call, but the ref missed a clear pen in the first half as well. Williams was exciting to watch and I can see them making another 2022-esque run this year. Helps that there are no other T-10 teams in their side of the bracket...