Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[Ron Boerger]

REGION X - NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS - November 01, 2023

Rank	School	. Div. III . Record	. Div. III . SOS	. R-v-R .	. Overall . Record	. Prev. . Rank
1.	Colorado College	13-2-1	0.570	4-1-1	13-2-1	1
2.	Trinity (Texas)	11-2-1	0.552	2-2-0	11-2-2	4
3.	Texas Lutheran	14-3-0	0.541	2-2-0	14-3-0	2
4.	St. Thomas (Texas)	11-3-0	0.537	2-2-0	12-3-1	3
5.	Southwestern	10-2-3	0.529	2-2-0	10-2-3	--
6.	Occidental	10-3-3	0.522	2-1-0	11-3-3	--
7.	Redlands	9-2-2	0.540	-0	12-2-2	5

SCAC semi-final winners pick up a win vRRO, and the finals loser picks up a loss vRRO.  If you're TLU you want Trinity and St. Thomas to lose in the semis and CC to win the final.  A win in the semis by Trinity *might* be enough to keep them above the other regional Pool C contenders if Colorado beats the Celts again, unless Southwestern falls out of the rankings as a result when combined with other results in the region.  Colorado might even stay on top of the region if they lose the final.  Heck, maybe even if they lose in the semis, since they'd still probably have a higher SOS and better record vRRO than anyone else. 

That said, I wonder why TLU isn't above Trinity given the Bulldogs' slightly better overall D3 record (.003), comparable SOS, H2H result, and equal record vRRO.  The only criteria Trinity wins is SOS, but it's such a small difference (.011) that you'd think H2H would be the determining factor.   

[Kuiper]

SCIAC announced its All-Conference Awards

https://thesciac.org/news/2023/11/1/mens-soccer-all-conference-awards-urs-barajas-oxys-karp-athletes-of-year.aspx

Offensive Player of the Year:  Jarette Barajas, Redlands
Defensive Player of the Year:  Evan Karp. Occidental
Newcomer of the Year:  Keyon Mandar, Pomona-Pitzer
Award of Distinction:  Derek Ing, Cal Tech
Coaching Staff of the year:  Occidental

I predicted the Coaching Staff award based on historical SCIAC practice of giving it to the regular season champs, but I thought Cal Tech's coach, Duncan Gillespie, did more with less and should have been recognized. 

[EnmoreCat]

At the risk of igniting debate (but nevertheless doing it), the yellow card rules are discriminatory against defenders.  I have engaged counsel to check whether this is something we can escalate to the Supreme Court.  I will keep all interested parties updated.

[Kuiper]

SCIAC Semifinals updates

HALF:  Occidental 1 - Cal Lutheran 0

Oxy scores  in the 34th minute on an Andrew Notter header on a cross from the end-line to the near post in the six-yard box.  Cal Lu is struggling offensively, having registered only 1 shot in the first half compared to 6 for Oxy, although they have had two corners by virtue of getting down the sideline.

HALF:  Redlands 0 - Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 0

CMS has had more opportunities than Redlands in the first half, but it's a stalemate thus far.

One interesting note is that the play-by-play announcer for Redlands is Joe Tutino, who is the long-time regular TV and now radio play-by-play guy for the LA Galaxy.  Redlands coach Ralph Perez is a former LA Galaxy assistant coach and sometimes a color guy on Galaxy radio and I bet he brought him in given that the Galaxy are out of the playoffs and Tutino was not one of the team announcers selected for the Apple TV deal.  Gives the stream a pro feel for listeners.

[smoova]

One interesting note is that the play-by-play announcer for Redlands is Joe Tutino, who is the long-time regular TV and now radio play-by-play guy for the LA Galaxy.  Redlands coach Ralph Perez is a former LA Galaxy assistant coach and sometimes a color guy on Galaxy radio and I bet he brought him in given that the Galaxy are out of the playoffs and Tutino was not one of the team announcers selected for the Apple TV deal.  Gives the stream a pro feel for listeners.

Having Tutino on the call is a real treat.  CMS up 1-0 on a bouncing free kick from just outside the penalty box.

[Kuiper]

SCIAC Semifinals updates

HALF:  Occidental 1 - Cal Lutheran 0

Oxy scores  in the 34th minute on an Andrew Notter header on a cross from the end-line to the near post in the six-yard box.  Cal Lu is struggling offensively, having registered only 1 shot in the first half compared to 6 for Oxy, although they have had two corners by virtue of getting down the sideline.

HALF:  Redlands 0 - Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 0

CMS has had more opportunities than Redlands in the first half, but it's a stalemate thus far.

One interesting note is that the play-by-play announcer for Redlands is Joe Tutino, who is the long-time regular TV and now radio play-by-play guy for the LA Galaxy.  Redlands coach Ralph Perez is a former LA Galaxy assistant coach and sometimes a color guy on Galaxy radio and I bet he brought him in given that the Galaxy are out of the playoffs and Tutino was not one of the team announcers selected for the Apple TV deal.  Gives the stream a pro feel for listeners.

UPDATE:

Occidental 2 - Cal Lutheran 0

In the 51st minute, Oxy scores on a corner that was headed through the scrum into the goal.  Based on Cal Lu's lack of offense to this point, it's hard to see them coming back without making a formation/personnel change.  They appeared to come into this game hoping to frustrate Oxy on defense and then nick a goal on a counter, which won't work anymore.

CMS 1 - Redlands 0

CMS finally cashes in on all of those chances in the first half and scores off a free kick at the corner of the box that seemed to go across the box and into the far post on a bounce untouched.  That was probably something Redlands GK Seth Lawrence should have gotten to (incidentally, Lawrence was actually was named SCIAC GK of the year earlier today, but charitably that is either a college career achievement award for the senior or a sign of the weakness of the position this year in the conference)

[PaulNewman]

Professional looking field too...

[Kuiper]

UPDATE:

Occidental 3 - Cal Lutheran 0

Sebastian Romero scores on a beautiful diving header from a cross and Oxy is burying Cal Lu now.  Looks like they can book their spot in the finals even though it's only the 63rd minute.

[Kuiper]

Professional looking field too...

Best grass field in the SCIAC (Pomona's isn't bad too, but it has declined a bit over the years).  Redlands' field is the closest to Trinity TX the conference can offer.

[Kuiper]

UPDATE:

Redlands 1 - CMS 1

Redlands scores in the 87th minute on a header from a cross.  CMS GK Kevin Box made a great reaction save on the header, but the goal was poked in on the rebound.  Heading for an exciting ending to this one.

Heading to OT now.

UPDATE:  Redlands 1 - CMS 1 at the end of the first OT. 

Redlands had one great shot on goal that CMS' Box saved up high, but otherwise the OT was fairly even.

UPDATE:  2OT ends 1-1.  It's going to PKs

[Kuiper]

FINAL:  Occidental 3 - Cal Lutheran 0

Oxy dominates and will host the final against either Redlands or CMS.

By the way, for those interested in these kinds of things, the attendance at Occidental for this game was massive - 2,117 (TWO THOUSAND, ONE HUNDRED, and SEVENTEEN).  The SCIAC finals at Occidental on Saturday night are going to be raucous.

[Kuiper]

UPDATE:

Redlands 1 - CMS 1

Redlands scores in the 87th minute on a header from a cross.  CMS GK Kevin Box made a great reaction save on the header, but the goal was poked in on the rebound.  Heading for an exciting ending to this one.

Heading to OT now.

UPDATE:  Redlands 1 - CMS 1 at the end of the first OT. 

Redlands had one great shot on goal that CMS' Box saved up high, but otherwise the OT was fairly even.

UPDATE:  2OT ends 1-1.  It's going to PKs

FINAL:  Redlands  wins on PKs 5-4.  Seth Lawrence earns his keep saving the final CMS kick for the victory.

SCIAC finals on Saturday at 7 pm @ Oxy will be the third game of Redlands v. Occidental this season

[Kuiper]

Coast-to-Coast Conference Tournament kicks off in a couple of hours in Santa Cruz, CA with the quarterfinals.  Mary Washington and Christopher Newport have byes to the semifinals.

Wisconsin-Whitewater (#4) v. UC Santa Cruz (#5)  Thursday, 11/2 at 11 am Pacific

W-W is 13-1-4 and ranked #6 in Region IX, but its SoS isn't amazing (.534) and its RvR is 0-1-2.  So, it at least needs to win a couple of games in the tournament and even that might not get them a Pool C bid (especially since the UCSC game won't help it other than a little SoS bump).  It also doesn't help that its one game against a high regionally ranked opponent (Wisconsin-Platteville) was a 4-0 loss.  It probably needs to win the tournament.  UCSC is not regionally ranked, but it does have a decent record at 10-5-3 and its SoS is better than Whitewater at .571.  It also beat Occidental 2-1 in early October, so it has a ranked win.  Plus, UCSC is on a 10 game unbeaten streak, with its last losses to Colorado College and Christopher Newport in a tough weekend trip to Colorado Springs in late September.  It definitely needs to win the conference tournament to get a bid, but, more importantly, it isn't a pushover.  The fact that the whole tournament is at UC Santa Cruz is not insignificant in a tournament when all but UCSC has to travel a great distance.  Unfortunately for UCSC, the 11 am local start time and the fact that they are playing one of the teams with less travel and an hour less time difference will help neutralize that advantage.  UCSC also doesn't get a lot of fans at their games anyway and there will be even fewer for an 11 am game on a Thursday (I wouldn't be surprised if there are more Whitewater parents who traveled for a mini-vacation).  Best UCSC can hope for is that Whitewater players' bodies will be in shock from the change of weather and they won't adjust to the field's playing conditions or will get distracted from the view of the ocean from the field (see https://goslugs.com/common/controls/image_handler.aspx?thumb_id=13&image_path=/images/2021/8/19/LEField_Mowed_Lined.JPG). 

Wisconsin-Platteville (#3) v. Salisbury (#6) Thursday 11/2 at 2 pm Pacific

W-P is 12-1-4 and ranked #2 in Region IX.  Salisbury is 7-5-4 and is unranked.  That doesn't mean W-P can take Salisbury lightly though.  It has a .590 SoS v. W-P's .588 and it tied Messiah 1-1 back in September and beat Christopher Newport 1-0 a few weeks ago.  This game will be an interesting test of the competitive strength and playing style of two very different regions.  Incidentally, one reason to tune into this game if you haven't seen Wisconsin-Platteville play before is to watch their GK, Seth Aiken, in action. He's massive - 6'8" and it's interesting to watch him deal with a physical size that is both a blessing and a curse.  If Salisbury comes in with a game plan focused on lofted crosses, that won't work very well.

[Kuiper]

ASC Semifinals later today

Mary Hardin-Baylor (#1) v. UT Dallas (#4)

MHB has a home-field advantage as the host of both semifinal games and the finals. Its last game was a home loss to Concordia on Saturday, though, so home field doesn't mean everything.  The last time it played UT Dallas was at home a little over two weeks ago and it won 2-0 in a game where a UTD player got a straight red in the 32nd minute when MHB was up 1-0.  So, it's hard to read too much into that win or how the teams match up.  UTD has been inconsistent this season, beating Colorado College and tying Southwestern early in the season, while tying LeTourneau and losing to Hardin-Simmons in recent games.  Its last two games have been 5-1 wins, but against inferior opponents.  I expect MHB, with the extra rest and the home field, should take care of UTD.

Concordia TX (#2) v. Hardin-Simmons (#3)

These two teams played each other less than two weeks ago at Hardin-Simmons on Senior Night and tied 0-0.  Since then, H-S has won three in a row, but not in particularly convincing fashion, and Concordia has beaten MHB.  I think H-S's loss of senior defender J.J. Sissons, who received a red card against Howard Payne in the QFs, will be difficult to overcome against a solid Concordia team.  One small, but not completely trivial, difference for the teams is that Concordia has the shortest distance to travel (57 miles), while Hardin-Simmons has the longest (185 miles) of the semifinalists.  An hour on a bus versus three hours on a bus can be meaningful.

[jaysoccer]

First, kudos to Coach Cartee at CMS. He's a quality individual and glad they have had some success this season

Second, I find it discouraging and disappointing that TLU and UST weren't disqualified in the wake of their debacle for the SCAC tournament. That is an embarrassment, only added by fact that UST I think leads D3 in red cards. Firing the coach isn't a huge accountability thing to players that faced minimal punishment.

Third, Go Trinity.