Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[kansas hokie]

Trinity will still be in line to host 1st two rounds as it goes in as a tie. Anywhere from 8-10 seems likely, I have them at 58.84 after the loss which would have been 9 today.

[Kuiper]

Southwestern 3 - Centre 0 (79th minute)

This one could be described as closer than the score, since Centre has definitely had its chances and forced the Southwestern keeper to make strong saves and interventions on several occasions, but ultimately Southwestern is just too strong for Centre.

[Kuiper]

FINAL:  Texas Lutheran 2 - LeTourneau 0

TLU breaks open a tight 0-0 game at the half with a goal in the 52nd minute and then adds an insurance goal in the 89th minute to seal the game.

The top two teams in the SCAC this season - Colorado College and Texas Lutheran - advance to the championship game

[Kuiper]

SCIAC Championship game preview

Redlands @ Occidental at 7:30 PM Pacific

Two traditional SCIAC powers that started out the season poorly turn things around and end up back in the championship game for a re-match of the 2023 Championship game where Oxy beat Redlands 3-0.  According to the box score, that match had 4,200 in attendance.  Redlands fans typically travel well and Occidental has an all out push to get people to come to the game.  They even filmed a promo for the game on Instagram with Oxy President Tim Stritikus out at the stadium encouring fans/students to attend.  I doubt they will get anywhere close to the attendance of the 2023 game, but it still should be a good atmosphere.

The last time these two faced each other this season was over a month ago on 10/4 at Oxy when Occidental beat Redlands 3-0.  That was a different Redlands team though.  Redlands was coming off a loss to CMS and a tie to Cal Lutheran - the two teams that finished at the bottom of the SCIAC table - and Zach Darmanyan, who had scored in the Bulldogs last victory before going down with injury, was not available for the Oxy game.  Redlands only had 1 shot on goal the whole game against Oxy and that was credited to the Redlands goalkeeper. I've found that Darmnayan has been the difference maker for the team this year.  They simply didn't have a balanced offensive attack or room for the offense to maneuver, while he was out of the lineup in the middle of the season.  Since he's been back, the team has gone on a 7 game unbeaten streak and 6 game winning streak (6-0-1) to close out the season and start the SCIAC tournament, partly because of Darmanyan's return and partly because younger players got experience while he was out and now provide more quality depth.

It's also not the same Oxy team, though.  The last time the two teams played Oxy was pretty inconsistent. You didn't know what team you were going to get from game to game.  They blew out some teams and were powerless against others.  Oxy is on a 4 game winning streak where they have averaged 3 goals per game and they are coming off a 4-1 thrashing of La Verne.  SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year Devin Bening has had 3 goals and 3 assists during that stretch. 

The one worrying sign is the Oxy goalkeepers.  The starter for the first seven games of the season isn't even on the roster anymore. His replacement, Carlos Abram, who was a SCIAC Defensive Player of the Week in early October, is either injured or was benched.  Abram's replacement, Sammy Gramlich (Jr), who played his first collegiate games this season and did pretty well in two starts, was then replaced by another Junior, Casey Scott, who had only played 15 minutes before this season and was given a start against CMS where he gave up 3 goals, before heading to the bench again in favor of Gramlich.  Then, Scott started again in the SCIAC semifinals against La Verne, gave up a goal, and was pulled at halftime for Gramlich.  I'm a fan of giving more than 1 goalkeeper legit game action during the season so you aren't caught playing someone for the first time in a high importance situation, but Oxy seems just plain unsure about who is their starting goalkeeper.  I don't know if its because of injury/personal situations or form, but it's not ideal to be that unsettled at such an important spot this late in the year.  On the other hand, if Oxy keeps scoring 3-4 goals a game, it might not matter much.

[Kuiper]

Drama in the NWC

Whitman 0 - Puget Sound 0
Pacific Lutheran 2 - Whitworth 1

Whitman and Pacific Lutheran are now tied atop the NWC at 12-0-3 in conference with one game left in the season - which just happens to be against each other.  The two teams tied 1-1 back on October 11 at Pacific Lutheran.  They will play tomorrow at 1:45 pm Pacific in the de facto NWC Championship game.  The script couldn't have played out any better for maximum drama (except that Whitman's streaming set-up is probably the worst in the conference - actually the worst in Region X - with what amounts to a field level camera that reduces the players to ants when they are on the other side of the field).  The problem with it being only a de facto championship game, rather than a de jure one, is that there is no provision for OT or PKs if they end tied.  Not sure of the tie-breaker rules in the NWC, but if it's based on overall record, Whitman would advance.

Linfield 1 - Lewis & Clark 0

The battle of the bottom.  The teams were tied 0-0 until Linfield found the back of the net with 5 minutes left in the game.  Lewis & Clark drops to 0-16-3 and Linfield doubles its win total, climbing to 2-14-3.

Willamette 3 - Pacific 0

Willamette continues its late season resurgence, scoring three goals in the second half to blow open a tight 0-0 game at half.  The win leaves it with a chance to jump Whitworth to finish 3rd in the NWC, which is a pretty nice consolation for a program that has been adrift the last few years.

[Kuiper]

SCIAC Championship Game

HALF: Occidental 0 - Redlands 0

I would characterize this first half as "West Coast physical."  By that I mean the teams were running up and down the field and a lot of bodies were flying around trying to make tackles and slow players down.  No low blocks in this game.  Ref was letting them play too, so not an outrageous amount of fouls.  Oxy led in shots 8 to 2, but Redlands led in corners, which just reflects the fact that both teams were getting opportunities.  Redlands' GK and defense probably were called upon to make more stops/blocks.  Oxy had a great feed into Tyler Na-Nakornpanom in the box on goal toward the end of the half that Redlands' keeper Brady Bachman slid into stop just as the ball arrived.  Risky play, but probably necessary.

Note:  For the second game in a row for Oxy, Casey Scott started at goal and Scott Gramlich came on to start the second half. In the semis, when this happened for the first time, I speculated that either Scott was hurt or they were disappointed he conceded a goal, but it looks like they just decided splitting halves was the best approach.

UPDATE:  Occidental 1 - Redlands 0

This was coming.  Oxy was leading in shots 15-3 and finally gets one to go on a reflex save by Redlands on a ball from the right side that was shot in on the rebound. 

FINAL:  Occidental 1 - Redlands 0

Oxy survives a final flurry from Redlands to win the SCIAC.  Oxy's second half GK Gramlich had a great fingertip save on the ground right in front of the box and a commanding punch by Gramlich on a dangerous ball off a corner to preserve the shutout.  Oxy finishes 7-3-3 in the SCIAC and 10-5-4 overall.

[Kuiper]

Big upset in the ASC

Hardin Simmons 1 (5) - Mary Hardin-Baylor 1 (3)

After a flurry of goals in the first half, with UMHB scoring in the 25th minute and H-S answering in the 26th, the game settled down and neither team could find the game winner in regulation or OT despite UMHB outshooting H-S 23 to 13 and leading in corners 13 to 6.  Came down to PKs and H-S took advantage.

Despite finishing undefeated in the ASC at 5-0-1 and 13-2-5 overall, UMHB's season ends and Hardin-Simmons advances with a 2-2-2 record in the ASC and a 6-8-3 record overall.  Hardin-Simmons probably won't be the lowest seed in the tournament under the NPI rankings, but they might be one of the only teams with a losing record.  They are on a 5 game unbeaten streak, though, so maybe they are finding the right formula at the right time.

[kansas hokie]

Hardin-Simmons is the lowest NPI rating of the AQ right now. It's them, Lyon, and Penn State Harrisburg that are over 200 in NPI and in the tourney. Good luck to our Cinderella teams!