The round of 16 has arrived, with all eight seeds surviving: Clemson (1) v Marshall Penn State v Georgetown (8) Wake Forest (5) v Kentucky North Carolina v Stanford (4) Indiana (3) v Marquette Virginia Tech v Seton Hall (6) Washington (7) v Missouri State UCF v Pittsburgh (2)
The quarterfinals are set: Marshall v Georgetown (8) Wake Forest (5) v North Carolina Indiana (3) v Seton Hall (6) Washington (7) v Pittsburgh (2) Clemson (1) and Stanford (4) are out. https://www.ncaa.com/live-updates/s...ionship-bracket-scores-schedule-and-how-watch Here are the complete results from Thursday's third-round action: No. 7 seed Washington 2, Missouri State 0 No. 8 seed Georgetown 3, Penn State 2 No. 2 seed Pittsburgh 4, UCF 0 Marshall 1, No. 1 seed Clemson 1 (6-5 in PKs) No. 3 seed Indiana 2, Marquette 1 North Carolina 1, No. 4 seed Stanford 0 No. 5 seed Wake Forest 2, Kentucky 1 No. 6 seed Seton Hall 2, Virginia Tech 2 (7-6 in PKs)
#2 Pitt continues to roll as the Panthers smash #7 Washington 3-0 Marshall pulls another upset, this time taking out #8 Georgetown 1-0 Not enough can be said about Jay Vidovich and Chris Grassie, they have pulled their programs out of college soccer irrelevance and into their first College Cups ever.
Unbelievable jobs... and the same can be said for Seton Hall and their coach Andreas Lindberg. All have the same model... great international players and lots of them. That is going to move the needle a lot quicker. Only IU and Wake are predominantly American teams left. With the best American players finding their way to the professional ranks, going international with older more seasoned players really does even the playing field for so many programs. No matter what great job by all three coaches.
Yeah - lots of international players...Pitt has 17, it seems that Seton Hall's team is all international. If we (IU) win those two games do we qualify for the UEFA chamions league next year?
This was not a very hard elite 8 to pick as I went with Marshall over a depleted Georgetown. My one miss was UNC over Wake. Going back to the fall Pitt has been on a roll. Will they take the Cup?
Yeah, the team is almost all foreign, but Jay Vidovich has done an amazing job at Pitt, which was a complete mess before he got there.
Pitt's home field is turf. I suspect that not too many year-in / year-out top-level college soccer teams play on home turf pitches. Just a thought, and perhaps another aspect recognizing Vidovich's ability to turn things around despite facing significant challenges.
I would say Creighton and St. Johns come to mind as turf teams that have been to multiple college cups. Providence with one visit. Are there any other College Cup teams that have played predominantly on turf in the last 30 years? St. John's the only winner I think and that was 25 years ago. International kids don't care that it's turf but definitely can be a recruiting detriment to American kids.
As an old GK, I know that most GKs certainly appreciate playing and training on grass v. turf. Obviously players will do what they can to get on a team and on the pitch, but if you have choices ... a team that plays and trains on grass would get the nod, in most cases, it would seem.
When Bruce Arena won his first couple of NCAA titles, it was before Klockner was built and they played on turf at the football stadium. And yes, that falls (just) into the 30-year window!
Also came across this video of UVA player Voga Wallace playing in Scott Stadium. I got the chance to play with Voga in the summer of 1983/4 or so, when he was an intern at the U.S. Department of State, and the State Department had a soccer team representing the U.S. in Washington DC "Embassy Cup" tournament. In a couple of games the referees told Voga his flip throw-in was not allowed by FIFA rules. Voga very politely explained to them that it was allowed, but at least a couple of these refs wouldn't listen. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=589178621455172 In any case, Voga was an outstanding guy, a true gentleman and scholar. Tragically he passed away far too soon. God bless him. A couple of other articles about Voga: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...er-semi/4e84ee2f-965c-4ed4-81fa-a9c519006665/ https://virginiasports.com/news/2010/08/22/remembering-voga-wallace/
I can't seem to find a thread regarding these questions so I guess I'll ask here. I hadn't watched college soccer in the last 4-5 years and kind of lost touch. @Sandon Mibut I know you are up on college ball and you may know more.... I have two questions: First I know that the NCAA played their soccer in the spring this season because of Covid but does this mean it will be an ongoing thing or are teams starting up again in the Fall? Secondly, what will happen with the current class of college seniors? Are they allowed to play a 5th season come this fall or can they go pro and will there be an MLS and/or USL college draft coming up? Do players really have to wait another year 8-10 months to turn pro? Just curious as May - February/March seems like a long time to wait untilt he next college draft rolls around.... I mean many players are losing out on a year or a season of development and/or gaining experience and that is quite a long time for younger soccer players.
They'll play in the fall, but google 21st century model for a new proposal for a fall and spring season. I don't know the real answer to this, but I suspect that holding the championship precludes them from gaining an extra year of eligibility like winter and spring sports got for 2019/20.
"In late March of 2020, the NCAA released statements that granted spring sport collegiate athletes an extra year of eligibility. When the COVID-19 pandemic encroached upon the 2020-2021 school year, the NCAA granted the extra year of eligibility to fall and winter sports teams as well." Also: https://www.ncsasports.org/coronavirus-sports/ncaa-eligibility-coronavirus
I can't imagine the seniors sitting around what will amount to almost another season unless they are done with the game. Ages 22-23 can be crucial in turning pro as they should be allowed to compete if they are good enough. Then again, if they are given another year of eligibilty, that may also help players who aren't pro material to complete and finish their degrees and that's a good thing.
There was a "Super" draft in January 2021 for seniors. These players were allowed to play in the spring 2021. Some players left immediately (e.g., Pereira-VT) right before the 2021 season (DiRosa-MD), during the 2021 season (Dodson-Gtown). Most of the remaining seniors probably would be best served to find a USL team that could allow the player to showcase their ability for the next move. It would be difficult for a senior to come in during the mid-year and make and contribute to a MLS team. I wouldn't be surprised if MLS teams have a "less than super" draft to identify non-seniors and a host of seniors that weren't drafted in January. Though, if a player has eligibility and hasn't flunked out, they should play college in fall and be ready to leave school in January 2022. Just my opinion.