2022 D3 Men's Soccer National Perspective

[PaulNewman]

I am going to accept that I've lost the battle of no golden goal ruining OT and the college game in general, but I will push back one final time on the idea that it's a total either/or on whether OT is exciting or not.

First, I doubt there are many fans when their teams goes down a goal in OT who are unhappy that their team still has a chance.

More to the point, though, it's still pretty exciting when a team goes up a goal in OT after all that time deadlocked.  There's some excitement in seeing if your team can respond and level.  And there's definitely excitement for either team if once leveled again one of the two teams scores again, and so on.  The same specter of PKs of course also lurks during the OTs.  So, imho, maybe not heart-stopping excitement, but still opportunities for a lot of excitement.

As for the fatigue factor I'm not that sympathetic.  You have to be prepared to go 110...and certainly all of those insisting that the regular season should still have overtime shouldn't reject the fatigue/injury argument in that instance but then invoke the same for the post-season.

[jdfranklin23]

I am going to accept that I've lost the battle of no golden goal ruining OT and the college game in general, but I will push back one final time on the idea that it's a total either/or on whether OT is exciting or not.

First, I doubt there are many fans when their teams goes down a goal in OT who are unhappy that their team still has a chance.

More to the point, though, it's still pretty exciting when a team goes up a goal in OT after all that time deadlocked.  There's some excitement in seeing if your team can respond and level.  And there's definitely excitement for either team if once leveled again one of the two teams scores again, and so on.  The same specter of PKs of course also lurks during the OTs.  So, imho, maybe not heart-stopping excitement, but still opportunities for a lot of excitement.

As for the fatigue factor I'm not that sympathetic.  You have to be prepared to go 110...and certainly all of those insisting that the regular season should still have overtime shouldn't reject the fatigue/injury argument in that instance but then invoke the same for the post-season.

I see your points and can concede some of it.  I guess I'm thinking more of the long-term effects of the fatigue the further you go in the tournament as opposed to the short term in that specific game.  It didn't happen yesterday; but, it would have really made the point in the CNU vs UWW game.  If CNU goes up 4-2 in OT and a player gets injured bc of a UWW foul.  I know we can't play the What-If game for every scenario; but, in my mind there are too many downsides to justify the upside.

[PaulNewman]

I am going to accept that I've lost the battle of no golden goal ruining OT and the college game in general, but I will push back one final time on the idea that it's a total either/or on whether OT is exciting or not.

First, I doubt there are many fans when their teams goes down a goal in OT who are unhappy that their team still has a chance.

More to the point, though, it's still pretty exciting when a team goes up a goal in OT after all that time deadlocked.  There's some excitement in seeing if your team can respond and level.  And there's definitely excitement for either team if once leveled again one of the two teams scores again, and so on.  The same specter of PKs of course also lurks during the OTs.  So, imho, maybe not heart-stopping excitement, but still opportunities for a lot of excitement.

As for the fatigue factor I'm not that sympathetic.  You have to be prepared to go 110...and certainly all of those insisting that the regular season should still have overtime shouldn't reject the fatigue/injury argument in that instance but then invoke the same for the post-season.

I see your points and can concede some of it.  I guess I'm thinking more of the long-term effects of the fatigue the further you go in the tournament as opposed to the short term in that specific game.  It didn't happen yesterday; but, it would have really made the point in the CNU vs UWW game.  If CNU goes up 4-2 in OT and a player gets injured bc of a UWW foul.  I know we can't play the What-If game for every scenario; but, in my mind there are too many downsides to justify the upside.

And if your star player tears an ACL in the 2nd OT of a regular season game?  I don't think I've ever heard the argument before that sudden death OT is worth the injury risk but not playing out two OTs (which of course happened frequently before resulting in PKs).  If you're a CNU fan and UWW goes up 3-2 in OT are you not happy that CNU still has a shot, or are you suddenly worried about injury risks and impact on a tournament run for UWW?

[jdfranklin23]

I am going to accept that I've lost the battle of no golden goal ruining OT and the college game in general, but I will push back one final time on the idea that it's a total either/or on whether OT is exciting or not.

First, I doubt there are many fans when their teams goes down a goal in OT who are unhappy that their team still has a chance.

More to the point, though, it's still pretty exciting when a team goes up a goal in OT after all that time deadlocked.  There's some excitement in seeing if your team can respond and level.  And there's definitely excitement for either team if once leveled again one of the two teams scores again, and so on.  The same specter of PKs of course also lurks during the OTs.  So, imho, maybe not heart-stopping excitement, but still opportunities for a lot of excitement.

As for the fatigue factor I'm not that sympathetic.  You have to be prepared to go 110...and certainly all of those insisting that the regular season should still have overtime shouldn't reject the fatigue/injury argument in that instance but then invoke the same for the post-season.

I see your points and can concede some of it.  I guess I'm thinking more of the long-term effects of the fatigue the further you go in the tournament as opposed to the short term in that specific game.  It didn't happen yesterday; but, it would have really made the point in the CNU vs UWW game.  If CNU goes up 4-2 in OT and a player gets injured bc of a UWW foul.  I know we can't play the What-If game for every scenario; but, in my mind there are too many downsides to justify the upside.

And if your star player tears an ACL in the 2nd OT of a regular season game?  I don't think I've ever heard the argument before that sudden death OT is worth the injury risk but not playing out two OTs (which of course happened frequently before resulting in PKs).  If you're a CNU fan and UWW goes up 3-2 in OT are you not happy that CNU still has a shot, or are you suddenly worried about injury risks and impact on a tournament run for UWW?

Fair point and yes, I agree it should be the same in regular season as post-season.  I also know every coach, player and fan will support it when it suits them and rail against it when it doesn't.  Maybe I just don't like change and need some therapy to address it haha.

I'm not well versed in all the sports; but, to my knowledge don't almost all of them end in sudden death OT (except for basketball)?

[paclassic89]

Ohio Wesleyan with the upset!  2-1 over Kenyon

[Falconer]

Baseball's extra innings are sudden death only for the home team. And REAL baseball doesn't give you a free runner on 2B to start an extra inning.

[PaulNewman]

OK, well I might as well take my medicine like a big boy.

Very disappointing as not being able to beat your dreaded arch-rival in a conference final on your home pitch does not bode well for having what it takes to win a national title.  I'm sure the players and coaches are far more disappointed than I am. 

A few thoughts.  The team and coaches showed their nerves with coach picking up a yellow and a player on the bench getting one inside of the first 10 minutes.  Then because they ticked off the ref they did not catch any breaks for at least the first 20-25 minutes.  They seemed to settle down and got the goal they needed before the half ended.  Then a very smart play I'm sure designed by Martin to try to score off the 2nd half kickoff as there were heavy winds and OWU had defended against the wind the first half.  Kenyon GK Pedreschi caught off guard and had to push the ball over the bar directly off the kickoff, giving up a corner...then the corner, headed around and lands at feet of OWU player who buries.  So game leveled in the first 20 seconds of 2nd half.  Just amazing and so unnecessary. Predreschi has been really, really good but you could tell he was beside himself after the game.  He got caught out and got chipped last year by Denison.  Details can decide these games.  I'm not even sure how OWU got the 2nd one mostly against the run of play but they did as their little star freshmen scored and went berserk.  Kenyon had 25 minutes to equalize and almost did a number of times, and even appeared to score a couple of times but the OWU GK made a couple of phenomenal saves.  Alas, I knew there was a very good chance OWU would win this game and they did.

Credit to OWU.  They got their bid and they won't be easy to knock out.  Martin really is good in a one game situation, much like Souders at Calvin.  He put together a very non-OWU-style game plan and walked away with the NCAC crown and their first win against Kenyon since I was last at that field in 2014.  You could tell from his comment after the Denison that he thought they had a very good chance.

There is no positive side for me, but trying to look on the positive side, Kenyon has a chance to regroup and refocus.  They need to figure out how to give maximum effort from start to finish while also showing more poise.  They MUST show more poise, and it's up to that 5th year senior group to get everyone in the right frame of mind and to immediately let go of calls that don't go their way.

[jknezek]

W&L beats Roanoke on an 89th minute goal to win the ODAC. W&L had a goal around the 20th minute waived off for offside, camera angle was a no go but the geometry of that play being offside hurts my head. Missed most of the match doing chores, but happy W&L got the championship they missed out on last year.

[blue_jays]

I actually underestimated how insanely windy it would be today in UChicago vs. WashU. Watching every aerial ball get beaten down by non-stop gusts was quite the experience. Haven't seen wind like that at a game since 2016 when the Maroons lost a 3rd round game due to a misplayed punt into the wind. And it got even worse for the women's game afterwards. Kudos to the players for gutting it out in terrible conditions.
UChicago scored late after a miscue by the WashU GK at the edge of the box, challenging a ball he probably shouldn't have. The Maroons were in control the whole way despite not having much offense to show for it, the Bears were keeping 5 defenders back to stifle things. But a win is a win, especially over your top rival, and it gave the Maroons the sole UAA title.
And as I accurately predicted, Case handled CMU as well. The Spartans will be a tough out in the NCAAs.

[Another Mom]

W&L beats Roanoke on an 89th minute goal to win the ODAC. W&L had a goal around the 20th minute waived off for offside, camera angle was a no go but the geometry of that play being offside hurts my head. Missed most of the match doing chores, but happy W&L got the championship they missed out on last year.

It was a naibiter! Agbeyegbe's goal was pretty darn world class.

[PaulNewman]

West Conn in OT battling for their lives against UMass-Boston.

[jdfranklin23]

Anybody know what the selection show schedule will be?

[4samuy]

1:30 eastern on Monday for men's.  Women's after, but not sure of the time.

[PaulNewman]

If you're not listening to the West Conn broadcast you are missing something....see Elvis if you stare at the lights, jalapenos, pepperoni, etc

[stlawus]

I am not convinced the guy doing commentary for the WestConn-UMB final is not Rush Limbaugh.

Is WestConn going to be first ever 20 win team to not make the tournament?  Their bubble has been stretched to the max after today.