Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[PaulNewman]

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, thanks for underscoring the attendance numbers.  I hope folks really, really take that in...and realize there is very good soccer and high levels of interest beyond the East Coast and eastern part of Midwest.  I was reminded last night by seeing Redlands' immaculate field (and you mentioning the Trinity set-up) that there are a lot of great places to play a very good level of soccer.

[BTXCru18]

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.

Not insignificant to note that UMHB's last home loss to CTX was at Belton HS on turf due to the rain. About 14 yards narrower than UMHB's grass field. Anyway, post-season excitement will surely have all four teams buzzing this evening!

[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). 

In the first C2C conference QF match, UC Santa Cruz advances over Wisconsin-Whitewater on PKs (5-4) after ending scoreless after 2OTs.  UCSC's big freshman keeper, Kian Van der Meer, makes the save to clinch the match.

UCSC will take on Mary Washington in the first semifinal game tomorrow at 11 am.

[PaulNewman]

Kuiper, can you call into the booth and get the video fixed or at least get them to flip the switch to ON for live stats?

[Kuiper]

Kuiper, can you call into the booth and get the video fixed or at least get them to flip the switch to ON for live stats?

I actually thought about cautioning people on the video stream when I did my preview of the C2C tournament games because UC Santa Cruz is notorious for having the worst video stream around.  They use some kind of AI (non-operator) Veo-like system that tries to follow the ball, sometimes can't cover the whole field, and occasionally ends up showing the field at an angle (possibly because the wind is blowing in from the ocean).  It's an embarrassment, but when your nickname is the Banana Slugs, you're probably not easily embarrassed.

My hope was that UCSC was merely hosting and the C2C officials brought or hired their own video team.  The quality at the C2C tournament last year, for instance, was good.  Alas, it appears that the host is in charge of this and no one thought to ask UCSC to step up their game a bit for the event.

As for Live Stats, those were on for the first game and do appear to be on for the second game as well (at the Half:  UW-Plattesville 0 - Salisbury 0).

[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.

HALF:  Mary Hardin-Baylor 0 - UT Dallas 0

Tight game in Belton, Texas, with neither side getting the upper hand.  The biggest excitment came seconds before the end of the half when it looked like a brawl was going to break out as the MHB keeper went to ground to collect a ball and an over-zealous UT player connected with his head.  I couldn't see much of it, though, because the video operator quickly shut off the feed.  If that was intentional, then I suspect the ASC and/or host MHB decided they weren't going to show any extra-curricular activities, perhaps to avoid the bad press the SCAC endured after the St. Thomas.  Turns out there wasn't much there or it died down quickly as the video came back on and the ref issued the UTD player a yellow right before the last seconds ticked off the clock.

UPDATE:  UT Dallas 1 - Mary Hardin-Baylor 0

UTD breaks through for the first goal in the 65th minute. 

[Kuiper]

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

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.

At the end of 90 minutes:  Wisconsin-Platteville 0 - Salisbury 0

There was a substantial delay with about 6 minutes left in the game as a UW-Platteville defender was apparently seriously injured.  I couldn't see on the stream, but it may have been they were waiting for medical help.  It was long enough of a delay that the players all had to come back on the field and go through warmups again.  Hope the player is OK.  They restarted the game and it is not in the OT.

[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.

HALF:  Mary Hardin-Baylor 0 - UT Dallas 0

Tight game in Belton, Texas, with neither side getting the upper hand.  The biggest excitment came seconds before the end of the half when it looked like a brawl was going to break out as the MHB keeper went to ground to collect a ball and an over-zealous UT player connected with his head.  I couldn't see much of it, though, because the video operator quickly shut off the feed.  If that was intentional, then I suspect the ASC and/or host MHB decided they weren't going to show any extra-curricular activities, perhaps to avoid the bad press the SCAC endured after the St. Thomas.  Turns out there wasn't much there or it died down quickly as the video came back on and the ref issued the UTD player a yellow right before the last seconds ticked off the clock.

UPDATE:  UT Dallas 1 - Mary Hardin-Baylor 0

UTD breaks through for the first goal in the 65th minute.

FINAL:  UT Dallas 1 - Mary Hardin-Baylor 0

In an upset, #4 seeded UTD beats #1 seeded Mary Hardin-Baylor.  MHB just could not generate offense, putting only one shot on goal.  When they did get close, the UTD defenders blocked their shots.  That gave MHB a lot of corner opportunities, but they weren't able to direct those on frame either.

Although MHB was at one point regionally ranked, they weren't in the most recent ranking and they are surely out of contention for a Pool C bid.  They end the season with two straight losses to ASC opponents.

UT Dallas will play the winner of the Concordia TX - Hardin-Simmons game

[Kuiper]

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

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.

At the end of 90 minutes:  Wisconsin-Platteville 0 - Salisbury 0

There was a substantial delay with about 6 minutes left in the game as a UW-Platteville defender was apparently seriously injured.  I couldn't see on the stream, but it may have been they were waiting for medical help.  It was long enough of a delay that the players all had to come back on the field and go through warmups again.  Hope the player is OK.  They restarted the game and it is not in the OT.

Still tied 0-0 at the of the first OT.  On to 2OT between Wisconsin-Platteville and Salisbury.

As in the first QF match, this one is tied up 0-0 at the end of 2OT.  On to PKs.

FINAL:  Wisconsin-Platteville advances over Salisbury in PKs .  W-P's huge GK Seth Aiken stops 2 (not that we could see because of the UCSC camera).  They play Christopher Newport in the semifinals.

[Kuiper]

ASC Semifinals

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.

FINAL:  Concordia TX 1 - Hardin-Simmons 0

Concordia gets a goal in the first half and hangs on to beat H-S.  They face UT Dallas on Saturday for the ASC championship and the automatic bid.  Concordia won the first meeting between those teams on 10/12, but that was a WILD game (even for Texas).  A UTD player was ejected with a second yellow card in the 31st minute when UTD was leading 2-1.  Concordia went on tie the game in the 53rd minute.  Then a UTD player got a straight red card in the 69th minute and Concordia, playing two men up, scored the winning goal in the 83rd minute.  Even then, the result was not sealed up as Concordia was called for a foul in the box and UTD's PK was saved. The teams accumulated 14 cards in that game, fairly evenly divided between the two teams.  Seems like there may be some bad blood between these two teams.  We'll see if it spills over into the rematch in the conference championship match.

[Kuiper]

Redlands is already trying to counter Occidental's massive home field crowd for the SCIAC final by arranging a free rooter bus for students for Saturday

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzKSySBPatU/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[Kuiper]

In the first Coast-to-Coast Conference Semifinal game:

FINAL:  Mary Washington 2 - UC Santa Cruz 0

No shame in losing to one of the best teams in the country, although I wasn't able to see it. 

[Kuiper]

SCAC Semifinals Preview:

Colorado College (#1) v. St. Thomas (#4)

Colorado College finished a perfect 8-0 in conference this year for the first time ever and 13-2-1 overall.  It beat Christopher Newport, St. Thomas, Trinity, and Southwestern, as well as now unranked Texas Lutheran.  It also tied Ohio Northern.  It's only losses were to Pacific Lutheran, which has already clinched the AQ with the Northwest Conference, and UT Dallas, which has made it to the ASC Conference Championship finals and could win the AQ.  Not a bad season.  Having said that, all of its strong wins have been at home (where the altitude, travel, or whatever else has made CC a fortress), except a 1-0 victory at St. Thomas, which is where this game will be held.  St. Thomas backed its way into the SCAC playoffs after losing to Trinity.  Although it is at home, whether St. Thomas can compete with Colorado College may depend on the health of Taty Aleman, who was limping in the Trinity game and was out for the win against Schreiner.

Trinity (#2) v. Southwestern (#3)

Trinity crushed Southwestern 4-0 in their earlier meeting this season at the end of September, which was the only time all season Southwestern has given up more than 2 goals and they only did that once, earning a .80 goals against average this season.  Southwestern, however, has improved since then, winning 6 out of 7 with the only loss a 1-0 defeat to Colorado College in Colorado Springs.  If Trinity's Meese, Adjei and Rule play like they did against St. Thomas, they will be hard to contain.  The key may be whether they can get on the board early and draw Southwestern out of its shell.  That was how they unlocked the Southwestern defense in the first game.

[Kuiper]

Midway through the first half:

Wisconsin-Platteville 2 - Christopher Newport 0

Might want to turn it on if you haven't found the feed already.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvVOszkQK0E

[Freddyfud]

Midway through the first half:

Wisconsin-Platteville 2 - Christopher Newport 0

Might want to turn it on if you haven't found the feed already.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvVOszkQK0E

Popped this open but right at the end of the first half.  Learned from the field fence that banana slugs have no known predators, so that's a win for me.