2021 Game Notes

[Hopkins92]

Two quick comments:

* That Amherst goal was about as Amherst a goal as you're gonna get. (I know they have a lot of talent and score nice goals, but with the abundance of flip throws and set pieces that seem to rely mostly on EXTREME CHAOS!, that goal seemed to sum things up quite nicely.)

* I'm REALLY not a fan of subbing in a goalie just for PKs. Unless the dude has been tasked with studying game tape and then watching each starter the whole game to suss out tendencies from the bench... Which is all pretty rare, if not almost non-existent.

But, wow, that FR keeper sure did come up huge. Going up 2-0 in PKs is almost always insurmountable, mainly due to the pressure it exerts. Maybe I'll have to rethink my position on that move.

[Gregory Sager]

* I'm REALLY not a fan of subbing in a goalie just for PKs. Unless the dude has been tasked with studying game tape and then watching each starter the whole game to suss out tendencies from the bench... Which is all pretty rare, if not almost non-existent.

It wouldn't surprise me if this is a regular thing nowadays among some of the top programs. But I'm no more privy to knowing what goes on behind closed doors among all of the head coaches of those top programs than anybody else.

[blue_jays]

* I'm REALLY not a fan of subbing in a goalie just for PKs. Unless the dude has been tasked with studying game tape and then watching each starter the whole game to suss out tendencies from the bench... Which is all pretty rare, if not almost non-existent.

It wouldn't surprise me if this is a regular thing nowadays among some of the top programs. But I'm no more privy to knowing what goes on behind closed doors among all of the head coaches of those top programs than anybody else.

UChicago pulled its star GK Bonin for a young Katsimpalis off the bench in the 2017 Elite 8 for PKs against Emory, and it paid off in spades for the Maroons. Coaches gotta go with their best athlete in those situations since PKs are a guessing game.

[PaulNewman]

Either the announcers (to their credit) and maybe also the coach talked about how the Conn GK had trained all year for PKs and intentionally faced rounds and rounds of PKs in practice over the year.  The coach clearly thought he has some PK stopping expertise, and the frosh GK bookended PK shootouts with 1st game of the tourney and then last one.

Another major benefit is the added incentive for another good GK to stay engaged.  I've always thought it was a tough deal to be recruited for GK and sit, sometimes several years or even all four years, whereas field players aren't necessarily stuck behind someone or completely out of the rotation in terms of playing time.

[Hopkins92]

1) I was very cocky when it came to PKs, so a coach was pulling me out over my dead body if it came to that.

b) I do think the GK position is brutal if you have an entrenched guy. I took over the position 3 games into my freshman year and that's all she wrote. I know the guy that came in the next year wasn't too psyched, but he also was pre-med and ultimately wasn't going to transfer over the issue. He had a nice senior year after I left and 2 years after that the kid that came in when I was a senior went to the national title game.

iii) I think a MUCH dicier situation is when you put players in who haven't played much, if at all, to take a shot. As a goalie, we have muscle memory and practice 100s of PKs... hell, lots of time it's what we do during our "down time" when not practicing goalkicks and punts and throws. But even if a field player messes around with PKs a good deal, it's likely about a tenth of what a goalie does during the course of season.

[Flying Weasel]

It's not typical, but swapping out the GK for penalty shootouts also isn't unheard of.  It has been something teams have done as long as I can remember.  Two I recall clearly. 

Messiah notably did this for the PKs in the 2008 final against Stevens when they went with their back-up who had only gotten 2nd half minutes in 8 games in situations where the result was assured.  But he was considered the better pure shot blocker and he ended stopping 3 shots to help Messiah to their 6th title. 

And back in 1993, in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Plattsburgh and Clarkson went to PK's after a 1-1 tie in snowy, sub-freezing temps at regional host Cortland State. Clarkson took out their senior co-captain and two-year starting GK (after transferring from nearby St. Lawrence) in favor of a freshman who hadn't played a single minute all season but who was apparently considered to be a better pure shot-blocker than the bigger, more commanding senior.  In the shootout that was carried out on the adjacent field to where the game had been played, the young kid made 6 saves to help Clarkson to a 11-10 shoutout victory after 16 kicks for each team.  It was the start of Clarkson's run to the Final Four where host Williams (NCAA tournament eligible for the first time) ended their dream run in a frigid, snow-flurry semifinal.  I'm doubtful they played a single minute of the tournament above freezing that year.  (On a personal note, my brother was a freshman starter on that Clarkson team and he converted both his penalty shots kicking 3rd or 4th and again 13th or 14th.)

[Gregory Sager]

It doesn't always pay off with an advancement, though (or, in the case of the national final, a championship). As noted above, in 2017 Chicago head coach Mike Babst subbed out his starting GK Hill Bonin for freshman backup Aaron Katsimpalis (who actually had a better GAA and Save% in his five starts than did Bonin that season) in the quarterfinals shootout against Emory, and it worked, 5-3. But it didn't work the next weekend in the semifinals shootout against NPU, as the Vikings advanced, 7-6. Similarly, Salve Regina swapped out starter Seth Wolins for backup Nathan Reid for the shootout in a 2019 opening-rounder against Rowan, but the Profs nevertheless prevailed over Reid and Salve Regina, 4-2. Nor did it work for UW-Superior in the second round in 2019 when the Yellowjackets replaced starter Dalton Von Kaenel with backup Ulrik Lager against Luther but still fell to the Norse in the shootout, 4-1.

It would be interesting to see the success rate of subbed-in GKs for shootouts in terms of advancements, if such a stat exists somewhere.

[Hopkins92]

It's not typical, but swapping out the GK for penalty shootouts also isn't unheard of.  It has been something teams have done as long as I can remember.

Oh yeah, no doubt. I was a little pressed for time earlier, or would've mentioned the first that I remember it happening was ARG in the 1990 World Cup, putting Goycochoa (sp?) in specifically for PKs and helping them get to the final. I remember being stunned at the time (see post above) and not understanding the manager's logic.

I do get that it works in some instances, I'm just sort or parochially opposed. :-)