Women's OAC 2014

Started by woacfan, July 29, 2014, 11:10:54 PM

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woacfan

"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

CrusaderNation

Great honor and great young woman... certainly a source of pride for your Blue Flashes!  Hope they have a great year.... except when they play Capital of course!

woacfan

Any predictions for 2014 CN?
I don't see anyone challenging your Crusaders for the top spot this year.  I always think Otterbein is a threat.  After that,  it could be anyone. 

Thoughts?
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

woacfan

http://www.oac.org/sports/wsoc/2014-15/NSCAA_Preseason_Poll

First,  Congratulations Crusaders!
On the other hand,  I think it is a little insulting.  Capital made it to the semi-finals last year.  I watched most of those games.  Washington University had trouble solving Maggie Donellen in the first half, but in the second half Capital played some great ball.  The pre-season polls always favor the "insiders", but Capital has had a nice program for a number of years now.  I think they deserved to be ranked higher.
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

CrusaderNation

Thank you for your kind words WOAC.  I think the preseason polls normally do favor the usual suspects, so, in a way I think Capital might be finally making some inroads after earning 5 NCAA Tournament wins in the past three years.  However, the last three years are hardly enough to put Capital in the conversation with the heavyweights.

That said the OAC is going to be very interesting this year.  Otterbein probably has the inside track based on the number of players they are returning and the fact they have the head start of a foreign trip.  They also have a couple transfers who should strengthen the attack.  But, the rest of the conference, Crusaders included, have some talent on paper but not a great deal that is battle tested.  I imagine the same pack (Capital, ONU, JCU & BW) will be trying to see if their youngsters can compete with the Cardinals experience... we will just have to see how it plays out!


woacfan

#5
I guess there wasn't a coach's poll this year.  Here is the link to the OAC pre-season conference prediction based on last year's standings......

http://www.oac.org/sports/wsoc/2014-15/releases/2014_Soccer_poll.pdf
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

CrusaderNation

Difficult conditions for the Crusaders this weekend but the young squad showed some grit.  Two games in 24 hours with the second coming against a fresh team is a big undertaking.  Add to that the fact the Crusaders witnessed a horrific crash involving an Amish buggy and a mini van, which included fatalities, just ten miles from their game, and then had to focus on the task at hand vs a rested team and the wins are sound.  Looks like the youngsters might be OK this season (six freshman started).

Your Blue Flash had a crazy weekend it appears.... was the Centre game just something weird and the Transy game more like what they expected?

woacfan

CN,  that is a horrible story.  So sorry to hear about the accident on the team's travels.
Sounds like the Crusaders are off to a good start though.

The Streaks had their ups and downs this weekend.  A lot of young players in the line up.  Centre looks very, very good this year.   Today the team settled down and got a quality win.

  John Carroll always starts off slow, so its hard to gauge the significance of the Centre game.  Let's just say,  it will be a long year if there are a lot of those!  But, give the ladies credit,  they pulled it together today and salvaged the weekend. 

The JCU schedule strikes me as weird this year.  They have games stacked up a few days apart and then over a week off during the season.  Hard to tell how that will impact them.

ONU was the only other OAC winner today.  Otterbein plays tomorrow.
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

woacfan

#8
JCU looked rough today.
They held on for two long regulation halves after being badly out-shot and out played.
Then, in overtime, like a prize fighter who has "hung around too long", they suddenly came to life and had the better of the opportunities (if not possession).
However, with only 1:23 to go in the second overtime, the Gators slashed through the JCU defense who stood motionless and in shock.   The shot rolled slowly into the net ending the game.

The JCU keeper was excellent again today.  Hopefully,  this is JCU's usual slow start and the pieces come together for them.
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

woacfan

Rough weekend for the OAC.  Allegheny marched through the conference like Sherman marched through Georgia.  It wasn't exactly a great weekend for the conference teams that played other opponents as well.  Here's hoping things get better this week!!!
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

woacfan

JCU is off this weekend.  Anyone have any thoughts or insights on the OAC matchups for this week?
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

CrusaderNation

This week was another snap shot of a conference that is not quite at the level we would like the OAC to be.  Our Crusaders are still struggling to find an identity and personality and across the board the rest of the conference fell short.  Seems like heading into the conference games there will be alot of similar teams and it will just depend on who is hot at the end of the year.

woacfan

#12
You know, Muskingum has raced out to a 5-0-1 record.  They're kind of a dark horse.  I agree that the conference seems a little out of sync to start the season, but all of the "big" teams are still in the hunt.   Unlike other years,  I don't think we'll see any dominant teams and it may lead to an interesting month of October. 

Like you,  I was hoping we'd see the conference progress again this year.  I think there were a number of talented young women in the OAC over the last few years and it made the conference better than the limited recognition it received.  Unfortunately,  this season looks like a step back.  Its early though.

JCU has been slow to start the last few years. They play Hiram this week, which usually is a trap game for them.  If they want to be good they have to beat Hiram, but Hiram always has a pretty decent side.  They play Case Western in a few weeks.  If they could play with Case it might be a sign that they are coming to life. Case has beaten them 3 of the last 4 years.  Last year's loss to Case was the low point of the JCU season and started their improbable come back.

At the very least,  there seems to be a lot of parity in the conference.  It may make for interesting conference play, even if there is only one team going through to the dance.   
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

woacfan

Kind of quiet here lately.  I have to say the JCU schedule doesn't help.  They've had huge swatches of down-time the last few weeks.  They play Wooster tomorrow.  After an up and down start they seemed to be getting some consistency and have balanced goal scoring from some young players as well as the veteran forward.  This game might be a litmus test of their quality as we close in on conference play.
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

woacfan

The Blue Streaks pulled a little bit of an upset over Wooster tonight.  2 to 0.  Wooster was a little unlucky getting an "onw goal" on a mis-hit clearing shot in the early minutes of the contest.  They carried the play for most of the first half.  However,  the Blue Streaks put in a strong performance in the second half and scored on a great shot by Akerly.  Their next test is a large one: cross town rival Case Western.  We'll see if the ascent continues or if the next one pulls them back to earth.  After a really bad opening weekend at Transylvania, the Streaks have slowly put some consistent performances together.  Not sure if they are talented as in the past, but they have been playing smart defense and have just enough offense to win recently. 
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough