Sectionals

[JHUFAN]

The host teams for this weekends sectionals are Messiah,William Smith,Trinity, and Wheaton.
Some interesting matchups! Hope the weather is not an issue at any of the venues. Good Luck!

[2xfaux]

Hopkins has been here before and played great last year.  So, good luck.  This should be an amazing weekend of soccer.

[2xfaux]

My yoga instructor tells me my karma should be at least 14 or so.  Well, I will work on it.

[Ron Boerger]

The host teams for this weekends sectionals are Messiah,William Smith,Trinity, and Wheaton.
Some interesting matchups! Hope the weather is not an issue at any of the venues. Good Luck!

Uh-oh, it's time for the annual rant ....

While Trinity (TX) SHOULD be host .. and Trinity (TX) EARNED the right to host by their play all season ... the NCAA once again forced them to travel so a team with a lesser pedigree (that would be unranked Ithaca [13-3-3]) can host.  All to save the cost of ONE plane flight.    What's 22-0-0 to the cost of a flight, anyway?

Why should teams that aren't in the eastern/middle part of the country be in D3?  They are invariably shown the shaft every single time the NCAA can save money by flying a better qualified team from outside the promised land. 

Could you imagine if Messiah had to ever go on the road because it was cheaper?  How about Mt. Union or UW-W in football?  No, they have earned the right to stay home by their play.  I am not saying Trinity is in the league of those very elite programs, but you know, if they were sent on the road as often as teams out west are in the interest of saving a few bucks, they might not have won quite so many playoff games, either. 

And as I said on another thread, if Trinity can't get past the teams in that regional, 1200 miles from home and possible weather or no, they don't deserve the chance to play in the national semifinals.   But it's annoying as hell to basically never get to see regionals simply because your school is in the wrong state. 

[JHUFAN]

Sorry for my posting error about Trinity hosting this weekend. To add fuel to the fire Ithaca and William Smith College are about 40-45 miles apart from each other. Not logical in any scope of thinking. As stated in a previous post I understand cost factor but your record and seeding play no part in hosting. This is shameful.  Do you think that since Trinity is hosting a first round NCAA football game on Saturday that that played into the decision?

[2xfaux]

I hope this doesn't effect my karma but Trinity is hosting the "Championship Game"  the big one, the final, the one that counts. Three years in a row they have hosted the game.  If they want it, go get it and play that game at home.  Trinity should be in the final four.  They need to make that happen no BS no excuses.  Come home, win the games.  I think they can. Don't you? 

[Ron Boerger]

I hope this doesn't effect my karma but Trinity is hosting the "Championship Game"  the big one, the final, the one that counts. Three years in a row they have hosted the game.  If they want it, go get it and play that game at home.  Trinity should be in the final four.  They need to make that happen no BS no excuses.  Come home, win the games.  I think they can. Don't you?

2x ... while true that the championships have been in SA for the last three years, the school shouldn't be penalized for that fact.  And it's not like Trinity has gotten to the semis during that time.  This year looks like a golden opportunity, for sure.   Have a +1.

No, I see it happen in all kinds of AA team sports, and it's not just Trinity.  ASC schools, SCIAC or NWC schools, anyone on a geographic island suffers when these decisions are made.  Since I follow Trinity I'm pretty sensitive to the number of times it's happened over the years. 

[hubert]

I think Messiah marches through their Sectional.  In a mild upset I'm looking for Amherst to take Hopkins in either OT or PKs.  Hopkins relies heavily on Hnatiuk and I think she covers up a lot for a somewhat suspect interior midfield of Hopkins.  I also think that the Hopkins forwards while fast, do tend to get winded.  Will be looking on with interest this weekend...

[thunder38]

Just as a PSA:

All games of the Wheaton Quadrant will be televised and broadcast on WETN.  Broadcasts can be found at WETN.org and click on the watch live or listen live link on the right side of the page to select which form you would like.

[2xfaux]

hubert, I wish I were as confident as you.  The Cinderella team from New Paltz should not be overlooked (Hellooooo Neumann)!!!  Amherst and Hopkins are both really good teams.  Perhaps, the Messiah men can help rally the campus around the MWS team.  The weather looks good.  It should be great fun.

[Jim Matson]

Hopkins is a very dangerous side. I know that Frey and Co. will not be looking past that match.

[Ron Boerger]

Jim, do you have any contacts at Ithaca?  Haven't seen anything on their site about anything other than live stats, it would be REALLY nice if a host site provided audio/video ...

[Jim Matson]

Yes, and I have asked this before. I'll check it out as I was wondering the same thing.

[GarbageGoals33]

Although my knowledge of the womens game is subpar at best I will give predictions a go after following the early rounds.

Wheaton Sectional:

Wheaton 3 UWW 1
Wash U 2 St. Bens 0
Wheaton 2 Wash u 0

Ithaca Sectional:

Trinity (Tx.) 2 Ithaca 1
Concordia 1 Cortland 0
Concordia 1 Trinity 1 (Concordia advances in PK's)

Messiah Sectional:

Messiah 5 New Paltz 0
JHU 3 Amherst 1
JHU 1 Messiah 0

William Smith Sectional:

William Smith 2 Middlebury 0
Emory 1 Williams 0
William Smith 1 Emory 0

Final 4:

JHU 0 vs. William Smith 0 JHU Advance on PK's
Wheaton (Ill.) 2 vs. Concordia 0

Final:

JHU 1 Wheaton 0

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity women just landed in NY and posted a twitpic showing that it's snowing there.