Big Dance 2022 - Let's Go!

[Hopkins92]

So. Many. BigSoccer. Flames. To. Say.

I'll take the win and move on.

[oacalum]

Maybe it wasn't clear, but I agree Hopkins was pretty much better all around, just too much flopping and manipulating in my opinion leaving me unimpressed! Hopkins clearly deserved to advance.

[Hopkins92]

Maybe it wasn't clear, but I agree Hopkins was pretty much better all around, just too much flopping and manipulating in my opinion leaving me unimpressed! Hopkins clearly deserved to advance.

:fist bump:
'

I can land here.

[BlueJay95]

Can anyone who was at F&M match comment on the shootout and near-brawl at the end? On the stream it looked like a few of the Dips players were talking a ton of smack to the Cortland goalie after converting their kick which seemed pretty classless. Cortland got the last laugh and one Dip lost his mind. Streaming the three shootouts at the same time was pretty wild.

[Hopkins92]

Can anyone who was at F&M match comment on the shootout and near-brawl at the end? On the stream it looked like a few of the Dips players were talking a ton of smack to the Cortland goalie after converting their kick which seemed pretty classless. Cortland got the last laugh and one Dip lost his mind. Streaming the three shootouts at the same time was pretty wild.

ETA - 2 of the 5 F*M kickers took some time to jaw at the Cortland goalie. Not really sure what the ref was doing there.

[hiyasoccer]

St Lawrence 2 Amherst 4

Sadly work interfered with my viewing in part, but I came away with nothing but respect for the way Saints play and the pro-Saints posters have every reason to be proud of their team. Nevertheless, it's not the first time Amherst has started hot and on the first goal, there were two other players who were ready to score.  The 3-0 scoreline was as much about momentum and Saints really took over about 30 minutes in and at 3-1, I felt nervous, knowing the potency of their attack. The 4th Amherst goal calmed the nerves, but everyone knew it wasn't going to finish 4-1.

4-2 not long into the second half and the Saints' tails were up and the Mammoths were pushed back.  It wasn't always pretty, but ultimately in my clearly biased view it felt like there wasn't lots of dangerous play in Amherst's area.  But of course, it only takes a moment to change that and Saints clearly have players who can unlock that particular door.  Amherst did create chances too and ultimately were rewarded for the ones they did take

Not sure what comes next and it's hard to believe we have seen the last of the upsets. 

Foul count was 26/12 and 4/3 in yellows, well above pace for Amherst.

I was on the RPI team that played Amherst in the Elite 8 in 2019 and had an eerily similar experience. I had never really seen anything like the intensity that Amherst brought to every aspect of the game. My impression of Serpone was that he was kind of an a-hole but that he had his guys firing on all cylinders and operating at their most intimidating. When we played them it was like 40 degees, pouring down rain, their grass field as essentially an unplayable mudpit, but these guys were fired up and swaggering. They had this palpable arrogance about them, like they knew they were the #2 team in the country and they were going to put us down, it was unreal. They scored their first goal and the kid did like a 15 foot knee slide right in front of our bench, and it was just over at that point.

They actually moved the game to the turf at halftime (don't get me started) and we got a goal back and arguably had the run of play in our favor the last 55 minutes or so, but I've got firsthand experience of seeing how their mentality, reputation, and intensity can catch teams off guard and get you boat-raced before you even know what hit you, even in a massively important match. I'm assuming it's a NESCAC thing, that the rivalries there are so intense and the conference is so high-quality that a) the intensity is just at peak levels and b) the top NESCAC teams come out of that conference with a certainty that they're better than anything else in the country has to offer.

Wow I totally forgot about that game, I remember watching the stream. Absolutely insane game, possibly peak Amherst/NESCAC/D3 shenanigans levels. You guys played a solid game given the situation, once the game got moved to turf you put some good pressure on. And in the first half, it was just a ridiculous situation with the field, I played something stupid like 6 games on that field in my career and it's usually bad by the end of the season, but that was another level. Combo of that and your first experience playing Amherst is a tough tough game.

[paclassic89]

Can anyone who was at F&M match comment on the shootout and near-brawl at the end? On the stream it looked like a few of the Dips players were talking a ton of smack to the Cortland goalie after converting their kick which seemed pretty classless. Cortland got the last laugh and one Dip lost his mind. Streaming the three shootouts at the same time was pretty wild.

I noted in a quick recap that at least 2 F&M kickers took their positive result as an opportunity to taunt the goalie
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Very. Douche. E.

Par for the course for F&M.  One of the most obnoxious benches i've seen this year. 

[PaulNewman]

St Olaf leads North Central 2-1 going into 2nd OT.  Impressed with both teams and winner will have a battle with GAC.

St Thomas vs Chicago will be a fascinating contrast.

[Kuiper]

St Thomas vs Chicago will be a fascinating contrast.

As I said when you asked earlier this week, St. Thomas is the team that has the best chance of knocking off Chicago of all of the CA/WA/TX teams.  St. Thomas beat Pacific Lutheran tonight 2-0, becoming the first team to shut out the Lutes this year, although a red card to one of their players one-third of the way through the second half was a significant factor in that.  Even before then, however, Pac Lutheran had gone into a shell in the first half after Taty Aleman scored for St. Thomas to record his third goal in two games of tournament action and 19th of the season in 20 games.   

The St. Thomas-Chicago game will definitely be one to watch.  Aleman, a junior, has to be getting some consideration for All American teams this year and a match against Chicago's defenders will gave him a chance to establish his credentials.

[blue_jays]

After a tight first half, UChicago showed its quality in the second half of their 4-1 win over Willamette. Naz Kabbani netted a hat trick, which is quite the feat for a DCM, but not entirely shocking as Kabbani has the best, most accurate touch on the team. Yeti also delivered a smasher off the crossbar and in on the run to break his cold streak. The Maroons are the ultimate front runners: once they score, you gotta change what you are doing/press the initiative, and that's when they score again. Their counter punch is lethal.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Several posts about officiating and quality or lack there of; most of the officials at this time of year are D1 or very high level D2/D3 with decent resumes.

However, much like national powerhouses, they too, are prone to an off day...

[MessageBoardMessi]

Williams beats Messiah on PKs.  Big keeper does his job.

Big Moments, Big Plays.  The road to the national title has to have a plus keeper/plus keeper play at the front of the bus.....it will win championships.  Williams GK made big plays, and maybe even more important -was really intimating and had a big presence in goal.  Played big during the game, and had a large presence during PKs. Messiah lacked that presence, and other than the single save, didn't really affect PK takers - and honestly didn't seem to react well to PKs taken.  Messiahs machine was fueled by scoring - and heading into PKs - it was advantage Williams

[nescac1]

Congrats to the Ephs on proving the haters wrong!  Granted, Messiah controlled the majority of the course of play, but in the end, Messiah had VERY few even semi-clean looks at the goal, so the center of the Eph defense held.  And I agree that Diffley, the big Eph goalie, (who for some reason didn't handle the shoot-out in the shoot-out that Williams lost) is a big advantage in a tie game.  He's been a monster all year and stopped an incredible four shots (well, one was missed, but still, his presence was surely felt) in two do-or-die shootouts vs. the two biggest powers in D3 soccer (Tufts and Messiah). 

Maybe it will defy expectations, but on paper, Ohio Northern and Williams seems like it should be another defensive showdown.  The two teams combined for three goals in two double-overtime games in the tourney so far and are both coming off 0-0 ties ... and since Ohio Northern is coming off two shoot-outs wins in the tourney, I can only assume they are comfortable and confident in that format, as well. 

[Another Mom]

A game with two high scoring teams (Kenyon and W&L) and a game with two no-scoring teams (Williams and Ohio Northern) in that part of the bracket . . .

[nescacfan94]

A game with two high scoring teams (Kenyon and W&L) and a game with two no-scoring teams (Williams and Ohio Northern) in that part of the bracket . . .

It begins and ends with quality in the back. Defense wins championships.