2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT THREAD

[lastguyoffthebench]

If Haverford and Oneonta advance, that game will be an up-and-down battle.   

Predictions:
Amherst 2, Lycoming 0
Trinity 1, Brandeis 0
Haverford 2, SLU 1
Oneonta St 3, MIT 0
Loras 2, DePauw 1
Wheaton 3, St. Olaf 1
Tufts 1, Kenyon 1.  PKs
F&M 2, Calvin 1.

Today fairly straight forward.  Which likely dog will pull it off?   Will be in attendance  at Haverford regardless of who makes it.  Four very good teams in that pod

Amherst 1, Trinity 0.
Oneonta St 2, Haverford 0.
Loras 2, Wheaton 1.

[WarhawkFan]

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.

Hard to complain about Loras players having to miss class "for another teams religious restrictions" when it's their own facility that wasn't prepared to clear off the field and get the game in today.

[GoPerry]

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

If true, not sure that makes a lot of sense.  Team can leave now and be home just after dinner.  Either way, further favors the DuHawks.

[KICKIN95]

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

If true, not sure that makes a lot of sense.  Team can leave now and be home just after dinner.  Either way, further favors the DuHawks.

Travel wasn't advised today due to road conditions according to the DOT, not sure if that is a factor or not.

[Brother Flounder]

A few comments......

Great year for Brandeis.  Their weakness would be if they fell behind, and that's what happened today.  Just need a little more fire power.  Yes, as Bloots mentioned, awful way for Kenyon to lose, especially having home field advantage. Ironically, similar to Tufts the day before, a loss at the end of the game.  The score was close and Kenyon did well to possess but couldn't get it on net.  Kenyon had a great year also and will be very good next year. As Meg stated, I do agree that their midfield did not play as well today as they did against Tufts.  They expended a lot of energy against the Tufts midfield the day before, double marking Kayne on defense and pushing up well on offense.  They just didn't have the same rythym as yesterday....Yes, as mentioned, Barnes played fantastic yesterday, but quite the opposite today, especially being kicked out of the game towards the end with the red.  I feel bad because it's a tough way to end a career, however, as NCAC said, he had an excellent career and should be very proud....Calvin deserves much credit.  Even though Kenyon had the ball more, the score could have been 3-0 with 2 blown great chances.  They have an excellent keeper.  Their team speed was not as good as Kenyon's but they bent and didn't break. They have a chance!  Watch out for Trinity.

[d3fan1]

What does the Loras field look like Kickin?

[PaulNewman]

Calvin had one shot on goal...the goal.

Now two Vegters for Calvin have gone to Final Fours as freshmen.

[Domino1195]

Calvin had one shot on goal...the goal.

Now two Vegters for Calvin have gone to Final Fours as freshmen.

Calvin is a high functioning high school team. Their backs are a fortress, they have three of the fastest white boys playing soccer up top. I saw three better soccer teams these past two weekends, but look who's moving on. You can gnash teeth and mutter about their quality - but they play well as a unit.

Kenyon really did shut down their wingers today - man of the match was #26 in the center of the park. Hardly the biggest or fastest - great poise and possession skills. Was all over the place. And their keeper came up big when called upon. That "face save" early in the game tells you how tough he is.

[KICKIN95]

What does the Loras field look like Kickin?

Imagine the stay puff marshmallow man exploding 11" deep. Wet heavy crap. They have crews working right now.

[KICKIN95]

Off topic a bit here, but had to brag and give a shout out to my University of Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team for taking down #1 North Carolina!  Go Panthers!!!

[Brother Flounder]

Calvin had one shot on goal...the goal.

Now two Vegters for Calvin have gone to Final Fours as freshmen.

Calvin is a high functioning high school team. Their backs are a fortress, they have three of the fastest white boys playing soccer up top. I saw three better soccer teams these past two weekends, but look who's moving on. You can gnash teeth and mutter about their quality - but they play well as a unit.

Kenyon really did shut down their wingers today - man of the match was #26 in the center of the park. Hardly the biggest or fastest - great poise and possession skills. Was all over the place. And their keeper came up big when called upon. That "face save" early in the game tells you how tough he is.

High functioning high school team?  What do u mean by that?  Who were the better teams?

[Cheesehead Henry]

The fact that they postponed this game due to snow on the field is absolutely ridiculous....they had an entire day to remove it I thought??

[Dark Knight]

With the 1-0 victory over Kenyon, Calvin's keeper, Giantsopoulos, recorded his 19th shutout of the season--a new NCAA D3 record. The previous record was 18, set by Joel Wallace of MacMurray in 1991.

His season goals-against average of 0.20 is tied for sixth-best in the record book. However, of keepers with more than 1818 minutes played in a season, the 0.20 goals-against rate is the best ever.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to last year's stats except at MasseyRatings.com, and a couple of games are missing. But it looks as though Calvin gave up 10 goals last year, meaning that Giantsopoulos' career goals against average with the Knights (2 years) would be about 0.32. The current NCAA D3 record is 0.35 for Brian Bush, 2005-8, Middlebury.

[KICKIN95]

With the 1-0 victory over Kenyon, Calvin's keeper, Giantsopoulos, recorded his 19th shutout of the season--a new NCAA D3 record. The previous record was 18, set by Joel Wallace of MacMurray in 1991.

His season goals-against average of 0.20 is tied for sixth-best in the record book. However, of keepers with more than 1818 minutes played in a season, the 0.20 goals-against rate is the best ever.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to last year's stats except at MasseyRatings.com, and a couple of games are missing. But it looks as though Calvin gave up 10 goals last year, meaning that Giantsopoulos' career goals against average with the Knights (2 years) would be about 0.32. The current NCAA D3 record is 0.35 for Brian Bush, 2005-8, Middlebury.

Nice stats, but Loras keper recorded 19 shutouts also in 2007.

[Domino1195]

Calvin had one shot on goal...the goal.

Now two Vegters for Calvin have gone to Final Fours as freshmen.

Calvin is a high functioning high school team. Their backs are a fortress, they have three of the fastest white boys playing soccer up top. I saw three better soccer teams these past two weekends, but look who's moving on. You can gnash teeth and mutter about their quality - but they play well as a unit.

Kenyon really did shut down their wingers today - man of the match was #26 in the center of the park. Hardly the biggest or fastest - great poise and possession skills. Was all over the place. And their keeper came up big when called upon. That "face save" early in the game tells you how tough he is.

High functioning high school team?  What do u mean by that?  Who were the better teams?

They are a straight vanilla, north-south team. Hard working, simple game plan. Not what I would can a possession-style team - rarely swing the ball from side to side. The defenders clear, the midfielders fight to regain the ball, the forwards fly in their channels. They have very important individuals supported by competent complementary players. Tufts, Chicago and Kenyon were fun to watch and resembled more of what I would expect to see in the final four.

But there's something to be said for their team execution: they Get It Done.