That is fair enough. Sorry about my harsh assessment but I called it as I saw it. That 2nd goal would be a tough situation for any defender and keeper. It just showed that even the best players make lapses in judgment. With the ball bouncing around as it was the keeper probably would not have been correct to come off of her line but once she saw that Burnett wasn't going to clear it that would have been her only option. Burnett should have cleared it but it is what it is. All of us can play a perfect game watching on TV or in the stands.
My Rutgers girls had a rough weekend last week with a loss to Iowa in Iowa City and a fortunate draw against Nebraska in Lincoln. (I later found out they looked so sluggish because the entire team had the flu the entire weekend.) Anyway, they bounced back this weekend with a draw vs PSU (should have been a win but the ref missed an obvious handball on a Rutgers shot in the box) and a victory against Ohio State. It should be an interesting sprint to the finish for all teams.
Minnesota responded to their loss on Thursday by thumping Illinois yesterday 4-0. It actually wasn't as dominant as the score indicates, the Illini played tough and were organized on defense. The Gophers finished most of their quality chances which resulted in the lopsided scoreline. The referee was *very* card happy, and gave an undeserved red card to Alicia Barker on Illinois after an accidental hand ball in the box late in the game. College soccer needs consistent refereeing, some games look like a wrestling match while others result in 5 cards.
Two games left for each team. Ohio State, Penn State, Minnesota and Northwestern are the only teams with a mathematical chance to win the Big Ten title. Northwestern needs a whole bunch to go their way. Minnesota has quite a few winning scenarios but beating Ohio State tomorrow and Nebraska next week and getting a PSU draw/loss in their final two is their most likely path. Penn State is cheering for a Minnesota/Ohio State draw. Ohio State has the outcome entirely in their own hands. Who do you guys have?
Huh?? Minnesota have a great program but among coaches in the big ten 'possession' is not what they are known for. In fact quite the opposite.
Huh??? Who thinks Minnesota plays direct? They might need to update their scouting video. Anyway, big game tonight.
Basically every big ten head coach I know considers Minnesota direct. Nothing wrong with it of course but if you think the are true Barcelona of the big ten maybe not. Having said that. Minnesota could have used some of that possession soccer to break down Ohio state in the second half of game. Direct play didn't work.
Ohio State played a great game. You, however, are a loser. Watch some games instead of posting in the hot seat forum. I doubt anyone is chomping at the bit to offer you a job lol.
Well, the postseason B1G tourney starts today. And honestly, I think any of the top 6 teams this year could win it all. Nobody dominated in 2017. (Ohio State managed to win the regular season championship because they were able to avoid any WTF losses or draws against teams in the bottom of the standings.) But if you look at the records of the top 6 teams against each other, it's pretty even. Who ya got?
Penn State makes it by Rutgers 0-0 4-3 in PKs. These matches with Rutgers have always been low scoring.
Big Ten Championship match -- Penn State will face the winner of #6 Wisconsin vs #2 Northwestern. Semifinal #2: NU is leading 1-0 in the 1st half at 30' mark. Gametracker: http://www.cstv.com/gametracker/lau...hool=fo&sport=wsoccer&camefrom=&startschool=&
Bob the gopher will be shocked to hear this but watching that semi today I think Gophers would have had the better of northwestern. Regardless of debate about possession/direct play the Gophers were more fun to watch than those teams today. Still that northwestern staff has done an incredible job turning that program around you almost want to pull for them in the final
I can not believe Minnesota was snubbed. Total disrespect to B1G TEN WSOC. Second place finish in a Power 5 conference should get you in. I can see how seventh place Purdue was kept out as they sputtered down the stretch, but second place Minnesota?
Happened a couple years back with Wisconsin (who won the conference). I believe that finishing 2nd in the B1G should get you in and that slogging thru and succeeding in a good conference should be rewarded.
Although I agree in general, I just need to play devil's advocate here. A very unimpressive showing against a relatively weak non-conference slate did them in. It resulted in an end-of-season RPI of only #48. In comparison, the 5 Big Ten teams that made it in had RPIs of #10, #11, #17, #29, and #33. Getting totally dominated by sixth seed Wisconsin at home in the first round of the conference tourney didn't help at all. (A first round win would have gotten them in, IMHO.)
The early season loss to a very mediocre UCSB team also didn't help the Gophers' cause. That being said, I think that Minnesota was probably a better side than a good number of teams that did make the field. Some of those teams were conference champions, though, and not much can be done about that.
I've always hated automatic qualifiers for the NCAA tournament in ANY sport. I understand the logic of trying to cultivate interest from fans of smaller conferences. But it's always a shame when you just KNOW that the 5th or 6th place team from the Big Ten or the ACC is better than the 1st place team from the Central Eastern Mid Lower Ohio River Valley Conference but are sitting home watching a bunch of scrubs stumbling around the field.
But when those scrubs win it certainly makes for a much better story than when the 5th or 6th place team wins. The truth is MN should be in. I have to wonder if NDSU or SDSU would've won the summit league if MN would be in hosting that game. Instead Denver won and Colorado is in hosting. A few years ago MN was very much a bubble team and got in and hosted SDSU. Like it or not it's the NCAA and its predicable.
There are a LOT of small conferences and small-conference winners that get in this tournament (and the NCAA basketball tourney as well), and so, yea, it's an issue. At the same time, it's hard to argue that the big conferences are short-changed. The SEC has 9 teams in the tourney, including one or two with losing conference records. The ACC has 8 teams, and the Pac 10 7 or 8.
Not to digress too much, but it doesn't matter so badly when we're talking about a 64 team tournament. It's much worse in NCAA sports where there's only a 16-team field.
Or, to put it a little differently, outside the SEC, ACC, Pac 12, Big 10, and Big 12 conferences, there are only four that have more than one team in the Tournament, each with only a second team (the American, Big East, CUSA, and WCC). Thus out of 33 at large selections, 29 are from the top 5 conferences. Rice as the second team from CUSA actually is debatable, its position maybe should have gone to Minnesota or Cincinnati. But, as Kazoo suggests, it's hard to argue that the big conferences are getting a bad deal.
Yeah, but if you put a high weight on a team's RPI (like I do), that argument breaks down. Rice managed to finish the season with an RPI of #36. As I said above, Minny had a horrible RPI at #48. And Cincy's was even worse at #52. To a numbers guy like me, the correct decision was made.
I agree, it is very difficult to say that the P5 schools are getting screwed. That being said, if you are a mid-major school, step out and play some bigger better schools. Hofstra can complain, but they played 2 P5 schools and lost both. They lost to Pitt 1-0. That will show you the discrepancy. Pitt went 0-9-1 in the ACC. They lost to their only top 25 team 3-0. RPI is flawed and I think Hofstra in no way got hosed based on the field. Monmouth won their final 5-1 and just lost to Princeton 5-1. Rice in no way deserved to be in. They did play Baylor well but Baylor only got in because of a postseason run. I think the NCAA is more fun with the "little guy" in it but they do have to earn their way. It feels like the gap is getting bigger. I have very little sympathy for any mid-major who complains yet plays a weak schedule in non-conf.