Sweet 16

[NEsoccerfan]

Omg....I'm sorry.  If I knew that I forgot.  Thanks for mentioning.

https://www.yursfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/st-charles/justin-blake-stanko/


[/quote]

No need to apologize, PN. I was simply paying tribute to who - by all accounts - seemed like a great kid gone too soon.

[MunnyTim]

Handful of thoughts after a day of reading everyone's posts on the upcoming sweet 16.

What did Amherst do to upset the NCAA?  Top seed and have to go to blustery, cold Wisconsin!  I know nothing of the Wisconsin teams (my midwest days are far behind me) but I suspect the Mammoths will use this as motivation.

The Midd regional looks all kinds of interesting.  Midd and Babson played earlier this year and while the scoreline was 3-1 in favor of the Panthers, the final two goals were scored very late in the contest.  Add in undefeated Trinity (who dispatched NESCAC foe Bowdoin 3-0) and CMS riding the hot streak from Colorado Springs and there are some compelling matchups.

Dickinson hosting over Williams was another "snub" of the NESCAC.  Buff State had an incredible level of compete to stick with Tufts in the 2nd half and OT as the push came from the Jumbos to get the equalizer.  Ben Diffley could be the difference in this section as he is good enough to steal a result for his team.  Oh, and the much discussed Williams goal in OT was a foul - except in NESCAC land.  I am a NESCAC partisan, but that was most definitely a foul.  Frustrating for Messiah.  And yes, the Messiah GK could have played it a bit differently.

The Mary Washington regional is packed with intrigue.  All four teams play a possession style game with the ball on the ground a fair amount.  Should be entertaining and any of those four teams could get out of the bracket to Vegas.

[eaglesoccerdad]

For me there are only a few games I don't find intriguing.

The whole Amherst pod doesn't really interest me. Yes, you have the Cinderella facing the giant, and the giant has to travel, something NESCAC teams rarely do. So I guess that could be interesting. But somehow I think Amherst will be fine, and very much carrying a chip on their shoulder about being in Wisconsin instead of at home. The other game in that pod is  a rematch of a 2-0 game earlier this season. I get it's odd to have 3 UW state schools, but the games just aren't that appealing to me.

Middlebury -- CMS is just not that interesting. CMS was getting bombarded by CC and was lucky the ref called back a goal on a rough call. I just don't think they are going to have the chops, especially at Middlebury.

Dickinson -- Buff State. Buff State got the push on PKs with the big tie. Again, they were being pinned back pretty good by Tufts. Dickinson isn't Tufts, but I think they have plenty of quality and it's unlikely a team can get out of two games in a row where they are likely going to have to scramble for much of the game. Plus it's a home game for Dickinson.

More interesting:

Williams -- W&L. W&L is hard to pin down this season. Williams is probably going to carry a chip for being in PA instead of at home. W&L has had plenty of experience with NESCAC teams the last few years in the tournament. 2 OT losses, a tie (loss on PKs), and a win in regulation. They shouldn't be surprised by anything Williams throws at them. I don't know enough about Williams, and of course I'm a W&L guy, so this is mildly interesting.

Kenyon -- Conn Col. A tale of as different a 2 trajectories as you can get at this stage. Conn Col won the NESCAC tournament and breezed through their first two games. Kenyon crashed out of the NCAC in the semis, struggled to finish off a weak Spaulding team, and then took PKs to get through Hamilton. Just 2 completely different post-seasons so far. Can Kenyon get it in gear to take out a team that is obviously running hot?

Most Interesting:

Trinity -- Babson. Not a matchup you'd see as a rule. Both teams with outright wins to get here, both teams with a NESCAC win. 1 loss between them all season long. Just a fascinating match up that we likely won't see again.

Mary Washington -- Denison. Denison rolled through their first two opponents. MWC struggled to score against OWU. OWU and Denison tied earlier this year. One loss between these two teams against D3 competition. I think this could be a competitive game, but it's a bit hard to tell. Denison came into the NCAAs riding a 2-0-3 stretch. But they exploded against Anderson and pounded ONU. MWC has been fantastic all season. Can a team with a couple hot games catch them? Especially at Mary Washington?

Looks like Denison was very efficient vs ONU - 6 shots/5 SOG/4 goals

[eaglesoccerdad]

Weather this weekend
Fredericksburg - high 40/low 50s no rain
Eau Claire - mid to high 30's - no rain/snow
Middlebury - mid to high 30's - a chance of something from the sky on Saturday
Carlisle - high 40's no rain

could've been much colder in Wis/VT

[Kuiper]

Weather this weekend
Fredericksburg - high 40/low 50s no rain
Eau Claire - mid to high 30's - no rain/snow
Middlebury - mid to high 30's - a chance of something from the sky on Saturday
Carlisle - high 40's no rain

could've been much colder in Wis/VT

I imagine the CMS players and staff are training early morning this week to get ready for the time difference and the cold air.  The highs are in the mid-60s to low-70s in Claremont, CA this week, but if they train at around 7-8 am (the time for warmups and kickoff with the time difference) it will dip into the high 40s and low 50s.  Best they can do I guess.

[Ron Boerger]

And the Trinity players are just screwed.

[Hopkins92]

The weather in Wisconsin is pretty much on par with the weather in Amherst this weekend. (In the 40s.) It's not like the Northeast is balmy in late November.

[jknezek]

And the Trinity players are just screwed.

Why? They have a 1 p.m. est game at the highest seed in the pod. That's a noon game for their normal time zone and they are not the highest seed in the pod. Not sure why they are screwed? If they were the highest seed and travelled, like Amherst or Williams, I'd be more inclined to say screwed. Even if we re-ranked by NPI, they still wouldn't have hosted. 1,3,4,5, and 6 are still in the tournament ahead of them at 8.

I get that island teams often get shafted, but I don't think Trinity did this year. They hosted a pod on the first weekend, as they should have, they aren't being forced to play at their version of 8 a.m. like C-M-S. They are playing a team ranked below them in NPI.

Basically they are pretty much where they should be. Sure, re-ranking by NPI would have them playing Denison at 14 vs Babson at 10, but that's almost statistically irrelevant. If the complaint is they are in Middlebury's pod instead of Amherst, as they would be in a re-rank, you are really splitting hairs.

[Ron Boerger]

My comment was solely regarding the much cooler weather they have no chance of preparing for, which is typical when they make it to the sweet 16 and have to head northeast.  I have no issue with their draw.

[PaulNewman]

Imagine Tufts or Middlebury being 19-0-3 and getting sent to a sectional in Nebraska...and not a 19-0-3 off of a third world D3 schedule.

[PaulNewman]

There's more than a handful of teams enjoying historically great seasons in the context of their programs...MW, Midd, Denison, Buff St, Trinity, Dickinson, UWEC, Wisconsin Superior, Wisc Platteville...

[jknezek]

Imagine Tufts or Middlebury being 19-0-3 and getting sent to a sectional in Nebraska...and not a 19-0-3 off of a third world D3 schedule.

Who do you think they should be hosting a pod above? As I said, it's not like they are 5th of the remaining teams. They are 7th. Throwing out Dickinson and UW EC as hosts of convenience, not seed, that leaves Middlebury and MWC. Between them they have 1 D3 loss in the NESCAC conference title game, and that loss is to a team still in the tournament (Conn College).

You can't actually look at the two teams that are hosting based on seed and say Trinity got screwed. Now you can look at the hosting based on convenience and say Dickinson's 3 losses are unacceptable, all 3 to tournament teams and 2 of those to Johns Hopkins, or UW-EC with their one loss to tournament team and reigning national titlist St Olaf. But Johns Hopkins and St. Olaf didn't lose in the tournament, they just couldn't get enough PKs to advance.

Trinity has had a heck of a season. As have most of the team's left. Personally I think Trinity has the 4th or 5th best resume left in the tournament. I do think Middlebury, MWC and Amherst have better ones. Conn Col, maybe because of the conference title. Williams... eh, not so much. Too many losses. Wisc E.C. is pretty comparable as well. So being the second team in a pod, and travelling, is not exactly a big screw job.

[PaulNewman]

Yeah, I wasn't arguing that they got screwed and I basically agree with your analysis based on NPI. I'm more commenting on how I think I would feel if I was a Trinity fan from the perspective of many years of getting sent to New England....which is distance plus guarantee of an extremely difficult opponent on the latter's home turf. And if we're getting into nitty gritty details then compare what Trinity did to Bowdoin right after Bowdoin earned back to back draws with Tufts (one of the teams above Trinity in NPI).

[Hopkins92]

(careful with using "gyp"... Short for Gypsie which is increasingly deemed offensive.)

[jknezek]

(careful with using "gyp"... Short for Gypsie which is increasingly deemed offensive.)

You know... I've never actually put the origin of that together before, but you are correct. Edited previous post.