IIAC 2014

[KICKIN95]

The long throw in is a great weapon if you can convert on it.  The Duhawks have had a terrible conversion rate on their corners and long throws.  They have had around 75 corner kicks (counting tonights match) and at least as many long throw ins in to the box and have converted on 2 or possibly 3 of those ( .02% rate of conversion).  If they can put 2 halves together like the have played their 2nd halves the last 2 games they will be nearly unstoppable!  A little fire is needed under their butts and things start to happen.  Glad to see them win, they earned it after their dominance in the 2nd half and both OT's.

[KICKIN95]

"Best offense is the long throw in the 2nd half" ....the long throw seems to be a go to for Loras. The times I've watched them they've always been very direct with that and free kicks. They certainly have the individual skill to break teams down, why settle for long throws and dumping it in the box?

I have been asking that question lately myself, why just dump it all first half and then turn around and play a more controlled build up in the 2nd.  It's obvious what works and what doesn't.  Less dump and run and more pressure through build up from front to back.  with Rummelhart out for the season they don't have the total burner up front who can run all those balls down.  Lenke has pace, but not Rummelhart pace.  Bradley is prototypical target material, use him.

[Madhatter5]

Was at the game. Hard to watch. Loras first touch was pretty rough. Passing was brutal, often times to no one. Most times they tried to be too fancy with a back heel pass or flick on. Seemed content to make a short pass, kick it long, then pressure up top hoping that the defense would cough one up. Didn't work well in the first half but Chicago seemed to start slipping in the second half giving up the chances for the Loras goals. Don't know about the first half but counted only 2 or 3 times when Loras strung together more than 3 passes in the second half and OT's, I think the final goal was one of those times. Loras defense looked confused on who to mark in the first half, which is why Bradley was marking a forward or outside mid. Second half they looked like the figured it out. 11 and 16 looked like they were the main threat. I know Puerco might say that good teams find a way to win, but good teams don't find themselves in those position this often. But it is the first game I saw them play live so hopefully the game on Sunday against UW Oshkosh.

[Durantula]

In my opinion cavers was the one who made all the possession happen in the past. I think the remaining duhawks might only be capable of being a boot and swarm team. giving up so much possession is letting other teams get chances. Did they allow this many goals all of last year combined??

[Sirius90]

I sat through some of the second half of this match. To me, it demonstrated the worst aspect of D3 soccer: that big, strong athletes with speed can win games by blasting the ball somewhere near the box and then smashing it home after it pinballs around the scrum. It's pretty effective, but ugly to watch. This is a game plan that's also popular in the NESCAC, which always has a couple of teams that make some noise in November. Ultimately, there are a couple of teams with enough skill and poise to handle that strategy (most notably Messiah), so it's unlikely that a national title can be won using it.

[Saint of Old]

Bethany 1994 won the championship playing total football.
No team has won since without doing the same.

Smash and grab will get you to the dance, but no cigar.

[GarbageGoals33]

Sounds made up.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Messiah program is built to beat teams that either ping and press or to just take a relentless beating.  They should really run the table this year with the talent on board.

[Flying Weasel]

Bethany 1994 won the championship playing total football.

I didn't see the 1994 Bethany team play, so I can't comment on their style of play, but here's their tournament run that landed them their national title, FWIW.

5 GP
2-0-3 (.700)
5 GF, 3 GA
five overtime games out of five
three advancements on PK's

No team has won since without doing the same.

Could be, but it's not the first descriptor that comes to mind for Middlebury in 2007 (or TCNJ in 1996).

[KnightFalcon]

Messiah program is built to beat teams that either ping and press or to just take a relentless beating.  They should really run the table this year with the talent on board.

We will know more about them over the next week after they play at Montclaire St and home against York. This is the toughest stretch of their season before tournaments.

[KICKIN95]

Loras for the 3rd match in a row goes down 2 goals in the first. They get 2 back in the 2nd and neither team can find the winner after 2 OT. Can't continue this way if they want to achieve their ultimate goal of a National Championship.

[PaulNewman]

Do Loras and Trinity (TX) always get put in the same region?  Trinity doesn't get talked about much on this board where the focus tends to be on the Northeast (New Jersey, New York, New England) and the Midwest (mainly Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa).  Do Hope, Calvin, GAC, Luther, etc usually get placed in that same region?  Any chance that Wheaton (Ill) would be placed in that region?

[Puerco Espin]

Anyone have eyes on the Luther vs. Wartburg match? Which team looked better? How far does Luther drop in the rankings?

Loras vs. Dubuque was pretty uneventful. UD GK basically tossed in a goal for Loras off a CK. Straight red card for Leo Lenthe for slapping/smacking a Loras player. That's his second red of the year, so he'll be out for three games.

A shutout is nice to see from Loras, but would've like to see more out of them against a Dubuque side. Maybe going down a man helped the Spartans, who knows.

Good bounce back win for Simpson against what appears to be another depleted BVU side.

[Durantula]

I was at the luther wartburg match... very intense, hard-fought game. I would say Wartburg created more chances and looked like the better team. Besides  the goal Luther scored, all of their chances came from free kicks with Genaldske trying to get headers. Wartburg just looked too athletic for Luther and seemed like they wanted it more. Wartburg also had a ball cleared off the line by Luther. Dan Nadeau continued his all-american type season by adding another goal, and I think is the favorite for winning the IIAC offensive MVP.

I think with how weak Luther's schedule has been (best win against St. Olaf?) they will drop to around the twenties in the national rankings. I'm not sure if Wartburg will jump them in the region, but it will be much closer. Even though St Norbert has also played a very easy schedule, I can't see Wartburg jumping them in the region yet.

How long did Dubuque play with 10 men? With the amount of firepower Simpson seems to have should Luther or Loras be on upset alert? The games are home for Luther and away for Loras.

[Cheesehead Henry]

Anyone have eyes on the Luther vs. Wartburg match? Which team looked better?

The feed was good, but the angle wasn't helpful since they seemed to have filmed from a corner of the field. As a result, I couldn't see one of Wartburg's goals because the camera was too panned out. But it appeared that both sides played really physical ball. I think both teams came to play and knew the severity of what this game meant, and it started really chippy with a Luther yellow card maybe 5 minutes in. After that, both teams exchanged fouls back and forth until a minor altercation broke out in the 1st half.

The second half seemed to be mostly Wartburg possession, especially considering Luther was pushing more guys forward to get that equalizer.

It was a great game, and I think Luther will drop to late teens (possibly 17th or 18th).