MIAC 2013

[GarbageGoals33]

GAC loses 2-1.  Pathetic result for the Gusties.  After starting out looking very sharp and scoring an early goal they decided to lay an egg.

Embarrassing.

[KICKIN95]

Would have never seen that result coming after the way GAC has played so far this season.  SJU is a mediocre team at best and had no business hanging with the Gusties, but that's the way this fickle game can be.  GAC is still in the NCAA's so maybe this will help them to re-focus.

[GarbageGoals33]

Congrats to SJU, they obviously executed their game plan to perfection.  If GAC makes the NCAA tournament and plays the way they played today surely they will get beaten by 2 goals against whoever they play.

[keeker]

worst scenario for gac:
carleton beats st oles and then loses to johnnies in penalties.
But no worries. carelton will play same defensive game and end up losing 3-0. hard to play defensive game on a small crappy field that is muddy on the corners and concrete in the middle. so looks like st olaf and gac to ncaa.

[repete]

Glad the Johnnies rejected the advice posted here about not getting off the bus ....

Not a pretty game to watch.  Despite the complaints about the SJU goals, the GAC score did not appear to be a thing of beauty .. were there really two assists there? From what I could see on my lousy office PC, the best goal was SJU's second. Coborn has a lot of quality (even if at times he tries to do too much) and picked out the guy for the header. Without replay though, it's hard to recall how loose the defense was.

As a fan, I would have preferred watching this game on an artificial surface even if it had favored the Gusties. Even so, I'm not sure the talent talent gap is as huge as the Gusties faithful want to believe. SJU has been pretty darn good the past 5 weeks.

SJU did exactly what it needed to do. Certainly GAC knew that was coming and there were ways to counter it. It just didn't.

[gustiefan04]

worst scenario for gac:
carleton beats st oles and then loses to johnnies in penalties.
But no worries. carelton will play same defensive game and end up losing 3-0. hard to play defensive game on a small crappy field that is muddy on the corners and concrete in the middle. so looks like st olaf and gac to ncaa.

I don't think GAC should have much to worry about with getting into the NCAA's regardless of who wins the MIAC AQ(although I could be wrong). If years past are any indicator, SOS plays a very significant roll in the Pool C selections. With the 2nd best SOS in the region, and a pretty strong overall record, they should get in.

The way things seem to be shaking out in other conferences, GAC not getting the AQ maybe the only way the MIAC would have a shot at getting two teams into the tourney this year...

As for today's game, I thought GAC came out strong, scored a nice goal, and then seemed to think it was going to be a cake walk and took their foot off the gas. SJU's first goal was most certainly the result of poor defending in the box by GAC. The 2nd SJU goal, on the corner kick was pretty nice.

To SJU's credit, they fought back, took the lead and never gave GAC a good look at goal, despite playing a good majority of the 2nd half in their defensive end of the field. They executed the Johnnie-ball game plan to near perfection today. Old Man Haws is probably feeling pretty proud of his son's team. Lots of Johnnie's were "getting their hips dirty" today. 

I can only hope the Gusties take this in stride, learn from this game and use it to fuel a nice run in the NCAA's. I guess its better to drop a game now than next week...

[KICKIN95]

GAC is a lock, Gustiefan04 said all that's needed when he mentioned SOS.  Their SOS is very good and haven't been blown out by anyone.  This is what the committee wants, a team that is going to give any team out there a run and possibly a loss and GAC has shown they can do it (also shown they can get beat by St. Joans, I mean Johns). 
I also agree with repete that this match would have been much different on sport turf.  The ball seemed to be hopping, bopping, and bounding on every pass attempt.  I am aware that the conditions were less than ideal, but that is where sport turf shines.  The purists such as GG will always be natural grass proponents (what are you from St Olaf?) but sport turf is more than likely the future for team north of St Louis.

[GarbageGoals33]

repete,

If yesterday was your first time watching GAC play this season then certainly you would feel the talent gap between SJU and GAC isn't very big.  GAC played their worst game of the season at a poor time.  Hopefully they are able to rebound and win a few games in the NCAA tournament. 

Any word on whether or not you will be able to travel to the first round weekend (if they make it) gustiefan?  I am down for traveling just about anywhere in the midwest next weekend.

[repete]

Fair enough.

I've seen more of STO and Carleton in recent years. And I hope whatever teams the MIAC sends go far. But seems to me that SJU's apparent rep as low/no talent thugs is getting a bit out of date. They've broadened their recruiting base and over the past two seasons have beaten all of the league's elite at least once. (OK, the YCs yesterday hurt my case a bit.)

Nonetheless, I think if you play on grass in the Upper Midwest or anywhere with nasty late season weather, you've got to be able to call up the non-beautiful game when needed. And if you're an underdog defending a lead in a one-and-out, doubly so.

The only difference between the guy calling it "park the bus" and one "getting numbers back" is the one whose team is behind. Likewise, there's not that much difference between "getting your hips dirty" and that classic "great tackle" that just about any player can recall. But then I am old school. "Old Man" Haws' father was coaching (a national wrestling powerhouse) when I was in school.

I thought the post-game comments in the GAC and  SJU recaps were hilarious. Was Haws' doing a tongue in cheek impression of Middleton with his remarks? Does Middleton get paid by each use of "lad?"

Seriously, though, after watching some of the South Atlantic region teams play this season, it's going to rough ride for any team out of the North, including Loras. York and Salisbury are stacked. Messiah will be in the mix as well. Christopher Newport could be the best team that won't make postseason in the country. Maybe the filter of webcast vs. live is misleading, but the best teams I've seen out here in the South/Mid-Atlantic are a notch above.

[GarbageGoals33]

It is hard not to have the same opinion about SJU that I had 10 years ago.  They hired the son of the former coach. I can't imagine they are very different in tactics (leading the league in yellows this season).  Coborn is the exception.  St. John's hasn't had a player with Coborns ability in a very long time.

I think the North region will fair just fine in the NCAA tournament.  The region has 4-5 teams that should be able to compete with just about anyone.  Hopefully the NCAA doesn't pair them all together in the first rounds of the tournament.  Also, I really hope the MIAC has a good showing.  Last year was poor.  St. Olaf or CarlEton needs to earn the AQ in order for the MIAC to have two teams that have the ability to make a run (at least Sweet 16). 

[repete]

Sure, SJU led in YCs this year, they've also had the one of the MIAC's cleanest recent conference seasons (3) under the new Haws in 2010.

Would love to see a North team, preferably an MIAC side, go deep into the tournament. Well, maybe not UST.

It's too bad there's not more inter-regional play. This just seems to be a very up year in the Mid/South Atlantic regions. Part of the reason was the sudden dropping of two decent DI programs (Towson and Mt. St. Mary's) in the heart of these two regions. Even if schools didn't directly benefit, the ripples went deep, affecting even the local non-scholarship JC, which was good to stay level with George Washington's varsity into the 86th minute. 

Everyone knows Messiah from the Mid-Atlantic, but Salisbury is a monster program and York, which is basically North Baltimore, are programs on the upswing and playing at very high levels. CNU won its league last year before joining the CAC. Even Frostburg would be a contender in most leagues. I could well be proven wrong, but having seen them play and knowing some of the personnel, they are very, very strong. (Disclaimer: I don't have and never had a kid at any of them.)

[GarbageGoals33]

Congrats to CarlEton on beating St. Olaf today.  Great to know that the final wonbe played on the St. Olaf field.  I only saw about 5 minutes of the game and I am interested to hear how the game played out.  If CarlEton can do everyone a favor and win tomorrow in regular time that would be fantastic.

[BradleyFan001]

Caught about 15 minutes of the game. Couldn't get too much of a read on how it was going. Rosenthal didn't score though - weird for him am I right?  Carleton ends Olaf's season 2 years in row.

I'm not going to complain about how Carleton gets no respect from people on these boards. It is to be noted that GG is a voice of reason. Sure they haven't had the best post-season runs the past 6 years but they've been there every time, just saying. I know they might not be the prettiest team (although Bartholomay is quite the looker), they get it done.

Looking forward to the nice field and great camera work at Carleton on Saturday.

[KnightRider23]

"Rosenthal will be deadly for Carleton today - mark my words. I suppose even if he isn't one of the Lund's or Skrip will tear them apart anyway."

Lolz  Good call.

Great to be back on an actual soccer field again.

[KnightRider23]

GG, game was pretty even during the first half. Olaf had the better of the play in the opening 20-25 minutes, with Rosenthal having a really good chance inside 90 seconds but he flashed his shot wide. Then Carleton dominated the final 20 mins. The Olaf keeper stood on his head with some remarkable saves to keep it 0-0 into half.

McGarrity scores six minutes into half from just outside the 18, and the Knights continue to look for a second but miss a few chances that probably would have put the game away. Oles pressed for an equalizer for the rest of the game but didn't have any real chances that troubled Neher in goal. 1-0 was definitely a fair result, and easily could have been 4 or 5 if it wasn't for the keeper having the game of his life.

Let's see how the Knights respond with a day's rest, assuming the game will still be played on Saturday.