Top Conferences and NCAA Bids

[PaulNewman]

Good luck to the teams today and major props to some of the teams that are out.

The end is brutally final when it comes and of course only one team will avoid that feeling.  I watched the Amherst-SLU game and Amherst was VERY fortunate to survive.  SLU is VERY good.  Not a big fan of Amherst's team or style and the sideline act was incessant and atrocious, but that said I will cheer for them today.  They deserve a final 4 trip after these last couple of seasons and Williams in my view has had a very fortunate draw. 

The commentators here I think were on to something with the how will some teams react to the big stage and the value of knowing you are already a powerhouse references.  I had expected Rochester to win.  And while Kenyon played like they were ready for the big moment Messiah exuded a confidence that said there was no way they would walk off the field a loser.  And of course it doesn't hurt that Messiah has a bunch of players one can imagine excelling at the D1 level.  Thompson is extremely dangerous (and gifted) and there is a huge center forward 5th year senior with 20 goals supported by the national POY.  And Robbins the center back is an absolute monster who makes great service into the midfield.  Glad I had the opportunity to see Messiah play and experience what the ruckus regarding the program is all about.  Very curious to see if F&M can give them a go like Kenyon did.

I was pulling for Wartburg too.  You wonder if these teams who had great runs this year (that usually don't) will get another shot in a similar spot in the next year or two.  Clearly the draw has an impact too.  Just compare the Stevens draw this year to that of Williams.

[PaulNewman]

Had the pleasure of watching Messiah again on the video feed.  Dominant performance by Messiah.  Expect them to demolish Williams and then be challenged in the final vs Rutgers-C or Loras (assuming Loras remains in control with Trinity after going ahead and Trinity now down to 10 men). 

Also had the misfortune of listening to the Messiah announcers.  These are not just students or "fans."  The two guys presented themselves as the  "professional" Messiah broadcast team who have been serving Messiah nation for a long time.  The innuendo of their comments about F&M (like playing Messiah "straight up" and many others) clearly were shots at the Kenyon game, and they made tons of comments about how Messiah was playing much better tonight.  They looked the same to me.  Maybe they just had a tougher opponent the night before.  The backdrop also seemed to involve F&M being coached by a Messiah guy.  But even wanting to elevate F&M and be nice to them, they still couldn't help themselves as the game progressed.  Even up 3-0 they started complaining about the ref and called Messiah's goal to go up 4-0 "poetic justice" for a missed call.  Meanwhile, the play-by-play guy was watching the Navy vs Wake Forest soccer game the whole time and giving commentary on that game.  You know it's not good when 2011 national POY Travis Wall from OWU is tweeting what an embarrassment these guys are to Messiah's great team and program. 

Feel terrible about the Amherst result.  Even if you don't like them must be heartbreaking not to get to a final four either of these last 2 years and especially to have Williams be the team to take them out both times.  Williams needed 2 wins in the conference tourney to just get a bid and now they are going to the final four yet again.

[KICKIN95]

Loras takes out Trinity 2-1.  Loras controlled majority of this match until Trinity was a man down due RC. Loras went in to prevent and allowed Trinity to bring at them will little opposition. 

[lastguyoffthebench]

Looking forward to the Loras vs Rutgers-Camden match...


Camden scored a goal in the first 4 minutes off a well placed shot that just tucked into side panel from 20-25 out....   and again a few minutes later off a decent build up and slotted ball behind the defender, forward slipped the ball over the goalies shoulder.   Montclair was without Mendoza again, Camden maintained control for most of the 1st half.

2nd half Montclair made some adjustments, Camden did not possess as much and absorbed some pressure. 

Montclair earned a PK with 25 to go and the game got interesting.  MSU played with more urgency and was able to slip a thru ball passed Camdens defense with about 7 minutes remaining, struck a volley where Camden GK made a great one-handed reaction save.

[KICKIN95]

Trinity shows very little class in their defeat, 2 red cards for cursing out the official and one player even screamed obscenities at the crowd as his own team was receiving their participation awards.  Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't witnessed it. 

[Sandy]

An Amherst player came over to the crowd after beating SLU and started cursing them out and flipping them off too. I don't really understand why players think it's a good idea to interact like that with an opposing team's fans.

[Jim Matson]

Very unfortunate indeed.

[Sirius90]

An Amherst player came over to the crowd after beating SLU and started cursing them out and flipping them off too. I don't really understand why players think it's a good idea to interact like that with an opposing team's fans.

In the case of Amherst, this behavior is modelled by their classless coaching staff. It's a way of life for Amherst College Soccer.

[KICKIN95]

An Amherst player came over to the crowd after beating SLU and started cursing them out and flipping them off too. I don't really understand why players think it's a good idea to interact like that with an opposing team's fans.

In the case of Amherst, this behavior is modelled by their classless coaching staff. It's a way of life for Amherst College Soccer.

That's exactly the case with Trinity, their coaching staff including the head coach were fingers in faces with the officials and cursing out Loras players and coaches.  One player from Trinity actually called Loras's head coach a "Puto" directly in his face during the team hand shake which if you don't speak spanish is a derogatory word in the same context as "fag".  I am assuming he didn't realize he was speaking to the Head coach because this same player was actually apologizing to the Assoc coach for other players on his teams actions.

I understand that a loss is painful and even more so in the Elite 8, but where is your moral compass as a coach when you allow your players and staff to act like that.  The respect of the game is being destroyed by guys like these coaches who let their players run undisciplined and actually encourage this behavior.
Maybe Trinity wouldn't have been so mad if Loras would have put away just the chances inside the 12 like they should have and made this the 4-1 match it should have been. Take away the first 10 and last 5 minutes of the match and it was complete steamrolling by the DuHawks. The last 5 was a "sit back and defend the win" against 10 players, which drives every spectator and coach nuts, but at that point Loras knew Trinity didn't have the horses to break their defense and basically said "come get some"!

[PaulNewman]

Agree totally about the behavior, but what was Trinity so amped about?  Was it the 2nd goal off the Cavers corner?  Were they saying the GK or another player got dragged down to allow the goal to be scored?  Looked like the ball was almost in direct from Cavers and that the Loras player got his head on it when the ball was over or almost already over the line.

It is bitterly disappointing for these teams, especially the ones with the sparkling records (like Amherst), to cope with the ending, and having that happen in these big games on another team's home field certainly adds to the drama (although in Amherst's case may be even more painful losing 2 elite 8 games in a row, to the same bitter rival, on their home pitch).  Not sure how they come back from that.

[KICKIN95]

Agree totally about the behavior, but what was Trinity so amped about?  Was it the 2nd goal off the Cavers corner?  Were they saying the GK or another player got dragged down to allow the goal to be scored?  Looked like the ball was almost in direct from Cavers and that the Loras player got his head on it when the ball was over or almost already over the line.

It is bitterly disappointing for these teams, especially the ones with the sparkling records (like Amherst), to cope with the ending, and having that happen in these big games on another team's home field certainly adds to the drama (although in Amherst's case may be even more painful losing 2 elite 8 games in a row, to the same bitter rival, on their home pitch).  Not sure how they come back from that.

I actually saw a still picture of the Pizzello goal that Mrs. B took.  Perfectly timed photo, I can tell you first hand that there was no other player impeding the goalie on that play.  Pizzello was 16" above everyone else and his head was literally in the goal after his finish.  The keeper ate a healthy serving Mike's lower body region and it was all un obstructed and legit.  The proof is in the pictures.
Since you mentioned Cavers I wanted to point out how well I thinked he played last night.  He stepped up his defense to another level, he was picking pockets left and right.  His passing and vision was the same pin point accuracy as we have come to expect, but he really showed the complete package last night with his defense.
As long as I am talking about players I should mention the play of #11 from Trinity as well, he was phenomenal in his skill and quickness, rarely do you see that level of skill in DIII.

[GarbageGoals33]

I saw a comment on the Messiah webcast and thought I would chime in as well.

After watching bits and pieces of the Messiah/Kenyon match I was astonished at the commentators for Messiah.  Messiah is a very good team with a second-to-none D3 soccer history.  I would think they could find some commentators with a little bit more class than what I was listening to on Friday evening.  The game was a little bit chippy with both teams working their tails off (exactly what you should expect from a Sweet 16 NCAA tournament game).  The announcers were extremely negative, often times towards their own team and the quality of their play.  Sorry Messiah, not every game is going to be a 4-0 victory, and if you squeeze out a 2-1 win against a team that plays defensive, gets into your head with some physical play, and tries to hit you with a counter or score on a set piece, so be it.  That is soccer... Get off your high horse, stop being dinks to your own team and the opposition, and enjoy the fact that you have a great team with an unbelievable reputation for quality D3 soccer. 

Edited to say that this is a comment made only to the commentators for Friday's match.

[Puerco Espin]

I saw a comment on the Messiah webcast and thought I would chime in as well.

After watching bits and pieces of the Messiah/Kenyon match I was astonished at the commentators for Messiah.  Messiah is a very good team with a second-to-none D3 soccer history.  I would think they could find some commentators with a little bit more class than what I was listening to on Friday evening.  The game was a little bit chippy with both teams working their tails off (exactly what you should expect from a Sweet 16 NCAA tournament game).  The announcers were extremely negative, often times towards their own team and the quality of their play.  Sorry Messiah, not every game is going to be a 4-0 victory, and if you squeeze out a 2-1 win against a team that plays defensive, gets into your head with some physical play, and tries to hit you with a counter or score on a set piece, so be it.  That is soccer... Get off your high horse, stop being dinks to your own team and the opposition, and enjoy the fact that you have a great team with an unbelievable reputation for quality D3 soccer. 

Edited to say that this is a comment made only to the commentators for Friday's match.

+1

[nescac1]

Just want to say on Amherst vs. Williams, the result this year was no fluke.  Last year, without a doubt, was simply bad luck for the Jeffs -- they totally dominated Williams, and had countless near misses -- I've never seen so many shots hit the woodwork in a single game without one going in.  But Williams by all accounts outplayed Amherst yesterday and created more dangerous chances, and Williams has been an entirely different team in the post-season.  The Ephs could easily have beaten Amherst the last time the two played (they were basically dead-even), and the winning goal for Amherst was on a flukey / bad-luck sort of play.  Williams took awhile to find its groove offensively this season because the star striker Rashid was recovering much of the year from a serious injury, and only in recent weeks have he, Muralles, and impressive frosh Mountenot gotten on the same page as the engine of the offense.  Also, Chris Conder, who replaced a player who was injured vs. Amherst, has added an entirely new dimension to Williams set-pieces with his consistently precise services. 

Amherst was VERY fortunate to not pick up one or two losses this year, a bunch of narrow escapes aided by some spectacular play by the Jeffs' monster in goal and some overall good fortune.  But the Jeffs were nowhere close to the dominating juggernaut of last season, which I really believe could have given even Messiah a game had they received better fortune and made it into the Final Four.  Despite the teams' very different records, I believe that by season's end Williams was the slightly better team, and they truly deserved to advance.  All that being said, I don't think that EITHER Amherst (despite its record) or Williams is truly a nationally elite team, and everything will have to go right for the Ephs to stand a chance vs. Messiah. 

Williams could actually be nationally elite next year if they manage to find a goalie (a big if, unclear if the guy is on the current roster, although they do have an athletic 6'4 rising senior who looks interesting) to replace Morrell, and assuming they add one or two more good recruits who can help right away, as they typically do.  The Ephs bring back nearly every player of consequence, including the three star offensive creators mentioned above, and I expect the crafty Mountenot to play a much bigger role next season.  The Ephs also return Michael Madding, who missed all year with an injury but would have been a key holding midfielder, and two starting defenders who were injured in the NESCAC title game.  The Ephs will have 7-8 very experienced starting-caliber defenders next year, allowing one or two to help up front or in midfield.  They arrived a year early, but will be loaded if they can figure out the goalie situation. 

[PaulNewman]

nescac1, that is some good spin on Amherst vs Williams.  Amherst had the 40 game unbeaten streak and Williams is a 6 loss team that barely made the tournament.  To not advance for a 2nd straight time on your home field with that kind of record is just devastating and there has got to be some kind of karma that rival Williams again played role of spoiler.  I will grant you that last year's Amherst may have been slightly better than this year's team but certainly that is even more true of Williams.

A couple of last points on Messiah, their extensive subbing (again noted in the latest preview article on this site), and the announcers.  Messiah only used 5 subs against Kenyon.  When was the last time that happened?  Maybe they really were in a very tough game, scared to death, and within a hair of losing.  In addition to "the sitter" Kenyon had in the 73rd minute, their striker also got loose and had the edge on the defender on a semi-breakaway and with one more touch likely would have scored.  On the alleged "gifted" goal, Kenyon pressure created the Messiah mix-up and the player still had to get the ball in the net from a good 25 yards out.  Among the constant barrage of insults, apparently the announcers kept harping on Kenyon having "big" players who used their massive size in their "thuggery."  Kenyon does have a good-sized back line (although no one as big as Messiah's superb center back), but everywhere else on the field Messiah was MUCH bigger.  Wood and Payne (both great) are huge, and Thompson (great) although listed at 5'9 is built like a truck and extremely powerful.  Ryan Harmanis is correct that this is the big difference between Messiah and OWU -- both great teams with exquisite movement, passing and combination play but Messiah is physically more imposing and a little more athletic.  Would have been a great game to watch but Messiah would have to be favored over OWU.

Finally, on the little Loras debate on the other thread.  Loras is a great team that played a very tough schedule.  That poster is out of his mind.  That of course doesn't mean Loras will beat Rutgers-C, but those are 3 powerhouses in the final four and any of the 3 could win it.  If Williams wins it they should build a statue of Russo (if there isn't one on campus already).