2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT THREAD

[PaulNewman]

Calvin putting themselves at risk leaving Mt A in this game.  Mt A GK has made some good saves but Calvin needs to put another one away.  Calvin GK seems to think he is Pele and I can see him giving up a careless goal to OWU.

UW-W and RHIT looks like pretty even match-up.

Horrendous finishing from Calvin.  OWU would be up 5-0, 6-0 right now.

RH is right.  Calvin expending a tremendous amount of energy.  Certainly a good team but don't look like the #1 team in the country.

[D3soccerwatcher]

Macalester and CSS in a tight one.  Looks like 1 goal will decide it (or PKs).

I just cannot figure Wheaton out.  Every time I watch them I think they should never lose a game.  So talented, so fast, so HUGE, so much (apparent) team love/chemistry, etc, etc and yet they are 2-2 with Lake Forest (not Wake Forest...Lake Forest).

Not only that, Lake Forest could easily be up a goal or two.  They've missed a sitter inside the six and two breakaways.

Wheaton's biggest issue for years, IMO, has been that they sometimes play and attack with such reckless abandon that they don't manage a game.  Tonight's a great example.  They dominate but lose focus at the wrong time and suddenly the other team gets a chance or two.

I think you are both right.  Wheaton arguably has the best D3 soccer talent in the country (with Hollingsworth still getting my vote for NPOY).  And their team chemistry rivals some of the greats.  But they do play and push forward with a frantic pace and as a result do seem to lose focus at critical junctures in games.  That's something their coach will have to get a handle on if they are to make another deep run again this year as many, myself included, thought they would.

[PaulNewman]

How about St Olaf?  After the embarrassment of that hype video last year and blowing the season at the end, they have a pretty mediocre regular season but win the MIAC tourney and now up 2-0 on Oshkosh.

[D3soccerwatcher]

Its not a big deal and it is better for fans as we can see more games because of the Friday games.

What was a problem was when Dave Brandt was taking advantage of the rule and scouting opponents on the Sunday after his pod was done. 10 years ago there was limited video so it was a massive advantage and complete manipulation of the rule. Finally, it caught up to him and I believe the NCAA told Messiah in 2008 no more and they started playing Saturday / Sunday. Not sure why the others are still allowed to though.

The notion that the NCAA forced Messiah to play on Sundays is absolutely not true.

[PaulNewman]

This UW-W vs Rose-Hulman is a really, really good game.  Rose-Hulman much better than I realized.

[KICKIN95]

White Water advances on PK's

[Flying Weasel]

Wow!  Sage takes 1-0 lead on St. Lawrence.  Was multi-tasking and didn't get back to the video in time to see it, but seems it was a long-range effort over the keeper.  Too bad there's no replay.

[Mr.Right]

J&W holding their own with Lycoming from what I can tell.

SLU GK massive error. They will come back and beat Sage but they are not going far with that GK.

[blooter442]

Bridgewater State goes 1-0 up on MIT against the run of play. Great cross from the right, Murtagh with a fantastic header into the bottom left.

[blooter442]

MIT ties it 1-1, Bingham with his 20th goal of the year. 20 goals, 10 (now 11) assists, those are some impressive numbers.

Update: MIT now up 2-1, Freel from Bingham. MIT just did to Bridgewater what Babson did to them, scoring around 90 seconds apart.

[Mr.Right]

CUNYAC living up to its year to year reputation as the absolute easiest W a team will have in the NCAA's if not all year. Oneonta up 5-0 at Half.

[Gol2Gol]

NJAC Predictions:

MSU: They reach the final 4 and possibly win it all. They have weapons all over the field and can get goals from everywhere. Wide guys are super dangerous and central mids can hurt you also. Teams are going to have a hard time stopping all the fire power. Hosting is always a positive but all of their blemishes have been at home interesting enough. If they get past Tufts which i think could be a difficult game, they are on their way to final 4. Only way i see them losing is if a teams sits in and defends all game and survives it by countering or PK's. Don't see many teams being able to go head-to-head with them.

Rowan: Similar to MSU with a lot of attacking talent but a notch below. They are a bit reckless creating a lot of fouls and yellow cards which could hurt if they play a team dangerous on set pieces. Youth and inexperience may catch up to them but They advance from this weekend and end their run in the sweet 16.

Camden: Not to offend LGOTB but Camden is probably the weakest soccer playing team if you look at top 7 in NJAC. They were outplayed badly in 2 of 3 NJAC playoff games but credit to them for advancing. They park the bus from the beginning and hope to score 1st goal. if they score 1st, they park 2 buses. Team is built on defense, set pieces and Ryan up front. Stop that and not much else to worry about. Teams in NCAA should be good enough to lock down one player and deal with long throws. They may get by Eastern but it ends at Oneonta.

I don't think Rowan gets by Dickinson in the first round...

I think it is a close  call for Rowan all weekend but comparing schedules and results I am giving edge to rowan. That team has a lot of energy and enthusiasm right now under second year coach who has young team. Even though messiah was a bit down, to beat them 4-2 at messiah was impressive. I think they rise  to occasion.

[wingtips2]

Thank goodness - SLU gets a goal back after constant pressure. 1-1.
Goal from a corner kick - first header saved and Short with the rebound.

[KICKIN95]

Geez, Oneonta is crushing CCNY 6-0 already, they are passing circles around them.
SLU seemed to be sleeping the 1st half and still have their hands full.
Biggest surprise so far is the Kenyon match, very ugly soccer from both sides. I haven't seen either team string 2 passes together and the ball is just constantly being booted and headed everywhere.

[wingtips2]

Geez, Oneonta is crushing CCNY 6-0 already, they are passing circles around them.
SLU seemed to be sleeping the 1st half and still have their hands full.
Biggest surprise so far is the Kenyon match, very ugly soccer from both sides. I haven't seen either team string 2 passes together and the ball is just constantly being booted and headed everywhere.

Kenyon is dominating. They keep trying to play through the crowded middle. Uhde should have scored off a cross.