2014 D3 Season: National Perspective

[oldonionbag]

OWU keeper doing his best Thomas Bull impression. Once again, ref needs to take charge here and tell him to get on his line. I'm sick of this posturing! It makes me want to root against the kid...

[wingtips2]

OWU pulls it out after almost throwing it away.

[Mr.Right]

That OWU keeper was a nightmare. If I was that 1st CNU kicker I would have pummeled that kid. That was 10 times worse than Bull. After a save he was taunting the kid

[91Bishop]

I may be Mr. Wrong and I am definitely biased, but I'll disagree with the officiating comment.  IMO, the official needed to hand out a few more cards.  Physical play is one thing, and CNU's second half tactics are something completely different.  It was still a great game to watch, with very emotional players, miserable weather and field conditions, and huge momentum shifts.  I feel like the OWU-Kenyon game was much more polished.  But I could be Mr. Wrong

[Domino1195]

OWU keeper doing his best Thomas Bull impression. Once again, ref needs to take charge here and tell him to get on his line. I'm sick of this posturing! It makes me want to root against the kid...

I thought it more like Krul during this summer's WC. The lack of response by the officials then just swung the door wide open for players to emulate. Krul actually poked a kicker in the chest! FWIW: Beemiller was carded during the KFTM in the Calvin game.

[Mr.Right]

CNU was more physical and I thought more technical than OWU. OWU was way more athletic

[D3soccerwatcher]

With Messiah now out, I would think Wheaton has got to be the favorite to win it.  You may or may not like their super fast paced, almost frantic north/south racetrack style of play - but it gives a lot of team fits.

[PaulNewman]

I agree that Wheaton is the favorite at this point, but it's interesting how Oneonta almost seems discounted.  They are the last and only undefeated team in the country.  And either Tufts or OWU is going to be in the final.  Amazing tournament.

[Jump4Joy]

OWU keeper doing his best Thomas Bull impression. Once again, ref needs to take charge here and tell him to get on his line. I'm sick of this posturing! It makes me want to root against the kid...

So proof that Bull doesn't own the rights to the antics. Brandeis keeper did the same vs. Amherst on Saturday. It's a goalkeeper thing--not specific to one player.

[oldonionbag]

OWU keeper doing his best Thomas Bull impression. Once again, ref needs to take charge here and tell him to get on his line. I'm sick of this posturing! It makes me want to root against the kid...

So proof that Bull doesn't own the rights to the antics. Brandeis keeper did the same vs. Amherst on Saturday. It's a goalkeeper thing--not specific to one player.

I never said it was a Bologne type of thing (Bull Only...sorry), but just that I hate when the refs don't take charge early. Trying to mess with the shooter and jumping around on the goal line is fine, but taunting before and after the shot is over the line. Put it this way...imagine if after a kick taker scored, he walked right up to the keeper and clapped in his face while sneering...

In my mind, it's a complete double standard. I'm all for gamesmanship, but I also respect a bit of class now and then!

[PaulNewman]

The standard should be something like, if you do something that during the regular course of the game would draw a yellow then the GK should get a yellow, be warned, and ejected if he does it again.  I'm surprised referees aren't taught some standard about how to do deal with PK shootouts.  And there should be a standard about how the ball is given to the kickers, like always directly from the referee.  You never see NBA players at the foul line, or college players for that matter, pass or hand the ball to free throw shooters.

[oldonionbag]

The standard should be something like, if you do something that during the regular course of the game would draw a yellow then the GK should get a yellow, be warned, and ejected if he does it again.  I'm surprised referees aren't taught some standard about how to do deal with PK shootouts.  And there should be a standard about how the ball is given to the kickers, like always directly from the referee.  You never see NBA players at the foul line, or college players for that matter, pass or hand the ball to free throw shooters.

Exactly NCAC! Imagine if that were the case! Again, it's fine for keepers to try and psyche the opponent out, but some of the antics are ridiculous- if refs let that stuff go, then the shooter should be allowed to go to the keeper and give it right back! Of course, that would be an automatic yellow...hence the double standard.

[Ryan Harmanis]

Recap from OWU-CNU:

Whoever made the point about taking the wind first was spot on.  CNU had the wind in the first half and it was the worst I've ever seen.  There was one sequence where back-to-back clearances actually ended up behind the player who played the ball even though they hit it well.  Then (of course) the wind lessened quite a bit in the second half.  It was still a factor but not nearly as much, sun came out and the game played better.

Despite the wind, or perhaps because of it, OWU scored on a really nice attack early on.  Through ball, lay off and a great cross for a diving header that CNU's goalie somehow saved.  It looked like the wind held the ball up and brought it right to the same guy, who headed the rebound into an open net.  CNU used the wind to basically dominate territory, but didn't even force OWU's keeper into a save in the first half.

OWU started the second half more in control but CNU had a quick breakaway that OWU's goalie stuffed early on.  OWU then got a breakaway and a CNU defender football tackled the forward from behind, two hands around the waist, in the box.  Penalty given, but the ref didn't even show a yellow.  Should have been a straight red, no questions asked.

From that point, OWU was pretty comfortable and probably should have built on the lead.  CNU is really fast and technical, especially going forward, but I question their defensive system.  They played sweeper-stopper, and (especially in the second half) it let OWU have plenty of space in the gaps.  With about 15 minutes to go it felt like the game was over, as CNU started getting really chippy (including another red-cardable tackle) and the pace of play really slowed down. 

Almost out of nowhere, CNU played a great ball over the top and their player danced by an OWU defender before squaring for a deflected finish.  Really nice goal.  At that point, CNU really sprung into life, and OWU decided to shoot on goal with a 3-on-2 instead of going to the corner with 70 seconds left.  Sure enough, CNU came straight back down and scored a great finish to even things up with 42 seconds left.

OT was decent from both sides but nothing really happened.  CNU put in its backup GK but OWU's PKs were pretty good and the keeper made two saves.

Not to beat the dead horse but I agree on goalkeeper antics.  The OWU goalie was actually better today than last time, because against Calvin the ref let him hand the ball to shooters and that led to all kinds of antics (in fairness, from both goalkeepers).  Today the ref at least insisted on handing the ball to players although he did let the GK start right in front of the player and slowly backpedal into the goal.  Fact remains, it's worth taking the chance to gain a mental edge, so if/until/unless a rule change happens GKs will keep doing it.  Kenyon's goalie doing pull-ups on the crossbar, Calvin's doing some goofy dance, it's just going to happen.

Overall, CNU was as advertised, really good going forward and really soft in the back.  Brown is a really good player, but OWU keyed on him and it was the guy who had two assists, #10 I think, that was the most effective attacking player.  OWU's defense played great with the exception of that four minute period and was lucky that it was enough to survive and advance.

Based on results the Wheaton/Oneonta side is probably the favorite, but once you get to the Final Four, especially without Messiah, who knows.  OWU's first title team had six losses, as many as any other team under Martin, so go figure.  That's soccer for you.

[PaulNewman]

A couple of last points from my perspective.  First of all, you don't have to like a team/school to credit them.  OWU, on paper at least, had a tough draw.  Away at Calvin, a team many seemed to fall in love with.  Caught a bit of a break with the venue being moved, but again, on paper, still closer to a home game for Calvin than OWU, get a late goal to level and then prevail in PKs.  Then on to Kenyon, a team they played pretty evenly for almost 220 minutes.  Again, away, sort of as OWU is close, the Kenyon students were gone, and OWU may even have edged the crowd, but more importantly there was nothing in this game for Kenyon to gain, and a ton of pressure to advance because these chances don't grow on trees and now OWU is sitting there.  They already had accomplished the difficult task of finally beating OWU, and now, on paper favored, but not really, and with key injuries, OWU had nothing to lose.  Martin commented that it might seem strange that his players looked forward to getting Kenyon again after a tie and a loss, but there was nothing strange in it at all.  The dynamics favored OWU all the way, as we contentiously danced around here on this site.  Then on to CNU, a very good but flawed team that was fortunate to get past perhaps the best team in the group, Whitworth.  Throw in some other crazy dynamics like a full day delay and then today's very soggy field and extreme wind.  Bottom line is some things may have fallen in OWU's favor but they went through three very good teams and are deserving of being in the Final Four.  They are as good a bet to win it now as anyone.  Either OWU or Tufts is going to be in the final, and if it's OWU then there's one game and I'm sure Martin would have some kind of plan for the other finalist.  The Tufts game actually may be the tougher one (aside from the simple truth that the next one is always the toughest as there is nothing if you don't get that one), as Tufts is on a similar streak, is full of real confidence, and just beat the one team absolutely no one wanted to deal with.

It is uncanny how often OWU scores early in big games.  Obviously that is something all teams would like to do, but OWU does it all the time.  I remember watching one of the DePauw games this year and as I tuned in OWU was lined up for the kickoff and I assumed the game was starting and then I saw the scoreboard and saw 1-0 and the DePauw GK already had been replaced due to injury.  Then they scored on Kenyon in the first 5 minutes of the NCAC final, and over the past several years I've seen it happen any number of times.  They score in the first 3+ minutes today

I see there is some discussion of national COY.  I doubt Martin would be under serious consideration since it is always assumed OWU is going to have a very good year, and it pains me to say this although I referenced this before, but he has done a phenomenal job with his team.  He lost a ton of seniors (from a team we tend to forget that was unbeaten and ranked #1 almost the entire season), revamped his lineup in the middle of this season, has a frosh 5'5, 130 lbs right back starting who looks 14 or 15 but is good, and he's in the Final Four.  He also seems to be very good at game planning and strategy.  Against Kenyon, Bloecher played in more of a withdrawn forward/attacking mid role so that he could send piercing balls to Baum trying to split the center backs.  I'm guessing Martin had to have a good idea about Justice's injury, but I doubt many coaches would go right at the other team's strength.  I think this is part of the reason Kenyon didn't do the high pressure as usual because they were getting threatened early right down the middle and were worried about getting burned.  They didn't press high because on the day they just weren't able to do so.  Anyway, OWU has an enviable program.  Messiah gets talked about all the time, but OWU is right up there.  They seem like a big family, the parents have everything set up for everyone after the game, the alumni show up (which I assume is in part because most of the players from Ohio and many remain in Ohio), they play really good soccer, and they always think they are going to win.

Tufts might get them, but I wouldn't bet against them in a final.

[Midwest Soccer]

Good post NCAC.

They certainly have a penchant for scoring first in big games and when they do, they normally come out on top. It's the games vs Transy, Rose-Hulman, etc. that they fail to score early and then they get themselves in a dog fight. I think Ryan H mentioned it earlier in the preview but they always play their best against better teams and tend to slip against some of those under dogs they may overlook.

I agree that this is one of Martin's better coaching jobs as well. They get shelacked at home 4-1 to Otterbein. And now has them in the final 4. Another crazy thought is how close they were to not getting in. If they don't jump JCU in the last poll with a loss vs Kenyon, then they don't make the tournament. They've definitely made the most of their "2nd chance"

Sounds like Tufts is a similar team to Kenyon in terms of style of play and physicality so their 3 match ups with Kenyon this year will have prepared them well for Tufts. Oneonta seniors and OWU seniors both share the same final 4 experience from 2011. The other two teams are all experiencing it themselves for the first time. I think Wheaton is the favorite. Will be interesting to see what the weather is and how it affects the play. Wheaton will surely have the biggest crowd being the closest university. That's a quick road trip for them. As noted by other posters...this final 4 is anyone's for the taking.