CCIW

[blue_jays]

Greg,

I have no doubt that you accurately and objectively described the out-of-bounds behavior of thata player and coach. As someone who spent his career in education (HS, college & university levels), as you apparently have also, it is simply shocking to me that the coach gets away with this. As we both know, he should be fired tomorrow. Is he perhaps also the AD at his college, such that the AD won't take that step? True enough, there was some outrageous behavior by D1 coaches in other sports a generation or two ago--I will leave out names, since this is about D3 soccer now, not other stuff a long time ago. But, it's beyond belief to me that the administrative people would knowingly condone this by overlooking it. Even if common decency and their reputation were cast aside, the liability concerns are staring them in the face. What if the NPU player had received broken bones/major concussion? Or worse? Either way, this is actually a crime, as far as I know--a felony to be precise. Something very serious needs to happen, IMO, and maybe this thread will actually result in that. I hope so.

Ultimately it will come down to provable evidence, so the game tape would tell the tale most effectively. I'd say Coach Grahn should grab the coaches angle and the broadcast angle and send it to the CCIW office to see what there is to be done.

[Gregory Sager]

Greg,

I have no doubt that you accurately and objectively described the out-of-bounds behavior of thata player and coach. As someone who spent his career in education (HS, college & university levels), as you apparently have also, it is simply shocking to me that the coach gets away with this. As we both know, he should be fired tomorrow. Is he perhaps also the AD at his college, such that the AD won't take that step? True enough, there was some outrageous behavior by D1 coaches in other sports a generation or two ago--I will leave out names, since this is about D3 soccer now, not other stuff a long time ago. But, it's beyond belief to me that the administrative people would knowingly condone this by overlooking it. Even if common decency and their reputation were cast aside, the liability concerns are staring them in the face. What if the NPU player had received broken bones/major concussion? Or worse? Either way, this is actually a crime, as far as I know--a felony to be precise. Something very serious needs to happen, IMO, and maybe this thread will actually result in that. I hope so.

Dave Di Tomasso is not the AD at Elmhurst, but he's been there a long time. He's been the head coach of the Bluejays from day one of the program's inception back in 2004, and before that he was the head coach of the Elmhurst women's soccer program for six seasons, when soccer was a women-only sport at EC.

Trust me,  NPU's AD (who is also the former men's soccer coach) gave the head referee an earful at halftime, informing him that the incident had been caught on videotape. I don't think that this is the end of the situation, although, practically, there's little or nothing that anyone outside of the Elmhurst administration can do to the coach or the player. It seems more likely that the referee will face consequences for this than either the Elmhurst coach or the player who committed the mugging.

Ultimately it will come down to provable evidence, so the game tape would tell the tale most effectively. I'd say Coach Grahn should grab the coaches angle and the broadcast angle and send it to the CCIW office to see what there is to be done.

Mike Krizman from the league office was actually at the game last night, watching from the press box. He left before I could get his thoughts on what had happened.

[voxelmhurst]

Is the game archived anywhere online?

[Gregory Sager]

You need to have a Boxcast subscription, but if you have one it's available via archive.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Greg,

I have no doubt that you accurately and objectively described the out-of-bounds behavior of thata player and coach. As someone who spent his career in education (HS, college & university levels), as you apparently have also, it is simply shocking to me that the coach gets away with this. As we both know, he should be fired tomorrow. Is he perhaps also the AD at his college, such that the AD won't take that step? True enough, there was some outrageous behavior by D1 coaches in other sports a generation or two ago--I will leave out names, since this is about D3 soccer now, not other stuff a long time ago. But, it's beyond belief to me that the administrative people would knowingly condone this by overlooking it. Even if common decency and their reputation were cast aside, the liability concerns are staring them in the face. What if the NPU player had received broken bones/major concussion? Or worse? Either way, this is actually a crime, as far as I know--a felony to be precise. Something very serious needs to happen, IMO, and maybe this thread will actually result in that. I hope so.

Dave Di Tomasso is not the AD at Elmhurst, but he's been there a long time. He's been the head coach of the Bluejays from day one of the program's inception back in 2004, and before that he was the head coach of the Elmhurst women's soccer program for six seasons, when soccer was a women-only sport at EC.

Trust me,  NPU's AD (who is also the former men's soccer coach) gave the head referee an earful at halftime, informing him that the incident had been caught on videotape. I don't think that this is the end of the situation, although, practically, there's little or nothing that anyone outside of the Elmhurst administration can do to the coach or the player. It seems more likely that the referee will face consequences for this than either the Elmhurst coach or the player who committed the mugging.

Ultimately it will come down to provable evidence, so the game tape would tell the tale most effectively. I'd say Coach Grahn should grab the coaches angle and the broadcast angle and send it to the CCIW office to see what there is to be done.

Mike Krizman from the league office was actually at the game last night, watching from the press box. He left before I could get his thoughts on what had happened.

I didn't see it (nor, apparently, did the ref! ).  While (IMO correctly) the law very rarely intervenes in sports "muggings", if the action was as you describe it (and I don't doubt that it was), being a 'stomping' during a lull in play it would be hard to defend as 'in the heat of the moment'.  The Elmhurst player certainly would seem to be a candidate for at least serious investigation for felonious assault.

[Gregory Sager]

Shatil Khoury's goal in Wednesday's semifinal between North Park and Elmhurst has gone viral on Instagram. It's had 21,000 views as of a couple of hours ago, about 11,000 likes, and over 40 comments. The goal's been dubbed "the Flip and Rip".

https://twitter.com/VikingsNPU/status/1192484134540783616/video/1

[Mr. Ypsi]

Congrats to the NPU Vikings on the tourney championship!  I only caught about the last 40 minutes, but seemed to be a well-played, even game.  (NPU 2, IWU 1.)

Both my sons' played many of their hs games on football fields; live I hardly noticed.  On camera, wow are those different lines annoying!   I had a terrible time knowing whether or not the ball was out of bounds!

[Gregory Sager]

North Park won the double-dip, following up their CCIW championship with the CCIW tourney title, taking down Illinois Wesleyan by a 3-1 score.

Right away, Illinois Wesleyan let it be known that the Titans weren't going to let this one be a reprise of the 4-0 laugher enjoyed by NPU back on October 12, as Keegan James beat a Vikings defender who whiffed on the left wing and tallied a goal just 57 seconds in to surprise the entire stadium with an early 1-0 lead. But that would be the last shot that the Titans would put on goal until the final two seconds of the match, when Orion Marty floated a 60-yard desperation shot into Mathias Stulen's waiting arms and the celebration began. The Vikings didn't even blink after that early goal; they simply showed great patience as the Titans kept seven back at all times in an attempt to nurse the lead, as the NPU backline was content to hold the ball, switching side-to-side every ten or fifteen seconds, probing or striking downfield only when there was an opening, and otherwise playing a solid brand of build-up soccer for a side that was missing a key build-up cog in Gustav Ericsson. Defensively, the Vikings won just about every 50/50 or second ball, even the goal kicks and punts directed at big Patrick Hickey, and the Titans could offer little or nothing in the way of dangerous chances after that initial goal.

NPU equalized in the 17th minute off of a beautiful Gianfranco DeCarne cross from the left wing to Niclas Holgersson, who banged it home to tie the match. The assist made DeCarne North Park's all-time assists leader, as the junior midfielder from Niles North now has 26 over the course of his career. Then, twenty minutes later, Angel Barriga swooped in and put a strong 30-yard shot on goal that Alex Ruckstaetter couldn't save cleanly. Peder Olsen gathered up the rebound and put it in the back of the net, and that 2-1 lead proved to be more than sufficient for the Vikings. Olsen, who continues to rewrite the NPU record book stat by stat this season, now has the all-time single-season points record as well as the career points record for the Park.

I'm not sure what match Chuck was watching if he thought that it was "even"; the Vikings had the total run of play and spent most of the match using their superior ball skills and speed to play keepaway from the Titans. But he's right that it was well-played; although outmatched in talent the Titans were stubborn and played really hard, selling out on just about every ball that they could get near and playing smart positional soccer. They deserve a tip of the cap for getting as far as they did this season, and for showing well in the championship match.

Now the Vikings await Monday morning's Selection Show.

[Gregory Sager]

Both my sons' played many of their hs games on football fields; live I hardly noticed.  On camera, wow are those different lines annoying!   I had a terrible time knowing whether or not the ball was out of bounds!

They may be annoying, but I'd rather watch a soccer match played on a multi-use field in good condition (e.g., NPU's Hedstrand Field, NCC's Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium, or Elmhurst's Langhorst Field) than one played on a soccer-only pitch in terrible condition such as Wheaton's Joe Bean Stadium (whose carpet is worn down to the nub), or IWU's Neis Field (which I lovingly refer to as "the cow pasture").

[Gregory Sager]

Yes! NPU hosts!

The Vikings will host Pacific Lutheran on Saturday, while Colorado College and Gustavus Adolphis will also collide on Hedstrand Field.

[Gregory Sager]

Wheaton held at #6 in the final Central Region ranking, but North Central dropped from #5 to #7, as Hope leapfrogged both of the DuPage County teams as well as Kalamazoo. Tough blow dealt to the Cardinals for drawing and going out on PKs in the CCIW semis.

Since #4 Hope and #5 Kalamazoo both got Pool C bids, that means that Wheaton was at the table when the committee ran out of bids to hand out.

[GoThunder1]

All Conference Teams are normally announced today. With that being said, here are my predictions:

O-POY - Olsen (no chance it is not)
D-POY - Kemkers or Biddlecomb (could also throw Barriga or Soto in there)
COY - Grahn (you win both the league and tourney - it should be automatic)

First Team:
GK: Biddlecomb/Soto - WC/NCC
D: Kemkers - NP
D: Barriga - NP
D: Hill - WC
M: Ericsson - NP
M: Olsen - NP
M: Herrera - CC
M: Hickey - IWU
M: Lund - NP
F: Patino - CC
F: Flores - NCC
F: Thompson - EC

[Gregory Sager]

It sounds greedy, I know, but I think that NPU gets six players on the All-CCIW first team, not five. Gianfranco DeCarne has been a key cog for NPU at both ends of the pitch -- he leads the league in assists in overall play with 9, one more than his teammate Angel Barriga -- but he really played his best soccer in non-conference play and in the CCIW tournament, and it's the CCIW regular season that they look at. But Niklas Holgersson and William Sandkvist were both among the league leaders in scoring as well. Sandkvist probably won't make it because he's a reserve, but I don't see how any coach in the league wouldn't have been wowed by Holgersson's play. Of course, he did miss the Augustana and Millikin games, as he was still healing up from his pulled hamstring.

I think that one of those three NPU guys gets on the first team as well.

Freshman of the Year should be interesting. Holgersson or Sandkvist from NPU? Fairwood or Munchhausen from NCC? Groza or Galvao from WC? Serrano or Berezne from EC? Hoare or Carlson from IWU?

[Gregory Sager]

BTW, GoThunder1, it may interest you to know that in looking at Pacific Lutheran's soccer page I found out that their leading scorer is a graduate of Todd Beamer HS in Federal Way, WA.

Weird and disturbing fact: Beamer High is called the Titans, and their school color is green.

[GoThunder1]

WOW - I am shocked by the All-Conference Teams.

1. How did Saile get voted as the DPOY? I'd say there are a solid 8-10 names more deserving. You could have picked any of those 8-10 names and I would have said they were deserving of it - which makes this even more confusing.
2. Grahn should have won COY outright.
3. Biddlecomb was completely robbed. We had a really good handful of GK's this year - but there should have been 2 on first team and 1 on second team. You could make the argument that he was DPOY.
4. I agree with Galvao winning FOY. You could make the argument for Holgersson, but I think him missing 2 games was the difference. Either of those 2 players were good choices.
5. Last and most notably, WHERE IS DECARNE? I am assuming this is a typo. If not, this is probably the biggest miss I can remember in recent years. Wasn't he first team in 2016? This one is befuddling.