NCAA North Region

[D3 Scout]

1-0 UWW. Off a corner. Who would have guessed that

[D3 Scout]

2-0 UWW off another set piece. Ryan Reid with his 9th goal of the year from center back

[casualfan]

UWW gets a 3-1 victory over Carroll to advance to the 2nd round match against Wheaton on Saturday.

UWW scores 3 goals in the first half. All three goals scored off set pieces (corner or long throw). Centerback Ryan Reid gets his 8th and 9th goals of the season, very impressive. Carroll pulls one back in the 2nd half to make things a bit interesting but UWW was able to ride out the storm and finish off the victory.

The Wheaton coaching staff made the trip to get a scouting report so we'll see if they can find a way to shut down the UWW set piece attack. Getting Stanko back will surely help UWW.

I'm still sticking with a Wheaton win 1-0.

[Cheesehead Henry]

2-1 UWW.

Set piece offenses are extremely legal and dangerous in the tournament and in general (see: Loras Duhawks).

I'm picking the upset.

[Puerco Espin]

I'm with you Cheesehead ... I'm picking the Warhawks to pull the upset.

Call it what you want, but goals aren't easy to come by in the NCAA Tournament. I don't care if you score through the flow of play or if you score via CK/Throw-Ins, it's about playing to your strengths.

[Cheesehead Henry]

Lethal*. Of course they are also legal too 

[futbol117]

Looks like this beautiful polar vortex is changing some game times. Wartburg Pod has moved games up to 1 and 3:30. Would suspect some others would be affected as well.

[GarbageGoals33]

Loras/Westminster and GAC/Domincan game times moved up to Noon and 2:30 I believe.


Let's be honest, why the heck would you schedule night games when it is 20 degrees out anyways.  Change of schedule due to suspected snow tomorrow evening.

[gustiefan04]

Loras/Westminster and GAC/Domincan game times moved up to Noon and 2:30 I believe.


Let's be honest, why the heck would you schedule night games when it is 20 degrees out anyways.  Change of schedule due to suspected snow tomorrow evening.

This is good news. Looks like the Sunday match is still on for 5 pm though. Would love to see that one  moved up to 2:30 as well.

[GarbageGoals33]

Hopefully the Sunday match is of relevance to us gustiefan.... It doesn't make sense to keep the Sunday match at 5pm though.

[KICKIN95]

Hopefully the Sunday match is of relevance to us gustiefan.... It doesn't make sense to keep the Sunday match at 5pm though.

Well you can't have it at noon, that would mean the players would have to miss Mass! 

[Medicated Pete]

Hopefully the Sunday match is of relevance to us gustiefan.... It doesn't make sense to keep the Sunday match at 5pm though.

Well you can't have it at noon, that would mean the players would have to miss Mass! 

hallelujah!! Brother 
Bundle up ladies and gentlemen it's gonna be ccccccooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooollllllld 

[GarbageGoals33]

Congrats to Wartburg and Loras on advancing to the Sweet 16.  Sorry for the late post, I am just getting rid of my hangover from my weekend in Dubuque. Kickin, it was a pleasure meeting you this weekend, unfortunate we didn't have time to grab a beer!

Here is my recap of the GAC vs. Loras match...

GAC came out flying the first 15 or so minutes possessing the ball nicely throughout the midfield but couldn't convert on a few nice opportunities early.  Loras settled in after absorbing GAC's initial pressure and then the long balls started a flying...  I didn't watch any Loras games online this season, I wish I would have so I knew what to expect when watching the game.  As an opposing fan it is difficult to watch this brand of Loras soccer.   I can admit I didn't give the Loras teams in the past enough credit for their style of play, this Loras team, not so much.  As noted previously by Loras posters, this team plays a style that is effective for it's personnel.  Loras is big and strong, they don't lose a lot of aerial battles but they do not string together more than 3 or 4 passes in any given possession.  The GAC backline did just fine at minimizing the Loras opportunities up until the first Loras goal was scored.  Average marking and the GAC keeper may have come out for a ball he shouldn't have resulting in the first goal.  The first half in general I would say was controlled by GAC for the most part.  I didn't think the goal would be that detrimental to Gustavus' chances going into the second half, but I was wrong.  Loras came out the stronger of the two sides in the second half and did well at creating dangerous opportunities throughout the opening 10-15 minutes of the half.  Your team is only as strong as your weakest link and the weak link for GAC was their backline.  A major error by the GAC center back gifted the Duhawks their second goal.  GAC possessed the ball for the last 10-15 minutes of the game pushing numbers forward trying to find a goal but it wasn't meant to be.  A pretty quiet game for Zach Brown up top.  The GAC center mids (Lilly and Adams) had excellent games I thought and they proved why they are both deserving of first team all-region honors.  Pizello in the middle for Loras was a beast, but, I don't think he was used to being walked around as much as he did in that match.  Adams/Lilly were dribbling past him at will.  If I had to put a number on it I would say that Charlie Adams dribbled 27-28 Duhawks throughout the match while losing possession only maybe twice.  Adams looked like the best player on the field for either team in this particular game.  The weather conditions for the game certainly worked in the Duhawks favor, it was frigid... I am still uncertain why the game wasn't played at 1PM.  Maybe if Loras had more than one guy groundskeeper working on clearing the field this could've been done?  I walked by the field at approximately 2PM and the field was completely cleared of snow with one guy doing some shoveling.  Why have the game at 5PM when it was 5-10 degrees cooler?  This Loras team will have a chance at beating Trinity in Wheaton this coming weekend as long as the temperatures stay cold and borderline unplayable.  If Loras matches up against a strong possession team with an excellent backline we could see the Duhawks bow out of the tournament with a 3 goal defeat.  If Loras can nick a goal early or continue to score on their set pieces in any of their remaining games this season they may pull off some big upsets in route to a Final 4 appearance.

Here are my predictions for this weekends Wheaton (Il) quadrant:

Wheaton 2 Wartburg 1 --- This could be one of the more entertaining games of the Sweet 16.
Loras 1 Trinity 0 ---- Too cold for the Tigers

Wheaton 3 Loras 0 ---- Hopefully skilled soccer wins out in this one.

[Cheesehead Henry]

Temperature at game time in Wheaton is looking to be mid to lower twenties! Hope everybody brings their parkas and wind masks....

[KICKIN95]

I agree with your assessment of the match, except there were at least 20 people there to clear off the field that day. If the match up between Loras and Wheaton happens it will certainly not be a 3-0 Thunder victory, The Duhawks are 4-2-1 in their last 7 meetings with Wheaton and more importantly 2-0 with a 4 to 0 goal differential rhe last 2 seasons,   so Loras has had their number in the most recent of matches that may have involved any of these current players. They haven't given up 3 to anyone this season and I don't see that happening in a tournament game. I know Wheaton is running hot right now, but I am not so sure Wartburg won't be stealing their "Thunder"  (yes!)
Wartburg1-1 Wheaton  Wartburg adv 5-3 Pks
Loras 2--1 Trinity
Loras 2-1 Wartburg
By the way, don't leave the board just yet, you are the only one left thats held on from the previous 3 sites I have to argue and banter with. I am about to start singing "All by myself"