UAA Soccer

[deiscanton]

Yes, U.Chicago has hosted both the DIII Men's and Women's Soccer Tournaments on the same weekend in the past using the turf field/football stadium for the men, and the grass field for the women.  This is because the regular season games for U.Chicago use both of these fields as home fields for their respective sports. 

If one tournament is conducted on a Friday/Saturday schedule and the other on a Saturday/Sunday schedule, I would see no reason why U.Chicago could not do this again.  Also, one tournament could be played in the afternoon and the other in the evening. 

Thanks, I cannot remember it happening, though my memory is always short.

U.Chicago hosted first/second rounds for both the men's and women's DIII soccer tournaments in 2017.   The women played the first/second rounds at Stagg Grass Fields on Friday and Saturday morning/afternoon, while the men played the first/second rounds at Stagg Turf Field/football stadium on Saturday and Sunday evening. 

[kansas hokie]

Emory's places to go for NCAA look very limited - only three teams are within 500 miles and on track to get a bid:

Hampden Sydney (NPI 13)
Lynchburg (NPI 16)
Hanover (IN) (NPI 77, auto bid possible)
Covenant (NPI 97)

if not any of those, Emory is flying somewhere and that could be anywhere. Other UAA teams have many options in their 500 mile radius.

[VASoccerDad]

UAA with 3 out of the top 5 in the latest rankings, and 4 out of 12. Much different compared to last year!

2 Emory
3 WashU
5 Brandeis
12 Chicago

[VASoccerDad]

UAA newbie question...why doesn't the UAA have a conference tournament? My first thought was because of the distance amongst the teams, but I don't think that's it. What is the real reason?

[kansas hokie]

VASoccerDad....yes, it's distance and by not having one they can spread out the travel so conference games are usually only one per weekend. Two in one weekend gives you trips like Wash U this weekend...@ Rochester NY on Friday then fly to Atlanta Saturday and play Sunday morning (#2 vs. #3 match as well), fly back to STL on Sunday night and go to class Monday. Chicago does that same circuit in reverse this weekend.

Using the conference tourney weekend for one more regular season match allows for one less of those type of crazy trips. And that's not counting the travel that would be needed for a conference tournament on top of that. This design works better for UAA and the student athletes.

NESCAC is an example of a top league with closer geographically so they play home and home in conference and have a conference tourney, much less out of conference matches than UAA schedule.

[VASoccerDad]

Thanks Kansas Hokie- that would have been my guess but I wasn't sure. I wonder if they ever thought of a neutral site tournament- say in Nashville or Richmond. Still a ways to go for some of the NE schools I guess. Obviously conferences with a much smaller geographical footprint have an easier time of it from a travel standpoint...just curious about the UAA.

From a purely soccer standpoint, it definitely puts all the emphasis on doing well in the regular season.

[kansas hokie]

I had two kids play d1 and one is at d2 now while the other is at Emory. There's a real difference in the season in terms of recovery and overall balance when the UAA schedule puts games on weekends mostly. It helps. The mid-week / weekend grind of d1 and d2 (with high level teams having more home games and lower level having more away) is a real difference.

UAA schools came together to prioritize elite academics and form an elite athletic conference in the process. They have poured $$$ into all their teams to do so and it's working. Hard to find a better top to bottom conference in d3 across all sports. NESCAC can have an argument, I understand.

[WUPHF]

I wonder if they ever thought of a neutral site tournament- say in Nashville or Richmond.

UAA Volleyball has a postseason tournament, but they play at a UAA school, rotating each year.  I know nothing of volleyball, but in terms of recovery, they seem to be able to play more games per weekend than other sports.

The idea of a conference tournament gets brought up periodically, but the league continues with the status quo.

[blue_jays]

I wonder if they ever thought of a neutral site tournament- say in Nashville or Richmond.

UAA Volleyball has a postseason tournament, but they play at a UAA school, rotating each year.  I know nothing of volleyball, but in terms of recovery, they seem to be able to play more games per weekend than other sports.

The idea of a conference tournament gets brought up periodically, but the league continues with the status quo.

They should keep the status quo, the model works well and puts the right emphasis on regular season results mattering. I always have beef with conference tournaments where an average team gets hot for 2 or 3 games and grabs the AQ.
Plane travel is expensive, and the UAA schools have rightly emphasized that being in class as much as possible matters. A conference championship weekend works well in some sports (cross country, tennis, volleyball). But I always hear complaints about 2 games in a weekend in soccer being too taxing, so not cramming in extra games for a conference tournament makes sense to me.
Volleyball players are used to playing 2-3 matches per day on busy weekends, it's just part of their grind and how the sport is run. It's a sport reliant on explosive movements in a small area versus continuous running like soccer.

[WUPHF]

They should keep the status quo, the model works well and puts the right emphasis on regular season results mattering. I always have beef with conference tournaments where an average team gets hot for 2 or 3 games and grabs the AQ.

I agree and I do not think anything will change anytime soon.  Especially in light of the financial issues.

[VASoccerDad]

Big double-header weekend for everyone starting today...should really help sort out the standings and either hurt/help those on the NPI bubble.

Friday (homes teams listed first):
Brandeis vs Case- 5:00p
Rochester vs WashU- 5:00p
Emory vs Chicago- 5:00p
NYU vs CMU- 12:30p

Sunday (home teams listed first):
NYU vs Case- 11:00a
Rochester vs Chicago- 10:30a
Emory vs WashU- 11:00a
Brandeis vs CMU- 11:00a

WashU and Chicago with major miles accumulations, at least Case and CMU get to stay in the same region.

[deiscanton]

The men's match between Carnegie Mellon and NYU is now underway from Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium (NJIT) in Newark, NJ.

I will live post this game, but I will not be able to live post on the 5 PM games today due to Friday night Shabbat evening services from my synagogue starting on-line at the second half of the 5 PM men's soccer evening games.

Tonight is the anniversary of my mother's death, and I want to say kaddish for her.

I will check the final scores of the 5 PM men's games after services, and I will live post on Sunday.

In the meantime, I am watching Carnegie Mellon at NYU right now. 

[deiscanton]

We currently have technical difficulties on the FloCollege video feed, but I am following the game on live stats as well.

BTW, NYU undergraduate student Jonathan Mak is on play-by-play for this game.

[deiscanton]

Video feed on FloCollege is now back up at NJIT. 

Update-- Just as I say that, the stream froze again momentarily.  The technical difficulties on the stream don't look to be completely resolved yet. 

[deiscanton]

Video feed on FloCollege now back up at NJIT.   Let's see if the stream holds.