The Big Dance

Started by Falconer, November 05, 2018, 03:06:33 PM

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totalfootball

Quote from: blue_jays on November 18, 2018, 07:38:55 PM
In real time, this goal was fast as hell. 3 one-touches and Lopez buried it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEh4CBLKoas&feature=youtu.be
Did anyone see the scuffle after the goal/celebrations? Multiple players from each team had to be separated by teammates, coaches, and refs. Curious if anyone was at the game or watched the stream and saw what happened or what started it?

MaturinNYC

HI all - i'm a noob here, but i've been reading the boards for a couple of seasons now, always interesting thoughts and perspectives. I'm a UofR fan, but I got inspired to post today to tip my hat to the players and fans of Messiah - your quality on the field is mirrored by your class and graciousness off of it.

A year ago our guys left your field in defeat, drained of energy but happy that they gave their best and satisfied with the fact that they played and lost a great game of soccer to a side that simply had a better game. And one year later fate brought both sides back together, with the location and result switched - the former due to the weather, the latter due to one side simply having a better game. With the stakes so high and the emotions and effort invested so big (a year of grueling preparation, and the final year for some), its easy to see how many times this scene elicits negative responses. And yet in that hard moment, the players again exchanged genuine respect and admiration. And in the stands one of your fans walked over to the Rochester parents to congratulate us on the win and wish us the best on the journey ahead. "It's not easy to beat us" he said, a simple truth that was said without boast, and that captured the moment and complimented both sides nicely. The game ideally brings out the best in us always - that's the big goal, and it's hard to get there, but your program clearly gets there a lot. And it also helps others to get there too.

Lastly, our team has a fantastic student photographer at the games, and she captured some nice shots of Messiah players - you can see and download them here:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wH1DhzT0r7CaM-3BQ5-d3PtWfWFf_Ve2?usp=sharing

Her only request is that if you post it somewhere to just give her a photo credit - Kseniya Kalaur (Instagram KKseniyaa8)
Father, club & HS coach, sometime ref and ever a fan of the game

blooter442

Quote from: MaturinNYC on November 19, 2018, 11:28:50 PM
HI all - i'm a noob here, but i've been reading the boards for a couple of seasons now, always interesting thoughts and perspectives. I'm a UofR fan, but I got inspired to post today to tip my hat to the players and fans of Messiah - your quality on the field is mirrored by your class and graciousness off of it.

A year ago our guys left your field in defeat, drained of energy but happy that they gave their best and satisfied with the fact that they played and lost a great game of soccer to a side that simply had a better game. And one year later fate brought both sides back together, with the location and result switched - the former due to the weather, the latter due to one side simply having a better game. With the stakes so high and the emotions and effort invested so big (a year of grueling preparation, and the final year for some), its easy to see how many times this scene elicits negative responses. And yet in that hard moment, the players again exchanged genuine respect and admiration. And in the stands one of your fans walked over to the Rochester parents to congratulate us on the win and wish us the best on the journey ahead. "It's not easy to beat us" he said, a simple truth that was said without boast, and that captured the moment and complimented both sides nicely. The game ideally brings out the best in us always - that's the big goal, and it's hard to get there, but your program clearly gets there a lot. And it also helps others to get there too.

Lastly, our team has a fantastic student photographer at the games, and she captured some nice shots of Messiah players - you can see and download them here:  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wH1DhzT0r7CaM-3BQ5-d3PtWfWFf_Ve2?usp=sharing

Her only request is that if you post it somewhere to just give her a photo credit - Kseniya Kalaur (Instagram KKseniyaa8)

Great story, and welcome to the boards. In reading the boards you may have noticed -- while I have always found Rochester to be a gritty and very tough opponent -- I have gone off on them a number of times due to my former perception of them being overrated by sneaking into the tournament with unspectacular records and then getting knocked out in the first two rounds. However, I gained a lot of respect for them last year when they knocked off a trio of excellent opponents -- Conn. College, SUNY Oneonta, and Amherst -- en route to the Elite 8. That was really, really impressive, not just because they beat two NESCACs and a perennial SUNY contender, but because they had to rally in two of those three games and had to save a PK (having missed a PK earlier in that game) in the last minute. One solid tournament run is just that -- one season -- but it completely changed my perception of Rochester and proved that they can handle the pressure of the tournament (they did get to the Sweet 16 in 2013 as well IIRC), a perception that was reinforced by this year's results.

Moreover, what has impressed me about Rochester is their ability to sustain these results even without headliner talent. The last real superstar that I thought UR had was Alex Swanger — although Greblick and Ben Swanger did impress at times during their careers — so when UR graduated both of them in 2017 I did not see how they would improve on their previous season. Then after Rouin — who came out of nowhere to score 14 goals after scoring three in his first three seasons — graduated, I thought for sure UR would come back down to Earth with no proven goalscorer. However, Coach Apple has proven that the Rochester system can be sustained even without headliners, and I would add that I think Ikeda has done a fantastic job leading the Yellowjackets.

As for your earlier response to my comments on the commentary, point taken — I was more or less just agitated that the color guy just didn't do much talking except for taking the PBP's thunder on big plays. That being said, I certainly don't expect every student commentator (I was one, at one point, and I would cringe if forced to listen to my basketball commentary) to be a professional.

Good luck to the Yellowjackets -- a Final 4 appearance is a testament to the great work that Coach Apple and his players have done.

Mr.Right

I was not able to catch any of the games this weekend but it seems we have a very entertaining and intriguing NCAA Final 4 next Friday morning. Since I have seen each Final 4 team play more than once this season I can predict both games will be very tight IMO. Tufts really surprised me by slamming Amherst 3-0 as Amherst had been playing very well the past few weeks. I was not surprised that Tufts smoked MSU because I had seen MSU's lack of team defending. MSU had the players to compete in that match especially in attack but their refusal to work and defend as a team meant they could only go so far riding the backs of their attackers. That is a situation where you have to question the Head Coach and his staff on their tactical ability or their ability to organize and get the most from their players. I fully expect UR to give Tufts the best game they have seen this year. UR is extremely organized defensively and is just as athletic as Tufts. UR has some gamers and that game will be as tight as a Snare Drum. I love the Frosh defender for UR who took a few weeks to get on the field but once he did he was a in mainstay. He is a tough athletic kid #27 Will Eisold who also by the looks of your pictures might have been one of the few if not the only kid not wearing gloves in 35 degree frigid weather with snow. That is a rarity these days but very refreshing. 20 years ago you would NEVER see kids wearing gloves but today it is considered part of the uniform when cold. Not a big deal but just something I notice especially if I am recruiting a kid. Just my opinion and not everyone's.


Gregory Sager

Quote from: MaturinNYC on November 19, 2018, 05:27:10 PMDifferent schools do it differently - Wash Univ. (at least last year) had a fantastic commentator

Jay Murry is the long-time broadcaster for all of Wash U's sports. He is outstanding at all of them, too.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

PaulNewman

I few loose thoughts as I wind down and out of 2018 (which is not to say that I won't try to catch the last 3 games)......

I am almost a Tufts fan....almost...

I can't recall him being talked about much (although Mr.Right might have and I missed it) but Van Brewer is more important to Tufts than I realized.  He serves the Messiah Plaza role...distributing and playmaking.  My guess is that you wouldn't think he is athlete if you saw him on the street, but he is very strong on the ball, you rarely see anyone take the ball off him, and he is crafty escaping pressure and making nice, accurate passes in tight spaces.  And then I think his sub came in...#6...who promptly banged in a goal to put Tufts up 4-0.

I think I said this before, but Tufts was the wrong opponent for MSU....Tufts was ready to play and almost seemed disappointed that MSU didn't get chippier.  I used the word 'relished' and that really fits for me in terms of how much Tufts embraced the matchup.  MSU lost that game before they even got off the bus.  And Tufts has the kind of depth where you wonder if the subs are better than some of the starters...and there certainly is no apparent drop-off in size or athleticism.  I am looking forward to how Tufts and Rochester look out on the field against each other.

I didn't want to re-quote the whole thing, but I want to endorse FW's idea about greater participation and to agree that there can be a "broad brush" effect based on a limited number of posters for a school and even often only one poster.  There are only 2-3 regular Messiah posters.  And then there are the NESCAC posters, who roughly are one per school, not counting Mr.Right and blooter who follow and comment about NESCAC, UAA and the rest of New England with volume.  Then there is the "Kenyon guy," the "W&L guy," the "OWU guy," the "North Park guy," etc, etc.  Loras has had their two primary posters in the past and Chicago seems to have a couple.  Seems like Calvin and Wheaton (Ill) have had a poster or two in the past.  It would be nice if more teams had a handful or more of posters, which would also help those of us who do have specific teams from seeming like a team spokesperson or whatever or a single target for negativity towards a particular school by association.  It's also inhibiting when you are a single poster.  I actually would have liked to say more about Kenyon, including why I think they would have embraced playing Calvin and fared well, more critique of coaching decisions, poor plays, etc.  Believe it or not, I've heard of some Kenyon folks feeling that I've been too critical to the extent that I've been referred to as a "Kenyon hater."  Anyway, more posters would help increase activity, expression of different views, etc while taking some of the pressure/focus off of individual posters.  Periodically we've had former players, especially those who have recently graduated, chime in, but they seem hesitant and generally dissipate into the ether within a few weeks or within at most a season or so.   Maybe they are just better able to move on with their lives than dirt old posters like myself, but hopefully it's not because they find the waters too unwelcoming.

Good luck to the surviving foursome.

Gregory Sager

#531
There's actually another fairly regular North Park soccer poster (Gotberg) and a couple of occasional NPU soccer posters (tjcummingsfan and Mark Erickson), but they confine their posts to the CCIW soccer board. Aside from a once-in-a-blue-moon cameo by Gotberg, I'm the only NPU supporter who ever ventures over here or to any of the other soccer boards.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Past Jumbo

I'll happily chime in more often but my bias is indicated in my name...

This Tufts team is impressive - the fact that the Bos have become a top program only 8 years after being in shambles with Ferrigno is something else.

Falconer

Quote from: MaturinNYC on November 19, 2018, 11:28:50 PM
I'm a UofR fan, but I got inspired to post today to tip my hat to the players and fans of Messiah - your quality on the field is mirrored by your class and graciousness off of it.
I'm gratified and humbled by your own display of graciousness, MaturinNYC. Deeply so. I left +K a few hours ago but didn't have a chance to respond verbally. Honestly, this type of response is the biggest reason I'm a Falcon fan. I can't take any credit whatsoever for the things that led you to say this--as I said yesterday, I was on the road all day and nowhere near Rochester, but I probably know some of the people who impressed you. I'm 100% confident that the players, the coach, and the parents (at least once they gain some experience as Falcon fans) agree that Messiah soccer is more about being someone than doing something.

I can buy into that only from a certain distance: I have no sons or relatives who've played for Messiah, I'm not close to the coaches, and I've had conversations with any of the parents only half a dozen times over the past few years. It's still wonderful to see it, even if not from very close up. It actually is true, as far as I can tell from that distance. Winning big games has become commonplace for them at this point, but winning at bigger things matters more to them: and that has been true since long before that first championship. Thank you (again) for the extraordinary kindness of sharing this impression. I hope Rochester can emulate the Falcon program on this too, as well as in finding success on the pitch. A lot of us are rooting for you the rest of the way.

Falconer

Quote from: Past Jumbo on November 20, 2018, 01:36:55 PM
I'll happily chime in more often but my bias is indicated in my name...
Pardon the suggestion, but isn't a "past Jumbo" just another name for a Mammoth?  ???

Mr.Right

Tufts Van Brewer is very skilled and plays fast with the ball at his feet which I like. He does make the engine run BUT I would still like to see an opponent stick the kid hard right out of the gates. That does not mean "a dirty foul" or going out to injure the kid at all but just keep a kid on him like glue and the minute he touches the ball then stick him hard. Easier said than done but certainly not impossible. He usually takes one touch and distributes as I rarely see him take on 3 to 4 guys in the middle of the field. Disrupt him and you will disrupt Tufts attack as long as Rojas does not pick up the slack which he is quite capable of. I think UR sits with 6 but I have not seen them play since mid October. My only issue with Van Brewer is his lack of interest in getting stuck in. It's not his job but it would be nice to know how many tackles he has this season. So to recap....

No gloves=Tough kid
Gloves=75% are Soft 25% Tough
Double Gloved=I do not want to play in cold weather. Why am I here? I guess I will play but I refuse to tackle.

Note=1st day in Massachusetts and the first 2 stores East of the Mississippi to open legal weed stores. As you can imagine lines are going around blocks to get in. 219 Million in revenue for the state but a real slow and methodical rollout is unfortunate. Anyway, maybe there is a strand that could help Van Brewer and give him confidence to stick guys.

MaturinNYC

Quote from: Mr.Right on November 20, 2018, 10:42:09 AM
UR is extremely organized defensively and is just as athletic as Tufts. UR has some gamers and that game will be as tight as a Snare Drum. I love the Frosh defender for UR who took a few weeks to get on the field but once he did he was a in mainstay. He is a tough athletic kid #27 Will Eisold who also by the looks of your pictures might have been one of the few if not the only kid not wearing gloves in 35 degree frigid weather with snow. That is a rarity these days but very refreshing. 20 years ago you would NEVER see kids wearing gloves but today it is considered part of the uniform when cold. Not a big deal but just something I notice especially if I am recruiting a kid. Just my opinion and not everyone's.
You obviously have been watching them, spot-on with your notes!  Will has been phenomenal, hard to believe that he was playing HS ball this time last year. Some bad injuries to some great kids (including his older brother, JR, and Lasha Alkhazishvili, both fantastic CBs) unfortunately opened the door, but he's been clutch since coming on. You are mistaken about the gloves thing though - 4 or 5 of our guys were barehanded, and Zach (CDM) wore the same kit he did in August. I'd love to go on a long post about the squad, but they're still playing and it's not my role to comment too much now, but i will say that "gamers" is an apt description of them all. No doubt that's true for every team that plays in late November, so we should be in for some exciting matches in Greensboro. 
Father, club & HS coach, sometime ref and ever a fan of the game

blooter442

Quote from: Mr.Right on November 20, 2018, 02:57:43 PM
Note=1st day in Massachusetts and the first 2 stores East of the Mississippi to open legal weed stores. As you can imagine lines are going around blocks to get in. 219 Million in revenue for the state but a real slow and methodical rollout is unfortunate. Anyway, maybe there is a strand that could help Van Brewer and give him confidence to stick guys.

This made me laugh so hard, although I wish I hadn't been eating lunch while reading it. When I started reading the paragraph I wondered how the heck it was relevant at all, but I got my answer by the end.

Quote from: Past Jumbo on November 20, 2018, 01:36:55 PM
This Tufts team is impressive - the fact that the Bos have become a top program only 8 years after being in shambles with Ferrigno is something else.

Have to give Ferrigno credit for having a LFC training shirt in his first Google Images result, but with that mustache my goodness does he look familiar...

Saint of Old

Quote from: blooter442 on November 20, 2018, 05:10:23 PM
Quote from: Mr.Right on November 20, 2018, 02:57:43 PM
Note=1st day in Massachusetts and the first 2 stores East of the Mississippi to open legal weed stores. As you can imagine lines are going around blocks to get in. 219 Million in revenue for the state but a real slow and methodical rollout is unfortunate. Anyway, maybe there is a strand that could help Van Brewer and give him confidence to stick guys.

This made me laugh so hard, although I wish I hadn't been eating lunch while reading it. When I started reading the paragraph I wondered how the heck it was relevant at all, but I got my answer by the end.

Quote from: Past Jumbo on November 20, 2018, 01:36:55 PM
This Tufts team is impressive - the fact that the Bos have become a top program only 8 years after being in shambles with Ferrigno is something else.

Have to give Ferrigno credit for having a LFC training shirt in his first Google Images result, but with that mustache my goodness does he look familiar...
Post of the Season shortly before the Final 4 Mr. Right!!!
From my experience the best players are normally those that are always calm in possession.

There is a Strain for everything my friend :)

Saint of Old

Quote from: truenorth on November 19, 2018, 03:25:59 PM
Yes...I find the preoccupation with "beautiful futbol" in D3 soccer to be somewhat amusing.  This is not La Liga, nor is it year around club soccer.  This is D3 soccer...featuring good, hard working athletes who play a very short regular season leading in to a high pressure "one and done" NCAA tournament.  The object is to win.  If I were a coach, I'd be encouraging athleticism, fearlessness, winning the 50/50s and strong, high pressure defense from front to back.  If you have the time to knock it around and effectively build up an attack...great...but you gotta do what you gotta do when faced with various circumstances in the moment.  And you'd better be adaptable.  It's about effectiveness and not aesthetics...
I think there is a reason they call ours the beautiful game.
I was the first or second poster to congratulate the Amherst boys for reaching the promiseland a few seasons ago.
They deserved their crown and no one can take it away from them. Ever.

I think it is an all-time debate that is maybe as old as football itself.
I prefer (as a fan) to watch a passing team with individuals who are skillful on the ball and have really quick brain speed.
I love to see a #10 make a pass that I did not see before he made it and his teammate (9/7) being the only other human that knew the play in advance and made the right run.
Total football when played by good footballers cannot be beat in my opinion.
I still think there is a place for winning, after all at the end of the day that is what survives the test of time, championships, but soccer should be played on the ground in my opinion, and is more pleasing (to watch atleast) that way.