First of all, I would like to thank everyone associated with this forum. This is just a quick perspective from a D3 soccer parent. My son has just completed his D3 soccer career at Ohio Northern University and it was a great run (3 NCAA Tournament appearances!). However, that was not the best part of ONU experience. Four years ago I started listening to the SimpleCoach podcast. It seemed that every coach he interviewed said that one of the best things about playing D3 soccer is that your teammates remain your friends for life. My son has become life time friends with some great young men. More importantly, he is leaving ONU with a degree and job in Civil Engineering. Through this experience we have met a lot of great parents who took care of my son when we could not travel to Ohio. I am sure that these are the same experiences that D3 players and their parents enjoy across the county. My message to the parents of young soccer players is do not discount D3 soccer, as it has its advantages over D1 programs both on and off the pitch. 

The biggest problem we have now is that we will not know what to do with ourselves in the fall. Lastly, JCU why did you leave the OAC? It was such a great rivalry. Sorry about the long post.

John Carroll bids farewell to the OAC after dropping a 0-1 decision to Capital in the conference tournament. Otterbein also advances with a win over Wilmington.

ONU also plays Rose-Hulman.

The Ohio Northern Polar Bears open the fall season with Kenyon followed by Oberlin, Hope, Calvin, Ohio Wesleyan, Colorado College and UTD (games in Colorado), Washington (Mo.) and Greenville.

United Soccer Coaches College Rankings are an indicator of week-to-week status of qualified programs and in no way should be used as a guide or indicator of eligibility for championship selection.

The Coaches College Rankings is a poor predictor of a team's quality. They even say so (see above)

(Paul Newman quote) "Btw, the other element missing in the Messiah critiques....maybe Ohio Northern is pretty good (speaking of teams with back to back Sweet 16 appearances)."

I was at the game and P.N. is correct in that ONU deserves the credit for this win. For those who are contending that Messiah soccer is not what it once was, they seem to forget that they were unbeaten in over 40 games. If those same individuals would have watched the game against Baruch (I know it was Baruch), they would have said they were spectacular--and they were. I understand that they were missing a key player, but at this point in the season a lot of teams are dealing with injury issues. A couple of ONU starters played limited minutes due to injuries. I think two factors contributed to ONU's win. First, their SOS prepared them for tournament play, and secondly there back five played an excellent game. 

Sorry about the long post, but as noted before ONU deserves credit for the win. Sometimes a team looks bad because the other team made them look that way.

ONU Polar Bears win in PKs over Lynchburg. Messiah tomorrow.

I have not problem with UST field players trying to slow down the game by laying on the field. This happens at the highest levels of soccer. On the other hand, I have a huge problem with the stalling tactics of the goalkeeper. Some keepers seem to want to emulate the antics of E. Martinez (Argentina/Aston Villa). My thought is that he should have been warned and then issued a yellow card.

Regarding TLU, one has to remember that it was their keeper who decided to walk the length of the pitch and headbutt an opposing player. His actions (and the loss to Southwestern) are what cost them a bid to the dance.

it is just my opinion, but I believe Otterbein has a good chance of jumping ahead of John Carroll in the final regional rankings. In the latest regional rankings Otterbein was just one place below John Carroll. Otterbein should get a bump in the SOS. Lastly, I think it would be difficult to put JC in front of Otterbein. Otterbein finished first in the conference-JC fourth. Otterbein also beat JC in both the regular season and in the conference tournament. JC's win over OWU will not mean as much in the final ranking. JC's loss and Otterbein's win over Denison will also be important.

ONU beat Otterbein 3-1.

Otterbein and ONU win in PKs. Should be a great final.

Thank you for clearing this up.

The ONU win over Trine occurred back in September.

If I am not mistaking ONU should have 3 wins against ranked teams as Trine is now ranked. Am I correct? Thank you.

The seeding for the OAC Conference Tournament are set:

1) Otterbein 8-0-1
2) Ohio Northern 7-1-1
3) Mount Union 6-2-1
4) John Carroll 6-3
5) Capital 4-4-1
6) Marietta 4-5