NCAA Tournament 2025

[Mr_November]

Tufts reminds us once again that Messiah wasn't ever at a national contender level.  Soft opening weekend draw - regardless what one might think or argue based on opponents records. They should have seen a nescac caliber team opening weekend with that record.  Opened with a touch of luck - then got drug. 

*checks user's 17 posts on the boards*

*notes all post denote a negative slant toward Messiah except for 1 post*

*lifts eyebrows*

Disgruntled Messiah fan/alum, or just a program downer?

[Mr_November]

Can someone provide more insight as to how the Augsburg-Trinity match ended up at 5-0? I saw some of the commentary but still curious as to how it ended up as 5-0...

[D3SoccerTalker]

Tufts reminds us once again that Messiah wasn't ever at a national contender level.  Soft opening weekend draw - regardless what one might think or argue based on opponents records. They should have seen a nescac caliber team opening weekend with that record.  Opened with a touch of luck - then got drug. 

*checks user's 17 posts on the boards*

*notes all post denote a negative slant toward Messiah except for 1 post*

*lifts eyebrows*

Disgruntled Messiah fan/alum, or just a program downer?

Hah! Probably just an oddity with an askew personal vendetta. Besides the point--Tufts is a quality side, but Trinity even more so?--anyone with any insight into that game. Unbelievable result from the tigers

[Kuiper]

Can someone provide more insight as to how the Augsburg-Trinity match ended up at 5-0? I saw some of the commentary but still curious as to how it ended up as 5-0...

Trinity was up 2-0 at half on a free kick near the outside of the box that went into the wall and rebounded to Adam Knutsen that he shot into the net.  One poster suggested that this was a designed play, although I'm not so sure since it's tough to ensure where it is going when you do that.  I do believe Knutsen was set up for that possibility though.

Second goal Knutsen brought to the ball up the right side and hit a great cross on the ground that evaded the GK and would have gone to a Trinity player on the back post, but an Augsburg defender intervened with a sliding block that put it into the goal.

The game stayed 2-0 for awhile until Alex Baltov scored in the 66th minute off a shot from the left side outside the box that went to the far right corner.  Trinity, by this point, was passing around Augsburg defenders and picking their spots, with a Trinity attacker receiving the ball in the box and effectively shielding the ball and distributing it back towards Baltov and other teammates.

The fourth and fifth goals came very late in the game (87th and 89th minutes) on counters after Trinity had brought in a lot of subs and Augsburg was pushing forward to try to get at least one goal back.  In both goals, Clayton Holmes received the ball in the midfield and found Joey Perryman who took it to the right side of the box and shot it past the GK on the left side.  The second Perryman goal was against the backup Augsburg GK.  In both goals, it was really just the two Trinity players moving forward and they were able to score on their own.

Basically, it should have been a 3-0 win, but Augsburg's 110 minute + PK game the previous day had taken a lot out of the team and it wasn't really able to keep up, even against Trinity non-starters (although Perryman is a sometimes starter). 

Having said that, Trinity's whole game plan is to wear you down by making your players look like the middle players in a rondo and then passing long and countering if you start pressing forward.  They have a lot of players who can execute the transition game well and defenders can get physically and mentally drained if they have to chase Trinity's possession game for long stretches of the game.  So, while Augsburg's game the day before contributed to the extra 2-3 goals for Trinity, the goals were the types of goals Trinity scores and the types of weariness that defenders can feel even if they come in rested.

[Ron Boerger]

I'd composed a lengthy reply only to have the site eat it.  And then Kuiper posted almost everything I was going to, but I will add this: 

Trinity controlled run of play (no!) and their back line, as it normally does, made getting shots off difficult.  Augsburg didn't get a shot on goal until after halftime, and they only managed three all game (seven shots total).  Trinity's opponents average 6.3 shots a game, about a third of which are on target.  Of the three SOG, the best chance was the final one with 2' left that was just nudged over the crossbar (by Brandon Gongora, who had been inserted in goal a few minutes earlier).  The other two SOG were routinely saved.  The very best shot taken by Augsburg, early in the second, hit the top of the crossbar and bounced over. 

[Mr_November]

I figured it must have had to do with Augsburg pushing for goals and Trinity punishing them in transition. Despite the score line, what a season it was for the Auggies. I was very impressed by the two games I tuned in for during the 1st and 2nd round of the NCAAs. They can keep their head held high after a fantastic season.

As for Trinity, I will be absolutely fascinated to watch them battle it out with Emory in the Final Four. Should be a blockbuster game. Any early predictions??

[Mr_November]

Can't help but feel sorry for Dickinson, who end the season undefeated and bow out at the Elite 8. Iwowo and Jarden bow out after phenomenal collegiate careers for the Red Devils. Been a joy and a pleasure to watch them work their magic in Carlisle, PA.

Iwowo's Career Stats across 4 seasons...
86 GS, 82 GP - 53 Goals, 21 Assists. Astounding numbers...

[SierraFD3soccer]

Can't help but feel sorry for Dickinson, who end the season undefeated and bow out at the Elite 8. Iwowo and Jarden bow out after phenomenal collegiate careers for the Red Devils. Been a joy and a pleasure to watch them work their magic in Carlisle, PA.

Iwowo's Career Stats across 4 seasons...
86 GS, 82 GP - 53 Goals, 21 Assists. Astounding numbers...

Truly so. FYI, Dickinson was pretty much a punchline in the Cent. Conf. before they showed up plus don't forget Jorge Chapoy, who really got them moving! By his third year, he really made many of us look at Dickinson as a rising power. Also Potter who was their keeper played great all year. Most of us did not give them much credit till their run in the NCAAs last year.

33-4-11 over the last two years.

Obviously, question will be if they can continue with these guys who graduate.

[Sandon Mibut]

Little bit of a preview for Tufts - St. Olaf:

Since October 1:

• Tufts 12-0-1 (0-0 tie @ Bowdoin final game of regular season)
• St Olaf 11-1-1 (1-4 loss to Macalaster; 2-2 tie Augsburg late October)
• Tufts 9 shutouts
• St Olaf 7 shutouts
• Tufts scoring 31-5
• St Olaf scoring 30-10
• St Olaf 4 games with only 1 goal (no games with 0 goals)
• Tufts 3 games with only 1 goal and 1 game with 0 goals
• Tufts 1 multi-GA game (3-2 come from behind win over Middlebury)
• St Olaf 2 multi-GA games (1-4 loss Macalester; 2-2 tie Augsburg)
• Not counting NCAA-tourney games: Tufts 5 games vs NCAA Tourney Teams (4-0-1)
  
• 2-0 Amherst
• 2-0 Middlebury
• 0-0 Bowdoin
• 3-2 Middlebury
• 1-0 Conn
• Not counting NCAA-tourney games: St Olaf 2 games vs NCAA Tourney Teams (0-1-1)

Full Season:

• Tufts 2 multi-GA games (1-1-0; the loss to Williams was a 1-3 score)
• St Olaf 4 multi-GA games (1-2-1)
• Tufts 10 games against NCAA tourney teams (7-1-2)
• Tufts 15 GF, 7 GA in those 10 games
• St Olaf 7 games against NCAA tourney teams (2-2-3)
• St Olaf 14 GF, 12 GA in those 7 games

One thing that stood out to me is St. Olaf potentially having some trouble in the more physical games when there are a lot of fouls and/or cards for the opponents. Macalester, Augsburg, Carleton (St Olaf won 4-3), Wisc-Superior (loss) appeared to be physical games based on stat sheets. Tufts has 237 fouls in 22 games (10.8/gm) and they are accustomed to some very physical play in the NESCAC vs St Olaf with 197 fouls in 25 games (7.9/gm).

The other edge for Tufts would be all their PKs during the season. St Olaf was 1-2 for PKs whereas Tufts is 10-11.

Other stats are fairly similar:
GF per game: 2.8 (St Olaf) to 2.4 Tufts, however...
Margin per game: 1.96 (St Olaf) to 1.91 Tufts
GA per game: 0.50 (Tufts) to 0.84 St. Olaf
Opponents shots/gm: 8.8 (Tufts) to 11.2 (St. Olaf)
Shots per Game: 17.4 (St Olaf) to 17.3 Tufts
SOG% 0.454 (St Olaf) to 0.449 Tufts.
Corners per game: 7.3 (St Olaf) to 6.6 Tufts
Total cards: 21 apiece.

[Hopkins92]

Can't help but feel sorry for Dickinson, who end the season undefeated and bow out at the Elite 8. Iwowo and Jarden bow out after phenomenal collegiate careers for the Red Devils. Been a joy and a pleasure to watch them work their magic in Carlisle, PA.

Iwowo's Career Stats across 4 seasons...
86 GS, 82 GP - 53 Goals, 21 Assists. Astounding numbers...

Truly so. FYI, Dickinson was pretty much a punchline in the Cent. Conf. before they showed up plus don't forget Jorge Chapoy, who really got them moving! By his third year, he really made many of us look at Dickinson as a rising power. Also Potter who was their keeper played great all year. Most of us did not give them much credit till their run in the NCAAs last year.

33-4-11 over the last two years.

Obviously, question will be if they can continue with these guys who graduate.

They are just a fun team to watch. But, yeah, replacing that guy is going to be very difficult.

(I almost went to Dickinson and a guy that was in my wedding party wound up there and loved his college experience.)

[Kuiper]

I'd composed a lengthy reply only to have the site eat it.  And then Kuiper posted almost everything I was going to, but I will add this: 

Trinity controlled run of play (no!) and their back line, as it normally does, made getting shots off difficult.  Augsburg didn't get a shot on goal until after halftime, and they only managed three all game (seven shots total).  Trinity's opponents average 6.3 shots a game, about a third of which are on target.  Of the three SOG, the best chance was the final one with 2' left that was just nudged over the crossbar (by Brandon Gongora, who had been inserted in goal a few minutes earlier).  The other two SOG were routinely saved.  The very best shot taken by Augsburg, early in the second, hit the top of the crossbar and bounced over. 

On the defensive side for Trinity, I'll add that one key was completely neutralizing Augsburg's Carver Tierney, who had 8 shots and 2 goals in 106 minutes against Cortland the day before and scored 20 goals and had 6 assists this season.  He was limited to 1 shot in 69 minutes against Trinity, which didn't come until the 80th minute.  At one point, the announcer commented that Tierney had hadn't had more than two touches all game. He was likely gassed after the Cortland game, but Trinity's high press meant that the ball was in Augsburg's half for long stretches and Tierney was starved for service.

[Hopkins92]

Once again, the argument to give these lads a days rest rears its head. I think I'd be less annoyed with this set up if programs spent a couple of weekends in late September or October running a few Sat/Sun weekends to understand what it actually looks like in practice.

As it stands, some of the most important games of the year take place with at least one of the sides exhausted, usually both. I don't like attrition playing such an outsized role.

[SimpleCoach]

Once again, the argument to give these lads a days rest rears its head. I think I'd be less annoyed with this set up if programs spent a couple of weekends in late September or October running a few Sat/Sun weekends to understand what it actually looks like in practice.

As it stands, some of the most important games of the year take place with at least one of the sides exhausted, usually both. I don't like attrition playing such an outsized role.

I am left wondering what sort of impact did having to play OT the day before and going to PKS had on Augsburg.... all because of a keeper error.....

SC.

[camosfan]

It all comes down to squad management, every team enters the tournament with 24 players, you have to prepare for all possibilities The substitution rule is very generous!

[rdanie03]

Once again, the argument to give these lads a days rest rears its head. I think I'd be less annoyed with this set up if programs spent a couple of weekends in late September or October running a few Sat/Sun weekends to understand what it actually looks like in practice.

As it stands, some of the most important games of the year take place with at least one of the sides exhausted, usually both. I don't like attrition playing such an outsized role.

This is why the NESCAC has teams in the championship game every year. Each team has at least 3 of those weekends every year(plus another if they make it to the NESCAC final), so they are plenty used to it.