2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT THREAD

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

The last time Tufts conceded 3 goals in a game was 10/1/2011 vs Amherst... Impressive.

MSU was knocking on that door, but couldn't open it.

Tufts vs Kenyon will be a classic.

NJAC not looking so hot Last Guy

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Not one team from the South Atlantic region makes the sweet 16...New England and Mid-Atlantic regions looking the strongest with 4 and 3 teams in the Sweet 16? St. Olaf the biggest surprise? Tufts starting to click? Should be a fun ride down the stretch!

Sweet 16 Regional Breakdown(NCAA/NSCAA):

New England Region: Brandies(1/1), Amherst(2/2), MIT(3/3), Tufts (5/8)

East Region: Oneonta State(1/1), St. Lawrence(2/2)

Mid-Atlantic Region: Haverford(1/1), F&M(2/5), Lycoming(3/2)

South Atlantic Region: None

Great Lakes Region: DePauw(2/8), Kenyon(4/1)

Central Region: Wheaton(2/2), Calvin(5/1)

North Region: Loras(1/1), St. Olaf(NR/10)

West Region: Trinity(1/1)

[Mr.Right]

Looked away to see a Pats reception. Missed the goal...

Never look away. I missed more goals in the 2014 NCAA's by just going to the bathroom.

[Shooter McGavin]

16 teams left and man are they good! All the match ups will be intriguing but I will list my top 4 to watch this coming weekend!

4 Best Games (D3soccer/NSCAA rankings):

1. #8/7 Haverford vs #20/13 St. Lawrence---Can you say blockbuster game or what?!?! What a game this should be which is why I put this at the top of my list. Doesn't get much better than this. Centennial champ vs Liberty League champ. Only thing hurting SLU is how they perform on the road...3-2-1 road record compared to a 13-1-1 home record. Edge to the Fords.   

2. #1/5 Kenyon vs #RV/NR Tufts---Tufts coming alive in the tournament. Kenyon surviving 1 game at a time. This is a must watch as 2 top tier teams collide. Can Tufts repeat as national champs? They certainly look determined. Can Kenyon live up to the hype? They are trying to. Tufts wins this in an overtime thriller.   

3. #4/6 Amherst vs. #12/15 Lycoming---2 of the best if not the 2 best defenses in the country will collide. Amherst w/40 GF and just 4 GA and Lycoming 52 GF and 11 GA. Both teams enter the match with 13 shutouts. This will only be Amherst's second game in 21 days. Lycoming enters on a 20 game unbeaten streak that includes 9 wins in a row. Lycoming has the best chance to knock off Amherst in this tournament...the only other team that can hang is Oneonta St IMO. I give Amherst the slight edge.   

4. #11/RV F&M vs #3/1 Calvin---Calvin is the only remaining undefeated team in the country and they are out to prove why they are undefeated. F&M seems to have bounced back after tough losses to Dickinson with impressive 5-1 and 3-1 wins. This could end up being the game of the day but for now I have them in the 4 slot. Toss-up for this game. Flip a coin and that's who wins. 

Other games:

#5/3 Brandeis vs #2/2 Trinity---Trinity is the only remaining western team. How will the flight to Mass. affect them? Brandeis has been shaky even while playing at home. Not a good time to not be playing your best soccer. Rankings might indicate this as a top level game but I beg to differ at this moment in time. This is a toss-up. 

#7/8 Oneonta St. vs #19/18 MIT---Oneonta State is personally the best team in the country and I have been saying it all year. I would love to see an Elite 8 match with them and Haverford. What a great game that could be! But don't overlook a quietly dangerous MIT team. 

#17/11 Loras vs #RV/NR DePauw---Loras has a nice path to the final 4. DePauw's run ends here. 

#RV/12 Wheaton vs #NR/NR St. Olaf---The cinderella story stops here for St. Olaf. Wheaton is just too dominant offensively.

[wingtips2]

I'm going to take a quick moment and have a laugh at the UAA - again.
Only 1 of 4 teams makes it to the round of 16.
I'm so glad that I stopped thinking "this could be the year they finally play to their high rankings", it improves my brackets!

[wingtips2]

My picks for the round of 16 based on what I saw this weekend.

Amherst has its usual slip up as Lycoming doesn't give them any opportunities.  1-0.
Trinity shows that the cold doesn't bother them and takes it over Brandeis again. 2-1.

St Lawrence keeps rolling and keeps my bracket alive.  2-0.
Oneonta is just too much for MIT. 4-1.

Loras advances on pks. 1-1.
Wheaton puts Cinderella down. 3-1.

Tufts repeat attempt dies in the game of the tourney. 3-1.
Calvin keeps the undefeated streak alive.  2-0.

[Domino1195]

I'm going to take a quick moment and have a laugh at the UAA - again.
Only 1 of 4 teams makes it to the round of 16.
I'm so glad that I stopped thinking "this could be the year they finally play to their high rankings", it improves my brackets!

Two shoot-out losses and a double OT loss?

[wingtips2]

I'm going to take a quick moment and have a laugh at the UAA - again.
Only 1 of 4 teams makes it to the round of 16.
I'm so glad that I stopped thinking "this could be the year they finally play to their high rankings", it improves my brackets!

Two shoot-out losses and a double OT loss?

And notice what they all have in common? They didn't advance!

[NERevs127]

I'm going to take a quick moment and have a laugh at the UAA - again.
Only 1 of 4 teams makes it to the round of 16.
I'm so glad that I stopped thinking "this could be the year they finally play to their high rankings", it improves my brackets!

Two shoot-out losses and a double OT loss?

And notice what they all have in common? They are losses!

Technically speaking the UAA teams are 4-1-2 in the tournament this year with the 1 loss being in double OT

[lastguyoffthebench]

The last time Tufts conceded 3 goals in a game was 10/1/2011 vs Amherst... Impressive.

MSU was knocking on that door, but couldn't open it.

Tufts vs Kenyon will be a classic.

NJAC not looking so hot Last Guy

Of course not... look at the match-ups!  If MSU or Camden had Gordon as a Round of 32 game, they'd be in the Sweet 16.   This isn't a shot at F&M, but you know what I mean.  If Rutgers-Camden would have gotten Bowdoin or MIT, I think they'd have won.  If MSU had Chicago, they'd have probably won.   However, you can only beat who is put in front of you... On to next year!


I think F&M will be heading to the Elite 8.

I noticed you had Oneonta St as your Champion on one forum, but for the bracketology you selected Amherst.  Thoughts/Prediction on Haverford vs. SLU and potential match-up of Haverford vs Oneonta St?

[Mr.Right]

If the Wash U GK had an extra inch of length they would have advanced. He was guessing right on most kicks but just could not get his hand to one. The DePauw GK looked awkward to me and had a hard time getting low but he got it done.

I did not watch but I have no idea how CMU lost to Gordon. With a 1-0 lead late they should have gotten the job done.

CHicago I have a seen a couple times this season and I liked what I saw. I did not watch the game against Kenyon but did catch the PK's. Kenyon just placed 4 bullets that the Chicago GK had no chance on. On the other side, Chicago kickers did not look comfortable at all missing 2/4 and almost missing 3/4.

Brandeis is a legit team. If they were home this weekend I would give them a very good chance to get to the Final 4. This still could be their year though. They lost to Williams at Amherst in both 2012 and 2013 and beat Amherst at Oneonta last year. They are very familiar with Amherst and that field. Curious to see where they practice on grass. Yesterday they absolutely dominated RPI who put in a solid effort as well. Viera worked his ass off all game and he is a pleasant surprise for me. Actually, Brandeis in general works VERY HARD especially in midfield. A couple issues that can and need to be cleaned up are the finishing and their backs giving the ball away to much. I said this yesterday but lanahan is a physical beast back there but he gave the ball away in a couple key spots that could have turned out worse against a better side. He must clean that up. DePietto for a frosh is a good solid back and Lynch also coughed up the ball in a couple key spots but he works very hard and will also need to have a better game. Woodhouse is a solid GK but he came a couple times last night and misjudged 2 or 3 balls in the air that he cannot do against Trinity. Still Brandeis has played some tremendous possession style futbol and are a pleasure to watch. I think they are at their best possessing and pressing opposing teams backs to get them to cough it up so they can then counter. This side is also a physical side but not dirty and if they only had this physicality in 2012 and 2013 they would have advanced farther IMO. Last year was a good mix and this year also. I did not see their game at  Trinity and am wondering how Trinity scored but I see Brandeis getting revenge setting up a re-match with Amherst. Amherst will have revenge on their minds from last year and I think that could be an epic match and here's hoping we get to see it on Sunday.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Is it any surprise that frequent 0-0, 1-0 UAA games lead to so many OT/PK games vs teams from other conferences in the tournament?   

[nw_ds]

I'm going to take a quick moment and have a laugh at the UAA - again.
Only 1 of 4 teams makes it to the round of 16.
I'm so glad that I stopped thinking "this could be the year they finally play to their high rankings", it improves my brackets!

Two shoot-out losses and a double OT loss?

And notice what they all have in common? They are losses!

Technically speaking the UAA teams are 4-1-2 in the tournament this year with the 1 loss being in double OT

Not entirely sure what his point is, but some might argue that having two shootout loses in the second round from the 4th and 5th place teams in the conference; one of them being your 5th place team on the road to the current number 1 overall ranked team, shows the quality of the UAA. I don't really get why people expect this conference to have 3 teams in the sweet 16 every year or else they take it as some sort of proof that the conference is overrated. Let's put the 4th and 5th place teams from whatever other conference you want to pick in the tournament and see how well they do.

[lastguyoffthebench]

On the other hand:

3rd place CMU loses to 3rd place CCC, Gordon in OT

1st place Brandeis needs OT to beat 7th place Liberty League, RPI.

[nw_ds]

If the Wash U GK had an extra inch of length they would have advanced. He was guessing right on most kicks but just could not get his hand to one. The DePauw GK looked awkward to me and had a hard time getting low but he got it done.

I did not watch but I have no idea how CMU lost to Gordon. With a 1-0 lead late they should have gotten the job done.

CHicago I have a seen a couple times this season and I liked what I saw. I did not watch the game against Kenyon but did catch the PK's. Kenyon just placed 4 bullets that the Chicago GK had no chance on. On the other side, Chicago kickers did not look comfortable at all missing 2/4 and almost missing 3/4.

Brandeis is a legit team. If they were home this weekend I would give them a very good chance to get to the Final 4. This still could be their year though. They lost to Williams at Amherst in both 2012 and 2013 and beat Amherst at Oneonta last year. They are very familiar with Amherst and that field. Curious to see where they practice on grass. Yesterday they absolutely dominated RPI who put in a solid effort as well. Viera worked his ass off all game and he is a pleasant surprise for me. Actually, Brandeis in general works VERY HARD especially in midfield. A couple issues that can and need to be cleaned up are the finishing and their backs giving the ball away to much. I said this yesterday but lanahan is a physical beast back there but he gave the ball away in a couple key spots that could have turned out worse against a better side. He must clean that up. DePietto for a frosh is a good solid back and Lynch also coughed up the ball in a couple key spots but he works very hard and will also need to have a better game. Woodhouse is a solid GK but he came a couple times last night and misjudged 2 or 3 balls in the air that he cannot do against Trinity. Still Brandeis has played some tremendous possession style futbol and are a pleasure to watch. I think they are at their best possessing and pressing opposing teams backs to get them to cough it up so they can then counter. This side is also a physical side but not dirty and if they only had this physicality in 2012 and 2013 they would have advanced farther IMO. Last year was a good mix and this year also. I did not see their game at  Trinity and am wondering how Trinity scored but I see Brandeis getting revenge setting up a re-match with Amherst. Amherst will have revenge on their minds from last year and I think that could be an epic match and here's hoping we get to see it on Sunday.

In the Brandeis-Trinity match from earlier this season Trinity had two goals in the first 5 minutes, one of them coming from an uncharacteristic defensive breakdown from Brandeis. After going down 2-0 early Brandeis settled down a bit but you can't dig yourself a hole like that against a team like that. Trinity was the better side that day but the game this weekend is a toss up IMO.