Top Conferences and NCAA Bids

[PaulNewman]

I think you're right on both counts.  When I saw OWU was down 1-0 at the half I didn't blink, assured that they would end up winning 3-1 or 4-1.  OWU ALWAYS scores between the 73rd and 80th minutes.  This time, however, they appeared to tighten up, and none of their usual combination plays leading to wide open shots from 12 years out materialized.  Some panic seemed to set in on the OWU side, and RH seemed remarkably calm just defending out of their own end for essentially the entire 2nd half (and I guess most of the first).

As regards Messiah, they may well blow out Kenyon by 4 or 5 goals but it won't be because of lack of effort or confidence on the Kenyon side.  They will definitely think they are going in there to get a win.  Kenyon grinded out away draws in 2 out of the last 3 against OWU and also 2 years in a row away at DePauw.  The last 2 games were huge in terms of breaking through with actual wins against ONU and Wheaton.  I was very impressed with Wheaton who had not lost since a September Loras clash.

I am curious about your reference to Messiah's physicality.  Are they just bigger than OWU or did you also mean chippy?  The OWU-Kenyon affairs have tended to be quite chippy in their own right.

[Ryan Harmanis]

I am curious about your reference to Messiah's physicality.  Are they just bigger than OWU or did you also mean chippy?  The OWU-Kenyon affairs have tended to be quite chippy in their own right.

Just flat-out bigger.  Messiah doesn't necessarily play more physically but I think it allows them to win games in different ways, which could explain why Messiah rarely suffers these losses to teams content to just sit in.  Past OWU teams struggled with big, tough defensive teams because if they couldn't pass through them it was tough to score.  This year's team seemed to wear everyone down, following Messiah/Loras' lead in rotating attacking players more often and using a few more guys to great effect.  Just didn't happen to work yesterday.

[Christan Shirk]

Does anyone know if Kenyon submitted the paperwork to host a sectional round?  I'm just a bit surprised that Rose-Hulman will be flying when, with Kenyon hosting, the other three would have bused it to Gambier.

My impression from the last decade or so is that flying one team so that the top seed can host is not uncommon.  I haven't looked back through the brackets to confirm this impression, however, so take my impression for what it's worth.  The problem is more with having to fly 2 or 3 teams. 

The cost-savings factor is real and effects match-ups, bracketing, and hosting--no doubt about that.  But I think people have an exaggerated impression of it's effect that isn't always fair to the committee/NCAA.   

In the case of Messiah vs. Kenyon to host, there's not much point in discussing it too much until you have confirmation that Kenyon did in fact bid to host.  Even if they did bid to host (and I'd tend to think they would have), I still don't find it surprising in the least that Messiah was still selected as host.

[PaulNewman]

Ryan, I am more familiar with OWU than the others teams you mentioned, but I have never seen a team/coach play 19-20 players so adroitly.  Seems like Martin sends wave after wave of offensive threats.  The POY in the conference didn't even start most games.  Other teams just can't match OWU's depth and by the 75th minute or so the effects come through.    I'm guessing that part of what happened yesterday is that RH conserved energy by not even pretending to play OWU straight up.  They just expended energy in half or even a 3rd of the field instead of running and chasing over the whole pitch.

Christan, I agree.  Messiah is the deserved host without question, especially if the hosting of the other sections was going to be based on seeding/record.  Not a bad trip for Kenyon at all, and they may actually prefer the challenge of playing at Messiah.  No pressure on them.  They have already exceeded expectations (of others).

[KICKIN95]

Loras regularly plays 21-22 players a match.  They have had at least 20 different players score a goal the last 3 seasons with as many as 23 different players scoring in 2010.  With such a deep bench and another 23 players on the Reserves squad it make them a formatible opponent.

[PaulNewman]

No worries Kickin.  Loras is my pick to win it all.  There are 5-6 schools who expect to get to sweet 16 or better every single year.  For the rest, they have to seize their chance when they get it, as no guarantees will be back any time soon.  Also wonder in tight NCAA games if playing so many players works the other way a little.  OWU's or Loras' or Messiah's 2nd 11 might still be top 25 teams, but you can only play 11 at a time.

[PaulNewman]

Most dominant?  Messiah soccer or Kenyon swimming?

[lastguyoffthebench]

The correct answer is Trinity Squash, NCAC

Could the NJAC have a 5th national champion from the conference this year with either RU-C or MSU?!   Rowan '81, '90; Kean '92; TCNJ '96; Stockton '01 hahah.

[PaulNewman]

Valiant effort, lastguy.  But by my math 32 national titles (32 out of last 34 years) trumps 13.  Not to mention that squash hasn't qualified as a NCAA sport.

[Jim Matson]

More appropriately, Kenyon Swimming or North Central Cross Country!

[willchar]

I don't know all these teams so well.  Can anyone post the leagues that the 16 teams still in come from?

[Sirius90]

Valiant effort, lastguy.  But by my math 32 national titles (32 out of last 34 years) trumps 13.  Not to mention that squash hasn't qualified as a NCAA sport.

Yes but: because it's not officially sanctioned by the NCAA, squash is not separated by divisions, so Trinity competes with D1 schools.  What's interesting about their squash program is that they not only won 13 national titles in a row, they didn't lose a match for 13+ years. That's quite a feat for a small school. That having been said, the titles that Messiah has won over the last decade plus is more amazing. First of all: there are 400 programs (there are about 60 squash programs). Moreover, soccer is a much more random game than Squash. In Squash, the better player wins 97% of the time. The same can't be said for soccer. Aside from their Neumann loss, Messiah managed to avoid the horrendous upsets that plague footie, over and over.

As for swimming (if that's what's referenced above), I don't know nuttin' about nuttin'.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Rutgers-Camden    NJAC
York                        CAC
Montclair St            NJAC
Rochester              UAA
----------------------------------
Loras                     IIAC
Westminster         SLIAC
Trinity                    SCAC
Wartburg              IIAC
----------------------------------
Rose-Hulman        HCAC
F&M                      Centennial
Kenyon                 NCAC
Messiah                MAC Commonwealth
----------------------------------
Brandeis               UAA
Williams                NESCAC
St. Lawrence        Liberty
Amherst                NESCAC

[PaulNewman]

Excellent sectional preview articles so far.  Very well done.  The quality of the writing on the site, from Shirk to the new guys, is superb.  I assume these are side hobbies for all, but any of them could be doing high-end sports coverage.  Too bad they don't have even more time to devote to things like profiles of some of the student-athletes who really are exceptional young adults.  Very appreciative of what is here, though.

[Ron Boerger]

+1 NCAC.

I have a feeling that if the traffic to the site warranted it that there would be more stories.    Soccer just doesn't get the hits that the other football, basketball, and baseball sites do.

Very thankful to have what we do have.  Living in TX there isn't any media interested in covering college soccer, let alone D3 soccer.