Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[Kuiper]

ASC Championship Preview:

UT Dallas v. Concordia TX at 6 pm central

Concordia come into the game on a 6 game unbeaten streak, while UTD has a three game streak and just beat host Mary Hardin-Baylor in a tight game.  As I wrote after Concordia beat Hardin-Simmons in the semifinals, UTD and Concordia had a crazy game last time they met this season and one that suggests that this could be a physical, chippy, game.  It will need a strong center ref to keep a hold on things.

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.

FINAL:  UT Dallas 1 - Concordia TX 1 after 2OT.  UTD advances 6-5 on PKs

UTD gets the automatic bid in what will likely be its final year of DIII eligibility after announcing in July that it planned to apply for DII status in February 2024.

[regionxfan17]

Massive crowd of 2,143.  That makes three straight Oyx home games with over two thousand fans in attendance, each larger than the last one.  If this wasn't the highest attendance at a D3 men's soccer game this year, it had to be close.  How many schools have ever had three straight two thousand plus attendance games?   You can bet the NCAA is figuring out how they can host the Region X pod at Occidental notwithstanding the fact that probably three teams from Region X will be located in Texas.  They would get more than 4 times the attendance Pacific Lutheran had when it hosted in 2021.

What are the protocols for determining the host site for the first/second rounds?  Wouldn't it typically be at the highest ranked team in that grouping of four?  Is it totally at the NCAA's discretion?

[Another Mom]

The handbook PaulNewman linked in another thread sets out a lot of the factors under consideration,  including quality of the facilities, and infrastructure of the area (lodging etc). I was interested to see that if a school has both men's and women's teams participating in the tournament,  this year the women will host at that institution (women host in odd years).

[Ron Boerger]

Massive crowd of 2,143.  That makes three straight Oyx home games with over two thousand fans in attendance, each larger than the last one.  If this wasn't the highest attendance at a D3 men's soccer game this year, it had to be close.  How many schools have ever had three straight two thousand plus attendance games?   You can bet the NCAA is figuring out how they can host the Region X pod at Occidental notwithstanding the fact that probably three teams from Region X will be located in Texas.  They would get more than 4 times the attendance Pacific Lutheran had when it hosted in 2021.

What are the protocols for determining the host site for the first/second rounds?  Wouldn't it typically be at the highest ranked team in that grouping of four?  Is it totally at the NCAA's discretion?

A big factor is travel costs.  There are numerous examples where the NCAA forces the better team (or sometimes even teams) in a pod to travel if they can save on flights.  This impacts the island teams on the West Coast and Texas more than anyone else since it is harder to put together a pod where everyone can bus (defined by the NCAA as within 500 miles).   This is a significant amount of money since you're talking about putting 29 people on a plane at last-second fare costs. 

I don't know of a single example in the past where the AA has based a hosting decision solely on attendance.  HOWEVER, according to p. 25 of the 2023-4 Division III Soccer Pre-Championships Manual, one of the hosting criteria is "[a]ttendance history and revenue potential".

[Kuiper]

Massive crowd of 2,143.  That makes three straight Oyx home games with over two thousand fans in attendance, each larger than the last one.  If this wasn't the highest attendance at a D3 men's soccer game this year, it had to be close.  How many schools have ever had three straight two thousand plus attendance games?   You can bet the NCAA is figuring out how they can host the Region X pod at Occidental notwithstanding the fact that probably three teams from Region X will be located in Texas.  They would get more than 4 times the attendance Pacific Lutheran had when it hosted in 2021.

What are the protocols for determining the host site for the first/second rounds?  Wouldn't it typically be at the highest ranked team in that grouping of four?  Is it totally at the NCAA's discretion?

A big factor is travel costs.  There are numerous examples where the NCAA forces the better team (or sometimes even teams) in a pod to travel if they can save on flights.  This impacts the island teams on the West Coast and Texas more than anyone else since it is harder to put together a pod where everyone can bus (defined by the NCAA as within 500 miles).   This is a significant amount of money since you're talking about putting 29 people on a plane at last-second fare costs. 

I don't know of a single example in the past where the AA has based a hosting decision solely on attendance.  HOWEVER, according to p. 25 of the 2023-4 Division III Soccer Pre-Championships Manual, one of the hosting criteria is "[a]ttendance history and revenue potential".

I was mostly kidding about Occidental hosting.  The thing about geography in Region X is that if it was the number one criteria, then the pod would almost always be hosted in Texas since there are two leagues (SCAC and ASC) in Texas and one in the Northwest and one in Southern California.  So, NCAA at least some of the time has to spread the hosting to one of the other leagues.  The problem this year is that Colorado College is currently #1 in Region X.  That probably will change after they lost in the SCAC playoffs, but Colorado College will likely be one of the SCAC teams who get a Pool C bid and maybe it will be the only Pool C bid from Region X.  Colorado College is more than 500 miles from every other team in Region X, so no geography benefit for them.  With UT Dallas not even regionally ranked last week and unlikely to be this week because they didn't play any regionally ranked teams in the ASC playoffs (and have a weaker record and poor RvR record), and Pacific Lutheran not ranked and even less likely to be regionally ranked after losing to Willamette yesterday, that would leave Colorado College and Occidental, both of whom are more than 500 miles away from every other team in the pod.  Texas Lutheran has an outside chance of getting a Pool C bid as well, but I don't think their field has a fence around it so I'm not sure they would be eligible to host either under NCAA rules for charging tickets. To add to the complexity, if St. Thomas beats Trinity and Trinity doesn't get a Pool C bid, it's not clear St. Thomas even could host because they don't have their own stadium and instead rent the stadium from the Houston Sabercats rugby team.  That might not be available on short notice.  So, the typical guidelines for choosing a host, which are always a bit difficult to apply in Region X, will be particularly difficult to apply this year and it's certainly not out of the question that Occidental could be chosen to host.

Bottom line:  If Trinity wins the SCAC championship today, I would guess they will host, BUT the Trinity women's soccer team is also in the SCAC championship game today and/or could get a Pool C bid, which would give them hosting priority at the school if it comes to that.  If Trinity men don't win the SCAC and don't get a Pool C bid (or the women do and get to host), then it's possible Oxy could get the hosting rights over Colorado College, UT Dallas, Pacific Lutheran, and St. Thomas or whichever other TX team from the SCAC gets a Pool C bid

[mngopher]

I think Texas Lutheran could still host even if they don't have a fence. St Olaf has no fence, and has hosted in the past and will be hosting this year. They have to put up a temporary fence, but that isn't an issue for most schools. The temporary one St Olaf has up isn't much different than something anyone could put up with some supplies from the local hardware store.

[Kuiper]

I think Texas Lutheran could still host even if they don't have a fence. St Olaf has no fence, and has hosted in the past and will be hosting this year. They have to put up a temporary fence, but that isn't an issue for most schools. The temporary one St Olaf has up isn't much different than something anyone could put up with some supplies from the local hardware store.

Good to know!  Texas Lutheran's grass field itself is not that great either (unlike St. Olaf's beautiful artificial turf field), but as a practical matter I find it hard to see how Texas Lutheran gets to the highest seed in the region.  Trinity/St. Thomas and Colorado College would both have better RvR and probably better SoS than Texas Lutheran, which didn't even make the SCAC playoffs.

[regionxfan17]

Yes - most of the NESCAC fields are not fenced in, either, and they have definitely hosted NCAA rounds. 

On another note, if UT-Dallas, Oxy, Pac Lutheran, and the SCAC playoff winner are the AQs, that's already 4 teams. If there is even one Pool C team out of the region, won't one of the teams have to be placed in a different pod?

[Kuiper]

Yes - most of the NESCAC fields are not fenced in, either, and they have definitely hosted NCAA rounds. 

On another note, if UT-Dallas, Oxy, Pac Lutheran, and the SCAC playoff winner are the AQs, that's already 4 teams. If there is even one Pool C team out of the region, won't one of the teams have to be placed in a different pod?

Yes.  Last year they moved Willamette to the Chicago bracket (when Pacific Lutheran made it as well) and beat Willamette beat Wisconsin-Platteville.  They try to keep teams from playing another conference opponent if possible, which is why it's more likely a SCAC team gets moved this year.  It's possible that could be Colorado College since it could be moved to an upper midwest pod.

[Ron Boerger]

@Kuiper - Trinity women (who are struggling anyway against Southwestern right now, scoreless and being outshot 18-6 with 16' to go in the SCAC final) were the last team ranked in the region.   Either HSU (who won the ASC, ranked third prior to the weekend) or UMHB (ranked first before losing in the ASC championship) will host the Texas women's pod. 

Edit:  the live stats were backwards.  TUW win the SCAC 1-0.

[Kuiper]

@Kuiper - Trinity women (who are struggling anyway against Southwestern right now, scoreless and being outshot 18-6 with 16' to go in the SCAC final) were the last team ranked in the region.   Either HSU (who won the ASC, ranked third prior to the weekend) or UMHB (ranked first before losing in the ASC championship) will host the Texas women's pod.

Yeah, I was trying to be complete since Trinity technically was still in the running and is the only school in Region X that has both men and women alive for NCAA bids in a year in which the women have priority, but I saw that they are ranked low in the region.  I still think Trinity is the most likely host, but if St. Thomas wins today, then it's more uncertain. 

[Kuiper]

Christopher Newport pulls one back in the 55th and it is now 2-1 Wisconsin-Platteville.

FINAL:  Wisconsin-Platteville 2 - Christopher Newport 1 in the C2C semifinals

I would call it an upset, but this is a conference where there isn't really a regular season and the teams generally only play the teams close to them before the conference tournament.  Christopher Newport was ranked #2 in Region VI, but Wisconsin-Platteville was ranked #2 in Region IX and there's not a lot of cross-pollination between Region VI and Region IX teams.  Christopher Newport definitely had a big edge in shots, but that really only started after Platteville went up to a 2-0 lead midway through the first half.

There was always going to be one of Mary Washington and Christopher Newport who would need a Pool C bid, but it sure looks like two Pool C bids will come out of the C2C conference either way since both finalists are going to be deserving.

Coast-to-Coast Conference Championship

HALF:  Mary Washington 2 - Wisconsin-Platteville 1

Platteville scored first in the 11th minute, but Mary Washington roared back to score goals in the 15th and 29th minutes to lead 2-1 at half.  Mary Washington's second goal was a beautiful header off a well-worked free kick where somehow a single M-W attacker broke through the space to head it to the far corner past the W-P GK.  That is really good execution of what I assume is well-designed strategy the coaches came up with after close scouting (possibly in-person, which is what the C2C tournament enables).  Because W-P's GK is so massive (6'8"), the W-P defense pushes up on free kicks to give him space to rush out and claim any ball in the air.  It's a common strategy, even for shorter GKs, but the W-P defenders tend to hold their line because of the confidence they have that their GK is going to win the ball.  For a well-hit driven ball that wasn't lofted and was directed closer to the near post, though, height isn't such an advantage and the GK was basically frozen while the MW attacker got the jump on his defender and the space was open to beat the GK for the ball and then redirect it.

[D3Navy]

I hope the SCAC looks for another broadcaster than Cooper Sports for its championship broadcasts.  The announcers are solid, but the camera work is inconsistent, the stats were switched for the TU-Southwestern women's game, and although they announced the tourney teams, MVPs, and championship team - they didn't show the video!

[Kuiper]

I hope the SCAC looks for another broadcaster than Cooper Sports for its championship broadcasts.  The announcers are solid, but the camera work is inconsistent, the stats were switched for the TU-Southwestern women's game, and although they announced the tourney teams, MVPs, and championship team - they didn't show the video!

Cooper Sports is St. Thomas' regular broadcaster and the host school arranges the broadcasts.  Since St. Thomas is the host for the men's and women's soccer championships, that's why we got Cooper Sports.  To be fair, it's better than the Coast-to-Coast Conference where UC Santa Cruz mostly just provided an AI Veo-type broadcast with no announcers and a camera that didn't cover the whole field and sometimes didn't track the ball.

[Kuiper]

Christopher Newport pulls one back in the 55th and it is now 2-1 Wisconsin-Platteville.

FINAL:  Wisconsin-Platteville 2 - Christopher Newport 1 in the C2C semifinals

I would call it an upset, but this is a conference where there isn't really a regular season and the teams generally only play the teams close to them before the conference tournament.  Christopher Newport was ranked #2 in Region VI, but Wisconsin-Platteville was ranked #2 in Region IX and there's not a lot of cross-pollination between Region VI and Region IX teams.  Christopher Newport definitely had a big edge in shots, but that really only started after Platteville went up to a 2-0 lead midway through the first half.

There was always going to be one of Mary Washington and Christopher Newport who would need a Pool C bid, but it sure looks like two Pool C bids will come out of the C2C conference either way since both finalists are going to be deserving.

Coast-to-Coast Conference Championship

HALF:  Mary Washington 2 - Wisconsin-Platteville 1

Platteville scored first in the 11th minute, but Mary Washington roared back to score goals in the 15th and 29th minutes to lead 2-1 at half.  Mary Washington's second goal was a beautiful header off a well-worked free kick where somehow a single M-W attacker broke through the space to head it to the far corner past the W-P GK.  That is really good execution of what I assume is well-designed strategy the coaches came up with after close scouting (possibly in-person, which is what the C2C tournament enables).  Because W-P's GK is so massive (6'8"), the W-P defense pushes up on free kicks to give him space to rush out and claim any ball in the air.  It's a common strategy, even for shorter GKs, but the W-P defenders tend to hold their line because of the confidence they have that their GK is going to win the ball.  For a well-hit driven ball that wasn't lofted and was directed closer to the near post, though, height isn't such an advantage and the GK was basically frozen while the MW attacker got the jump on his defender and the space was open to beat the GK for the ball and then redirect it.

FINAL:  Mary Washington 3 - Wisconsin-Platteville 2

Lots of fouls in this game by two very aggressive teams.  I would have predicted that W-P would be the ones fouling more to try to disrupt MW's passing game, but MW had 24 and W-P had 21.  Both earned PKs in the game.

I expect both of these teams, plus Christopher Newport, will be in the NCAA tournament from the C2C conference.