Liberty League

[stlawus]

This board would've been very boring over the years without the opinions poured into thoughts/observations about negative or controversial behavior seen in grainy/shaky livestream recordings.

Go check out the NESCAC thread for prime examples of this, most recently retreading the aftermath of the Middlebury-Amherst elite 8 game from 2023 (or 24).

Yeah, we're going to see different opinions and it can get heated. But self-censoring due to legal concerns... I don't think I've ever heard of someone suing something over their opinion/observations on a message board.

Coordinated and targeted character assassination, sure.

I'm paranoid, so sue me! (heh)  Well in any case, it looked like to me the RIT head coach shoved a UR player.  There was a scuffle after the game ended, so the very charitable reading of the situation was that he was trying to break something up, but to me it looked like he went right after a player not involved in anything and gave him a pretty good shove.  Maybe the UR player said something, but a coach that's been there as long as he has shouldn't be doing that to say the least.

[stlawus]

Extremely cynical game by SLU. Exceptionally poor game plan, which has come to be a typical thing whenever they play on the road at Ithaca which is already a difficult place to play.  Giving up a horrible goal with a 90 seconds left that would have all but solidified their spot in the standings.  The bad habits are creeping back in, and they need to desperately change their tactics on goal kicks and set pieces. When you're playing with a target on your back you cannot put pressure on yourself by giving in to a high press when you play every goal kick short. Well deserved equalizer in the end all things considered, but Ithaca still needs to get wins as 5 draws aren't going to get you a home game.  Ithaca also will lose their top scorer for their next game due to a 5th yellow card picked up today. They played desperate today needing a result and showed their quality, but they have to do that in every game.  Schedule eases up for them a bit, but there are no easy games in the Liberty League.

SLU have exceeded the 10 win threshold for NPI purposes now (ties count as half a win) so now they can start dropping games that do not help their NPI which will be a boost.  But every team is going to be gunning for them like today and they have to make adjustments.

[stlawus]

Rambling to myself a bit here, but been running some numbers on NPI. It sounds extremely obvious but LL tournament is going to prove massive for SLU and Hobart.  Hobart winning it all should lock in a top 8 protected seed.  If SLU doesn't drop a lot of points going forward they will be very close to top 8 if they don't win the LL tournament.  Hard to imagine saying that after last year. A win today would have done more heavy lifting, but ultimately a draw is still a fair result as Ithaca could have scored more.  Just hard not to get greedy as a fan after the season they've had so far! If Ithaca wins 3 more games in the league, they will be hovering above the cut line like they are now, but a bad loss could cost them.  League can definitely get 3 teams in, just have to see how it all turns out.

[kevdog]

Couldn't agree more. Weekday away games are tough and today SLU made it even tougher. They are lucky imo that they came away with a tie. The Bombers should have scored 3 more goals as guys would left unmarked on several situations. SLU really needs to get their CB back as he doesn't only provide physicality and height but also overall calmness back there. Hats off to the Bombers as they appeared to just want it more and it showed

[stlawus]

RPI gave up a last minute goal against Skidmore earlier in the week to lose, and looked like they were going to drop more points again today against Clarkson by giving up the lead on a late goal by Clarkson, but an even later goal from RPI gets them the win.  Good turnaround for RPI this year currently sitting in 3rd place.

Clarkson has once again put themselves behind the 8 ball.  Every year they do this, always living dangerously the last 2 weeks of the season to jeopardize their playoff spot.

SLU had to play against a desperate RIT, and although they were without 2nd leading scorer Sammy Bothwell today they got back Gustav Scheibler who provided an immediate boost to the defense.  They were feeling the pressure in the first half but a great tactical adjustment by the coach resulted in a win.

Hobart and Vassar had plenty of fireworks for a 1-1 game. Standings could have a lot of changes these next 2 weeks, hopefully a fun finish for all of us degenerate spectators.

[Jcsimms]

Hobart/vassar was a fun game. Hobart ran the game, but Vassar had a good number of opportunities. Vassar's field is a postage stamp which is a bit of an equalizer.

#2 might actually come down to the last game of the season for Hobart/rpi.

[soccerfan111]

SLU had to play against a desperate RIT, and although they were without 2nd leading scorer Sammy Bothwell today they got back Gustav Scheibler who provided an immediate boost to the defense.  They were feeling the pressure in the first half but a great tactical adjustment by the coach resulted in a win.

Didn't get to watch the match and just saw the box score. Says RIT outshot SLU 10-4. Was the game pretty even or more in line with the total shots? It's a good time of the year to be able to get results in any type of game though, so well done.

[kevdog]

SLU had to play against a desperate RIT, and although they were without 2nd leading scorer Sammy Bothwell today they got back Gustav Scheibler who provided an immediate boost to the defense.  They were feeling the pressure in the first half but a great tactical adjustment by the coach resulted in a win.

Didn't get to watch the match and just saw the box score. Says RIT outshot SLU 10-4. Was the game pretty even or more in line with the total shots? It's a good time of the year to be able to get results in any type of game though, so well done.

RIT had their chances to score but could not put it away. SLU scored off a corner kick with 20 mins left in the game and then 22 seconds later.  SLU was playing without their 2nd leading scorer who brings a little excitemnent to the field.  SLU has a target on their back as everyone now wants to knock off the unbeaten team. It appeared that RIT wanted it more as they were beating SLU to every ball imo but SLU found a way to win.

[stlawus]

SLU had to play against a desperate RIT, and although they were without 2nd leading scorer Sammy Bothwell today they got back Gustav Scheibler who provided an immediate boost to the defense.  They were feeling the pressure in the first half but a great tactical adjustment by the coach resulted in a win.

Didn't get to watch the match and just saw the box score. Says RIT outshot SLU 10-4. Was the game pretty even or more in line with the total shots? It's a good time of the year to be able to get results in any type of game though, so well done.

RIT took it to them a decent bit in the first half, they had a good game plan to play wide while SLU was narrow and high. Halftime SLU widened a bit to adjust and while RIT had a chance or 2 there wasn't much in the 2nd half. If RIT plays like they did in the 1st half they would get more results, they looked quality.