Big Dance 2022 - Let's Go!

[SimpleCoach]

   Played at Kenyon
   CMU in Red; Calvin in White
   Looks rainiy. Wet but the field looks fantastic.
   So, only 5 minutes in but CMU is taking the game to Calvin right now.
   And as I say that, Calvin gets to the end line and drops it back to the six, and the Calvin forward one times the ball to the far post for the go ahead goal.
   This was the first real chance Calvin had.
   CMU 0, Calvin 1.
   And Calvin is now coming into its own.
   14 minutes in and Calvin rockets a ball off the cross bar from 6 out for a goal.
   CMU 0, Calvin 2.
   CMU looks lost.
   Calvin is very effective at executing their attack.  Are not wasteful going forward and show a good amount of patience.
   CMU had a chance on goal, but the Calvin Keeper came up big with a save.
   22 minutes left in half.
   CMU isn't getting forward in unison.  Really leaving the guys up top alone.
   Calvin looks closer to scoring a 3rd before CMU gets it first.
   Looks like it is pouring there.
   And Calvin scores a banger of a goal on a corner.  Ball put across purposefully on the ground to the 18.  Its dummied by one player and from 20 yards away one times it and drills it to the upper left corner. 
   CMU 0, Calvin 3.
Halftime
Tomorrow will be a challenge of a game for Kenyon....

[Hopkins92]

Yeah, Calvin's decisiveness and efficiency going forward allows them to score without having to stretch their overall shape by throwing numbers forward. I wouldn't call what Calvin does "parking the bus" so much as staying together as a unit. Soooo many of the best teams, if you shot them from an aerial view, you'd never see more than 20 yards between lines, and overall they're within a 60 yard box at all times (on both sides of the attacking/defending equation).

I would call what Calvin is running is more of a mid-block than a low-block.

Low-block is what LVC tried to do against Messiah in that game to keep their season alive. 

[Coach Jeff]

What I don't understand as Calvin crushes a UAA team (showing they didn't belong in the tournament) is how they lost to Albion and then played Albion again and only won 3-2.

I wouldn't say CMU should have parked the bus, but they needed to be the team playing like Calvin did in the 1st half....absorb pressure for long stretches...Calvin very intentionally almost parked the bus to draw CMU in.

Well I am sure you did your research Aldion beat Calvin 1-0 on an own goal in a game which Calvin outshot them 20-4...You know there are games when the ball doesn't go in the net.

[Coach Jeff]

Yeah, Calvin's decisiveness and efficiency going forward allows them to score without having to stretch their overall shape by throwing numbers forward. I wouldn't call what Calvin does "parking the bus" so much as staying together as a unit. Soooo many of the best teams, if you shot them from an aerial view, you'd never see more than 20 yards between lines, and overall they're within a 60 yard box at all times (on both sides of the attacking/defending equation).

I would call what Calvin is running is more of a mid-block than a low-block.

Low-block is what LVC tried to do against Messiah in that game to keep their season alive.

That is the game I just watched! Great analysis.  They also had a 71% shots on goal to goals.  I would say that is very effective offensive output.

[PaulNewman]

Yeah, Calvin's decisiveness and efficiency going forward allows them to score without having to stretch their overall shape by throwing numbers forward. I wouldn't call what Calvin does "parking the bus" so much as staying together as a unit. Soooo many of the best teams, if you shot them from an aerial view, you'd never see more than 20 yards between lines, and overall they're within a 60 yard box at all times (on both sides of the attacking/defending equation).

I would call what Calvin is running is more of a mid-block than a low-block.

Low-block is what LVC tried to do against Messiah in that game to keep their season alive.

Whatever it's called CMU should have done it.

[PaulNewman]

What I don't understand as Calvin crushes a UAA team (showing they didn't belong in the tournament) is how they lost to Albion and then played Albion again and only won 3-2.

I wouldn't say CMU should have parked the bus, but they needed to be the team playing like Calvin did in the 1st half....absorb pressure for long stretches...Calvin very intentionally almost parked the bus to draw CMU in.

Well I am sure you did your research Aldion beat Calvin 1-0 on an own goal in a game which Calvin outshot them 20-4...You know there are games when the ball doesn't go in the net.

They played 180 minutes....aggregate score 3-3.

[Hopkins92]

Yeah, Calvin's decisiveness and efficiency going forward allows them to score without having to stretch their overall shape by throwing numbers forward. I wouldn't call what Calvin does "parking the bus" so much as staying together as a unit. Soooo many of the best teams, if you shot them from an aerial view, you'd never see more than 20 yards between lines, and overall they're within a 60 yard box at all times (on both sides of the attacking/defending equation).

I would call what Calvin is running is more of a mid-block than a low-block.

Low-block is what LVC tried to do against Messiah in that game to keep their season alive.

Whatever it's called CMU should have done it.

[Domino1195]

CMU keeper dropping a couple F-bombs at the ball boy. I've seen straight red for language on this very field during an NCAA game. But to your point: he has serious rabbit ear issues

[Domino1195]

 You're spot on re: Calvin conceding possession and waiting patiently for counters today.

Calvin 's defenders can get caught switching off - as we saw on that wide open chance given to CMU midway through first half. See late first half goal vs Hanover also. Their personnel can also take unnecessary chances, creating opportunities for opponents. Kenyon's backs just don't make many mistakes. And the swarming midfielders deny opponents time on the ball.

Kenyon is the only GL team I've seen that never hurts themselves. Great skill, good decisions. Their organization and spacing is beautiful- several times today players sent ball into spaces without looking - they knew their teammates would be where they should be. Connectivity of the lines and movement up and down the field as a unit. Calvin has a few standouts that can impact the game, but Kenyon is a more complete team.

Hopefully the weather has no real bearing on the game tomorrow

[Kuiper]

CMU keeper dropping a couple F-bombs at the ball boy. I've seen straight red for language on this very field during an NCAA game. But to your point: he has serious rabbit ear issues

No excuse (regardless of the amount of verbal abuse he's getting), but he's a freshman.  Oddly, all of CMU's three keepers are freshman.  That seems like a recruiting (or retention) fail.  They had a senior, sophomore, and freshman last season and now all three of them are gone.

[deutschfan]

Calvin/Kenyon is an awesome early matchup.  Calvin's 3d goal as noted was a bomb.  Every time a pool C bubble team gets blown out I hope the Committee has visions of West Conn dancing through their head.  In retrospect, choosing CMU over West Conn was like ranking Clemson 4th in the first CFP rankings over Michigan and that generated similar facial egg.

[Hopkins92]

CMU keeper dropping a couple F-bombs at the ball boy. I've seen straight red for language on this very field during an NCAA game. But to your point: he has serious rabbit ear issues

Ahhhhh... Then I fully retract my kind of snarky take up thread.

[Hopkins92]

Been meaning to say this all week:

Region 3 is ROUGH. I felt that way after looking at Massey and then further cemented having now watched Calvin (had already seen Kenyon.) To my eyes, that's pretty easily the toughest region in which to advance. A second round match with Kenyon and Calvin is crazy.

Toughest to Not the Tougest: Region 3-2-4-1

I worded that very purposefully... NOTHING is easy in November. I also need to fully cop: Region 1 is where I'm on the shakiest ground in terms of the seeded/favored teams and having spent time with them.

[SKUD]

500 mile rule is a bitch but you have to beat the best to be the best; round 1 or round 6.  I treat D3 like an unseeded tournament and the final can be played in round one or round 6.  There is only 1 trophy any of these teams want.  Let's hope tomorrow's games are more competitive.

[Flying Weasel]

Not sure where else to put this, but I just stumbled across the fact that the men's and women's head coaches at Cortland State are a husband/wife duo: Steve Axtel coaching the men and Heidi Axtel coaching the women.  Both teams are in this year's NCAA.  It's the first time since 1993 that both of Cortland's teams are in the tournament the same year (something they did 4 straight years from 1990-1993), so obviously it's the first time the couple has been coaching the Red Dragons in the tournament at the same time.

I have known about the husband/wife duo at Scranton: men's head coach Matt Pivirotti, women's head coach Colleen Pivirotti. They've coached the Royals in the NCAA's in the same year in 2012 and 2016 and now for the third time this season.

Does anyone know of any other husband/wife duos coaching soccer in Division III, whether at the same school or different schools?

The other almost case is the Souders at Calvin: Ryan is men's head coach and Kacie is a women's assistant. It's interesting that Ryan played at Wheaton (Ill.) and Kacie was an All-American at Messiah, two Christian colleges with top soccer programs (at least at the time for Wheaton) and now they coach at another Christian college with strong soccer programs.  [WARNING: my D-III soccer history geek-ness is about to go into overdrive!]  I don't know how the two met, but Kacie's twin sister Kari played at Wheaton overlapping two years with Ryan, and Kacie and Ryan both played in the 2006 Final Four when the men's and women's teams from both schools advanced to the final weekend. The Wheaton women won the title that year (Messiah lost to TCNJ in the semifinal). In legendary coach Joe Bean's final game on the sidelines, Messiah defeated Wheaton in the men's final to end the unexpected, improbable tournament run by the Thunder (at one point in the season they were 4-6-2, then 7-6-3 and 10-7-3 entering the CCIW playoffs as the #3 seed before reeling off 7 straight must-win games for a more fitting send-off for the winningest collegiate men's soccer coach at the time). Ryan was the starting goalkeeper for the Thunder and came up huge in their NCAA quarterfinal PK shootout win over undefeated York, one of the favorites for the title (that was the second of three NCAA PK eliminations for the Spartans over a four year period; the other year during that period they won a PK shootout against Amherst, another team that just couldn't manage to reach the Final Four no way, no how at that time).

And that Final Four leads to the incredible story of the Klystra twins: Kacie and Kari.  In the Spring of 2005, they won the Michigan state title their senior year of high school.  They decided to go separate ways for college: Kacie to Messiah, Kari to Wheaton (Ill.). That fall, Kacie was a champion with Messiah when the Falcons won their first national title with an undefeated 22-0-1 mark. The next fall was that aforementioned 2006 Final Four where Kari became a national champion with Wheaton. Then, in 2007, the twins faced off when Wheaton and Messiah met in the national title game with the Thunder winning 1-0 to make it back-to-back championships and their third in four years with a perfect 27-0-0 record. Amazingly, the twins and their teams returned to the championship game again in 2008, but this time Kacie and the Falcons prevailed 5-0 to cap off an undefeated 24-0-2 season. In four years, the twins' teams went a combined 181-14-6 (.915).

So, bringing this back to this year's men's tournament.  Can Ohio Wesleyan be the 2022 version of 2006 Wheaton? Well, I'm probably stretching things to make the comparison, but feel obliged to try to end this rambling post somewhat on the topic of this thread!!! Ohio Wesleyan, a historical powerhouse with a legendary coach (and, no, he's not retiring after this year as far as I know), started the season 0-4-2, then 4-4-4, but went on to win the NCAC tournament which probably was required to make the NCAA tournament (losing to Kenyon in the NCAC Final would have left the Bishops 9-5-4 with a 0-5-2 RvR). Is a Final Four run on the cards for the Bishops like the Thunder pulled off in 2006?