Top Conferences and NCAA Bids

[ldahoSoccer]

How good is Mike Ryan from R-C?  I noticed he was a high school all-american who dropped 60 some goals his senior year.   

[KICKIN95]

How good is Mike Ryan from R-C?  I noticed he was a high school all-american who dropped 60 some goals his senior year.   

Looks like he had a tremendous Freshman season and currently has 21 goals and 4 assists.  Just kind of player Burgy likes to mark out of relevance.  Remember #7 from Trinity from sunday's match, the 3 time All American who lit up the scoreboards and dished out assists all season long?  don't feel bad nobody else remembers him either, because Mitch Burgmeier marked him off the pitch.

[Puerco Espin]

#7 had one shot on goal..however it was a dangerous one. He took the corner in the 81' and nearly bent it into the goal. #24 for Loras cleared it off the goal line.

But besides that, he took a shot 40 seconds in that sailed high. Pretty quiet night for a three-time all-american. I'm not trying to knock his skill or ability, but simply stating that he was almost a non-factor.

[cciwrabblerouser]

Just a comment on the Messiah  announcers (and forgive me if this is not accurate):

Back in the days of audio-only (no video coverage), the two announcers committed to announcing soccer games -- men's soccer only; not women's.  They are personal friends of the program and alumni; the play-by-play guy was a great player for the Falcons, and I'm not sure if the color guy played or not.  So they did it as a favor, and their audience consisted of players' families who couldn't attend; lots of soccer alumni; some fans; and a sprinkling, of course, of parents from opposing teams.  So it was kind of an old-home broadcast with lots of acknowledging friends calling in; plenty of homerism; lots of humor and laughing; it was a good-ol'-boys effort.  And the listening audience loved it.

Fast forward now to a couple of years ago, when video streaming became available.  It wasn't only a new thing at Messiah, but it was a national phenomenon.  Now all the NCAA tournament games are broadcast, and many schools broadcast all their home games in the regular-season.  So the listening and viewing audience has dramatically changed; but the Messiah announcers haven't.  They still do the  same schtick that they've been used to, probably forgetting every time they complain about an official's call there are plenty of people seeing the same thing.

They need to understand that the audience, especially for an NCAA game, has changed.  They are no longer doing a favor for Messiah soccer fans.  They are expected to be impartial and professional and behave in ways worthy of a prominent program and positively represent the institution.

[PaulNewman]

CCIW, fair enough I suppose, EXCEPT....these guys clearly are no dummies, and clearly they were aware that they were providing coverage for a NCAA sectional, meaning for 4 teams.  There was zero confusion that they were broadcasting for the entire sectional and whoever might be interested from any of the 4 teams.  Some degree of bias as the home announcers is to be expected, even cheering for your own team.  But to be derogatory and essentially slur another team and make excuses for why your world-class team is in a dogfight constitutes poor form, period.  Not mention that it also was filled with gross inaccuracies.  And the proof is in the range of people who have commented about how atrocious it was....from a primary D3soccer writer here, to a recent OWU all-american who is a bitter rival of Messiah's opponent, to the IIAC guys, to the GAC guy, and for siblings and grandparents watching and listening at home. Independent of knowing that others were having a reaction.

[cciwrabblerouser]

CCIW, fair enough I suppose, EXCEPT....these guys clearly are no dummies, and clearly they were aware that they were providing coverage for a NCAA sectional, meaning for 4 teams.  There was zero confusion that they were broadcasting for the entire sectional and whoever might be interested from any of the 4 teams.  Some degree of bias as the home announcers is to be expected, even cheering for your own team.  But to be derogatory and essentially slur another team and make excuses for why your world-class team is in a dogfight constitutes poor form, period.  Not mention that it also was filled with gross inaccuracies.  And the proof is in the range of people who have commented about how atrocious it was....from a primary D3soccer writer here, to a recent OWU all-american who is a bitter rival of Messiah's opponent, to the IIAC guys, to the GAC guy, and for siblings and grandparents watching and listening at home. Independent of knowing that others were having a reaction.

Hmmmm.... I'm not disagreeing with you at all and am not defending their homerism.  The broadcast style definitely needs to change, and I hope that it will.  Messiah should be classier than this.  That's all I'm saying.

[Jump4Joy]

Whether or not the announcers believe they're speaking to a home crowd instead of a wider audience, I would expect any voice of Messiah to be resonate with the college's mission, which certainly does not condone anything less than the Golden Rule! To the least of my brethren, etc.

[cciwrabblerouser]

Jump4Joy just nailed it.

[PaulNewman]

Messiah vs the legendary NESCAC giant.  Perennial soccer national champion vs perennial Director's Cup winner.  What can we expect?  How will the game play out?

In the other game, is the Loras defense stout enough to take the initial offensive onslaught that Rutgers-C is going to throw at them?  If Loras weathers the storm, how will Rutgers-C handle handle a tie game or being down a goal into the 2nd half?

[lastguyoffthebench]

As a degenerate handicapper, I was looking at the weather...  75ish all week, then 47 and showers on Friday!

Messiah vs Williams is a crapshoot.  Who knows what could happen given the weather.   I would think Messiah should put up 2 goals regardless of weather.  Before the tournament (NESCAC) Williams only had scored 2+ goals 7 of 17 games.   However, since the tourney they have posted 2+ in all 3 games...

I will say Messiah 2, Williams 0 on a rainy day.   Messiah 3-1 if not.


Loras vs Camden is the game to watch.  Two potential POY candidates in that of Cavers from Loras and Ryan from RUC. 
Camden has only trailed for 70 minutes this year (I think).  If raining... I still give Camden a slight edge, regardless of direct play vs possession. One can argue SOS (in slight favor of Loras), but Camden just breezed through Lycoming, York, and Montclair at home.  Although shot count was close... Camden controlled 60-65% of match vs MSU, drilled a Lycoming team 4-0 whereas Messiah could only put up 2 goals in 200 min, and handled the pressure from York and put up 3 vs Messiah's goose egg.  The fact that Camden was not in Final 4 last season is irrelevant because they sniffed the final 4 in 2011 after losing the elite 8 game to Oneonta St in 2OT (Oneonta scored late in 2nd half to tie the game), and lost to York in Round of 32 in PKs in 2012.  The team is full of seniors that have tournament experience, so like Ohio Northern... this could be there chance.

Loras could not get the insurance goal vs division foe Luther and won their fate in PKs.   Handled Westminster, and fought back vs Trinity...  If Loras continues to play the long ball and pressure to win 2nd ball, I can see Camden easily sealing that off as their CBs are very reliable to win headers. 

Even if Loras scores first, I cannot see them shutting down the front 6-7 of Camden for a full 90. 

The question should be; which team makes the adjustments and who sticks to the bread-and-butter game plan that has worked all season.  My guess is that Loras will have to adjust because Camden "seems" to be the better side.

My mush opinion says Camden 2, Loras 1 in rain.   If no rain Camden 2, Loras 0.  Would not be a shock with a 1-1 result decided by PKs...

[Puerco Espin]

Messiah handled Montclair St. in a near downpour earlier this season 3-1, so even if the weather is bad, I would pick Messiah to wind handedly.

As for the Loras - RC match...I feel RC is going to get all they can handle from the Loras high pressure. I wouldn't be surprised with a 0-0 score at half, but as the game wears on in that second half and the RC starters are approaching 70-80 minutes, they'll slip up to a Loras starter, who at that point will only have 50-60 minutes.

Messiah 2 - Williams 0
Loras 2 - RC 0

[Saint of Old]

Williams can beat Messiah.
Russo is one of the best coaches plying his trade in college.
I'm sure he hasn't been focusing too much on Thanksgiving festivities the last week or so.
Williams had a game plan for Messiah in 2012 in case they met in the final.
That plan with a few adjustments might work.
This is a battle of Champions. Williams has been to the promiseland before '95 and been close
several more years.
That being said Messiah will be tough to beat.
Both teams are brimming with confidence, the most important ingredient in football.

2-2
Williams in PKs

I like Loras, cant say why except I saw them play for about a half against Trinity and they play the right way.
Good football. Their crazy fans and alum have a good vibe about them as well and deserve one.
The game must be won on the field, if Loras falls behind again, to a final 4 team they will lose.
Loras 2-1.

[PaulNewman]

Don't see a team that lost to Hamilton, at home, beating Messiah.  Williams hasn't faced any team this year, Amherst included, with anything close to the offensive firepower of Messiah, and I can't picture Williams posing much of a threat to the Messiah defense.  Will be shocked if the game is closer than 3-0 or 4-1.

[Madhatter5]

I have a feeling that the ease that RC cruised through the tournament might hurt them a bit. It is always good to have a team come up against diversity at some point during the tournament. It gets their guts wrenching and makes them dig deep and show to themselves they can pull through during tough times. Now, the fact that Loras had 2 of those types of games isn't a very good thing. I feel it is going to come down to which team can score two goals first.

[lastguyoffthebench]

http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?s=csoc2013&sub=11620

Let's see how the computer does on this using offense, defense, and SOS to predict future outcomes.   These rankings have been fairly consistent with that of d3soccer.com u


Messiah 2, Williams 1                         Messiah win expectancy is 64%

Rutgers-Camden 1, Loras 1               Camden win expectancy is 47% vs Loras 38%

                                                          Percentages so close, it's useless!  Flip a coin


Good luck to the Messiah, Williams, Loras, and Camden...  may the odds be ever in you favor!