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!