Women's OAC 2014

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

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CrusaderNation

Mike has done a great job since he got there helping them improve throughout the year.  Case was a good team and it was a fun scrimmage to watch at Capital during preseason.  Should be a good test. 

The Crusaders are pretty clear now where they stand after facing #4 Carnegie Mellon (0-1) and #5 Emory (1-3).  Players on the field are capable of competing but simply have not seen the consistency in goal that they need to be successful on a bigger scale.  That said, it still may be enough in the OAC this year with struggles all around against better teams.  On the good side though the OAC seems to be winning over the softer teams so that is encouraging that although down a bit we are not sliding too far.

One week to go and we will see what matters!

woacfan

#16
He has.
The Streaks held CWRU to a scoreless draw yesterday evening. At points they seemed to be hanging on for dear life. However, in the overtime they came to life. They almost scored one in during the closing minutes of the game. Case has always given them fits, so not a bad result.  Following up on your comments Crusader,  I would say Mike has really done a good job of putting his team in a position to win this year.  They may not be as talented as in the past, but they seem stout on defense and their keeper is keeping balls out of the net.
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

woacfan

#17
Conference play starts this weekend

Here are my predictions/guesses:

JCU at Ohio Northern.   JCU hasn't looked great, but has been stingy on defense.  ONU has not been up to form.  However, they recently upset Thomas More.  I think it will be low scoring, probably 1 to 0 in favor of ONU.  The earlier ONU scores the more likely they will win.  If they let the Streaks hang around, anything can happen.
     
Wilmington (Ohio) v.   Marietta   1:00 PM  - Wilmington 3, Marietta 0.  Coach Blasius continues the rebuilding at Marietta.  Her team is off to a slow start, but perhaps she bring them on in the regular season.  Wilmington is always feisty.  I think its Wilmington on Saturday. 
   
Baldwin Wallace  v.    Muskingum   3:30 PM- BW is down and Muskingum is up.  Muskingum hasn't faced top ranked opponents, but 7-1-1 has to count for something. BW is better than their record though.  I say 2-2.

Mount Union  v.   Capital   4:00 PM  -This may prove to be a serious match up.  Mount Union has had a relatively easy schedule, but still is impressive at 7-2.  Last season,  MU started to look good at the end of the season.  The question is whether they will be able to take the next step.  Capital is down this year, but is always well coached and is almost a guaranteed contender.  Let's say Crusaders 3, MU 2.

Sunday -  Red Card Cancer Game   

Heidelberg   Otterbein  - Otterbein will prove to be too much for Heidelberg.  Otterbein 3, Heidelberg 1.

Anyone else want to take a shot at predicting Saturday's games?




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

CrusaderNation

Hard to argue with your reasoning, but, here you go!

JCU v ONU - Tie or JCU 1-0.... they just seem to have ONU number?
WIlmington wins
BW Wins
Otterbein Wins

... as for the Crusaders not sure if they are "down" losing to #3 Carnegie Mellon 1-0 and #4 Emory 3-1 in GA for 2 of their three losses?  But, it will be interesting to see how all the young players Cap is counting on handle the OAC opener with high expectations... Going to Cap win........ but no idea on score!

CrusaderNation

As I said... JCU seems to have ONU number... 1-0 win at ONU.  BW won as expected, huge upset with Marietta knocking off Wilmington... still expect Otterbein to win this evening.

In terms of the Crusaders it was a dominating performance!  Allowed a total of 6 shots for the game and kept the ball for probably 70 minutes of the game.  If they had not missed two sitters the score would have been even worse!

Interesting first week when you see ONU & Wilmington at the bottom of the OAC standings!

woacfan

Watched the JCU-ONU game and it was probably the best Blue Streak performance this year.   The score could have been higher.  They hit one off the post and had one slow-rolling toward the net to be stopped.  They controlled the shorts and possession, which they hadn't done earlier.  It was an encouraging game.

Also caught a bit of the Capital Game.  The Crusaders looked very good.  I guess their strategy of playing top opponents in September is paying dividends.  They looked very, very good from what I saw.

Coach B got a big upset win for Marietta.  It was their first of the season! What a time to get a win!

I agree with you Crusader,  I think it will be Otterbein tonight. 
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

CrusaderNation

WOAC... what happened to the Streaks last night?  3-1 is a surprising score considering how well they have been playing?  Was Otterbein that good, the Streaks just off or a combination of both?  Details!

woacfan

#22
Hi CN,  First,  great win for the Crusaders last night.  Do you have a game report for that contest?

Truthfully,  I haven't been completely sold on the Streaks this year.  Their W/L was pretty good, but they seem to be missing some key pieces.  First,  they still have talent up top and in net, and some good younger players, but lack the depth of the last few years.  I think that may be true across the conference and perhaps much of Division 3 this season.

That being said, I'm not seeing the hustle and grittiness that has been their trademark since I've watched the program.  Its no secret that JCU likes to build an attack through their passing game.  Otterbein was aggressively attacking their horizontal passing game which required the Streaks to adjust.  One way to adjust would be to come back to the ball, which the players refused to do.  They gave up on alot of 50/50 balls.  They didn't look for vertical passes. Pass accuracy was poor.  The first half was hard to watch.

In the second half, they looked better.  They actually drew even with Otterbein for a while.  However,  they didn't close down the Otterbein attack. Otterbein is pretty good attacking from wide and had some beautiful crosses last night.  They actually rang two balls off the metal; one of those might have been a goal, but was not called by the AR.

One interesting thing about Otterbein, which is always well coached, is that they only committed 3 or 4 players to the attack.  Their back line never ventured into the attacking third.  At times there were huge gaps between the attacking players and the Otterbein defenders.  Normally, I would think that would be a sign of an ill prepared team, but their attack is very good.  It makes it very hard for a team to have a quick counter because they never committed their defenders high.

The Streaks go to Wilmington next, which may be a test of character.  Hopefully,  they get a little fired up for this one.

Finally,  JCU has always struggled with Otterbein.  They haven't beaten them since 2002!  We usually rely on Capital to eliminate them from the playoffs for us!
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

CrusaderNation

Muskingum was a typical game played on that tiny field!  Final stats showed Musk with 0 shots on goal and a very generous 6 shots for the game.  But, to their credit they compacted what little space was there and the Crusaders had a hard time breaking through.  That is the difficulty this time faces as it is better overall but has lost the one single go to player.

I hear you about Otterbein having JCU number.  Seems like JCU has ONU's number and ONU has Caps number.... the entire conference is rather bland this year so it will be a day to day process I am fairly sure.  The one who makes the least mistakes will probably be playing come November!

woacfan

#24
Marietta earns a tie with JCU... They really wanted this one and caught the Streaks napping!  It must really hurt for the Streaks.  In an extremely tight Division to tie the last place team is tantamount to a loss.  Further, the Streaks now run into the teeth of their schedule: @BW, Capital and @Mount Union.   Hard to see them winning any of those based on their recent performance, which has shown a lack of heart.  Marietta consistently beat JCU to the ball.  Undoubtedly, they wanted revenge for last year's drubbing...A lot of personal battles being fought out there today.

On a related note, Cap lost to ONU... That surprised me because the Crusaders seemed to be hitting their stride.  Any thoughts on the game CN?  Looks like the Polar Bears scored early and hung on.  Crusaders had a 9-1 shot advantage in the second frame. 

BW, who didn't look like much at the start of the year stands at 5-0 in conference play.  Very impressive.  They've always been one of the top teams, but have not had a breakthrough year recently.  This may be it.  Streaks better not be sleep walking in that match. 

Speaking of the JCU v. BW match,  hope the OAC puts their best officiating crew on the game.  Too often, that game gets out of hand.  Last year the JCU captain took a helicopter spin face first into the turf. Both teams will be chippy in that game.  The crowd gets rowdy.  That's one that should be called closely to start.  Otherwise, they'll be handing out cards.
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

CrusaderNation

Was a bit surprised by the Marietta v JCU score .... one goal could have been a fluke, but, two goals and a 2-0 lead is a quandary!

In terms of ONU it was one of those games where Cap made a mistake early and then no matter how hard they tried could not find a way to goal.  ONU only passed half field in possession a hand full of times the entire second half, but, Capitals attack has struggled lately.  Full credit to ONU for managing the game.

In terms of BW they've done well to start but have not played a single one of the better teams.  So, we will see where they lay after the next two weeks.  That said, Cap needs to win out and have BW beat Otterbein (only real obstacle left for them) if they hope to have home field in the tournament.

woacfan

#26
Another tie for the Streaks...This time against B-W.  Given the dominance of B-W in possession and shots,  JCU will be happy with the result.  They played with more heart tonight, but the passing wasn't crisp.  Look for that to improve if they have any hope against Capital or Mount Union.   I'd call the Streaks underdogs in both matchups.

Wilmington almost, almost, almost upset Otterbein tonight.  They lost in double overtime 2 -1.  They outshot Otterbein 10 to 5.     
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

CrusaderNation

The Streaks and Crusaders are both in must win situations on Saturday night... not to mention BW & Otterbein will be battling for the opportunity to be in the drivers seat for #1 seed.... should be high drama all around!

woacfan

That horrific tie against Marietta is going to end up costing the Streaks I fear.  I don't think Saturday's game will even be close.  I predict Cap. 4, JCU 0.  They don't have the talent to match the Crusaders.  If they don't play with maximum grittiness for 90 minutes the game will be over quickly. 

As for Mt. Union and B-W,  I have no guess on that one.  That could go either way.

The Streaks would drop significantly with a loss to Cap.  I think their playoff chances will rest on the results of their game versus Mt. Union.
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough

woacfan

#29
As usual,  I was way off the mark.  The Blue Streaks beat Capital with less than a minute to go in the second overtime period.  It was one of the most exciting contests I've been to in a long time.  Capital was a technically superior team for much of the game.  They slashed huge gashes into the JCU defense at times.  Their set pieces were magnificent. The first set piece that resulted in a goal for the Crusaders is something I will remember for a long time.  It was beautifully executed.

Unfortunately for the Crusaders (and to the benefit of my Streaks) they couldn't finish.  Sometimes it was keeper McDonald making a great save. Sometimes it was a defender stepping it at the last second, and sometimes it was just an errant shot.

The Streaks, who were held to their defending third for much of the game,  would generate offense at opportune times.  The team that never showed up for the Marietta game and was seriously uneven against B-W played with the grittiness they'd been lacking. 

I still think that the Crusaders have more depth and talent.  I suspect we'll test that hypothesis in a few weeks.   

Otterbein beat B-W tonight.  That gives them a big edge in home field for the playoffs.   
"We talk about it for 20 minutes and then we decide I was right" - Brian Clough