Quote from: soccerlaxfan on December 05, 2024, 08:56:51 PM

Quote from: Hopkins92 on December 05, 2024, 08:26:32 PMkuiper, with all due respect (and I'll do this again - when I say that I mean it, you are legend on this board) a lot of stuff that gets posted in the rule changes thread gets pretty tedious and quite often over-looked.

But, more to the point, has anyone seen a regular season or up to this point NCAA tournament game where VAR gets trotted out??

Either it's part of the game or it's not. Bringing it in at the Final Four stage, in my opinion, is not the correct course.

Denison used it in the regular season a few times

I'm guessing that's because Denison has a spanking new, state of the art field complex...and Bianco being VERY INTENTIONAL about staying with or ahead of the curve.

Quote from: PaulNewman on December 05, 2024, 09:05:29 PMThe stove is too hot to be commenting now, but of course no one will be that interested once the temperature cools off.

Just one observer's opinion...

First of all, did the players know VAR might be used?  Imo the answer was not to award the first challenge with a PK.  The contact was too marginal and as far I could tell had no real impact on whether Amherst was going to get a good scoring chance in that spot.  That said, and I say this believing the ref had plenty of room to conclude "inconclusive," I did think on multiple reviews that the Midd player did get the Amherst player marginally on the foot before touching the ball.  The second one imo was extremely similar to the first one but imo not exactly the same.  The ref I presume knew the first call could have gone either way and was probably realizing he was injecting himself into a marginal call, and so when the second play happened I would guess he hoped there was room to make a legit PK call.  He didn't see it and so didn't stop the action, but on appeal after the Midd YC he immediately agreed to go look.  I presume he would have given a PK there if he had seen anything to justify it.  Imo Murphy did touch the ball before player.

Very impressed with Midd's midfield and offensive talent but I kept wanting to see more of it.  They had spells in the 2nd half where they looked effective and dangerous but not much in the first half.  That team is too talented to go the last 200 minutes of the season with only 1 goal.  I would have expected Midd to come out of the gate on fire looking to stun Amherst with a 2-0 lead after 25-30 minutes.  A cagey match especially now in hindsight probably was always going to favor the Mammoths.  And you absolutely cannot allow the Kitten score in the first minute of the 2nd half off a corner.

I noticed what seemed like good sportsmanship in the end also, and that was good to see. The Midd players did not look like they felt the game was stolen from them based on their immediate postgame reactions.They also didn't seem to flip out when the ref came back from VAR with the PK call.   I'm sure he doesn't not care one little bit, but Nuhu for such an incredibly talented player sure does make himself hard to like. 

Very hard match to watch, but we knew that would most likely be the case.  Congrats to Middlebury on a fantastic season.  They did get a breakthrough in reaching the F4 and they certainly were good enough to prevail today, but I can't go so far as to say it was taken from them.

Because they are coached by Alex Elias. He doesn't exhibit such reactions, and his players follow suit. Doesn't mean the call wasn't egregious. And, honestly, ridiculous to use the Panthers' good sportsmanship as a means to justify the unjustifiable.

Before I go ultra-sour grapes about the match, let me say to EnmoreCat: A beautiful goal by your son. I'm glad you were able to be there to see it in person.

Field seems like a dog track.

That said... Is that that the Sphere in the background? I mean... That's pretty cool.

Yep, still too hot.  I've watched a lot of Amherst-Midd games and in my recent memory there is always something...and I think you've commented vociferously at those times as well.  I saw plenty of emotion from Midd players during the game.  I might have missed it but I didn't see that when the ref came back from VAR with the call (or after the game).  I said it shouldn't have been called.  Do I also have to see the two plays exactly the same way you saw them?

Quote from: Hopkins92 on December 05, 2024, 09:19:37 PMField seems like a dog track.

That said... Is that that the Sphere in the background? I mean... That's pretty cool.

Yes.  The sphere is just across an intersection from UNLV's campus.

As for the field, that's the way that the grass looks this time of year in Nevada and Arizona.  It's basically dormant and very short. 

Quote from: PaulNewman on December 05, 2024, 09:20:06 PMYep, still too hot.  I've watched a lot of Amherst-Midd games and in my recent memory there is always something...and I think you've commented vociferously at those times as well.  I saw plenty of emotion from Midd players during the game.  I might have missed it but I didn't see that when the ref came back from VAR with the call (or after the game).  I said it shouldn't have been called.  Do I also have to see the two plays exactly the same way you saw them?

Assuming this is meant for me.

No need to see the world as I see it; my ex-wife would tell you that's a bad way to live!

But, I will add: don't confuse emotion with sportsmanship. Midd will play with plenty of fire and edge (Colin Dugan!), but I'd like to think that Alex and his staff have an extremely positive impact by example when it comes to being a good sport.

What a save by Sylvester......

SC.

That was a seriously good save by Silvester.  At that close range, the shot had to have some power on it even though it was basically a half-volley

Each goalie has a reaction save so far to keep the score at 0. That was a beautiful save by Conn though.

This game so far, even accounting for my favoritism, is 1000x more watchable than the previous.

Quote from: Kuiper on December 05, 2024, 09:28:42 PMThat was a seriously good save by Silvester.  At that close range, the shot had to have some power on it even though it was basically a half-volley

I would also say from the angle he made the save from the only way that was not going to go in was if it went off the the cross bar.  No chance he could have tipped it over the bar.

SC

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. 

Really good first half and entertaining.  It seems these teams match up well against one another.

CC needed the break, starting to look a bit ragged for them over the last couple of minutes.

Middlebury 1 Amherst 2 (Amherst progresses)

The UNLV field felt a little small to me, but unlike most grounds I have visited in my three seasons, it at least had a proper toilet.  A win in my book.  The grass looked good to me although it did seem to get chopped up a bit.  These are two teams which know each other well and I am sure have considerable respect for each other.

The first half was pretty even and for seasoned watchers of these games pretty typical.  I suspect both sides had positives to take away.  EnmoreKitten popped up with a goal and for the next few minutes after that it looked like Amherst might get a second, but instead it was the Panthers that equalized.  It was a bit scrappy and certainly disappointing for those with purple in their hearts, but again this is NESCAC and teams don't give up.  Not sure if the referee heard a loud mouthed Australian shout on one foul that they wouldn't call that in NESCAC, but based on what I saw, I thought he had an okay game.  The VAR decisions were kind of unusual, but in the heat of the moment it felt like both could have been given.  Sister of EnmoreKitten watching in downtown Enmore thought both were about right, I'm happy to go with that.  I understand there are other opinions, but am moving on.

Midd did push and do play an attractive brand of football and pushed very hard and it did feel like Amherst was just holding on, but in the final few minutes it felt like Midd had fired their shot and bowed out.  I don't think they could have done much more and they and their supporters should be super proud of a fine season.  They have my respect.

As for Amherst, for this group it's a third final out of four and overall a fourth out of five.  Whilst there's no doubt it would be nice to win one, the very best next thing is getting there and this team has shown considerable resolve week in, week out.  I get that people don't like them, but those with purple in their hearts absolutely love them and I look forward to a Mammoth herd descending on Vegas to hopefully enjoy a big day on Saturday.  Win or lose, the Mammoth Nation salutes you.

Foul Count: Midd 13 Amherst 15