2017 Great Lakes Region

[blooter442]

Fire up the bus to Crestview Hills, KY.

I wonder if Bojangles' will still be open this late, or if they even have them in Ohio.

(For those who don't know, Bojangles' is basically KFC on steroids, and better than Chick-Fil-A and Popeyes', too. Best fast food chain in America, and I've had In-N-Out. The closest one to Boston is in Reading, PA. I've implored their employees to expand Northeast, promising profitability.)

[blooter442]

Pretty funny to hear the announcer talking about the TMC approach of "we have nothing to lose, let's take 'em on" and then having his stream-of-consciousness rambling interrupted by the second goal.

[Mr.Right]

What a nightmare...TMC getting outclassed now...just bad decisions tonight...I must say I will be very interested in tuning into this JCU v Calvin game tomorrow night..Both teams attack with numbers...

[Mr.Right]

Off to New Zealand....Interestingly Peru favored by a goal tonight at New Zealand...BEIN Sports

[PaulNewman]

Here comes 15 minutes of the....the measure of a man isn't how he acts when he's up 5-0 but how he stands up to adversity and fights until the bitter end when he's down 5-0.

[Domino1195]

Watching Witte gain the byline, turn the corner and drop balls back to the spot/18 yd line - same as it ever was.  He did that 5,6? times last year against Tufts?  And he'll do it again tonight.  It's like watching Arjen Robben going to go left - you can dare him to go right but he's going to get the ball on his left before he shoots or passes.  Wonder if JCU will try to make Witte go to his left.

Just a great attacking display last night - clinical is overused to describe such play - but that's what they were last night. Love the one and two-touch play.  Wished our boys played that way . . .

[rudy]

What a nightmare...TMC getting outclassed now...just bad decisions tonight...I must say I will be very interested in tuning into this JCU v Calvin game tomorrow night..Both teams attack with numbers...

After watching both teams today I agree this will be a great 2nd round matchup. Both play similar styles...ball in the ground, quick passes, not a lot of fouling so the game has a good flow. This should be a sweet 16 or later game. . shame one of them has to go home after this game

[PaulNewman]

What a nightmare...TMC getting outclassed now...just bad decisions tonight...I must say I will be very interested in tuning into this JCU v Calvin game tomorrow night..Both teams attack with numbers...

After watching both teams today I agree this will be a great 2nd round matchup. Both play similar styles...ball in the ground, quick passes, not a lot of fouling so the game has a good flow. This should be a sweet 16 or later game. . shame one of them has to go home after this game

And this is basically all I was trying to say a few days ago about Calvin being underseeded whether 100% procedurally correct or not.  I'm gonna guess too that JCU is every bit the team North Park is.

[Mr.Right]

What a nightmare...TMC getting outclassed now...just bad decisions tonight...I must say I will be very interested in tuning into this JCU v Calvin game tomorrow night..Both teams attack with numbers...

After watching both teams today I agree this will be a great 2nd round matchup. Both play similar styles...ball in the ground, quick passes, not a lot of fouling so the game has a good flow. This should be a sweet 16 or later game. . shame one of them has to go home after this game

And this is basically all I was trying to say a few days ago about Calvin being underseeded whether 100% procedurally correct or not.  I'm gonna guess too that JCU is every bit the team North Park is.

Ahh I agree..Were you saying the under seeding of Calvin was a direct hit on its opponents and not really Calvin itself? I would have to agree. This JCU v Calvin match is an Elite 8 / Sweet 16 match easily. Such a shame because both rosters are loaded with seniors

[PaulNewman]

What a nightmare...TMC getting outclassed now...just bad decisions tonight...I must say I will be very interested in tuning into this JCU v Calvin game tomorrow night..Both teams attack with numbers...

After watching both teams today I agree this will be a great 2nd round matchup. Both play similar styles...ball in the ground, quick passes, not a lot of fouling so the game has a good flow. This should be a sweet 16 or later game. . shame one of them has to go home after this game

And this is basically all I was trying to say a few days ago about Calvin being underseeded whether 100% procedurally correct or not.  I'm gonna guess too that JCU is every bit the team North Park is.

Ahh I agree..Were you saying the under seeding of Calvin was a direct hit on its opponents and not really Calvin itself? I would have to agree. This JCU v Calvin match is an Elite 8 / Sweet 16 match easily. Such a shame because both rosters are loaded with seniors

Yes, exactly.  It's not fair to Calvin either, but it's in some ways further proof of their underseeding that THEY seem completely unphased and just keep beating whoever is in front of them.  Basically a yearly thing, so not new at all.  And most teams with a great record who are suspect in reality get bounced right away.

[bestfancle]

Got the chance to see the JCU game last night and watched the Calvin game as well.

JCU looked the best I've ever seen them, so maybe losing to Capital was a good thing. Marinaro, after an already impressive season, completely dominated the game. Even to a point where it looked like he was playing defensive mid and just distributing the ball like a point guard. He had two assists and the Penalty (which he basically created). JCU's other seniors were impressive as well, both Lombardo and Browsky were clinical. The goal they gave up was an incredible strike from OWU, and they have a lot to look forward to in upcoming years.

Calvin was extremely impressive as well, for as good as JCU played, they have to be even better defensively. Offensively, JCU should be able to keep up, but if they aren't tight at the back, it could go south. Should be an excellent match.

[Mr.Right]

Got the chance to see the JCU game last night and watched the Calvin game as well.

JCU looked the best I've ever seen them, so maybe losing to Capital was a good thing. Marinaro, after an already impressive season, completely dominated the game. Even to a point where it looked like he was playing defensive mid and just distributing the ball like a point guard. He had two assists and the Penalty (which he basically created). JCU's other seniors were impressive as well, both Lombardo and Browsky were clinical. The goal they gave up was an incredible strike from OWU, and they have a lot to look forward to in upcoming years.

Calvin was extremely impressive as well, for as good as JCU played, they have to be even better defensively. Offensively, JCU should be able to keep up, but if they aren't tight at the back, it could go south. Should be an excellent match.

I would agree with all of this...Marinaro was just pulling the strings all game...Also, you are correct JCU will need to tighten up defensively because there were some loose moments last night defensively especially in the 1st half. I will say that both teams will have plenty of space on the counter if both play the same as last night. My hunch is that JCU plays a bit more conservative

[Ryan Harmanis]

JCU was value for the win. Similar to the first game, they were the better side for long stretches. OWU showed flashes, but JCU really dominated the second half until the third goal. They let their foot off the gas a bit after that, and if OWU had a little more composure could have pulled one back. But JCU really turned it on, and their attack should cause problems for anyone, including Calvin. 3-1 was probably reflective of the overall game.

Still, hard to ignore key referee decisions in the first half. The first goal looked clearly offside, although I did not have a great angle for it. It's of course possible that, right as the JCU attacker shot, the goalscorer reacted and ended up several yards behind the defense. But it looked like he strayed well offside and happened to be there when the ball came through. The second goal, as others have said, was just a bad call.  Add in that the linesman on the near side could not run fast enough to keep up with the game (although it had no impact), and you shake your head and wonder how you end up with those referees in an NCAA game. To be fair, I've seen national titles decided on worse calls--see Messiah v. Lynchburg, 2010. But the game is much different if it's 1-1 or 1-0 OWU at half instead of 2-1 JCU. OWU needed to play well and have a little luck to advance, and instead they were clearly outplayed and suffered some bad breaks.

Even assuming the refs missed both calls, though, the first two goals were preventable. For the first, OWU let a guy dribble from deep right into the box, straight through the heart of the team. Great attacking play, yes, but someone needed to make a tackle, force a pass, or take a foul.

For the second, OWU had JCU pinned deep, JCU cleared the ball, and despite having three defenders marking one JCU forward, nobody made a play on the ball. That gave the forward enough time to bring the ball down with a nice touch and lay it off. OWU defense needed to be aggressive there. Best case, you win the ball and keep JCU pinned deep. Otherwise, you commit a foul and can reset with your defense behind the ball. With three defenders back, worst case you miss the ball and still have two guys behind to defend.

Then, after the layoff, the entire defense converged on the ball, leaving a player open streaking down the right side. That one looked just onside, to me, and a good through ball to him. But a bit of communication and OWU would have had one player stay wide to pick him up. So yes, poor refereeing, but OWU could have avoided those situations. And JCU is so good going forward that they punished them.

Up-and-down season. After losing 5 of their top 15 players to season-ending injuries, the young guys picked up a ton of experience by playing several top-15 teams close and making the NCAA tournament. But disappointing to see a true "rebuilding" year, especially after a letdown 2016. That said, if OWU can pull another good recruiting class, I expect a top 20 team in 2018. OWU loses only one senior (a right back) and two juniors, and will return both goalkeepers and every goalscorer.

Good luck to the remaining GL teams tonight and the rest of the way.

[Domino1195]

Is Otterbein really making us pay ??! No lo-res version??!

[PaulNewman]

And is anyone else having any trouble with the feed, period? And if I want to pay how do I do it?