Ohio Athletic Conference

[woacfan]

JCU 4, Oberlin 0

This stat says it all:                             SHOTS
                                 Period               1         2      Total
                                          Oberlin     0           3          3 
                                   John Carroll     15         28        43 

[woacfan]

JCU 1, Houghton nil. 
A great game.  JCU scored early, but Houghton carried the play for much of the second half. 
Both teams had opportunities late.  In the end,  the early tally carried the game.

[woacfan]

Week Three Records for OAC teams. Wilmington continues to surprise.  ONU back on track after a slow start.  A lot of teams bunched up in the middle.  And the build up to conference play continues....

Wilmington (Ohio)   0-0     6-0-1
Ohio Northern         0-0     4-0-2
Mount Union           0-0     4-1
Baldwin Wallace      0-0     3-1-3
Capital                   0-0      4-3
Otterbein                0-0     4-3
John Carroll            0-0      3-3
Muskingum             0-0      2-4
Marietta                  0-0      1-5
Heidelberg              0-0      0-4

[CrusaderNation]

It was a good week for the purple and white...  three wins, including handing the Allegheny (the#5 team in the region) their worst home loss since 2009 and only their second home loss in 23 games!  Maybe things are finally falling in place and players are stepping up to replace the big holes left by injuries?

[woacfan]

Capital and ONU seem to be on the rise.  After a slow start they are both ascendant.
Also, that is a great result on the road.  Allegheny's field seems to be sloped and the grass is always very thick there.  Its a very hard place for a visitor to come out of with a win!

[woacfan]

JCU records its 4th shutout in as many games, defeating regionally ranked Wooster 2-0.  Surprisingly lopsided affair, with the Blue Streaks controlling the tempo from beginning to end. JCU keeper and middies should be all OAC if this caliber of play continues.

[woacfan]

One week before league play, the conference has one team at 7-1-1 and six teams with either 5-3 or 5-4 records.  Let the blood-letting begin!!!!!!

http://www.oac.org/sports/wsoc/2011-12/standings?dec=/printer-decorator&

[woacfan]

Ugggghh!!!!! The Blue Streaks got outmuscled and outhustled in a 3-0 loss to Case Western. They controlled the first ten to fifteen minutes and then got pummeled.  Not a promising way to end non-conference play.   They'd best find some answers if they want to compete with the Crusader's in the conference final rematch this Saturday!!!!!

[CrusaderNation]

Not sure Capital can offer JCU much this season in terms of rematch capabilities.  Capital lost two starters for the season before pre-season started and have since lost another for the year.  Right now it is a team with some good players but nothing that is worth mentioning as a contender this time around.  On the good side the leading scorer from 2011, Hilary Ells, will get a redshirt year and so will left back & captain Michelle Geiger.  So, for the next two seasons they will have recruits plus a big part of the puzzle back from last year's title team...  That said, it still should make for a good game to watch as both teams are capable of playing some good soccer.

[woacfan]

Ells had a goal in the championship game last year, and if I remember correctly she took some great runs up the middle of the JCU defense and split them a few times.  This year, their non-conference standings are about the same, JCU is 5-4 and the Crusaders are 5-5.  The Crusaders had a couple of blow out wins against opponents.  I am not familiar with those teams, so I don't know how to guage the opposition there.  They seemed to play Case tougher than JCU though.  All the goals in the Crusader's game were in the first half.  Case scored all their goals in the second half against the Blue Streaks.... The Streaks are missing a few people too, including one of their best defenders.
I agree, it should be a good game! 
Looking at the conference,  I think this is the tightest I've ever seen it going into league play.  I couldn't begin to predict who will win the thing.  We might have a better picture in a few weeks!

[woacfan]

As much as my eyes will be on the re-match between JCU and Capital, the game of the week may be Mount Union (tied for 9th in the Great Lakes) and Ohio Northern (Number 2 in the Great Lakes).  Anyone have any insights on that matchup?

[CrusaderNation]

Looking at everything not much doubt ONU should win the double this year.  Although not dominating teams they are playing great defense and not taking any losses.  Not to mention they have played one of the toughest out of conference schedules this year and are still unblemished. 

Although some teams have surprising non-conference records heading into OAC play if you look at the W-L-T records for their opponents the W's may not be a true indicator (although you can never overlook the power of wins and player confidence).  Below are the opponents records as reported by Top Drawer Soccer:

51-52-8    Muskingum
54-61-10  Wilmington
57-57-10  Mt. Union
60-45-8    John Carroll
60-51-7    Marietta
61-56-9    Otterbein
66-54-13  Heidelberg
68-59-5    Baldwin Wallace
69-53-9    Ohio Northern
77-57-6    Capital

[woacfan]

OAC MAtchups Week 1:


VISITOR                            HOME                            KICK OFF

Mount Union                  Ohio Northern                      1:00 PM

Catch Live Stats Here:  http://www2.onu.edu/livestats/ws/xlive.htm

Baldwin Wallace             Otterbein                             1:00 PM

Follow this link to live stats and audio: http://www.otterbeincardinals.com/schedule.aspx?path=wsoc

Heidelberg                     Marietta                               2:00 PM

This gets you to live stats:  [urlhttp://pioneers.marietta.edu/schedule.aspx?path=wsoc][/url]

Capital                           John Carroll                         1:00 PM

Video Coverage and Live Stats: http://jcusports.com/schedule.aspx?path=wsoc&

Muskingum                    Wilmington (Ohio)                 4:30 PM

No Coverage found.


Looks like a bunch of good games on tap.  The two I'm looking forward to JCU v. Capital and ONU v. Mount Union!  Great opening week matchups from top to bottom!
The great thing about the opening of conference play is the anticipation.  Every team is in the competition, and anything can happen.  GO BLUE STREAKS!!!!!!!!

[woacfan]

JCU and Capital battle to a 1-1 tie after 2 OTs.   
Battle is the operative word!!!!
A great game!

[woacfan]

One day removed,  this is what I took away from yesterday's match:

1.  Statistically it was dead even between the sides.
2.  JCU owned most of the first half and Capital most of the second.
3.  JCU's keeper is having an all OAC season;
4.  Both goals came off set pieces.
5.  A lot of people took the drive up from Columbus to support the Crusaders.
6.  I think both teams will be solid throughout conference play.
7.  The Crusader Coach is a pretty vocal guy...you could hear him in the stands all the way across the field.  He might want to work on his "language" a little bit....haha.

As for ONU v. Mount Union....looks like Ohio Northern is returning to form for conference play.  They will be hard to beat. Mount Union had a great early season, and its hard to imagine that the play was that uneven.

Otterbein also took a nice win against B-W.  B-W had a strong start too, but every year Otterbein ends up in the mix.  They are always well coached.  They come to University Heights to take on the Streaks Wednesday.

Crusader Nation,  do you have any thoughts on the game?