Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[Kuiper]

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

[Freddyfud]

Not sure which board is SAA but figured I'd try here.  Can move it if necessary.

The Lynx score with 1:19 left to go up 1-0 vs Centre in the SAA semis.  Exciting end and Rhodes will meet the winner of Oglethorpe vs Sewanee.

[Ron Boerger]

Colorado College has an early 1-0 lead on St. Thomas with 15' left in the first period.  Two observations:

1. For the second straight match, no sign of Rodrigo Lazo in goal; instead, Gustavo Otero gets the start, his first of the season. Before today, Otero had a total of 40' in goal with 13' of that coming earlier in the week against Schreiner.  Cristo Gayoso, who saw the bulk of the action in the Schreiner match, actually has more starts than Lazo (11 vs. 5).
2.  Taty Aleman did start, but was subbed out at 13' having not taken a shot.

And with 10' left Daniel Castro ties it up.  The Tigers are having a difficult time in the final third as they scored off their only SOG so far in the match.  St Thomas has outshot them 7-3, 5-1 on target.

[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.

[Kuiper]

Colorado College has an early 1-0 lead on St. Thomas with 15' left in the first period.  Two observations:

1. For the second straight match, no sign of Rodrigo Lazo in goal; instead, Gustavo Otero gets the start, his first of the season. Before today, Otero had a total of 40' in goal with 13' of that coming earlier in the week against Schreiner.  Cristo Gayoso, who saw the bulk of the action in the Schreiner match, actually has more starts than Lazo (11 vs. 5).
2.  Taty Aleman did start, but was subbed out at 13' having not taken a shot.

And with 10' left Daniel Castro ties it up.  The Tigers are having a difficult time in the final third as they scored off their only SOG so far in the match.  St Thomas has outshot them 7-3, 5-1 on target.

HALF:  St. Thomas 1 - Colorado College 1

I also was surprised at Otero starting.  He might have been at least partially at fault on the Colorado College goal too, at least based on the announcer call (the camera only showed a partial angle of the goal).  Lazo didn't cover himself in glory in the Trinity game and Otero is much bigger (6'1") than both Lazo and Gayoso (both charitably listed at 5'10", but probably shorter), but it's a heck of a time to give a sophomore a start when the longest he has played in a game in his college career was 13:48 and he has two saves on his record from way back at the beginning of the season against Pomona-Pitzer. 

St. Thomas is getting some opportunities by going over the top.  It could easily have been 2-1, but Colorado College's GK, Jasper Broad, came out very aggressively and blocked a 1 v 1 at the top of the box.  In fact, because of that earlier save, I think Castro knew that was coming on his goal and easily adjusted to kick the ball past Broad before he was set.

Taty Aleman was ineffective.  He may be done.  Castro may have to carry the offense.  Ramirez can also score on free kicks.  They have some young players who can score too, but Aleman is such a huge part of their offense.

[Ron Boerger]

St Thomas had good success against Trinity over the top, it must be a big part of their style of play.  Yeah they get called offsides a lot but they time the runs pretty well and their long passing can be exquisite. 

[Kuiper]

UPDATE:  St. Thomas 2 - Colorado College 1

UST scores on a header off a free kick by Daniel Castro in the 73rd minute.  He has a brace, but looks to be injured as a result of the Colorado College GK and defense collapsing on him late.

FINAL:  St. Thomas 2 - Colorado College 1

UST holds on to knock off the #1 seed (and picks up another ranked win in case they lose in the finals).  Otero actually made some big saves after CC went up.  Perhaps the new coach saw his potential.

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity gets two quick goals in the first 10', the first an OG off a deflection from just outside the 18, the second a brilliant corner from Meese that may have gone in on its own but was touched by Instrall on the way in.  It's calmed down since, with 12' to go it's Trinity 2-0 Southwestern who are still in search of their first official shot. 

Edit:  announcers said Meese, it's impossible to tell with the crummy video which is not only distant but low-resolution, but given no assist was awarded perhaps it was Instrall on the corner.  2-0 at half and Pirates have yet to mount any kind of serious threat. 

[Kuiper]

Trinity gets two quick goals in the first 10', the first an OG off a deflection from just outside the 18, the second a brilliant corner from Meese that may have gone in on its own but was touched by Instrall on the way in.  It's calmed down since, with 12' to go it's Trinity 2-0 Southwestern who are still in search of their first official shot.

HALF:  Trinity 2 - Southwestern 0

Not sure Southwestern has the offensive firepower to come back, but they still haven't registered a shot, let alone a shot on goal.

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity gets a brilliant shot on a rebound from Braden Shuey, who struck the ball in the air after Prather's block came out near the top of the box.  3-0 ten minutes into the second period. 

Edit:  Gets a little chippy at the end and the ref goes yellow happy with four in the last 2' but Trinity is through to the SCAC final.  With Colorado losing, they probably need to win Sunday to get into the NCAAs. 

[Freddyfud]

Not sure which board is SAA but figured I'd try here.  Can move it if necessary.

The Lynx score with 1:19 left to go up 1-0 vs Centre in the SAA semis.  Exciting end and Rhodes will meet the winner of Oglethorpe vs Sewanee.

Video of the goal.  Was a banger.

https://youtu.be/ZtVLXyJkaJ4

[Kuiper]

SCIAC Championship preview

Redlands @ Occidental

Round 3 in this heavyweight SCIAC battle.  Oxy has won both matches, 2-0 at Redlands, and 2-1 at home a little over a week ago.  Redlands also may be coming in limping after going 110 minutes and PKs to advance against CMS.  Striker Jarette Barajas was injured late in that game as well.  He was able to come in and hit the first PK in the shootout, but it would be a big loss if he was unavailable or playing at less than 100%.  He was just named SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year, although I thought that was a puzzling choice.  He's had some good games, but his goals and assists total weren't even in the top 5 in the SCIAC.  Nevertheless, he's clearly a big part of the Redlands offense along with Kostenko and Palmer.  By contrast, Occidental had a relatively easy time of it in their semifinal match, winning 3-0 against Cal Lutheran.  Oxy has had games where they lose focus and interest, but they generally seem to get it together in the big games.

The last two home games for Occidental have had eye-popping attendance numbers of 2,003 and 2,117.  (You read that right - they have had over TWO THOUSAND in attendance for the last two games).  For the home game that preceded those two against last place Whittier, they had 1,894.  Huge, rowdy, student attendance.  Lots of family, people from the community, alums, and faculty and staff.  They even have the Oxy Ultras supporters group.  It is loud too.  Vuvuzelas, cow bells, and other noisemakers blaring.   Only negative is the track surrounding the field, but it is still a pretty impressive home field environment when fans are out in full force, especially for a school that only has around 1950 students.  Redlands is already trying to counter that advantage just a little bit by arranging a free bus to take its students to the game.  It's a shame that the camera on the stream is at the top of the stands.  It's pretty cool to see the grandstands of a former football stadium full for a D3 soccer game.

[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.

[Kuiper]

NWC regular season finale

Willamette 2 - Pacific Lutheran 1

I haven't posted about the NWC in awhile because Pacific Lutheran clinched first place and the automatic bid with about 4 games left in the season.  The benefit of not having a conference tournament is the best team throughout the season is rewarded.  The disadvantage is that it takes out the excitement from the end of the season, although for the NWC it gives everyone more games, which they need when there are no other D3 teams for hundreds of miles (and you have to go over a thousand miles to get more than one).  The question whether it is better or worse for the early clinching team.  I guess we'll see because Pac Lu is the one that looks like it doesn't care about these last few games, while Willamette and the rest of the NWC are treating it like it's their NCAA tournament.

[Kuiper]

SCIAC Championship preview

Redlands @ Occidental

Round 3 in this heavyweight SCIAC battle.  Oxy has won both matches, 2-0 at Redlands, and 2-1 at home a little over a week ago.  Redlands also may be coming in limping after going 110 minutes and PKs to advance against CMS.  Striker Jarette Barajas was injured late in that game as well.  He was able to come in and hit the first PK in the shootout, but it would be a big loss if he was unavailable or playing at less than 100%.  He was just named SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year, although I thought that was a puzzling choice.  He's had some good games, but his goals and assists total weren't even in the top 5 in the SCIAC.  Nevertheless, he's clearly a big part of the Redlands offense along with Kostenko and Palmer.  By contrast, Occidental had a relatively easy time of it in their semifinal match, winning 3-0 against Cal Lutheran.  Oxy has had games where they lose focus and interest, but they generally seem to get it together in the big games.

The last two home games for Occidental have had eye-popping attendance numbers of 2,003 and 2,117.  (You read that right - they have had over TWO THOUSAND in attendance for the last two games).  For the home game that preceded those two against last place Whittier, they had 1,894.  Huge, rowdy, student attendance.  Lots of family, people from the community, alums, and faculty and staff.  They even have the Oxy Ultras supporters group.  It is loud too.  Vuvuzelas, cow bells, and other noisemakers blaring.   Only negative is the track surrounding the field, but it is still a pretty impressive home field environment when fans are out in full force, especially for a school that only has around 1950 students.  Redlands is already trying to counter that advantage just a little bit by arranging a free bus to take its students to the game.  It's a shame that the camera on the stream is at the top of the stands.  It's pretty cool to see the grandstands of a former football stadium full for a D3 soccer game.

FINAL:  Occidental 3 - Redlands 0

It's hard to beat a good team three teams in a season, but Occidental did it against Redlands and really controlled all three games.  Oxy scored in the fifth minute on a deep ball that caught Redlands GK Seth Lawrence off his line and then broke open a tight game with a goal in the 77th that was against the run of play after Redlands was peppering the Oxy goal with shots (and forcing multiple goal line clearances by the Oxy defense).  Redlands then seemed to run out of gas a little and Oxy scored another goal in the 84th minute to put the game to bed.  This is Occidental's first men's soccer SCIAC championship in its history.

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.