2015 NCAA TOURNAMENT THREAD

[KICKIN95]

GOIN' TO KANSAS CITY , KANSAS CITY HERE WE COME!

[Footy23]

Great day to be a duhawk...can't wait for the duhawk faithful to take over KC in a couple weeks.

[Saint of Old]

So Division 3 soccer will have a 1st time Champion?

Who wants it more boyz.....

Congrats to the participants.
This is what college soccer is all about!

[lastguyoffthebench]

Loras vs Calvin is going to be a solid game.   Calvin is 0-2 in title games, with Loras 0-4 in semi final games.  Both will be pressing hard to change that...   

There have been comments in reference to the winner of the Amherst/Oneonta St game as the eventual Champion.  Last year the same was said about Wheaton/Oneonta St; Calvin and Loras are no pushovers.  The Knights are organized defensively, have pace up top, and find ways to keep winning.  The Duhawks still have several players that were at the Final Four in 2013.   


As far as match-ups go, I think the more exciting game will be between Loras/Calvin...


I'll say at this moment Oneonta St beats Calvin (rematch from 2011 Final Four).

[Mr.Right]

0-0 at the half. Lords with 2 great chances, 1 in early on and 1 in the last minute.  Wheaton has had 1 good chance as well.  Game pretty much going as expected, Wheaton playing possession and Loras playing counter ball.

Good explanation. Would love to see Wheaton's coach have their forward just sit on Loras' sweeper as he is so deep(about 10 yds back and assuming the stopper goes with him which is usually the case) this might open up Wheaton's midfield to not only have one on one match ups(which they have been winning the majority of) but also create space for them to knock it around. Based on how Loras has played so far they seem content in kicking the ball forward and playing for either a miscue on a bounce or being dangerous on their long throw ins. So far Wheaton has defended the throw ins well but Loras' last chance at the end of half came from a miscue in the midfield/defense by Wheaton.

Actually, the best way to beat a team that plays with a deep sweeper is to have your wingbacks overlap your wingers. This creates  2 v 1 all day and forces the sweeper to move over to the flank which opens up a huge hole in the middle. The deeper the sweeper the better for the other team as you will also be onsides all day. This is the reason the sweeper went to the grave 20 years ago but Loras seems to have success with it. I remember seeing them for the first time in 2007 and literally could not believe a team still used the sweeper.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Just some really impressive numbers here

Last two seasons:
Calvin:         42-2-4
Oneonta St:  40-4-3
Amherst:      31-2-7
Loras:          34-7-3


Last three seasons:
Amherst:      49-3-9 
Calvin:         56-7-5
Loras:          53-9-6
Oneonta St:  51-9-7


Last four seasons:
Amherst:       66-3-12
Loras:           76-11-7
Calvin:         72-11-6
Oneonta St:  65-14-9

[lastguyoffthebench]

0-0 at the half. Lords with 2 great chances, 1 in early on and 1 in the last minute.  Wheaton has had 1 good chance as well.  Game pretty much going as expected, Wheaton playing possession and Loras playing counter ball.

Good explanation. Would love to see Wheaton's coach have their forward just sit on Loras' sweeper as he is so deep(about 10 yds back and assuming the stopper goes with him which is usually the case) this might open up Wheaton's midfield to not only have one on one match ups(which they have been winning the majority of) but also create space for them to knock it around. Based on how Loras has played so far they seem content in kicking the ball forward and playing for either a miscue on a bounce or being dangerous on their long throw ins. So far Wheaton has defended the throw ins well but Loras' last chance at the end of half came from a miscue in the midfield/defense by Wheaton.

Actually, the best way to beat a team that plays with a deep sweeper is to have your wingbacks overlap your wingers. This creates  2 v 1 all day and forces the sweeper to move over to the flank which opens up a huge hole in the middle. The deeper the sweeper the better for the other team as you will also be onsides all day. This is the reason the sweeper went to the grave 20 years ago but Loras seems to have success with it. I remember seeing them for the first time in 2007 and literally could not believe a team still used the sweeper.

I would say, putting the target on Sweeper is the best way to go about this...  you don't need the wingbacks overlapping wingers here.  Just 1v1 situations work... Depends how deep your bench is I guess.  With Loras depth, it's a tall order for your wingbacks. 

[Golden_Fan]

0-0 at the half. Lords with 2 great chances, 1 in early on and 1 in the last minute.  Wheaton has had 1 good chance as well.  Game pretty much going as expected, Wheaton playing possession and Loras playing counter ball.

Good explanation. Would love to see Wheaton's coach have their forward just sit on Loras' sweeper as he is so deep(about 10 yds back and assuming the stopper goes with him which is usually the case) this might open up Wheaton's midfield to not only have one on one match ups(which they have been winning the majority of) but also create space for them to knock it around. Based on how Loras has played so far they seem content in kicking the ball forward and playing for either a miscue on a bounce or being dangerous on their long throw ins. So far Wheaton has defended the throw ins well but Loras' last chance at the end of half came from a miscue in the midfield/defense by Wheaton.

Actually, the best way to beat a team that plays with a deep sweeper is to have your wingbacks overlap your wingers. This creates  2 v 1 all day and forces the sweeper to move over to the flank which opens up a huge hole in the middle. The deeper the sweeper the better for the other team as you will also be onsides all day. This is the reason the sweeper went to the grave 20 years ago but Loras seems to have success with it. I remember seeing them for the first time in 2007 and literally could not believe a team still used the sweeper.

I would say, putting the target on Sweeper is the best way to go about this...  you don't need the wingbacks overlapping wingers here.  Just 1v1 situations work... Depends how deep your bench is I guess.  With Loras depth, it's a tall order for your wingbacks.

Just put the striker on the sweeper having him make runs in the channels while an attacking mid comes in to fill that gap or the second striker if playing with two

[Mr.Right]

The sweeper has to commit to be effective. So when you penetrate on the wing, he has to come towards the ball. A cross takes him out of the play along with all the other defenders on the strong side

[PaulNewman]

Calvin vs Loras will be a fascinating match.  Almost everyone here will again pick Calvin to lose (and hey, eventually if you keep picking that way you may get one right).  One thing to note.  Calvin played only 3 subs against OWU and Kenyon and 4 against F&M.  Loras will play 10 subs.  Will be interesting to see if that is a factor, or if the Calvin coach tries to account for that disparity somehow.  If Loras breaks through and gets to the final I think they're going to win it.

[KICKIN95]

Ya'll are way over analyzing this sweeper thing.  I  would fill you in on why, but it is entertaining to hear people give their individual pearls of soccer wisdom.

[D3soccerwatcher]

The sweeper has to commit to be effective. So when you penetrate on the wing, he has to come towards the ball. A cross takes him out of the play along with all the other defenders on the strong side

You assume the sweeper commits late.  A good sweeper commits earlier, and is right there to challenge should his outside back get beaten.  Also, you can put your target right up to the sweeper, but a good experienced sweeper will be pulling the offside trap all day long and totally disrupt the target's runs.  Once you've got the target looking to stay onside instead of making his runs, you've won much of the battle already.  Also there is nothing stopping the sweeper from simply walking the target right back up to the stopper.  There are all kinds of tactics that a sweeper can use to control a deep target - no problem.

[Medicated Pete]

I don't think we're in Dubuque any more..

[Brother Flounder]

I don't think we're in Dubuque any more..

nice photo......

[dontshootthegoose]

Was at the Loras/Wheaton game in person, here are my thoughts:

First half felt like Wheaton had an extra man on the field and Loras was chasing. Wheaton connected the ball beautiful and danced around the Loras midfield. With that being said, Loras still really had the only two chances in the first half.

Second half, the swarm was in full effect. Loras started to win 50/50's and began flying at Wheaton's back line. Loras scored a well crafted header off a set piece and it felt like the game was about to be wrapped up. Then Hollingsworth decided to take the whole Duhawk's team on by himself and set up Golz for his last name. Wheaton had another chance with the Hollingsworth, Borge, Golz combo but it sailed wide. Loras had a couple good opportunities but came up short.

Overtime went mostly to the Duhawks. Mike Gordon found himself on a break away in the final minutes and was stuffed. But this lead to the eventual goal off the corner.

Overall takeaways, Wheaton was the much more talented possession team.  Could connect 8 1-2's in a row, but couldn't get a real good look on goal. Loras played their typical kick-ball game, but it exposed the weary back line of Wheaton. The combination of speed and playing direct was the eventual collapse of Wheaton. I do think that this Wheaton team was not quite the same as last years, but still have some true ballers on their team. I think Hollingsworth is one of the best in D3 soccer. This Loras team doesn't have a Cavers/Figura/Pizzello, but they have a bunch of players that have stepped up collectively. I would wager the bet that either of the 2012/2013 Loras teams would beat this team however.