2014 D3 Season: National Perspective

[PaulNewman]

Oh no.  There go my Cinderellas.  Willamette and Puget Sound both lose.  Will have to check and see if that will give Whitworth the AQ.

Yep, Whitworth in first place.  Willamette loses at home to middle of the pack Whitman.  A happy ride back to Walla Walla for the Whitties.

[casualfan]

UWO-UWW tied 1-1 in a bit of an unexciting affair for this rivalry. The strong wind was a factor most of the game with each team putting one in while attacking with the wind at their backs. Hard to tell who was the stronger team because of this factor. UWW keeps the edge over UWO for the Pool B bid, but UWO gets the #1 seed for the conference tournament. The basically meaningless WIAC Tournament may actually have some meaning if UWW & UWO meet for a second time.

[dontshootthegoose]

Going off that Pool B bid, UC-Santa Cruz just lost tonight to Trinity, making them 1-3-0 against Ranked Opponents. Looks like it's down to the two Wisconsin schools.

[Ron Boerger]

Surprisingly close game.   The only two SOG the Banana Slugs yielded were a PK in the 76th minute and one in the 89th, but their keeper could not save either.   Trinity had an 18-8 advantage but many of those shots were blocked.

[PaulNewman]

Key Action Monday thru Wednesday

Tonight in the OAC Capital travels to Ohio Northern.  Capital was having a pretty good season and even looked like a potential challenger to John Carroll at one point but the Crusaders have tanked of late losing 4 out of 5.  A Ohio Northern win would give the semi-resurgent Polar Bears a shot at the Blue Streaks of John Carroll who should be safe for an at-large and may have their guard down.  Ohio Northern knows a win puts a NCAA spot well within reach as they would have a very winnable OAC final.

On Tuesday the NCAC semis get underway with Wabash traveling to Kenyon.  [Game moved to Tuesday because Kenyon women are also are hosting a NCAC semi.]  The Little Giants have no time to be fatigued as they turn right back around for another trek to central Ohio.  Wabash already has exceeded expectations by earning their first trip ever to the NCAC tournament, but these chances don't come very often and another win over Kenyon would be hard for the rankings committee that so far has stiffed them to ignore.  Expect Wabash to come out confident and flying.  They can come out loose with nothing to lose as anything from here is icing on a very nice cake.  On the other hand, Kenyon is looking to peak at the right time.  While repaying Wabash for handing the Lords their only loss would be tasty, Kenyon needs to get locked into tournament mode and will be well aware that they have a good chance to host at least one round of NCAA games.  A Kenyon win also should give the Lords a relished opportunity to address their other blemish against bitter big brother rival on OWU's home turf on Roy Rike Field at the Jay Martin Soccer Complex in Delaware, Ohio.

Well, maybe.  OWU on Wednesday will be entertaining the Tigers of DePauw who have a recent history of NCAC tourney success against the Battling Bishops.  This year's affair in Delaware also was pretty even and deadlocked at 0-0 until about the 85th or 86th minute when All-American Bloecher nailed an EPL-quality free kick from about 25 yards out and then 2 minutes later drew a PK.  DePauw is very talented and was a preseason favorite but the Tigers have disappointed so often this year I don't expect them to get a win this big now.  And OWU actually will be hoping that Kenyon handles Wabash so that the Battling Bishops can rub the Lords' noses in the Roy Rike dirt while OWU adds another tournament banner to their regular season triumph.

All that said, we'll probably get a final with DePauw traveling to Mud Hollow Stadium where the Tigers and Wabash can fight over that Monen Bell thing or whatever it is.  How cruel would it be for Wabash to get that far, with the final on their home pitch, and see DePauw walk away with the AQ while the Little Giants are forced to watch the big dance on streaming video?

Moving on to the rough and rugged NJAC semis, we have Kean @ Montclair and then the heavyweight clash between Camden and Newark.  Camden is fighting for their lives and will throw the kitchen sink at Newark, and Newark needs a result here to feel legit and confident heading into the tournament (assuming another L wouldn't knock them out).  Montclair should prevail over Kean but this is the NJAC so crazy things can happen.

Nothing is much better than tailgating at the ODAC semis.  The NASCAR, dirt-tracking crowd will be out in full force as Virginia Wesleyan takes on Lynchburg and just down the road Washington & Lee faces top-seed Roanoke.  Some of the best concessions and half-time entertainment on the D3 planet.  Stay afterwards for the square-dancing and the free hayrides for the kiddies.

The Geneva Golden Tornadoes will be looking to prove me wrong and the regional rankings cmte right when they road trip from Beaver Falls over to Thomas More (that's in Crestview Hills, KY btw).  Geneva made the regional rankings for two weeks in a row (and are the 4th seed in the President's conference) while top-seed Thomas More with a sterling 15-2-1 has looked in from the outside.  Joe Namath's pregame speech to the Golden Tornadoes could make the difference.  The other Prez semi features Waynesburg @ Grove City in the #3/#2 tilt.

In the Commonwealth, Lebanon Valley visits Alvernia to see who will have the honor of playing before a full house at Shoemaker Field in Grantham, PA against the two-time defending national champions.  I see Alvernia losing to Lebanon Valley deep into the 2nd OT on the 'ol Nebraska fumblerooski play.

Fans of the North will be outraged if I don't mention Macalester against St Johns ("The Johnnies").  There, I mentioned it.

The Wednesday slate is too big to fit into this one post, so more later.

[Mr.Right]

With the season being one of the most crazy in recent history I believe there will be plenty of upsets in conference tournaments and top teams eating up Pool C bids leaving out most of our bubble teams

[PaulNewman]

While a few of us are tweaking each other about NESCAC COY, here are a few national nominations...

Parsons from Coast Guard

Keller from Wabash

Coven from Brandeis

Wagner from F&M

Topping from Muhlenberg

Brown from Kenyon

Souders from Calvin

Byrne from Oneonta

I don't know a thing about Byrne and how reality matches the written word, but I loved this linked below....

http://www.oneontaathletics.com/coaches.aspx?rc=515&path=msoc

[PaulNewman]

Key Action Monday thru Wednesday (continued)


The Centennial #5/#4 game features Hopkins @ Haverford for the right to play a F&M that seems incapable of a misstep.  I give Haverford a puncher's chance against F&M, so Hopkins will probably win and then defeat F&M in PKs making folks in Carlisle, PA a little nervous about the at-large picture.

In the IIAC, I thought Dubuque looked dangerous in an exciting affair against Luther, but Loras in the Rock Bowl in too much to ask.  By the way, what is the difference between a Duhawk and a Kohawk (Coe), and why do these Iowa teams have these nicknames?  The other IIAC matchup is a classic worthy of the sweet 16 or even an elite 8 with Luther headed to Waverly to take on Wartburg.  Too close to call but the NCAA regional ranking snub of Luther may create just the right amount of edginess for Luther to prevail.

Perhaps the best semis of any conference takes place in the SUNYAC with Brockport playing Cortland and Geneseo looking to upset Oneonta.  These games have implications for hopeful at-large candidates as well as the participants.

No one seems to know quite what to do with North Park, as they jumped to #2 in the Central over Calvin but seem vulnerable because one would think they can't afford more losses.  Elmhurst is hungry to crowbar their way into the party, and the Bluejays could throw a wrench into plans for a North Park rematch with Wheaton (Ill).

In the Liberty, RPI has no time to feel sorry for itself over a rankings diss, as Vassar is very capable of abruptly ending the Engineers' season.  SLU should be able to handle an improved Hobart team

St Olaf will be eager to move past the Carleton debacle, and GAC will be very aware that a semis stumble might put the Gusties on the wrong side of the bubble.

Hope gets a 3rd crack at Kzoo.  This is a role reversal of sorts as Hope is the traditional power and even with home field beating Hope 3 times in one season seems highly unlikely for Kzoo.  Hope needs this one, and then they need to knock off one of the hottest teams in the country in Calvin.

Christopher Newport @ Salisbury is one of the 3 games of the day, along with Luther vs Wartburg and Brockport vs Cortland.  This is one to watch and way to close to call.  In the JV game in the CAC St Mary's takes on PS-Harrisburg.

Two critical New England contests involve MIT at Babson and Roger Williams at Gordon.  Babson MUST win this game.  Gordon also is in a must win situation as they almost certainly have fallen off the at-large bubble to the wrong side and need the AQ.

The four UW's are playing each other.  What a strange conference.  They only play 4 games.

And we can only hope that MSOE and Dominican advance to the NACC final after they played Saturday to the 109th minute with Dominican getting the 2-1 win. 

Game news alert --Ohio Northern's season is over.  Capital wins 1-0.

[Puerco Espin]

NCAC, here's the background story on the "Duhawk" name.

http://duhawks.com/sports/2014/6/4/WhatsADuhawk.aspx

[PaulNewman]

Thanks, and I had to fix spelling Kohawk wrong.

[Medicated Pete]

KoHawk background 
http://www.coeathletics.com/f/Kohawk_Traditions.php

[Saint of Old]

Brockport v Cortland should be an entertaining game. The winner could be Tournament Cinderellas while the loser would see their clock strike midnight! An Oneonta loss might only serve to wake those boys up before the dance, but they seem pretty awake as it is. Oneonta has been really good now for a few years on the trot, but like a handful of other programs still need that big win to cement their legacy. They definitely have a shot this year.

[Mr.Right]

Agreed. I have tried to really get a feel for Oneonta's field. Their video stream is really bad. Does anyone have any specifics of Oneonta's field. Dimensions? How is the grass? etc....I think Oneonta will host to the final 4 if they win SUNYAC.

[Mr.Right]

You are correct about Brockport v Cortland. I would hate to be in the middle reffing this one. There will be hard fouls, cards, great chances, etc A good prelude to the NCAA's

[Golden_Fan]

Oneonta field is usually great, it drains pretty well whenever it rains you rarely see any puddles.  I would say its about 105 - 110 by 70-75