2021 NCAA Tournament

[PaulNewman]

Congrats to Chicago.  Tough conditions against a strong, defensively stout team.  Impressive win.

And congrats to JCU...also in tough conditions.  I was gonna say the only Great Lakes team still standing...but not true.  There's Hanover.  Would have nevef picked Hanover over Emory.

Anyway, I like JCU but I'm kind of behind Middlebury all the way.

[Falconer]

Yeah, it doesn't matter as Messiah moves on.  But I'll push back just a little with you and my friend Falconer (who I actually do consider a friend here).  I don't recall any Messiah players rolling around on the ground after fouls or alleged fouls or getting injured.  Martinez (who was fantastic and has 3 years left) did have a reckless challenge and got appropriately carded.  The ref late in 1st half had an opportunity for a make-up PK call and didn't give it.  Messiah led fouls 17 to 10.  I don't think Kenyon had a home court ref advantage for sure.  Kenyon was aggressive and closed space hard.  They would have two guys trap any Messiah player who got the ball, and as the announcers said Kenyon looked more like Messiah than Messiah because of the massive difference in possession.  They also quoted friends of the Messiah program calling/texting in saying they thought Messiah was playing its mirror-image.  So any suggestion that Kenyon was dirty takes away from the overall picture of how Kenyon played on the field and strung together pass after pass while having a massive possession advantage.

The foul count is an official number that is what it is.

My beef is, that very hard fouls against the Falcons just weren't called at all--a lot of them, surely more than the 7 count difference in the official statistic. Those fouls resulted in Falcons being dispossessed, often in places where dangerous passes could have been made. And, they set the tone: if a Falcon runs past you, just pull his shirt to slow him down and throw him off balance. Those don't count as hard fouls, but it happened all over the field, all the time, and was a major reason why the Falcons didn't look very good in comparison with Kenyon. That part of the game was not a mirror image: the shirt-pulling and hard, uncalled fouls were pretty one-sided. Yes, there were some hard fouls by the Falcons, but most of them were called. And, as in most games, 2 or 3 of the fouls given to the Falcons weren't fouls, or were actually Kenyon fouls. As I said, the officiating was sub-par for a tournament game.

I've had my say on this. PN and Falconer are indeed on good terms--we sometime email one another about personal stuff more than soccer. I feel his pain right now. Grantham has twice been unkind to his Kenyon men, and at least on this occasion Kenyon merited a victory as much as the Falcons. It's more neutral voices I'm interested in hearing from. Was this game poorly officiated, in a manner that hurt Messiah more than Kenyon? Or, am I just being a true Falconer at heart. 

[Falconer]

There was a mention of Messiah possibly getting LG back at some point.  They need him...not for Hanover, but maybe for the Elite 8 and certainly for the Final 4.

I gather that information about Luke Groothoff came from the announcers? I mentioned his injury several days after it happened, and said he was probably gone for the season, but I don't think I said or implied that he could possibly be back for any part of the tournament. If this was stated by the announcers, then believe it: I have always found them very well informed. I knew of that possibility from an unimpeachable source; but, I didn't feel free to share it. Of course, I have been hoping it would happen. LG is IMO the best CM in the region, perhaps the best anywhere. Absolutely he's the quickest and most highly skilled Falcon and the heart and soul of the offense. He also has the ability to dispossess anyone in his vicinity--an ability that helped him earn AA as a CB in his rookie season, despite him being vertically challenged though he might be the best leaper on the team. LG's absence was enormous in the Kenyon game. With him there, the imbalance in time of possession would surely not have been nearly as large. If by some good fortune he does return, he probably would not play his usual minutes, since the injury involved one of his legs and I doubt he's able yet to run even lightly.

As I say, let's hope he returns--and gets to play safely and effectively in the Final Four.

[Falconer]

On another matter, the Falcon keeper usually punted on goal kicks today. That's unusual. Almost always, the Falcons build from the back, slowly and deliberately, but today they often didn't even try, right out of the gate. I assume this was a deliberate tactic, showing respect to the very fast and aggressive forwards from Kenyon who were way up top. Was anything said about this on the PBP? Most people on this board know far more about soccer than me. Is this what was happening? Or, would it be motivated by something else? Just wondering. As I said, you don't usually see this.

[PaulNewman]

Some things have to be answered.  Since I've been following Kenyon soccer in 2011 there's only been two times I've heard allegations of Kenyon being dirty or borderline-dirty.  Both times during and after Messiah games and both times when Messiah folks were freaking about the game.  That doesn't mean it's not true or that it might even be well known, but would have thought we'd catch a whiff of this from OWU, Denison, or even Tufts fans (none of whom have any love for the Lords).  The announcers this time rebounded better than last time (as was reported to me at the time).  Now, yes, they did make complaints today....BUT, they also said, BEFORE the Lords dominated the second half even more than the first, that it felt like Kenyon was up 2-0 rather than being down 1-0.  They talked about being in a state of panic and fans watching being panicked.  They said multiple times that Kenyon had dominated and deserved to win, and they repeatedly commented about Kenyon's possession, pinpoint passing both long and short, and team speed that equaled or exceeded Messiah's speed.  Was Kenyon fouling when Messiah was chasing them all over the field?  At the end, and these are legit Messiah folks, the announcers were almost apologizing for Messiah winning and admitting that on the day Kenyon was the superior team. 

[PaulNewman]

On another matter, the Falcon keeper usually punted on goal kicks today. That's unusual. Almost always, the Falcons build from the back, slowly and deliberately, but today they often didn't even try, right out of the gate. I assume this was a deliberate tactic, showing respect to the very fast and aggressive forwards from Kenyon who were way up top. Was anything said about this on the PBP? Most people on this board know far more about soccer than me. Is this what was happening? Or, would it be motivated by something else? Just wondering. As I said, you don't usually see this.

Yes, the announcers said Kenyon was making them play the way teams play against Messiah just to hang in the game....they also started just clearing a lot of balls long.  The announcers commented multiple times that Messiah couldn't get out of its own half.  They had two chances the whole game and scored on both. 

And yes, the announcers vaguely suggested that LG might return but not prediction on when.

[Flying Weasel]

Since no one has posted it yet . . .

The Sectional hosts are Tufts, Washington & Lee, Chicago and Amherst.

[d4_Pace]

Has this been confirmed

Since no one has posted it yet . . .

Has this been confirmed or are those just the highest seeds? I remember when I was playing not finding out until Monday morning where the next rounds of games would be.

[College Soccer Observer]

This is confirmed.  Chicago pod will be Fri/Sat due to Calvin.  All others Sat/Sun

[Gregory Sager]

Yep. I can further confirm that NPU vs. St. Olaf will be the early game (1 pm Central) on Friday, and Calvin @ Chicago will be the late game.

[Mr.Right]

Did anyone see Redlands this weekend?   Seems they have some goal scorers but can they commit to defending? The usual problem for these West teams coming East is they are not as committed defensively as the teams in the East and Midwest.

I love this boxscore. Check out the 2nd page with the % of time in each zone. I have not seen that yet in D3.


https://redlands.prestosports.com/sports/msoc/2021-22/files/21msoc-PLU-ncaa-boxscore.pdf

[SimpleCoach]

Some things have to be answered.  Since I've been following Kenyon soccer in 2011 there's only been two times I've heard allegations of Kenyon being dirty or borderline-dirty.  Both times during and after Messiah games and both times when Messiah folks were freaking about the game.  That doesn't mean it's not true or that it might even be well known, but would have thought we'd catch a whiff of this from OWU, Denison, or even Tufts fans (none of whom have any love for the Lords).  The announcers this time rebounded better than last time (as was reported to me at the time).  Now, yes, they did make complaints today....BUT, they also said, BEFORE the Lords dominated the second half even more than the first, that it felt like Kenyon was up 2-0 rather than being down 1-0.  They talked about being in a state of panic and fans watching being panicked.  They said multiple times that Kenyon had dominated and deserved to win, and they repeatedly commented about Kenyon's possession, pinpoint passing both long and short, and team speed that equaled or exceeded Messiah's speed.  Was Kenyon fouling when Messiah was chasing them all over the field?  At the end, and these are legit Messiah folks, the announcers were almost apologizing for Messiah winning and admitting that on the day Kenyon was the superior team.

@Paul Newman.  Kenyon clearly deserved the game.  Soccer wise they were much better than Messiah on the day.  Ultimately soccer is a game of goals, and they came up short on that.

I will say having watched the whole game, I didn't think Kenyon was fouling or getting away with rough tackles.  I thought it was a hard fought game and if Messiah was complaining I think it more a case that they are 1. not used to be challenged in a game, and 2. were just real  uncomfortable getting into a physical battle like the one Kenyon was giving them.  Like I said, on the other side of the ball, Kenyon gave a bit of a masterclass and all Messiah could do was chase.

[oacalum]

How is Amherst's field this time of the year? I think I remember some posts the last couple years that it isn't great but I can't remember.

[southsidejet]

How is Amherst's field this time of the year? I think I remember some posts the last couple years that it isn't great but I can't remember.

Yes, I'm curious about this as well. And in the pics I've seen I don't see any stands... hopefully that's not the case?

[d4_Pace]

No stands and the field will be below average at best, downright bad if any inclement weather strikes.