2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT THREAD

[backyarddawg]

Anyone see the Oneonta vs Haverford game?  I was watching another game.

It looks like the Fords dominated the game game but would love to hear if someone watched to give details.  Great season for their program who has been willing to play a tough schedule since Coach Rineer took over.  They lose 4 seniors but should be back in contention next year returning 8 starters.

Congrats to Amherst, Oneonta and Calvin so far.

[blooter442]

Anyone see the Oneonta vs Haverford game?  I was watching another game.

It looks like the Fords dominated the game game but would love to hear if someone watched to give details.  Great season for their program who has been willing to play a tough schedule since Coach Rineer took over.  They lose 4 seniors but should be back in contention next year returning 8 starters.

Congrats to Amherst, Oneonta and Calvin so far.

Haverford played very well, and I would say had the better of play. But Oneonta especially in the first half had its moments, and put together some really good stuff. They are definitely legit and while I think it was an absolutely brutal way for Haverford to lose that Oneonta have to very much be in the hunt for the big prize based on the way they play. They have stout defense, good goalkeeping, an excellent midfield, and great forwards, and are fun to watch in my opinion.

[Medicated Pete]

I can't wait for this Loras/Wheaton game tomorrow!!!!

Time change from 1pm to 2pm CT Monday

www.duhawks.com

[Shooter McGavin]

My picks for Elite 8:

Lycoming
Trinity
Loras
Wheaton (Ill)
Haverford
SUNY Oneonta
Kenyon
F&M

My only miss so far is F&M.  Tomorrow could be different.

Well I had 6 out of 8 correct - missed on F&M and Lycoming

Yes very well done. F&M had arguably the easiest path to the final 4 out of the teams from the Mid-Atlantic region and they gave that chance away. Hard to understand how Haverford and Lycoming got such difficult draws considering they were 1 and 2 in the region. I am sure the Fords and Lyco would have loved to take their chances with the draw that F&M got.

Unfortunate for Lycoming in the Amherst game that the officiating crew was sub par at best. One of the worst PK's I have seen in quite some time or maybe ever and it completely changed the way the game was being played. They took what could have been a great game down the stretch (if Amherst was up 1-0 the rest of the way) and ruined it and the flow by giving a PK for who knows  what. Very sad to see games blown at this stage of the season by an official. Amherst clearly the better team but still a rough outing for Lycoming who strung together an impressive season.

As for Amherst they are unlucky that they will face Oneonta St. in the final 4 and not the championship. What a game this should be! The other side of the bracket is extremely weak even at this point in the tournament. The winner of the Amherst/Oneonta St. game will be your national champion.

A great year for Haverford and a tough outing at home for the Fords. The best team in the Mid-Atlantic region start to finish and they should be proud of the way they performed. A tough goal to give up in an exciting contest. I was thoroughly looking forward to PK's in this game. But Oneonta is the best team in the country and they will be determined to get over the hump of losing in the final 4 last year.

I think that Oneonta St. will have too much pace and possession for Amherst to handle. Lycoming and Trinity both did well in possession and keeping Amherst off the ball but neither were very threatening going forward. They had chances but none that Bull couldn't handle. This is where I think Oneonta St. has the advantage. They will also possess the ball and keep Amherst off it, and they will also be very dangerous going forward which will cause troubles for Amherst. If Amherst wants to win this game then Bull needs to have another great game or his career and Amherst's season will be over.

I will give my thoughts and predictions later for the final 4, but my gut feeling right now is Oneonta St. 2 Amherst 1.

Great weekend of games and the final 4 will be even better. I am also still shocked that Calvin has made it this far. I truly underestimated them at the start of the tournament. Any thoughts on the upcoming Oneonta vs Amherst game?

[KnightFalcon]

No one should be surprised at Calvin being in the final 4 given their recent success. This is their 3rd trip to the final 4 in 7 years (2009, 2011, 2015). And they played in the finals the first 2 times. Outside of Messiah, Williams and now Oneonta (and possibly Loras), I don't believe any other programs have had that level of success during that time period. They may not have the one or two elite players that other teams have, but they find success in other ways including the traits mentioned in other posts such as teamwork and defense. Will be fun to watch the contrasting styles battle it out. Let's hope the weather cooperates and isn't a factor.

[Mr.Right]

My picks for Elite 8:

Lycoming
Trinity
Loras
Wheaton (Ill)
Haverford
SUNY Oneonta
Kenyon
F&M

My only miss so far is F&M.  Tomorrow could be different.

Well I had 6 out of 8 correct - missed on F&M and Lycoming

Yes very well done. F&M had arguably the easiest path to the final 4 out of the teams from the Mid-Atlantic region and they gave that chance away. Hard to understand how Haverford and Lycoming got such difficult draws considering they were 1 and 2 in the region. I am sure the Fords and Lyco would have loved to take their chances with the draw that F&M got.

Unfortunate for Lycoming in the Amherst game that the officiating crew was sub par at best. One of the worst PK's I have seen in quite some time or maybe ever and it completely changed the way the game was being played. They took what could have been a great game down the stretch (if Amherst was up 1-0 the rest of the way) and ruined it and the flow by giving a PK for who knows  what. Very sad to see games blown at this stage of the season by an official. Amherst clearly the better team but still a rough outing for Lycoming who strung together an impressive season.

As for Amherst they are unlucky that they will face Oneonta St. in the final 4 and not the championship. What a game this should be! The other side of the bracket is extremely weak even at this point in the tournament. The winner of the Amherst/Oneonta St. game will be your national champion.

A great year for Haverford and a tough outing at home for the Fords. The best team in the Mid-Atlantic region start to finish and they should be proud of the way they performed. A tough goal to give up in an exciting contest. I was thoroughly looking forward to PK's in this game. But Oneonta is the best team in the country and they will be determined to get over the hump of losing in the final 4 last year.

I think that Oneonta St. will have too much pace and possession for Amherst to handle. Lycoming and Trinity both did well in possession and keeping Amherst off the ball but neither were very threatening going forward. They had chances but none that Bull couldn't handle. This is where I think Oneonta St. has the advantage. They will also possess the ball and keep Amherst off it, and they will also be very dangerous going forward which will cause troubles for Amherst. If Amherst wants to win this game then Bull needs to have another great game or his career and Amherst's season will be over.

I will give my thoughts and predictions later for the final 4, but my gut feeling right now is Oneonta St. 2 Amherst 1.

Great weekend of games and the final 4 will be even better. I am also still shocked that Calvin has made it this far. I truly underestimated them at the start of the tournament. Any thoughts on the upcoming Oneonta vs Amherst game?

I think both brackets are strong so I have to disagree with you there. Also, Amherst is the team to beat at this point and that is why I gave them the best best odds to win it all in my odds section before the tournament. I'm sorry but Lycoming and even Trinity rarely posed a serious sniff at goal. Trinity hit the crossbar once. I was disappointed in Trinity as they were skilled but they could not hold up to Amherst physicality. They were not as good as other Trinity sides that I have seen in the past. That being said this is Amherst tournament to lose. They might overlook Oneonta if they see that Williams beat them 2-0 but I doubt it. Serpone will have them ready and they look motivated to win it all. To say that Oneonta will have to much pace and possession is ridiculous. If anything Amherst has plenty of pace up front and will break up any type of possession Oneonta will try to have in Amherst defensive half. Personally, if Loras can get by Wheaton today I think they would pose the most problems for Amherst as they can match the physicality and speed of Amherst.

[Shooter McGavin]

My picks for Elite 8:

Lycoming
Trinity
Loras
Wheaton (Ill)
Haverford
SUNY Oneonta
Kenyon
F&M

My only miss so far is F&M.  Tomorrow could be different.

Well I had 6 out of 8 correct - missed on F&M and Lycoming

Yes very well done. F&M had arguably the easiest path to the final 4 out of the teams from the Mid-Atlantic region and they gave that chance away. Hard to understand how Haverford and Lycoming got such difficult draws considering they were 1 and 2 in the region. I am sure the Fords and Lyco would have loved to take their chances with the draw that F&M got.

Unfortunate for Lycoming in the Amherst game that the officiating crew was sub par at best. One of the worst PK's I have seen in quite some time or maybe ever and it completely changed the way the game was being played. They took what could have been a great game down the stretch (if Amherst was up 1-0 the rest of the way) and ruined it and the flow by giving a PK for who knows  what. Very sad to see games blown at this stage of the season by an official. Amherst clearly the better team but still a rough outing for Lycoming who strung together an impressive season.

As for Amherst they are unlucky that they will face Oneonta St. in the final 4 and not the championship. What a game this should be! The other side of the bracket is extremely weak even at this point in the tournament. The winner of the Amherst/Oneonta St. game will be your national champion.

A great year for Haverford and a tough outing at home for the Fords. The best team in the Mid-Atlantic region start to finish and they should be proud of the way they performed. A tough goal to give up in an exciting contest. I was thoroughly looking forward to PK's in this game. But Oneonta is the best team in the country and they will be determined to get over the hump of losing in the final 4 last year.

I think that Oneonta St. will have too much pace and possession for Amherst to handle. Lycoming and Trinity both did well in possession and keeping Amherst off the ball but neither were very threatening going forward. They had chances but none that Bull couldn't handle. This is where I think Oneonta St. has the advantage. They will also possess the ball and keep Amherst off it, and they will also be very dangerous going forward which will cause troubles for Amherst. If Amherst wants to win this game then Bull needs to have another great game or his career and Amherst's season will be over.

I will give my thoughts and predictions later for the final 4, but my gut feeling right now is Oneonta St. 2 Amherst 1.

Great weekend of games and the final 4 will be even better. I am also still shocked that Calvin has made it this far. I truly underestimated them at the start of the tournament. Any thoughts on the upcoming Oneonta vs Amherst game?

I think both brackets are strong so I have to disagree with you there. Also, Amherst is the team to beat at this point and that is why I gave them the best best odds to win it all in my odds section before the tournament. I'm sorry but Lycoming and even Trinity rarely posed a serious sniff at goal. Trinity hit the crossbar once. I was disappointed in Trinity as they were skilled but they could not hold up to Amherst physicality. They were not as good as other Trinity sides that I have seen in the past. That being said this is Amherst tournament to lose. They might overlook Oneonta if they see that Williams beat them 2-0 but I doubt it. Serpone will have them ready and they look motivated to win it all. To say that Oneonta will have to much pace and possession is ridiculous. If anything Amherst has plenty of pace up front and will break up any type of possession Oneonta will try to have in Amherst defensive half. Personally, if Loras can get by Wheaton today I think they would pose the most problems for Amherst as they can match the physicality and speed of Amherst.

Have you watched Amherst or Oneonta St this year Mr. Right? Oneonta St is extremely dangerous going forward and Amherst is slow in the back. Trinity played the ball wide and across the field with no problem. With the finishers that Oneonta has there is no doubt in my mind that they will have multiple threatening chances against Amherst. With that being said Amherst is a force and should be the favorites but they couldn't break up Trinity or Lycoming's possession so how in your right(or wrong) mind would you expect them to break up Oneonta's possession in the offensive third?? I am really starting to believe that you don't watch much soccer and if you do it's not helping. Also, I never said Amherst didn't have pace going forward...they don't have pace in the back. Martin and NPL fly up top for Amherst. That's obvious. But defensively they are slower than most teams but their size and athleticism is what makes them solid. NOT speed!!!!! Next is saying that Trinity or Lycoming didn't sniff the goal...Trinity hit the bar and had chances that Bull came up big on. IF he doesn't get some of the low whipped in crosses its goal time for Trinity. He came up big as always for Amherst. As for Lycoming, they weren't as dangerous as we are use to seeing(credit to how good Amherst is), but they also had 4 or 5 quality chances that could/should have resulted in a goal. Shots were 17-13 in favor of Amherst, but 6-4 SOG in favor of Lycoming. So my main point being is that if Lycoming and Trinity can have success and good opportunities imagine what Oneonta St will do against them. 

And if you look at the left side of the bracket compared to the right I would hope you could see the MAJOR difference in quality of teams in favor of the left. Are both sides strong? Yes. It's the NCAA tournament so I would hope so, but the left is much, much stronger.

[Mr.Right]

Amherst has PLENTY of speed at wingback with Aoyama and Rohan Sood. Their CB's are not the fastest but they do not need to be. Lycoming Ceated NOTHING and frankly Trinity was allowed to possess until the ygot into Amherst defensive 3rd and they also created NOTHING. They hit the cross bar from 25ft out and maybe had one decent chance other than that. Lycoming shot totals were an absolute GIFT from the scorekeeper as they had NOTHING not even a sniff at a possible goal. You question my soccer brain? I do not think so. You contradict your own points in your own comments. Questioning my intelligence is petty but I would expect nothing less from a total fool

[KICKIN95]

I will agree with Mr. Right on his assessment of Trinity in the Amherst match.  This Trinity team is about 60% of what they were the past 3 seasons.  The Trinity I saw on the field lacked the speed and midfield that I have become accustomed to watching.  The 2013 Trinity team that Loras beat in the Elite 8 had one of the best all around midfielders #11 Victor Araujo ( change to #10 last year) I have ever seen, that guy could hold, distribute,and possess with style I haven't seen since.

[SandyMac]

Congrats to the teams that have advanced to the Final 4.  Can't resist commenting on the match I was at, Haverford vs. SLU.  A few ugly mistakes in the back cost SLU 2 early goals, though I'd say the run of play was even in the first half.  The second half saw the game spiral out of control, with reckless tackles and some extracurriculars going on after plays. 

The referee really blew it. I'm still blown away how Copeland gets thrown out of this game, as it's not his fault that a 5'5 guy tried to get up in his face and bounced off of his 6'5 frame. A red card to him after so many red card offenses were ignored the other way really painted a picture of some bias for me.  Virtually the same play happened at the other end of the pitch, and the referee mistakenly issued a red card to the Fords, and then changed his mind and only went with a yellow. Mind boggling mistake. The Haverford left back tried to break the SLU RB's leg with a late studs up tackle halfway up his shin, and somehow got away with a yellow.  An elbow to the face of a SLU midfielder soon followed, then a Haverford defender sprinting 10 yards to push another SLU player to the ground, and no action taken by the ref.  I want to say that was the most astonishing part of the afternoon, but that away goes to the Haverford Head Coach.

I wasn't the least bit surprised to find out that this guy comes from the Serpone school of coaching "Soccer," as he and his team scream bloody murder after every play, badgering the ref into making calls their way.  I witnessed the coach berating his own captain, and the captain responding by cursing him out from the field. How is that not only acceptable, but encouraged behavior? I still can't belive that these top-class institutions allow their coaches to represent their schools in this manner.

At the end of the day, SLU did not do enough to advance.  Haverford took their chances and defended very well, and were deserving to advance.  Huge kudos to their GK, who looked very shaky but came up with an absolutely ridiculous save on a point blank volley late on to keep his shoutout intact.  I walked out of there disappointed, but 100% confident that Haverford would be finished the following day.  I was correct. There's something that just doesn't sit well with the soccer purist inside of me about a team who behaves like that.

Best of luck to Oneonta down in KC! Represent the East region well.

[Domino1195]

Intangibles to consider: Calvin won all four games in the road, beating OWU and Kenyon on their home fields, on grass (they are a turf team). If I were Sheldon Cooper I'd calculate the odds of that happening, but I'd say the odds are very high.

Amherst and Loras played only at home so far.  All three games this weekend were scoreless through 85 minutes, with only Calvin scoring in regulation. 

It would be unfair to say that any team that has gotten this far isn't deserving or that any one of the final four teams is that much better than the others. If games were played on paper and outcomes that predictable there wouldn't be so many tall luxurious buildings in Las Vegas (God knows I've contributed).

It might be fun to make audacious claims, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the trend of evenly played, 1-0 games continue in two weeks.

[Midwest Soccer]

Calvin plays on grass Domino

[Saint of Old]

Easy Boyz.
I think if anyone should be blowing off anger and steam it should be those of us looking forward to next season

In all seriousness though I think a few points must be made.
1. Oneonta is extremely dangerous.
2. Anyone still alive right now is very dangerous.
3. Haverford is legit.

Taking the last point first, I recall a great team from PA coming up just short in a quarterfinal game a decade and a half ago, and then moving on from that loss to dominate d3 for the next decade and a half.

Tough comparison for Haverford, but these boyz are for real and have built a solid program, and not just a one hit wonder.
I will be rooting for them from here on out, except when they play the Saints ofcoarse!!!
I think it was just too big of an ask to beat the two best teams in upstate NY in one weekend, but man did they give it a go.

A King will rise from the East.

Might be a bit of a regional bias for me, but I have been saying all year Oneonta has something special.
I think they are the BEST TEAM in D3 soccer still standing.
At this point of the season though being the best is not the main deciding factor, but LADY LUCK and DESTINY must be on your side in order to win it all.

Destiny seems like it is on the side of Calvin.
This team is not flashy, not overly creative or scary, but they have that it quality and that feel as though they want to do something special.
The third longest unbeaten streak in history.
The two teams above them capped off the run with a championship somewhere in there.
These boyz play with belief.

Lady Luck, in my opinion has to be on the side of Wheaton.

I am a big time Wheaton fan.
The boyz have class and play with style and skill.
These two-time champions won titles in 80s and 90s but fell short at the final stage in 99, 06, 2014.
This could be the year.
Wheaton should have lost in the snow, but they did not and it seems as though their time is now.
The only team remaining who has climbed the mountain before.

Could be Amherst's time.
I have been one of those who have questioned Amherst over the years, but if they do win a championship- I will be the first to extend congratulations.

I'm sure it has been a thorn in the side of Amherst boyz, supporters and has beens to hear all the talk "the style is not pretty, ppl don't like attitude, vibe etc...

What you guys will come to see perhaps is that when you win you shut people up!
All must bow to the King, and if Amherst somehow pulls it off it will mean that their style/attitude/tempo is what it takes to be Champions.

At the end of the day that is what the dance is all about, who becomes History and who becomes HISTORIC.

[Domino1195]

Calvin plays on grass Domino

My bad - I asked the parents at the OWU game what type of surface they played on at home - thought I heard turf.

[Shooter McGavin]

Amherst has PLENTY of speed at wingback with Aoyama and Rohan Sood. Their CB's are not the fastest but they do not need to be. Lycoming Ceated NOTHING and frankly Trinity was allowed to possess until the ygot into Amherst defensive 3rd and they also created NOTHING. They hit the cross bar from 25ft out and maybe had one decent chance other than that. Lycoming shot totals were an absolute GIFT from the scorekeeper as they had NOTHING not even a sniff at a possible goal. You question my soccer brain? I do not think so. You contradict your own points in your own comments. Questioning my intelligence is petty but I would expect nothing less from a total fool

It's not petty when you're a legit moron on these boards. I don't know what you consider a good scoring chance but when shots are pinged in and needing diving saves that lead to corner kicks (which are also scoring chances in case you didn't know) I would consider that dangerous...as I think most people would consider that dangerous. So you are trying to tell me that a team that had more SOG than Amherst didn't have a sniff at goal? Really? You're a clown sir. I can think of handfuls of opportunities in both games for Lycoming and Trinity. Maybe you were watching the Haverford game by mistake and didn't realize?

And thanks for mimicking what I just said above..........there CB's are not fast at all but their athleticism and size make up for that...glad you can read and repeat what I said. Thumbs up for you. And the OB's have decent speed. But I am sure you think they are Usain Bolt fast right? Since you know soccer and all. Playing FIFA on your PlayStation doesn't make you an expert Mr. Wrong.