More and more conferences are going to off-days between rounds in their conference tournament but for many years, it was standard for teams to play on back to back days and then have an off-day and then the final. The ACC and Big Ten used to be Thursday and Friday for the QFs and SFs and then Sunday for the Final.
Yes, I was responding to someone talking about the A10.... who was responding to something you wrote.
Niagara 2, Siena 1 in overtime of the MAAC semis. Darren Cooper with the game winner for the Purple Eagles (12-1-4). Chipped the ball over the goalie from 30 yards out.
Charlotte gets a pretty weak PK call with 12 seconds left to beat Duquesne 2-1. May have been a foul but the player was running with the ball away from the net. Should not have been a PK. Now a red card to Duquesne for arguing.
Wofford defeats App State in PKs in the other semi. Final against the Phoenix on Saturday. Terriers defeated Elon earlier in the season. Go Short Haired Dogs! Edit: Final on ESPN3 at 7ET
Loyola 1, Iona 0 in the MAAC semis. The Greyhounds (13-5-1) play Niagara in the finals on Saturday. It's also gonna be televised on ESPN3.
Gauchodan has Loyola at #37 in the RPI and Niagara at #43 heading into the final. I think both are in regardless of the result. - Loyola's computer numbers combined with their winning the MAAC regular season crown is enough. It also helps their opponent has the second best RPI in the conference. I think that protects them even if they lose a second time against Niagara. - Niagara has done enough. Yes, their strength of schedule is weak as was the MAAC. That said, they have dropped just one game to date and they avenged it. Do you really see a team with only two losses getting snubbed, regardless of conference affiliation? Going to PKs will assure the MAAC of being a two-bid league. No way the committee leaves out either the regular season champions Loyola or a one loss Niagara.
Iona had 14 wins in '09 and 15 in '11 from same conference and I believe were left out on both occasions, so it may happen.
Center should have called a PK for the foul on #7 about 5 seconds prior to PK foul on #17. #7 was 15 out directly in front of goal when he was taken down. Maybe kind of a "make-up" call?
In the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan State goes up 1-0 on Penn State in the 1st minute of the second half. Goal was scored by some nice dribbling on the outside flank by the wonderfully named Sean Connerty and led to an easy tap-in by Cody Henderson. Game is on Big Ten Network, btw.
As an aside, aesthetically, you can't beat the Lake Michigan backdrop at Northwestern's stadium. But the yellow lacrosse lines painted on the artificial surface are very off-putting.
Michigan State doubles the lead in the 52nd, defender Fatai Alashe dribbles half the field to set up Adam Montague. Really nice run by Alashe. Both of Michigan State's goals have been very nicely created.
With Penn State pressing, Michigan State counters and creates a 2-1 on one that leads to an easy tap-on for Jay Chapman after a nice pass by Montague in the 86th minute. 3-0.
Minh Vu gets a late consolation goal for Penn State, but it's nowhere near enough and game ends 3-1. Michigan State (10-9-1) advances to the final Sunday. Penn State (9-5-3) now has to wait and hope their RPI - 50, as of this morning, according to GauchoDan - is high enough for an at-large bid.
Tyler Arnone wastes little time giving Michigan a lead, scoring in the 5th minute on a nice half-volley from the right flank to the far post.
Wolverines double the lead in the 40th minute on a TJ Roehn goal assisted after a nice dribble up the middle and pass by TJ VanSlooten. How did those two not end up at the school founded by Thomas Jefferson?
I think this one is all but over. In the 53rd, Michigan's Fabio Pereira collected a ball inside midfield and dribbled about 20 yards untouched then hit a nice diagonal through ball that Etienne Lussiez ran on to ahead of his mark and beat the Northwestern keeper from about 15 to make it 3-0.
The Big East SF between Georgetown and Marquette is just starting on CBS College Sports or whatever they call that channel so I'm going to switch over to that as I don't see Northwestern making a game of it.
Very disappointing as CBS' feed keeps cutting out. Just because the players are amateurs doesn't mean the broadcast should be.
Game over in Evanston, 3-0. Michigan is now 10-8-1 and after entering the day with a 28 RPI, this win ought to secure an at-large bid for them if they don’t beat MSU Sunday. Northwestern, however, has a decent 11-5-4 record, but their RPI was 41 at the start of the day so they’re gonna be pretty nervous till the selections are announced. (RPI ratings are from GauchoDan.)