Quote from: PaulNewman on October 23, 2024, 08:31:07 AMOver/under on this guy making it to 10 posts?  I'll go with 6.

They took away the "smite" button.

Quote from: Gray Fox on October 23, 2024, 12:36:39 PM

Quote from: PaulNewman on October 23, 2024, 08:31:07 AMOver/under on this guy making it to 10 posts?  I'll go with 6.

They took away the "smite" button.

Lol...they did that as a favor to me.  Who doesn't get nostalgic about a bygone era when Mr.Right and I "smited" each other for 78 straight days?  Thank goodness we were only allowed one "smite" per day per customer.

Well, this is unprecedented.  I don't think there has ever been anything close to rivalry smack talk on the GO WEST thread.  Frankly, I don't know that we have enough supporters of SCIAC teams on the board to even engage in harmless banter, let alone anything more. 

So, I'll just add to my preview by saying that it will be interesting to see how Oxy coach Rod Lafaurie and CMS coach Edward Cartee adjust their approaches to the game tonight, if at all, after just playing each other 7 days ago.  Cartee did pull out a press right after halftime last week that was pretty successful and I expect that Oxy will need to work on dealing with that.  Cartee will also probably emphasize tightening up the defense on Andrew Notter during crosses and set pieces.  Notter was the most dangerous Oxy player in the game last week, scoring twice on CMS.

One wild card is player availability.  Oxy seems like it has players with knocks based on its rotations and that may help explain its inconsistency.  Oxy's Notter didn't play at all against Caltech in the game on Saturday, while Oxy's Oury Diane sat out the CMS game, but played 56 minutes against Caltech and was Oxy's leading shooter and scored its only goal.  Oxy's freshman forward Devin Benning, who used his speed to be a pest in 74 minutes starting against CMS, only played 34 minutes off the bench against Caltech.  CMS, by contrast, used the same starting lineup against La Verne that it used against Oxy, but Nico Del Villar, who played 88 minutes against Oxy, only played the first 31 minutes against La Verne and was then substituted off and never came back on in the game.  That could have simply been to rest him since they didn't think they needed him, but the CMS-La Verne game was tied 0-0 until the 75th minute, so it's not like they had the game well in hand.  So, it's possible it was a knock or illness.

Quote from: seanie67 on October 23, 2024, 12:27:50 AMAnyone who as watched Oxy this year knows all goals run through a dubious striker and/or specious front line- not quality. Their midfield should start shooting and making runs. Their coach is an impassionate full throated idiot as well. CMS will dominate this season, next and next. BTW important note and I hope all the NESCAC fools are listening. The bottom half of all SCIAC and all Cali teams could and will destroy most of the garbage (yak, yak) Northeast teams that includes Centennial, NEWMAC and the rest of the Northeast disposal. The stats belie that absolute fact and it will continue into the near future. Enjoy playing futsal in a january cold gym and keep weightlifting!

I don't typically engage with nonsense, but "all Cali teams"?? That out of the gate is disqualifying statement.

But to be specific, an average Swarthmore team flew out that way and beat Oxy (3-1) and Caltech (1-0) and Chapman came out east and lost to Stevens (2-1) and Montclair St (3-0). Cal Lutheran also traveled east and lost to an (at the time) floundering Messiah (4-0) and tied Gettysburg. (1-1).

So, I'm not great at math but 0-5-1 for the SCIAC teams... What are you actually talking about?

Quote from: PaulNewman on October 23, 2024, 01:30:29 PMLol...they did that as a favor to me.  Who doesn't get nostalgic about a bygone era when Mr.Right and I "smited" each other for 78 straight days?  Thank goodness we were only allowed one "smite" per day per customer.

Ha this made me laugh.  But you and someone named Mr. Right seem like a match made in Heaven? 

Quote from: Freddyfud on October 23, 2024, 02:36:49 PM

Quote from: PaulNewman on October 23, 2024, 01:30:29 PMLol...they did that as a favor to me.  Who doesn't get nostalgic about a bygone era when Mr.Right and I "smited" each other for 78 straight days?  Thank goodness we were only allowed one "smite" per day per customer.

Ha this made me laugh.  But you and someone named Mr. Right seem like a match made in Heaven? 

I loved Mr.Right (and still do) even when I hated him.  Mr.Right without question is a first ballot D3 Boards (soccer) HOFer...and certainly is in the convo for GOAT.  See that NESCAC thread?  Mr.Right started it.

Rivalry day in the NWC

Pacific Lutheran 1 - Puget Sound 1

Here is what I wrote about this matchup in my preview:

Pacific Lutheran @ Puget Sound 1:30 pm Pacific

QuoteBoth teams are coming off of bad ties (Willamette and Linfield, respectively).  PLU has only a 2 point cushion over George Fox and it arguably has the tougher schedule down the stretch.  It should want to have a bigger cushion before the final weekend when it travels to Whitman and Whitworth because those long road trips are always tricky.

This is the battle of Tacoma, WA.  First game at PLU ended 1-1 and this one ends the same way.  PLU dominated possession and outshot Puget Sound 17-5, while Puget Sound sat back and played the counter attack game.  PLU didn't break through until the 82nd minute on a great cross from maybe 35 yards out into the box that looped over the defenders onto the head of Lutes' Owen Bliskis who put it over the GK into the far post.  PLU had trouble seeing the game out though and a foul in the middle of its defensive half gave Puget Sound a chance with about 1:30 to go.  The Puget Sound free kick was a teasing ball to the left side of the goal that a diving Jackson Smith was able to head into the far post for the equalizer.  PLU is 9-1-5, but it has left the door open to George Fox to close the gap.

Whitworth 3 - Whitman 1

As I said in my preview, throw out the records with this one.  Whitworth was nominally the team with the worse record coming into this game, coming in with a 4 game winless streak and a 5-0 loss to George Fox on Sunday.  Of course, Whitman really was no better, coming in with its own 4 game winless streak that included a 7-0 loss to PLU and a 5-1 loss to George Fox.  Whitworth, however, was the one to exert itself early.  It scored three in a row before Whitman got a consolation goal in the 85th minute. 

SCIAC action on Wednesday

Occidental 3 - Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3

This game lived up to the billing.  Oxy came out flying, scoring goals in the 3rd and 7th minute, but CMS came roaring back itself with a goal in the 9th minute.  With a 2-1 score at the 8:48 mark, I figured Oxy was going to need a bigger scoreboard, but the teams settled in and it ended 2-1 at the half.  CMS came hard out of the gate in the second and equalized in the 49th.  They took the lead in the 60th on an error by Oxy GK Riley Nyhan that was almost identical to the one he made at CMS a week earlier.  He came sprinting out of his box on a breakaway ball, but somehow hesitated I think because he realized it wasn't going to make it to the box before the attacker.  I have no idea why he didn't just kick it, but it feels like he has the yips on balls like these now.  So, he instead kind of waited for it to come into the box and then went down to smother it, but Rafael Otero was already there and stole it from him and slotted it into the net for the 3-2 lead.  At this point, CMS sat back while Oxy hunted for the equalizer.  What they couldn't find in Claremont they found at home, though, as Andrew Notter equalized in the 88th minute.  The result is that Redlands (with its win over Caltech this afternoon) passes both teams to take over first place in the SCIAC.  That sets up another spicy matchup this Saturday afternoon as CMS travels to Redlands.

UPDATE:  Here's video of Oxy striker Andrew Notter's goal with two minutes to go to get the tie.  I now realize that this was a well-worked throw-in play and it appears either no one from CMS defended Notter up top or couldn't stay with him.  Pretty athletic play to hit it one time while flying in and then still get his feet under himself enough to nail home the rebound.  Hard luck for the CMS keeper who blocked the first try.

Redlands 3 - Caltech 1

Redlands carried a 2-0 lead for more than 2/3 of the game, adding a 3rd in the 76th (for Phillip Kostenko's 10th of the year), before Caltech got a consolation goal in the 89th.

La Verne 2 - Chapman 0

Just when Chapman looks like it had gotten its act together in a 7 game unbeaten streak, it loses to La Verne, a team that had only 2 wins all season coming into tonight.  ULV's goals were scored right before and about 12 minutes after halftime and Chapman spent the second half trying to make up for its slow start, but it never threatened.  Chapman is still in the 4th and final conference tourney playoff spot, but it's tied with Cal Lutheran, who it plays on Saturday.

Cal Lutheran 3 - Pomona-Pitzer 2

After losing to Pomona-Pitzer 5-0 a week ago, Cal Lu was out for redemption tonight at home.  It got it, but it almost lost the plot and let P-P back in it.  Cal Lu scored the first three goals, one about 10 minutes before halftime and 2 after half, with the second in the 75th minute.  At that point, it seemed to relax, while P-P kept pushing.  The Sagehens scored goals in the 80th and 89th minutes, but couldn't find the equalizer. 

A couple of games Thursday night in the ASC

Mary Hardin-Baylor 3 - Howard Payne 0

UMHB takes care of business against winless HP, scoring 1 goal in the first half in the 13th minute, but it was a little more difficult than you would expect considering HP had a player sent off with a straight red card in the 38th minute.  As sometimes happens, the undermanned team ends up playing very compactly and making things difficult for the team with the extra man.  As a result, despite outshooting HP 26-6 over the game, and 12-3 in the first half, it took until the 70th minute to get a second and then they tacked on a 3rd in the 76th minute on a PK. 

UT Dallas 2 - Hardin-Simmons 0

A few weeks ago, H-S tied UTD 2-2.  In this game, H-S was never really threatening even though they went into halftime 0-0.  H-S had only 3 shots in the whole game, all during the first half, and was outshot 22-3 overall, but it held off UTD until the 69th minute.  UTD then added an insurance goal in the 84th minute.  Hardin-Simmons travels to Mary Hardin-Baylor for a big game on Saturday that likely will determine the top seed for the ASC tournament.

One game today of note in the SCAC

Trinity @ St. Thomas 4 pm central

Trinity is 12-0-2, 7-0 in the SCAC, and on a 12 game winning streak.  St. Thomas is 7-4-2 and 3-2-2 in the SCAC and is on a three game unbeaten streak that includes two straight 0-0 ties against Southwestern and Texas Lutheran.  Put all those numbers aside though.  Trinity v. St. Thomas might not have the infamy of the St. Thomas-Texas Lutheran matchup because of their game from last year, but these two teams had some epic games in 2023 and in previous years and arguably they have been the bigger rivalry in the SCAC over the last few years.  Before last season, UST had won 3 games in a row over Trinity, including two straight SCAC championship games.

During the regular season in 2023, Trinity beat St. Thomas 4-2 at home with Trinity scoring three straight goals in the second half to overcome a 2-1 UST lead in the 53rd minute.  Trinity's last goal was a PK where UST GK Rodrigo Lazo brought down Trinity's Michael Meese and both players received yellow cards for some scuffling after the foul.  10 days later in the SCAC Championship game, the two teams met again in Houston at UST's home field.  St. Thomas' Dany Ramirez received a straight red card for a foul in the 6th minute and UST had to adjust its tactics and play a man down.  UST actually outshot Trinity 8-6 in regulation despite playing with 10 men, but neither team could find a goal.  After staggering through two OT periods, St. Thomas ended up winning the SCAC bid in PKs (with UST stopping Trinity's Chen Adjei's effort on the 5th PK to seal the win).

Since last season, Trinity has gotten better and St. Thomas has gotten worse. It's a little odd since Trinity arguably had more departures of significant players than St. Thomas (losing Adjei to graduation and Meese to injury, as well as their starting GK Wileman), but I think UST's offense has suffered without Taty Aleman and with a new coaching staff that doesn't seem to know how to utilize the talents of the players that remain.  Nevertheless, I expect this will be another interesting matchup, especially since St. Thomas' backs are to the wall as they try to hold onto the fourth and final SCAC playoff spot in their quest to win a 4th straight SCAC championship and knock Trinity out for the 5th year in a row (they beat them in the semis of the SCAC tournament in 2020).

St. Thomas is fast and tough and individually very technically proficient.  However, they appear to be unable to collectively harness the talent as you said above.

Trinity, on the other hand, is playing as a true team and dominated the contest today. 

If you'd tuned in for a couple of minutes at any point you might have assumed St. Thomas had the advantage.

Trinity continues to impress.

Friday Night Lights in the SCAC (except most of the games were in the late afternoon)

Trinity 4 - St. Thomas 0

As D3Navy already mentioned, this game didn't look like a blowout in real time.  St. Thomas has some players with technical skill and fight and it seemed like a defensive battle most of the time.  Heck, St. Thomas limited Trinity, a team that was averaging something like 20 shots per game coming into today, to only 7 shots this game.  The difference is that when St. Thomas went forward, they were waiting for someone to have a moment of brilliance, whereas Trinity was downright clinical in its offensive forays, converting its 7 shots and 5 shots on goal into 4 goals.  St. Thomas did go down to 10 men in the 63rd minute on a straight red card, but that was after Trinity was already up 3-0.  Trinity now has won 13 straight games and is 8-0 in the SCAC, setting up a massive battle for the regular season title in the SCAC on Sunday at Colorado College.

Colorado College 5 - Schreiner 0

Schreiner isn't a very good team, only barely above the bottom of the SCAC and ASC with 3 wins total this year, but Colorado College showed them no mercy.  Five different CC players scored and they scored 3 goals in the first half and 2 in the second.  If anything, CC should have scored a ton more considering they outshot Schreiner 35-1 and had 11 corners to Schreiner's 0.  I kind of wonder if Colorado's coach had a rule going into the game that they were not allowed to take a shot inside the box, because that's what it looks like in the CC shot chart.  Schreiner didn't even have a shot on goal this game.  They probably wish it was Colorado College leaving the SCAC next year and not Trinity and Southwestern because at least the trip home would be a lot shorter after getting trampled by those teams.  As for Colorado College, my only puzzle was why they left Curtis Hale in the game for all 90 minutes.  I get that they wanted to be extend their shutout streak to 8 games, but I'm pretty sure one of the fine young men on the bench could have gotten the job done against a team that didn't have a single shot on goal in the second half.  It's not like he has an ironman streak going in terms of minutes played either. 

Texas Lutheran 2 - Ozarks 0

TLU gets back on track after going winless last weekend against UST and Colorado College.  It took them awhile to get going offensively as they went into the half tied 0-0, but TLU finally broke through in the 53rd minute and added an insurance goal in the 71st.  Texas Lutheran now jumps into a tie with Southwestern for fourth place in the SCAC.

Southwestern 1 - Centenary 0

After being shutout by Colorado College and St. Thomas last weekend, Southwestern finally gets on the board in the 64th minute to pull out the win.  Scoring is still a problem for the team, though, as they outshot outshot Centenary 20-9, but had trouble finding the net.

Concordia 3 - Austin 2

Austin has proven to be a pesky team this year.  This game was tied 1-1 until the 61st minute and Concordia was only up 2-1 in the 77th minute when Austin went down a man on a straight red card.  Concordia appeared to bury any comeback hopes, however, when it took a 3-1 lead in the 80th minute, but Austin made the last few minutes tight by scoring in the 83rd minute.  Concordia holds on the 3rd place in the SCAC.

McMurry 2 - University of Dallas 0

Dallas goes to 0-8 in the SCAC and McMurry avoids the cellar scoring one goal in the 47th minute and another as time expired in the 90th minute.

Cross-posting from the Games to Watch thread

Two games of note today in Region X

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps @ Redlands 7 pm Pacific

As a result of the CMS-Occidental tie, Redlands has passed both of them and taken over first place in the SCIAC.  Redlands is on an 8 game unbeaten streak and over that streak it has scored 27 goals and given up only 5.  Its last loss was a 2-0 defeat at CMS.  Redlands is 8-0-1 at home and 2-2-2 away.  CMS is on a six game unbeaten streak, last losing 2-0 to Whittier.  It is 7-0-1 at home, but only 3-2-1 away.  With Redlands at home tonight, they should be favored, but CMS will be eager to make up for failing to retain the lead in the midweek game at Oxy.

Hardin-Simmons @ Mary Hardin-Baylor 7:30 pm Central

The battle of the Hardin schools is like a sibling rivalry to decide who is their mom's favorite (in this case, the "mom" is Mary Hardin, a philanthropist who supported both schools).  UMHB is 4-0-1 in the ASC and H-S is 5-1.  Hardin-Simmons' only loss in the ASC was home to UMHB in a game where one of their top offensive threats was sent-off on a straight red in the 33rd minute and then another player was sent off in the 63rd minute, dropping them to 9 players for the last 27 minutes.  Both Mary Hardin-Baylor goals were scored when it had a two-man advantage (and even then they didn't break through until the 76th minute).  Hardin-Simmons will be eager for revenge at UMHB's home in Belton while at full-strength.

A bunch of early games in Region X today:

Willamette 4 - George Fox 2

After only getting 2 wins in the first 13 games (both against winless Lewis & Clark), Willamette is 2-0-1 in the last three games (actually 3-0-1 counting the second L&C game) and has tied and beaten the top two teams in the NWC standings.  It feels like new Coach Corti-Young has slowly but surely coached the boys up and found the right combinations to make it work for the team.  George Fox slips behind Pacific Lutheran for the NWC title.

Whitworth 2 - Linfield 0

Whitworth has had a disappointing season in a lot of ways, but they beat Whitman last weekend and with this win they are in third in the NWC.

Puget Sound 5 - Lewis & Clark 0

Will L&C ever win?  After improving in recent games in the sense of keeping games close (e.g., a 2-1 loss to George Fox), L&C seems like they are starting to lose hope altogether, getting crushed by Willamette and Puget Sound in successive games.  Puget Sound has now quietly put itself only 7 points off the NWC lead with 4 games to go.  Coaches have used less than that to motivate a team to finish a season strong and it looks like PS is motivated.

Caltech 3 - La Verne 1

Caltech beats ULV a second time this season and climbs out of the SCIAC basement.  They are now 7-7-3 on the season, which I think is a program record!  Caltech actually dominated this game, leading 3-0 until La Verne got a consolation goal in the 89th minute.  I don't think any opponent has ever scored what could be called a "consolation goal" against Caltech before!  At 2-6-3 in the SCIAC, Caltech has a chance to equalize it's program record 3rd conference win from last season if they can beat Cal Lutheran next Saturday.

Chapman 1 - Cal Lutheran 1

Chapman scored in the 13th minute and Cal Lu equalized in the 22nd minute and that was it for the scoring in this game.  The two teams almost seemed to be playing for the tie, taking only four shots between them in the second half.  The two teams remain tied on points for the 4th and final conference tournament spot, but Cal Lu still has a game in hand.  They both have tough games left, though, with Chapman playing Occidental and Cal Lu playing Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.  It may be that, in its mind, Cal Lu has already booked 3 points in the Cal Tech game it has to end the season, but Cal Lu doesn't play well when it overlooks a team.  Plus, Chapman played Oxy really tight in a draw and Cal Lu has beaten CMS, so both teams really missed an opportunity by not taking all three points in this game.

Here are the remaining games from Region X on Saturday

Redlands 4 - Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2

After a tight defensive battle in the first half, the two teams broke out to make this a barnburner in the second half, scoring 6 goals between them.  By the 58th minute, CMS was up 2-1, but Redlands equalized in the 66th and for awhile it looked like it was going to end in a tie like the CMS-Oxy game at mid-week.  Instead, CMS broke down defensively late in the game again and gave up goals in the 86th and 89th minutes to run away with the game.  Anders Beckton and Phil Kostenko each scored a brace in the game. This was the 6th game in the last 8 in which Redlands scored at least 4 goals and the 7th in the last 8 where they scored at least 3.  Redlands is definitely firing on all cylinders offensively right now.  With the win, which avenges its one SCIAC loss this year to CMS earlier, Redlands clinches the regular season championship and top seed in the SCIAC tournament.  CMS can grab the second seed if it beats Cal Lutheran on Wednesday even if Oxy wins its last two games since CMS holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with Oxy.

Pomona-Pitzer 3 - Whittier 2

Pomona-Pitzer scored goals in the 69th and 77th minutes to turn a 2-1 deficit (and a 2-0 halftime deficit) into a 3-2 defeat.  If they can win their last game against Oxy, they can climb as high as 6th in the SCIAC.

Mary Hardin-Baylor 2 - Hardin-Simmons 0

UMHB proved that it could beat H-S (by an identical 2-0 score) even when both teams were at full-strength.  The game was fairly even on stats, but one stats stands out for me.  Hardin-Simmons reportedly had 0 fouls I say reportedly because they had 2 yellow cards. You can get a yellow without a foul, but it's not as common.  UMHB didn't get whistled that often relatively speaking (7), but it was dramatically more than H-S.  I certainly admire a team that can win without committing any fouls (Messiah comes to mind as a team that historically has been successful without being whistled for many fouls), but considering H-S lost the last game against UMHB while going down to 9 men because two players received straight red cards, I think they may have over-corrected on toning down the physicality in this game.  UMHB has created some separation in the question for the regular season ASC championship, but it still has work to do with games left against East Texas Baptist, which it beat 1-0 in the first game, and LeTourneau, which it tied 1-1 in the first game.  Hardin-Simmons' remaining ASC game is against Howard Payne, which it beat 6-0 last game.  So, I wouldn't call the race over, although UMHB has the tie-breaker.

East Texas Baptist 5 - LeTourneau 1

Big turnaround for ETBU, which tied LeTourneau 2-2 in the first game.  East Texas Baptist just dominated, scoring 2 in the first half and 3 in the second half before LeTourneau got a consolation goal in the 86th minute.  The win ensures that ETBU will claim the 3rd seed in the ASC tournament, while LeTourneau has the 4th seed.  Both teams have tough remaining games against UMHB.

UT Dallas 6 - Howard Payne 0

Howard Payne's winless streak stretches to 17 this season (can we schedule a game against Lewis & Clark for next season in the hopes that one of these teams can win a game?).  UTD scored wire to wire, starting in the 2nd minute and finishing in the 86th minute.  They outshot HP 24-7 and 15-2 in the 2d half.  On the bright side, HP will be in the play-in game in the ASC tournament regardless of whether they can beat Hardin-Simmons next Saturday since all 5 teams make the tournament and the bottom two teams have a play-in game.