NCAA Tournament 2025

[Kuiper]

Huh.  Seems odd there's only one game today. Is it just me?

Two games.  Grove City v. Calvin is next.

It's because Calvin and Messiah can't play on Sundays, so they had the Hobart pod be the Friday/Saturday pod

Yeah, I meant only one pod... very poor wording. I feel like in years past we've had more games on Friday. Probably some Mandela-effect thing for me.

I'm sort of surprised the Trinity pod isn't Friday-Saturday because of Hardin-Simmons.  It started on Friday in 2024 and I assumed that was because of Hardin-Simmons, but H-S did play in the ASC Championship game on a Sunday in 2024.

[Kuiper]

Messiah 1 - Hobart 0 OT

Messiah gets the golden goal in the 3rd minute of OT, working the ball around the box in Messiah fashion and then putting in a ball from the left side from a seemingly impossible angle that got to the back post. 

Hobart departs from the Yet to Lose club.

[SKUD]

Fair result. Messiah was slow getting off the bus. Other than that looked to be the better team to me.

[Freddyfud]

Something tells me this is the first of many lower NPI victories.

[Kuiper]

Something tells me this is the first of many lower NPI victories.

There are always upsets, but the one thing the NPI ignores entirely that the selection committee approach used to take into account was how a team was playing coming into the tournament.  That wouldn't have changed Hobart's standing, but Messiah's early results were a drag on their ranking in the way that didn't reflect their later performances.

[Freddyfud]

Something tells me this is the first of many lower NPI victories.

There are always upsets, but the one thing the NPI ignores entirely that the selection committee approach used to take into account was how a team was playing coming into the tournament.  That wouldn't have changed Hobart's standing, but Messiah's early results were a drag on their ranking in the way that didn't reflect their later performances.

Yea I wanted to say many more upsets but paused to think about how an upset should be defined given the Committee's selections.  So landed on NPI? I dunno...

[Hopkins92]

My post keeps getting eaten.

Fair result, at least what I watched. Hobart had a sequence late in the 2nd where the ball was pinballing around for at least 3 shot attempts... Dicey moment for Messiah.

I don't think I've ever seen a Messiah team turn the ball over so cheaply before. I don't mean giving it up under pressure; I mean passing the ball to Hobart under zero pressure.

[SierraFD3soccer]

Messiah's goal was very, very nice.

[Falconer]

Messiah's win was their first ever at Hobart. They've played just 4 times, 2-2, with no game decided by more than one goal. I still remember their very first meeting, when Hobart beat the defending national champions in Grantham, 2-1 in OT, in a game that Hobart dominated right from the start. (Though it certainly helped the visitors when AA striker Josh Wood went down early with a major injury, they'd probably have won anyway.)

The only previous time the Falcons went to Geneva was another opening game, in 2019, when Hobart won 1-0. That year the Falcons were 18-3-2, with 2 of the Ls coming vs Liberty League teams. RIT beat them, 3-2 in OT, in a third-round game in Amherst.

Congrats to Hobart on one of their best seasons ever.

[Falconer]

Messiah's goal was very, very nice.

The one that hit the post earlier was even nicer. 
 

[Bartman]

Congrats to Messiah on the OT win today. You broke the Statesmen's hearts ,but frankly looked like the better team from the opening of the second half. No dishonor in losing to any Messiah team, but it still hurts after a "no loss" regular season.

[Kuiper]

FINAL:  Calvin 1 - Grove City 0 (2OT)

Calvin scores a golden goal in the second minute of double OT on a great dribbling foray that led to a pass to the right winger who crosses it back to the striker in front of goal for the easy shot.  Grove City was on the front foot in the 1st OT and looked like they might take it, but this was a pretty even game overall. 

Should be a fun second round game between Messiah and Calvin

[Falconer]

It's because Calvin and Messiah can't play on Sundays, so they had the Hobart pod be the Friday/Saturday pod

Calvin doesn't play on Sundays. Messiah doesn't schedule regular season games on Sundays, either, but years ago they told the NCAA they were willing to play post-season games on Sundays. Indeed, this weekend the Messiah women are hosting a Saturday-Sunday pod. Grove City might be in the same category as Calvin; I don't know.
 

[SKUD]

That was a super fun 1-0 game. End to end. Congratulations to both teams!

[Kuiper]

Cross-posting from the Go WEST thread for the early game involving a Region X team

PREVIEW:  Occidental at Augsburg, Sat 11/15 at 11 AM Central

Occidental was 10-5-4 this season and is ranked #129 in the NPI.  It qualified for the tournament by winning the SCIAC conference tournament final 1-0 over Redlands.  It was also the SCIAC regular season champion with a 6-3-3 conference record.  The team started with a rough trip to the northeast, losing to Babson 2-1, beating MIT 3-0, and then losing to UMass Boston 4-0 in a game where the team looked beat.  The team meandered around most of the rest of the season until ending conference regular season and conference tournament play with 5 wins in a row, beating their opponents (all but one of which were conference tournament qualifiers) by a combined 15-4 score.  They essentially put it together at the right time, raising their performance when other SCIAC foes were faltering or dealing with injuries. 

Augsburg was 16-2-2 this season and is ranked #2 in the NPI.  It lost in the QFs of the MIAC tournament 2-1 to Saint John's, which has been its nemesis this year, also beating Augsburg 5-2 at the end of September.  I'm sure Oxy's coaches have been scouring video of those two games to see if they can pick up any tactical secrets.  That wasn't the only team to trip up Augsburg down the stretch, though.  The 2-2 tie with Bethel on 10/15 and with St. Olaf on 10/25 were other blemishes after starting the season with 10 straight wins.  Maybe the rest from losing early in the conference tournament will allow them to come out energized or maybe they will have some doubts and some rust.

Augsburg should be the overwhelming favorite, even before you factor in that they are playing at home and with the weather and time zone advantage (Oxy will feel like they are playing at 9 am).  Does Oxy have a chance?  Every team has a chance, but this is a heavy lift for Oxy.  It has some talented players.  SCIAC offensive player of the year Devin Bening is fast and crafty in the box, they pass and move well, and they have some NCAA tournament experience left on the roster from 2023 when they made it to the third round and took Amherst to the limit.  However, Oxy doesn't exactly have an airtight defense and isn't built to withstand pressure for long.  Not sure they can handle Augsburg's Carver Tierney (not that many have). Moreover, Oxy has shuttled through goalkeepers and I'm not even positive they've found their starter yet.  Sammy Gramlich was outstanding in the second half of the SCIAC championship game, but he's been splitting halves with Casey Scott the last few games.  If Oxy can hold the fort, however, they play pretty well in transition and may be able to catch Augsburg pressing.  They also have the benefit of Macalester transfer midfielder Elijah Edelman, who led the SCIAC in assists this season and has both scored and provided an assist in his 4 games against Augsburg during his first two years of college soccer.  Edelman, as well as St. Olaf transfer defender Alex Yu, may have been able to provide some advance scouting on Augsburg and at least offer a player or two with familiarity playing in this environment.