Liberty League

[Saint_Dad]

I'll go with union over Hobart.  It all seems like a coin flip. 

[stlawus]

RPI scored 7 minutes and 52 seconds into the game against SLU.

They scored 7 minutes and 50 seconds into the game against Hobart.  Honestly they should be up 3-0 right now.

[Soccer BTN]

Incredible equalizer by Connor Koschineg. Hobart starting the second half much better after losing Madsen in the 1st half.

[stlawus]

It should not be sustainable for Hobart to score all these wonder goals every single game but they continue to do so.  RPI regretting not burying their chances in the first half.  I really have not seen a team score goals like this across a long stretch of games before this season.

[stlawus]

In 2021 RPI was loaded with 5th year experience, had nothing to show for it in the end.

This year RPI has a good amount of 5th year experience, and are finally getting dividends.  2 goals from Gaudiano.  If RPI defends like they did against SLU in the second half for these last 25 minutes they'll finally get over the semi final hump that's plagued them for several years.

[stlawus]

Late heroics from Madsen and 5th year Fierro send Hobart into the finals.  Madsen sacrificed his right leg for the result.   Great run for RPI, were oh so close to pulling off another upset. 

[deutschfan]

Nice call on the Union/Ithaca overtime prediction and since shootouts are always a coin flip no demerits in picking Union.  The games today reminded me how exciting OTs are and that the rule change has been a detriment at least to the fans.  Gaudiano tried to put the game away all by himself in the first half and almost did.  Between the Covid year and his injury year he could come back as a sixth year in 2024.   He currently leads the LL in goals and points, and as he has proven to have recovered from his injury I would not be surprised if he found a D1 home for his final year of eligibility.  Madsen's OT game winner solidifies his POY credentials.  My guess is Perugini from Union gets the FY award and Woelfinger gets DPOY for second year in a row.  If Brown wins newcomer of the year with fewer goals, points, and gw goals than the leading scorer from the number 2 team in the league then there should be an investigation.  Hobart should take the final with relative ease.

[stlawus]

Tale of two halves as the first half had on us on pace for the most boring Liberty League final in history.  Ithaca was just flat and Hobart capitalized on every single mistake.  Congrats to the Statesmen, their 5th year leadership was extremely evident during league play and the playoffs.  Also doesn't hurt to have a former SLU great on the coaching staff    Given their location they might be able to avoid a NESCAC in the first round, but you never know.  Maybe they get sent to the Cortland pod?  Not unusual for the committee to stack NY teams in one pod.    Madsen is still injured yet he still scored today, and their best defender got injured against SLU and hasn't played since but it hasn't slowed them down at all.  They have a definite home field advantage with their smaller dimension grass field, but I could see them upsetting a top dog.

[deutschfan]

Hobart puts a 4 spot on the board in the second half and wins with relative ease.  Kudos to Ithaca who got past two very good teams in Vassar and Union to get to the final.  Another one bid year for the LL with SUNYAC likely getting 3 and maybe 4.  St Law alluded to this before that recruiting in the future is going to become harder and harder.  SUNYAC has the advantage over LL teams of much lower tuition and easier admission standards.  For excellent students who can afford higher tuitions NESCAC is the gold standard with the UAA and Centennial following behind.  Hobart is a very deserving champion who put together a great late season run and whose top recruit didn't play a game.  Whatever happened to their high school All-American that everyone wanted?  Watching Madsen limp off after his goal was like watching Kirk Gibson limp around the bases in the World Series.

[stlawus]

Hobart had 2 HS AA's come in this year, but only Mulrooney was on the roster.  Mosehathebe is the player you're referring to, and he was on the roster for about 3 days to start the season before being deleted.  Maybe an injury?  Although he wasn't in any of the team pictures that were posted on social media when students returned to campus so who knows. 

[deutschfan]

Not an easy draw for Hobart.  SUNYAC ends up with only 2 bids--more teams will need to change their name to Red Dragons.

[Saint_Dad]

Brockport's loss in the semi's along with Rochester's win over Emory, ended Brockport's hopes for an NCAA bid.  Only two at large bids from region 3.  I thought they may give one more, especially with the performance of Cortland, Oneonta, Vassar and SLU last year.  I believe they all won the first round with the SUNYAC schools advancing to the second weekend.

[stlawus]

Like basketball last year, a good amount of good teams left out due to several bid thieves.

[saint_forever]

Probably slightly biased, and I understand cost and geography play a big role, but it feels as though teams on the east coast, specifically the northeast get screwed over in these draws. Teams such as St. Olaf, UChicago, Calvin get a free run to the sweet 16 as the AQ's from that region are so poor. I understand to win the whole thing you have to play good sides eventually, but it just feels west coast and Midwest teams have an easier start of the journey. Hobart draws CWRU, to then basically play Cortland. Those are two tough games right off the bat. Vassar last year had to beat a good Babson team and then played Bowdoin.

[Kuiper]

Probably slightly biased, and I understand cost and geography play a big role, but it feels as though teams on the east coast, specifically the northeast get screwed over in these draws. Teams such as St. Olaf, UChicago, Calvin get a free run to the sweet 16 as the AQ's from that region are so poor. I understand to win the whole thing you have to play good sides eventually, but it just feels west coast and Midwest teams have an easier start of the journey. Hobart draws CWRU, to then basically play Cortland. Those are two tough games right off the bat. Vassar last year had to beat a good Babson team and then played Bowdoin.

I understand the sentiment, but I just thought I would jump in from the western region perspective.   

This year, the gripe from the teams in Region X is that Colorado College is the only team that has to fly across multiple time zones to Atlanta to play in a pod with three teams who are all in close proximity who have no time zone adjustment, while Pacific Lutheran is the only team that has to fly across multiple time zones to a different climate in Minnesota to play in a pod with three teams in close proximity who have no time zone or weather adjustment.  Plus, Occidental has to fly halfway across the country to San Antonio to play three teams in close proximity and is going to probably feel like they were dropped in the middle of the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys.  Moreover, I doubt either Trinity and St. Thomas are thinking they got off easy being slated to play each other for a third time in a little over two weeks, and a week after playing a brutal double OT game, if they both advance in the first round (while the brackets in every other region are structured to avoid teams in the same conference playing each other in the first two rounds).  There will be one team from Region X in the Round of 16 automatically from the San Antonio pod, but it may be a blood bath (quite literally) for the teams to get there.  And, to top it off, the Region X teams always have to travel the farthest for that Round of 16 game and often with both time zone changes, weather adjustments, and a quick turnaround between long flights for those teams that had to fly far for the first round of games.  It sure doesn't feel like the west coast teams have an easier path to advance in the tournament.  If anything, the odds are always stacked against them.