2023 NCAA Tournament

[Kuiper]

St. Olaf 1 - Amherst 1

Hakeem Morgan equalizes off a shot that Landa gets to touch to in the 62nd minute after Amherst scored in the 49th.

With Amherst having some injury difficulties, this is getting interesting

[JEFFFAN]

Anyone care to comment on Amherst getting absolutely screwed by that non-call on the goalie grabbing the ball outside of the box?

[stlawus]

No

[paclassic89]

They're even on no-calls now after the handball missed call in the semis.

[Another Mom]

Anyone care to comment on Amherst getting absolutely screwed by that non-call on the goalie grabbing the ball outside of the box?

It's how the cookie crumbles. Amherst benefitted from a hand ball noncall in the W&L game.

[NEsoccerfan]

Anyone care to comment on Amherst getting absolutely screwed by that non-call on the goalie grabbing the ball outside of the box?

After Olaf got screwed by the no-call on #8 clearly getting pulled down in the box for a PK 10 minutes earlier...nah

[kevdog]

Nice goal by St Olaf

[FBALLISLIFE]

Anyone care to comment on Amherst getting absolutely screwed by that non-call on the goalie grabbing the ball outside of the box?

Sure, I'll have a go.  The lines are part of the areas that they mark, so unless you can definitively say that ball was entirely over the line, it is considered inside the area.  As a neutral... ok, semi-neutral... I'm not sure we have the angle to say that.  The goalkeeper's feel were outside, but the ball seemed less certainly out in the brief look I had at it.   The referee was accidentally in the right position to see it, so I'm going with him.  I'll also say, as a referee, that you don't make that call unless you are 100% sure of it. 

[Kuiper]

St. Olaf 1 - Amherst 1

Hakeem Morgan equalizes off a shot that Landa gets to touch to in the 62nd minute after Amherst scored in the 49th.

With Amherst having some injury difficulties, this is getting interesting

First OT:

St. Olaf 2 - Amherst 1

McCloskey scores off a great pass by Bechtel to take an early lead in the first OT.

[Kuiper]

Anyone care to comment on Amherst getting absolutely screwed by that non-call on the goalie grabbing the ball outside of the box?

Sure, I'll have a go.  The lines are part of the areas that they mark, so unless you can definitively say that ball was entirely over the line, it is considered inside the area.  As a neutral... ok, semi-neutral... I'm not sure we have the angle to say that.  The goalkeeper's feel were outside, but the ball seemed less certainly out in the brief look I had at it.   The referee was accidentally in the right position to see it, so I'm going with him.  I'll also say, as a referee, that you don't make that call unless you are 100% sure of it.

I thought the GK touched it outside the box at first view, but not as clear after the replay.  The announcer was wrong in saying that if the GK had both feet outside the box than he couldn't have possibly touched it in the box.  My view was that he caught it as he was veering his body and pulling it back into the box, so it is possible that it was at least partially on the line when he caught it, which is enough to keep it in.  But that's with replay and the ref has to make the call in real time and the AR is not in a great position to help because he is even with the last defender.  I wouldn't have objected if it had been called a handball outside the box, but I could see the non-call. 

[Kuiper]

Perez replaces Landa in goal for Amherst, which is a crazy tough position to put a backup GK, especially with CB Clark-Eden already out with an injury a  few minutes before

[mngopher]

The new Amherst GK just stepped a good foot outside the box on his first punt. Hard to tell exactly where the ball was so no complaints here, but it was just as questionable as the one on the Ole keeper earlier.

[Kuiper]

The new Amherst GK just stepped a good foot outside the box on his first punt. Hard to tell exactly where the ball was so no complaints here, but it was just as questionable as the one on the Ole keeper earlier.

That's a good point, although same for the St. Olaf keeper on a few punts.  Refs let those go so often that goalkeepers are appalled when it is ever called (like against Guzan in one game for the USMNT)

[camosfan]

I mention in an earlier post that the quality of the Refs is very poor in the league, and people were asking me elaborate.

[jknezek]

So I finally got home really late last night, and I'm sure very few people will care about my thoughts on Amherst-W&L at this point, but I'd rather get them out.

First, Amherst was dominant in the first half. They won almost every 50/50 ball, controlled the midfield, especially from circle edge to edge, and the only thing that kept W&L in the game was a great save by Joseph and another very good save by Joseph.

Second, once the second goal went in, W&L changed. They went from playing tight to realizing that it no longer mattered and they just needed to go for it. All of a sudden they started to win the 50/50s, they started to control the midfield. For example, McCarty in the second half and both OTs was everywhere breaking up plays and starting combinations, where in the first half he was harder to find. W&L simply imposed themselves on Amherst and the goals felt inevitable. Frankly, a third goal in overtime felt inevitable as W&L put the wood to Amherst.

Third, the change in the game was helped by Amherst starting to lay back a little more after the second goal and then visibly tightening up after W&L's first goal. While they still had chances, thanks to their style which I'll get to in a minute, they were being pushed harder and harder and they did not respond well at all in my opinion.

Fourth, Amherst's style makes my eyes bleed. It combines the worst of all aspects of American soccer historically. The fact that it works is a constant reminder of why American soccer continues to be played this way. I remember being pulled from games at 12 years old by my father, who learned about soccer watching VHS tapes and barely knew the difference between a soccer ball and a beach ball, for simply hoofing the ball down the field for strikers and wings to chase. What makes it even worse is they clearly have plenty of extremely talented players who can string passes together and make short runs and combinations, they just have zero interest in playing that way.

Fifth, W&L tried to out ugly Amherst in the first half. Or they just were so tight they couldn't string any passes together and constantly kicked short balls into or off of defenders. It was not pretty.

Sixth, Amherst is big, strong, fast and physical. The ref was extremely consistent in the game he called, and that game allowed Amherst to just plow through players way more than I would have liked. W&L's McCarty's yellow for simulation (edited: I thought  it was him but his yellow was for something else) was deserved, but it made me laugh given the 6 or 8 times W&L players were actually plowed or tossed or wrestled and were not given a call. But the ref set that tone early and he kept it pretty much through the whole game, so it was up to W&L to adapt. The ref seemed to me determined to not make the game about him, and I think he did a very, very good job of it, at the expense of allowing Amherst to play how they wanted to play.

Seven, I have criticized Amherst's antics in the past. I'm going to applaud them for this game. I saw very, very few. The celebration after both goals was fine in my opinion, and after the penalty kicks, and after the game, and I saw very little from the bench or coaches like I have seen in other games. I know a poster or two has commented about things, but I truly did not see it. The first goal was an absolute banger. That player should be proud of the strike he put on the ball.

There was a huge contingent of W&L students there and they were vocal. 60% of it was positive for the Generals, 40% of it seemed like heckling. Of the heckling, I only heard a few things from the W&L crowd I thought was over MY line, and it usually involved a curse word. It also was only a couple people, and other students near them usually told them to chill and pipe down. So for the size of the crowd, I thought it was ok.

I thought the Amherst team handled the heckling as they are supposed to. They simply didn't react in any appreciable manner. The only reaction I saw was after one PK make who turned to the crowd. And I'll simply say this, the PKs were taken at the W&L end. You either turned to the crowd or you turned to W&L's bench. He had to turn one way or the other. He celebrated as he turned and I wouldn't begrudge him that celebration as the crowd had been on him all night when he was on that end calling him short and other mild taunts. He earned his rather muted reaction and I have no problems with it.

After celebrating, at their end in front of their fans, many Amherst players consoled the W&L players they knew or marked. Frankly I give them high marks for sportsmanship. So while I've criticized them in the past, I am willing to applaud them today. As for Amherst fans, I heard some stuff from them I thought was borderline just like I heard from W&L's fans, but none of it on either side touched on the major no-nos of race or sexual preference. I talked with several Amherst fans and parents before and during the game and had nothing but positive interactions.

Eight, the PKs. There just isn't much to say. They were ugly. I ran bleachers the one time I ever sent a PK high and, even though I made it, my h.s. coach was furious when any of us did it. It was automatic bleachers. I never had a single coach who thought attempting to send a PK high was a good idea. So I don't know if it was nerves, or weather, or just something that seemed a good idea at the time, it was a very bad set of PKs pretty much all-around. Just way more bad for W&L.

Finally, it wasn't the prettiest soccer game I've ever seen. I'm not sure I could ever say that about a game Amherst plays with their current style. But it was hard fought and fun to watch. Amherst had the better of the first 50 minutes, W&L had the better of the rest, and while I wish the Generals had progressed, a tie was a fair result.

W&L is now 1-2-1 against the NESCAC (yes the game is officially a tie), and I hope they will continue to progress in the tournament and get chances to even that record up. I appreciate the season from the Generals, and I very much appreciate all the posters, parents, players, and fans I got to meet on this trip. Finally, I want to thank the student athletes, without their sweat and effort and love for the game we wouldn't have this unique little corner of the internet to play in.

Edited to correct the yellow card for simulation