2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT THREAD

[Mr.Right]

Majumder with another 2 goals today. He has to win Nescac Most Improved Player.

[NJrexSoccer03]

Wow. Kenyon scores with 20 second left. A very nice shot from the top of the 18. The build up was more of a scrum and putting the ball into the box 3 or 4 times.

[Saint of Old]

The king is dead... Long live the King.

[Mr.Right]

And the DAGGER...Kenyon 3-2 with a rip with 18 seconds left. Tough way to end your season for Tufts but Kenyon deserved it. Very even game though and surprisingly a GREAT crowd for 11am kickoff.

5 goals and it was an entertaining Sweet 16 match-up. Congrats to Tufts on a great 2015 campaign and they can hold their heads high as for the players lost to graduation last year, Tufts did better than I would of expected.

[Mr.Right]

One note about Kenyon----They really need to get better play from their outside backs. They were getting exposed quite a bit and they can be beat 1v1. That will need to change if they advance to The Final 4.

[NJrexSoccer03]

And the DAGGER...Kenyon 3-2 with a rip with 18 seconds left. Tough way to end your season for Tufts but Kenyon deserved it. Very even game though and surprisingly a GREAT crowd for 11am kickoff.

5 goals and it was an entertaining Sweet 16 match-up. Congrats to Tufts on a great 2015 campaign and they can hold their heads high as for the players lost to graduation last year, Tufts did better than I would of expected.

Please tell me by entertaining you just mean goals and that the last goal happened with 20 second left. The rest was kind of watching middle school kids play kick ball. I wasn't impressed for seeing these teams for the first time. Please someone give me an excuse as to why? Weather? Looked a little windy?

[wingtips2]

Wheaton v St.Olaf                    2-0    Wheaton. I have seen neither team but I remember Wheaton from last year and they should be able to beat St. Olaf. However if Otterbein can make a D3 Final 4 than so can St. Olaf. Also, to top MSU they have 8 assistants and 53 players. Let's hope they play futbol and not football.

Yeah, but does St. Olaf have a player with a 50-yard throw that allows any throw-in on the offensive side of the midfield stripe to turn into service into the box?  Thanks to the unfortunte weather/field conditions and that throw-in, we all missed out on the highly anticipated Messiah/Trinity duel in the 2002 final.  Of course, it allowed the debate of best D-III program to rage a few more years, so it was good for the message boards, I guess.

Lochner was ridiculous...
That was a good Otterbein team, strong at the back, Rose in the middle, Angelo up front.

[Brother Flounder]

Congrats to Kenyon. Thought Tufts dominated second half but Kenyon held up for the Win

[PaulNewman]

Kenyon kardiac kids!

Great competitive game.  Thought Kenyon was dead after letting Majumder get one Clougher should have stopped.  Refs let Majumder get away with highway robbery out there.  Lords win without star mid NCAC Newcomer of Year Carmona.  Barnes played game of his life.  Frosh CB Lowry was unreal.  Eudy very good today.  Tufts kept Amolo mostly out of game and Kenyon locked down Kayne.  Was going to take something special to knock out Tufts, and Tufts very well might have won national title if they got through that game.

[Domino1195]

One note about Kenyon----They really need to get better play from their outside backs. They were getting exposed quite a bit and they can be beat 1v1. That will need to change if they advance to The Final 4.

Their left back was taken advantage of again this week - second Tufts goal. I thought Tufts did a better job keeping possession than other comments made here. Kenyon tried to bunker in - second half - and paid for it. Some very sloppy touches from some of their players. Surprised Amolo stayed in as long as he did second half - not a 90 minute player!

But this is two weekends that I have seen freshman #28 - he made that winning goal. Very poised - needs to hit the weight room -but crafty as hell.

On the handling call - maybe the arm was a little wide - could have gone with a "ball to arm" if the CR wished - but on a shot from 12 yards it's difficult not to call it..

[Mr.Right]

And the DAGGER...Kenyon 3-2 with a rip with 18 seconds left. Tough way to end your season for Tufts but Kenyon deserved it. Very even game though and surprisingly a GREAT crowd for 11am kickoff.

5 goals and it was an entertaining Sweet 16 match-up. Congrats to Tufts on a great 2015 campaign and they can hold their heads high as for the players lost to graduation last year, Tufts did better than I would of expected.

Please tell me by entertaining you just mean goals and that the last goal happened with 20 second left. The rest was kind of watching middle school kids play kick ball. I wasn't impressed for seeing these teams for the first time. Please someone give me an excuse as to why? Weather? Looked a little windy?

Those were two good teams battling it out. Looked like a traditional NESCAC battle. Kenyon would do well in Nescac. As you move on in the tournament games start getting scrappy and good teams can disrupt goods teams. Not sure what you were expecting...Sorry to say but your NJAC is just as comparable.

[Mr.Right]

One note about Kenyon----They really need to get better play from their outside backs. They were getting exposed quite a bit and they can be beat 1v1. That will need to change if they advance to The Final 4.

Their left back was taken advantage of again this week - second Tufts goal. I thought Tufts did a better job keeping possession than other comments made here. Kenyon tried to bunker in - second half - and paid for it. Some very sloppy touches from some of their players. Surprised Amolo stayed in as long as he did second half - not a 90 minute player!

But this is two weekends that I have seen freshman #28 - he made that winning goal. Very poised - needs to hit the weight room -but crafty as hell.

On the handling call - maybe the arm was a little wide - could have gone with a "ball to arm" if the CR wished - but on a shot from 12 yards it's difficult not to call it..

Agreed NJrex is being overly critical and I also agree that the HANDBALL was a gift for Kenyon.

[dontshootthegoose]

Loras already up 1-0 against DePauw

[blooter442]

An entertaining game indeed, and I'm glad it was that as opposed to a 1-0 snoozefest. I think Kenyon deserved the win on the balance of play, although Tufts gave them a run for their money in a great encounter.

Class ball by Pinheiro and a great header from Majumder to go one up. I think the penalty was a bit questionable but Barnes did so well to put it top shelf, few players will take that risk but he's done it three times in recent weeks and nailed it every time. Kenyon's second was scrappy but was a huge momentum shifter. Tufts did not look good defensively for the rest of the first half, but they grew back into it.

When Tufts tied it up at 2-2 I thought we were seeing scenes of last week against Montclair State where they would come back to win 3-2, but what a great goal by Kenyon to win it. A heartbreaker for Tufts and virtually no time to respond. The worst way to lose it, but the best way to win it.

Thought that if Tufts won this that they were well and truly in a good position for Final 4 and possibly another title, but I think Kenyon is just a little bit more refined and that was ultimately the difference. Jumbos had a great run though and they have nothing to be ashamed of, and were certainly more competitive this year than most would have expected. They lose Kayne, Pinheiro, Brown, Schiable, and Patel, which is 5 of their starting 11, but with Majumder back next year and Greenwood returning and with Sullivan and Coleman a year more experienced I think their spine is still intact. The big question is in midfield, and Zach Halliday will have to be big for them as a leader in central midfield, but if they can re-stock there then I think they will be OK. Kayne is a huge loss though, and one that we won't fully understand the impact of until next year.

Kenyon has an excellent shot at Final 4. I think they are better than F&M and Calvin, but regardless of who they play I think they'll fancy their chances.

[Mr.Right]

Yes Tufts loses alot but they have reloaded for midfield as the Seton Hall Prep Frosh coming in Brett Rojas who I have seen a couple times is the real deal. He will be starting and contributing right away.