Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[Ron Boerger]

TLU up 2-1 at St. Thomas with 20' to go.  Celts have allowed a total of 3 SOG between this match and the one against Southwestern and all have gone in!

[Kuiper]

TLU up 2-1 at St. Thomas with 20' to go.  Celts have allowed a total of 3 SOG between this match and the one against Southwestern and all have gone in!

I've been updating this one on the National Perspectives thread.  The three red cards has been the major story of the second half!

[Kuiper]

Reposting this from the National Perspectives thread:

This Texas Lutheran - St. Thomas game has been chaos.  2-1 TLU on a PK, but not before a brawl and two red cards, including one on the TLU keeper who came all the way from his goal to the St. Thomas goal to head butt a defender as part of the brawl.  Buckle up for the ending to this one.

Update - chaos continues as a St. Thomas player picks up a second yellow and it's 10 on 9 with a timeout called because another brawl is brewing (and a player is injured)

Stream is now stopped.  Not sure if there is a bad injury or something like that. 

FINAL St Thomas 3 - Texas Lutheran 2

Craziest game I've seen in a long while.  After a 20 minute delay because an injury to a TLU player on a breakaway in the box, which led to the stream being stopped while the player was taken to the hospital, the game resumed.  The ref gave a red card to the UST defender for the foul (leaving them down 10 men to 8) and awarded TLU a pk.  The PK was hit over the bar and the UST had life, but barely.  The extra space of the field seemed to help UST though and they scored two goals at the 88:58 and 89:22 marks (the second of which on a free kick that resulted in a second yellow to a TLU player) dropping them to 9 players).

TLU with their first loss of the season and some bad injuries and red cards, while UST may have saved it's season (but certainly didn't look good doing so)

[PaulNewman]

Imo the game of the year in Region X coming Sunday when Texas Lutheran at 12-0-0 visits St Thomas in Houston.  Finding themselves 0-2 in conference after two HOME losses to Colorado Coll and Southwestern, this feels basically like a "must-win" match for the Celts.  Coach Salazar for Tex-Lutheran has been waiting many years to grab the catbird's seat in the SCAC and a win here for the Bulldogs would be an endorsement for their meteoric rise on to the national stage while delivering another blow to St Thomas' dreams of a magical campaign.  Have to think St Thomas and Coach Clerihew will find a way to get a W, but if they don't?  Houston, we've got a problem.

Welp...they found a way.

Would be surprised if there aren't multiple game suspensions for at a couple of guys.  That was a disaster in terms of the two coaches and referees allowing things to get so out of hand.

[Kuiper]

Agreed.  Both teams could lose multiple key players because of this game, from injury and suspensions.  Trinity, Colorado College, and Southwestern are going to be watching the SCAC Commissioner's office closely on this one.

Incidentally, did anyone else hear someone speaking loudly near the commentator at one point during the second half? It sounded like a coach telling a player he was off the team he questioned his coaching decisions again. (Of course, given the state of youth soccer today, it was just as likely a parent talking to his 7 year-old about this morning's game!)

[Ron Boerger]

Too bad the beneficiaries of any suspensions against St. Thomas will be Austin (0-4 losers to Trinity today after being outshot 34-0) and  hapless (1-7-3) Dallas as I unfortunately can't see the SCAC office levying more than two games if they do anything.  But I can't remember any kind of similar outbreak in SCAC annals, so I could be wrong. 

Speaking of Trinity they appear to have finally lined up a third keeper, one Aiden Roy who saw a few minutes at the end of the 3-0 win Friday over Dallas (but interestingly enough, not today).  He's yet to be added to the web roster; not a lot of social media hits but this Xitter page could be his; a 2023 graduate of Holliston HS out of Massachusetts.   

[College Soccer Observer]

Agreed.  Both teams could lose multiple key players because of this game, from injury and suspensions.  Trinity, Colorado College, and Southwestern are going to be watching the SCAC Commissioner's office closely on this one.

Incidentally, did anyone else hear someone speaking loudly near the commentator at one point during the second half? It sounded like a coach telling a player he was off the team he questioned his coaching decisions again. (Of course, given the state of youth soccer today, it was just as likely a parent talking to his 7 year-old about this morning's game!)

Before the conference office gets involved, it will depend on how the referee wrote up the ejections.  The two head butts, and the strike to the face at the end of the game could easily be considered either Violent Behavior II or fighting ejections, which are a mandatory two game suspension.

[stlawus]

Agreed.  Both teams could lose multiple key players because of this game, from injury and suspensions.  Trinity, Colorado College, and Southwestern are going to be watching the SCAC Commissioner's office closely on this one.

Incidentally, did anyone else hear someone speaking loudly near the commentator at one point during the second half? It sounded like a coach telling a player he was off the team he questioned his coaching decisions again. (Of course, given the state of youth soccer today, it was just as likely a parent talking to his 7 year-old about this morning's game!)

I'm watching the replay of the game and just got to this part, that was absolutely bizarre.   It sounded like it was coming from the press box, not the sideline, but also sounded like it was definitely a coach and player from one of the two teams.   

[PaulNewman]

The intrigue continues....STU put up a recap that sounded like your normal 11v11 stunning come from behind victory with 2 goals in the last minute or so.  Not a mention of cards, send offs, or even being a physical match with a 20 minute stoppage for an injury that resulted in the player going to a hospital.

And now the recap is gone.

[Kuiper]

The intrigue continues....STU put up a recap that sounded like your normal 11v11 stunning come from behind victory with 2 goals in the last minute or so.  Not a mention of cards, send offs, or even being a physical match with a 20 minute stoppage for an injury that resulted in the player going to a hospital.

And now the recap is gone.

Texas Lutheran's recap had to restrain itself, but only barely.

https://tlubulldogs.com/sports/msoc/2023-24/releases/20231008tqr53f

"Texas Lutheran scored first in what would become a match that surpassed what anyone would deem physical."

"Following a first half that saw 11 fouls from the Celts, the second half would get out of hand as the two teams would combine for five red cards and 18 cards in total. The match would diminish into a nine-versus-eight finish following three Celt ejections and two TLU ejections.

As tempers flared, TLU would hold a 2-1 lead until the 88th minute when the Celts would tie the match 2-2. The Celts would strike again in the 89th minute with the decisive game-winning goal just inside the right post.

Throughout the 90 minutes, the Celts held the edge in shots, launching 15 shots to the Bulldogs eight. The Celts earned seven corners to the Bulldogs one. The Celts also had decided advantage in fouls at 23-9."

[Kuiper]

Agreed.  Both teams could lose multiple key players because of this game, from injury and suspensions.  Trinity, Colorado College, and Southwestern are going to be watching the SCAC Commissioner's office closely on this one.

Incidentally, did anyone else hear someone speaking loudly near the commentator at one point during the second half? It sounded like a coach telling a player he was off the team he questioned his coaching decisions again. (Of course, given the state of youth soccer today, it was just as likely a parent talking to his 7 year-old about this morning's game!)

Before the conference office gets involved, it will depend on how the referee wrote up the ejections.  The two head butts, and the strike to the face at the end of the game could easily be considered either Violent Behavior II or fighting ejections, which are a mandatory two game suspension.

True, although does the league have the ability to review the Veo or the streamed game footage?

[oacalum]

I went back and watched some of the red cards and goals on replay and will say, the challenge that resulted in the TLU #9 to go to the hospital might be the worst challenge I've ever seen in the college level. Lunging, flying through the air, studs up right into the side of the leg.

[Gregory Sager]

Agreed.  Both teams could lose multiple key players because of this game, from injury and suspensions.  Trinity, Colorado College, and Southwestern are going to be watching the SCAC Commissioner's office closely on this one.

Incidentally, did anyone else hear someone speaking loudly near the commentator at one point during the second half? It sounded like a coach telling a player he was off the team he questioned his coaching decisions again. (Of course, given the state of youth soccer today, it was just as likely a parent talking to his 7 year-old about this morning's game!)

Yeah, I was wondering about that. The same thought struck me, that it sounded like a dad talking to his kid. Why was that loud chewing-out taking place just a few feet away from a live broadcast mic? I mean, it could've been a field mic, but that was an awful lot of clarity for a field mic -- and game crews typically don't set up a field mic that close to a team bench, where a strong possibility for fruity language exists.

[Kuiper]

Because of the St. Thomas - Texas Lutheran debacle, I only caught the last bit of this game, but it's worth mentioning:

Pacific Lutheran 4 - Willamette 0

Based on the stats, Pacific Lutheran didn't dominate Willamette, but they were far more clinical, scoring 4 goals in the second half to put the Bearcats away.  Willamette had a chance to score a PK in the 83rd minute, but it wasn't placed well and the GK easily blocked it.

The Lutes are now 6-0-2 in the NWC, a game ahead of Whitworth, which is 6-1-1 and beat George Fox 7-0 today.  Willamette is third at 5-2-1.  They're not out of the NWC race because they play both teams ahead of them again this season, but they've lost to both in the first round and will have to find a way to turn things around.

[Kuiper]

One positive footnote to the St. Thomas - Texas Lutheran game that shouldn't be completely overlooked.

Because of the red cards, fatigue, etc., St. Thomas decided to bring on freshman Tony Castro for the last two minutes of the game.  He isn't to be confused with Junior Daniel Castro, who I think is his older brother (but I'm not positive about that).  According to the UST website, the only other action Tony has gotten all season was in the Southwestern game on Friday, where he played 12 minutes.  Well, in this game against Texas Lutheran, Tony took full advantage of his 2 minutes.  He assisted on Daniel Castro's goal to tie it up at 2-2 and then is credited with the game-winning third goal 27 seconds later to save UST's season.  Pretty efficient outing for the freshman.