2023 NCAA Tournament

[Nsno9]

Windy city is living up to its name in the Calvin-Chicago match. The Knights had the wind at their backs in the first half, but Chicago weathered the pressure well and were able to get a goal to take an advantage into the intermission. Chicago was very solid defensively and Calvin also was a step off in the crucial moments in the final third. The Knights can take some solace in the fact that the deficit isn't greater, but they did have some chances themselves to even things up.

Curious to see what tactical changes Coach Souders makes in the second half. The outlet for the Knights seems to have been their outside backs who have been very involved in the build-up, but haven't been as tidy or clinical as they may have needed to be offensively. Also, when fighting the wind, some of the attempted through balls particularly from Alex White won't be as effective and some new avenues will have to be explored. As for Chicago, they will most likely continue to play physical and prevent the Knights from letting their dangermen such as Akintade and Schau from being able to carry the ball into dangerous positions, and will look to use the wind to create some confusion for Calvin's backline and get another tally.

[calvin_grad]

Akintade with a goal to tie it in the 57th minute for Calvin.

[Nsno9]

Akintade with a goal to tie it in the 57th minute for Calvin.

Looking back at the goal on the stream, I'm pretty confident that was Jacob Ryu who got the last touch from Foster Garrett's assist.

[Nsno9]

Knights ramping up the pressure. Vanderlugt with a brilliant finish but he is marginally offsides coming from a second phase set piece. A couple moments later, Ryu able to manufacture a shot from a tight angle that is just about blocked away for a corner. 10 minutes left in regular time in this one.

[Hopkins92]

Curious what you mean by second phase set piece. Back to goal set piece... I'm having trouble picturing it.

[calvin_grad]

Akintade with a goal to tie it in the 57th minute for Calvin.

Looking back at the goal on the stream, I'm pretty confident that was Jacob Ryu who got the last touch from Foster Garrett's assist.

Yep.  Box score gave the goal first to Akintade, now to Garrett, but neither of those are correct.

[Nsno9]

Curious what you mean by second phase set piece. Back to goal set piece... I'm having trouble picturing it.

Just meaning the initial ball was cleared away, defense stepped up, and then the ball was sent back in leading to the chance. It was an excellent step as any one player caught ball watching could have prevented the offsides decision.

[Hopkins92]

Ah, gotcha... Makes sense... There's some coaching jargon that talks about the phases of finishing that got me tripped up.

[Nsno9]

Yep.  Box score gave the goal first to Akintade, now to Garrett, but neither of those are correct.

Totally agree. Regardless, I have been really impressed with Garrett and his development this season. He has grown a lot in his ball retention and his dribbling instincts and it has led to some much improved performances. Still needs some work on letting the game come to him after making a long run and getting his head up a second earlier, but those skills will inevitably continue to develop.

[Nsno9]

Unreal save from Wunder with 5 minutes left on the 1v1 chance from Baldwin. Goal seemed inevitable from that position, but just turned outside of the post by a big left hand.

[calvin_grad]

Schau gets pulled down on a mini-break with 9 seconds left outside the box.  Red card for Chicago defender.  Resulting free kick goes high and we are headed to PKs.

[calvin_grad]

Heartbreak again losing to Chicago.     Thank you seniors!

[Nsno9]

Schau gets pulled down on a mini-break with 9 seconds left outside the box.  Red card for Chicago defender.  Resulting free kick goes high and we are headed to PKs.

Probably a game-saving tackle in the grand scheme. Schau was in on goal and could've won it in the last 10 seconds, and the resulting man advantage was not worth much considering the timing. Calvin bow out in penalties 5-4, and the Maroons live to fight another day. A really excellent game to watch, and the Knights showed their determination in coming back from a deficit against a strong Chicago defensive unit.

[PaulNewman]

Such a brutal way to lose.

Couple of random comments..

Chicago and Calvin both are totally on the level of top end NESCAC, which makes sense given that most acknowledge they are top 5 programs.

St Olaf has to be beat UWEC of course but I think Chicago advancing is oddly a break for the Oles if they get thru today....Calvin would be the hungrier, more desperate team and I can't recall a Calvin team ever losing in Elite 8.  Hard to explain but just think St Olaf has a better chance to get to F4 via Chicago.

Also a random thought on Ohio Northern. We forget that ONU played Williams in between the Messiah and Kenyon games...and the stats across the board were dead even.  A 0-0 game for long time until Williams got one in the 2nd half. V interesting match with Colorado Coll as both are riding ton of momentum.

[PaulNewman]

Calvin bowing out is also instructive when evaluating other teams regarding tourney success and lack thereof.  That is a truly excellent team with stars who have lost in 2nd round and failed to advance in Sweet 16 back to back years. And one could also ask why Calvin and Chicago were playing each other in the Sweet 16.