2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT THREAD

[blooter442]

Awful way to lose for Kenyon, who just couldn't solve the Calvin GK. He has been excellent the past two games, and Calvin is Final 4 worthy. Congrats to the Knights.

[Nutmeg]

Kenyon runs out of miracles. Player of the game is Calvins keeper. Kenyon had more possession in second half but didn't muster shots on goal. I applauded Barnes yesterday but he was invisible today except for the red card (2 yellows), which left Kenyon a man down at end when they needed the equalizer. Good year for Kenyon. Congrats to Calvin.  I don't think they'll win the NCAA though...

[Medicated Pete]

and Calvin squeaks past Kenyon and  into the final four.
Guess we'll have to wait till Monday to see who their opponent will be.
Monday 1pm CT
Snow reeking havoc on the Rock Bowl

Loras v Wheaton game will be Monday

[Footy23]

I dont see how the wheaton loras game takes place tonight with the rock bowl receiving 10-12 inches over night. With wheaton not playing on sundays...theories on when it will be played if they cant get it in tonight?

[d3fan1]

Calvin wins 1-0 to advance to the final 4! Calvin has not been shown much love throughout the tournament by the D3 experts, but the just keep winning!

[Footy23]

and Calvin squeaks past Kenyon and  into the final four.
Guess we'll have to wait till Monday to see who their opponent will be.
Monday 1pm CT
Snow reeking havoc on the Rock Bowl

And there it is.

[GoPerry]

I dont see how the wheaton loras game takes place tonight with the rock bowl receiving 10-12 inches over night. With wheaton not playing on sundays...theories on when it will be played if they cant get it in tonight?

Wheaton/Loras postponed until on Monday . . . just posted on Wheaton site.

Surprising.  It's not snowing anymore right?  Couldn't get the snow removed soon enough I guess?

[d3fan1]

Wheaton-Loras should be a great game! Two quality teams. Loras won their match early in the year, but it is anyone's game of his time of year.

[KICKIN95]

I dont see how the wheaton loras game takes place tonight with the rock bowl receiving 10-12 inches over night. With wheaton not playing on sundays...theories on when it will be played if they cant get it in tonight?

Wheaton/Loras postponed until on Monday . . . just posted on Wheaton site.

Surprising.  It's not snowing anymore right?  Couldn't get the snow removed soon enough I guess?

Nearly a foot of snow on the field.  Religious exemption for Wheaton, so now the players will have to miss classes for another teams religious restrictions.

[GoPerry]

I dont see how the wheaton loras game takes place tonight with the rock bowl receiving 10-12 inches over night. With wheaton not playing on sundays...theories on when it will be played if they cant get it in tonight?

Wheaton/Loras postponed until on Monday . . . just posted on Wheaton site.

Surprising.  It's not snowing anymore right?  Couldn't get the snow removed soon enough I guess?

Nearly a foot of snow on the field.  Religious exemption for Wheaton, so now the players will have to miss classes for another teams religious restrictions.

Loras players probably won't miss anything if they play the game in the afternoon.  Wheaton players certainly will.

[blooter442]

SUNY Oneonta beats MIT 2-0. MIT simply ran into a much better team, and I would say the best team they played all year. Regardless, the Engineers were one of the surprises of the season, and made their first trip past the NCAA 1st Round in quite some time, so they deserve some credit. They'll likely struggle losing Bingham, who had 21 goals and 12 assists, Freel, and their GK Amereno, but the younger players will have that experience in the future.

[KICKIN95]

I dont see how the wheaton loras game takes place tonight with the rock bowl receiving 10-12 inches over night. With wheaton not playing on sundays...theories on when it will be played if they cant get it in tonight?

Wheaton/Loras postponed until on Monday . . . just posted on Wheaton site.

Surprising.  It's not snowing anymore right?  Couldn't get the snow removed soon enough I guess?

Nearly a foot of snow on the field.  Religious exemption for Wheaton, so now the players will have to miss classes for another teams religious restrictions.

Loras players probably won't miss anything if they play the game in the afternoon.  Wheaton players certainly will.

Game time is 1:00pm and Wheaton is staying in Dubuque until game time.

[blooter442]

Trinity beats Brandeis 2-0. Judges were punished for some slack defending, but Trinity was no doubt the better side on the day. Brandeis had some memorable moments this season, including winning the UAA title outright for the first time, and beating then-No.1 Tufts away from home. They lose some big players in Lanahan, Picard, and Lynch, but bring back a lot next year. Trinity will be a good matchup for Amherst tomorrow. Excited to see that one.

[PaulNewman]

Congratulations to Calvin.  A very deserving team.  Stayed in the game all the way, had plenty of their own chances with a bunch of corners and dangerous throws, and unfortunately for Kenyon got one late on a routine but failed clearance that put a kid in for a clear breakaway.  The Calvin defense was outstanding.  Even better than I thought and I knew they were good. Numerous times I thought a ball would bounce right in or right outside the box for Kenyon but the Knights continually would cut off the last ball or get to a ball that looked 50/50.  GK was very good again and had to make a good save before Calvin scored.  Calvin has beaten 3 very good teams back to back to back, including 2 on their home fields.  An impressive and courageous effort.  24-0-1.  Enough said.  Not sure they have quite enough to win it all, but they will try their darnedest.  One thing I was going to mention before but decided not to that truly impressed me....  Right before the 2nd half kickoff when Calvin played OWU (and they were down 1-0 after getting really outplayed), their coach was in the final huddle with his team on the field.  Personally I've never seen that.  And he is very gracious in his comments and the opposing team after every game.  A very impressive young coach.

As for Kenyon....ugghh....heartbreaking.  Hard to imagine having a better chance to get to and possibly win a final 4.  The Lords had their share of good fortune to get to today, and the good fortune ran out.  They did enough to win in a very even game.  I thought they really needed to get a goal in the 1st half when Kenyon had them pinned in for long stretches but Calvin prevented many or any really good shot opportunities.  Seemed in the last 15-20 minutes they were starting to turn the screws and were going to break through, after weathering a period with a lot of Calvin deep throws and corners, but it wasn't to be today.  Painful and I'm sure the players and coaches are just devastated.  Didn't play a clean game by any means, but I still thought they could get through.  Very proud of all of them and they definitely tried as hard as they could, even after they only had 6 minutes to equalize.  Congrats to Jeremiah Barnes on an outstanding career.  Played his guts out for all 4 years and throughout this tournament.  He's the only departing player so Kenyon will be good again, but as we all know these chances don't grow on trees.  You are never assured of getting to a certain stage again.

Domino was right....was gonna be a 1-0 or 0-0 game.  Not the outcome I was expecting today. 

[Flying Weasel]

So all four men's Sweet 16 games today were 2-0 scorelines.

You'd expect more OT games as the tournament progresses and the opponents become more evenly matched, but . . .
1st Round: 6 OT games (6/29 = 20.6%) - 1 went to PK's
2nd Round: 4 OT games (4/16 = 25%) - 2 went to PK's
Sweet 16: 1 OT game (1/8 = 12.5%) - no PK's