About halfway through the season, think it's as good a time as ever to take a crack at the last 4 standing in the College Cup. Here goes... 1 North Carolina 2 Maryland 3 Louisville 4 Creighton Tempted to throw Akron in there, as they're #4 in the Tournament 48 Rankings, but I've just gotta see more from them. They've beaten up on the teams they're supposed to, but have had draws against their two strong opponents (Fullerton, New Mexico). Creighton is about to hit the gauntlet with Maryland, UCI, and Indiana in the next couple weeks, but something tells me they've got the star power to be their in the end. Count me as a non-believer in UConn.
Ha we'll see. Very impressive they haven't allowed a goal yet this season, but with only 2 over .500 opponents I have a feeling that streak will come to an end reeeal soon. Only time will tell if they can hang with the likes of Maryland and IU.
I don't get the Creighton love. They've played absolutely no one. The only two good teams they played were preseason games against Akron and ND. They tied both, with Akron starting five freshman in the first game of their collegiate careers. That's not impressive.
We will see what Creighton is about against Maryland. A team that Elmar has historically struggled against. His teams werent great against the ACC elite.
Some of these rankings baffle me. Take Boston College for instance. Here are their wins: George Mason, Fairfield, Quinnipiac, Dartmouth, Virgina Tech (OT), Rhode Island and Brown. The combined record of their vanquished opponents is 20-24-5. They got mauled by the only good teams they played. How in the name of god is that the resume of a top 25 (13th!!!!) ranked team in the country? And the Terps are legit. They are probably the best team in the country right now.
BC has beaten everyone they've played besides the No. 1 and 2 (or 3, depending on the poll) teams in the country. All we know is that they aren't as good as Maryland or UConn. That means they could be the fourth-best team in the country. I doubt they are, but they could be. And don't discount their schedule. Mason is a solid team with wins over Old Dominion and Fullerton - both those schools are ranked and Mason cracked the polls this week. And Brown was Top 20 when BC beat them. And don't be surprised if Dartmouth is in the NCAA Tournament. This thread isn't about the polls, so I don't want to get it on too much of a tangent, but the ranking of a 6-2 team with wins over a couple of ranked teams and losses to a pair of Top 3 teams just isn't worth getting in a tizzy.
The definitely haven't played murder's row, but the wins against Providence and Kentucky are solid wins. Kentucky is scoring against everyone not named Creighton. They have something like 25 goals in 11 matches - but were blanked by Creighton. Any way you slice it, eight matches without conceding a goal is worthy of some love. Preseason matches don't mean anything. Akron had some new players and Creighton had a new coach -- that's why they play preseason matches. I think Creighton's Achilles heel is the offense, the defense is as good as any in the country. Of course, since I just said that, they'll give up three to Maryland The schedule is picking up. This is the balance of their schedule: Sep 30 at Maryland (9-0-1) Oct 5 at Wisconsin (4-3-1) Oct 9 at Indiana (6-0-2) Oct 12 at Missouri State (2-4-2) Oct 15 vs UC Irvine (8-1-0) Oct 19 at Bradley (6-1-2) Oct 22 at SIU-Edwardsville (5-2-2) Oct 26 vs Drake (5-4-1 ) Oct 29 vs Central Arkansas (1-4-1) Nov 5 vs Evansville (5-3-0) Six road matches against some pretty tough teams. We'll find out more about Creighton in the next three weeks than we have so far.
I think the eight games of scoreless is pretty impressive, regardless of opponent. nearly 740 minutes of no random defensive giveaways, quick counterstrikes, lucky over the top bombs, fluffy flopping freekicks, pks or whatever other randomness can create goals is pretty good. I don't think it will last much longer with the gauntlet they are running through soon... they are still about 6.5 games short of the record for scoreless mins. I was looking back at last year to see if they finished in a 0-0 shootout or anything and maybe had a longer streak. They didn't, but I did see they shut out 6 of the first 8 last year too, then only had two shutouts after. I know it's a new coach, but maybe they do something different at the beginning of the season from the end? Anyway, getting off topic here. My four: Maryland Akron Creighton (I think they get there anyway) UCSB (partially cause I'm a big ole homer and partially because we are that good ... and now that I said that, my fears for today's game will come true and UCR will hold us to a loss or draw at their place )
Is anyone able to remember (or look up) how long Restrepo's shutout streak was for UVa a couple of years ago? I agree that 740 minutes is impressive even though it's probably well short of that.
This year certainly looks like one where UCSB can make just such a run. Akron certainly has as much talent as anyone in the country but like I mentioned, they're young and I can easily see them stumbling at some point in the tournament.
Akron is young, but many were at least there last year, even if they didn't play huge roles... I guess my question is, who is older and more experienced and in the ballpark skillwise who might get there instead (other than the complete upset team)? I looked up the NCAA record and it wasn't Restrepo and VA, but Steinlage and Michigan St. So they have like 580 mins to go... still way short. CONSECUTIVE SHUTOUT MINUTES 1,318:26—Avery steinlage, Michigan st., oct. 15, 2008, to sept. 20, 2009 http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_soccer_RB/2011/Div1.pdf
Did you know that this year's Semis/Final will be held in a BASEBALL STADIUM?? Jeez, Louise! Multi-venue, my arse... BRF
Creighton played both games without AA Ethan Finlay, All conference winger Dion Acoff, and played plenty of freshman as well. We will see what this CU team has in the next two weeks, but make note they are playing without playmaker Choco Gomez who could be back for the Indiana game. Offense runs through Choco. My FF: Maryland UNC Creighton UCSB
Well the shutout streak is over... win streak is still to be seen... last I heard Maryland was up 1-0
WARNING (R)..... Maryland 1:0 Creighton - Full time http://www.gocreighton.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1000&ATCLID=205305044
Let's see, its being held in Hoover, Alabama because, you know, Alabama is a hotbed for College Soccer. Therefore, my FF prediction is: 1. Alabama 2. Auburn 3. UAB 4. University of Montevallo I know that neither Alabama nor Auburn actually have Men's Soccer at the moment. However, once the NCAA realizes that total attendance for the FF in Alabama will be horrendous, they'll find a way to slip in some local teams. UAB is a given because, well, they are the only DI soccer school in Alabama. The University of Montevallo located in beautiful Montevallo, AL will be upgraded from DII to further bolster the attendance numbers. The Champion will be NCAA Men's Soccer as a whole. There will be no losers. My fingers are crossed that the 2012 Cup will be given to Barrow, Alaska. They really deserve it.