Big Ten Tourney results (r)

2nd half is about 5 minutes old, still tied at 1-1.

 

from Sandon . . .

Here's a low-end matchtracker of sorts.

http://www.mgoblue.com/document_dis...cument_id=16175

 

Okay, what in the heck is going on up there?

MSU 2, IU 1 w/ about 18 minutes to play.

McMahen (Gruber) score again!

C'mon Hoosiers, have some pride and find some motivation!

 

The "Matchtracker" seems to be stuck at 10:00 to play. Still 2-1 Spartans.

 

Posting to myself is fun and has really helped me improve my keyboarding skills.

 

That's it, game over, MSU downs IU 2-1. MSU clings to a tournament birth and the Hoosiers end the regular season on a down note.
Again, if anyone who was at the game could post comments, I'd appreciate it.

 

Some key MSU-IU plays (I'm too lazy to reverse the clock)...

1H 28:07 MSU goal on a tremendous free kick from 25 yards out struck by McMahen just under the crossbar, although not in either corner. MSU had one good opportunity before that, but IU controlled play for the most part.
1H 25:23 IU's Plotkin missed a similar free kick
1H 24:20 IU's Petersen takes a terrific SOG saved by the keeper.
1H 19:40 It looks like MSU held/dragged down an IU player in the box but no PK is called. Very iffy non-call.
1H 18:55 A terrific set piece kick from distance by IU's Zayner is flicked on by ? but saved by the keeper.
1H 15:00 IU's Tudela gets off a poor shot. He didn't have a great game overall.
1H 13:55 IU's Yates finishes a terrific 1v1 attack from the right side of the goal to tie the score.
1H 11:46 IU's Petersen makes a strong run with the ball but nothing comes from it.
1H 08:50 IU's Hayden gets off a poor shot, but overall, he played very well, especially in the second half.
1H 07:46 Unexplainable foul called against MSU, IU's Zayner mishits the free kick.
1H 04:33 Another poor call goes against MSU.

Halftime, 1-1. MSU is frequently missing passes. O'Rourke is playing stopper (probably nothing new). Ricardo Salazar is the center ref. He started the game out well, but ended the half very poorly. He begins the second half poorly as well, and the game threatens to get out of hand. However, the last quarter of the game is well called and is not problematic.
Halftime stats: CK: MSU 0, IU 7; SOG: MSU 1, IU 1, Score MSU 1, IU 1.

2H 38:46 IU's Plotkin hits the right post hard on a defensive turnover.
2H 30:97 MSU's Gruber just misses wide right.
2H 28:20 Another poor foul call, this time against IU.
2H 26:27 Great strike by IU's O'Rourke, equally great save by MSU's keeper.
2H 23:00 Medium hit SOG by IU's Plotkin.
2H 20:30 Incredibly well-struck one-timed ball into the upper left corner by MSU's McMahen. Keeper had no chance.
2H 13:50 IU's Peterson gets ball to Plotkin who puts a well placed and decently struck header just below the crossbar, but the MSU keeper knocks it over for a corner.
2H 05:33 McMahen beats the onrushing keeper but misses an open net 5 or 10 yards to the right. Could have been a hat trick.
2H 05:00 Mike Ambersley is substituted off the field after only playing 10 or so minutes. He was generally ineffective throughout the game--for sure he didn't stand out like I expected him to.
2H 03:55 MSU's Webster makes a great run with the ball and has only the keeper to beat, but decides to cross instead of shoot, and the play is broken up.
2H 02:12 IU's Petersen gets off a decent shot but the save is made.

Game, 2-1 MSU. Until the very end of the game MSU had 2 goals on 2 shots on goal. Indiana controlled play until about the last five minutes, when MSU got some excellent chances. Clearly Indiana is the class of the Big Ten, and GK Nolly and O'Rourke are their only major losses (they only have 3 seniors). That's scary. They also have 14 freshmen on the team.

I was impressed with MSU's Rauwshan McKenzie, a freshmen right back. He has size, and doesn't make mistakes with the ball. He played a very careful game, not willing to take chances, but I suspect he will loosen up a bit in the future.

It's clear that all of IU's players can play. I was actually disappointed to see them lose, because I wanted to watch them again in the final.

 

Sorry, no play-by-play for Michigan-Northwestern.

Northwestern had one of those games where everything went right.

IU's Brad North scored the first goal at 13:28. The ball was played into or near the goal area and bounced around a bit before North put it away. It seemed Michigan had chances to clear it but couldn't get a handle on the ball. Michigan had the better of play in the first half, but they didn't dominate the way Indiana had.

The second half started out miserably for the Wolverines. At 46:37, Alvarez sent a nice through ball through the middle to North who beat the defense and made no mistake with the finish. At 47:54, while I was watching to see if Michigan's Matt Niemeyer would get up from a "fair" but hard knock he took on a followthrough at the top of the 18, NU's David Roth sent what appeared to be a cross from the far left corner over the head of Michigan GK Peter Dzubay and into the goal. So Michigan is down 3-0 three minutes into the second half.

At 64:34, NU's Alvarez was tucked a beautiful shot into the right side netting, from slightly to the left of the goal, from 20 yards out. My recollection is that the shot resulted from a set piece from a questionable call, but I'm a bit foggy on that.

To add insult to injury, Mychal Turpin got ejected at 68:40 for making contact with Alvarez' calf, who temporarily left the game. It was a foul, but I was surprised to see the referee pull out a card, and absolutely shocked to see it was a red. However, the game was already over at that point, and Turpin had done little with the minutes he had. Overall, Turpin was a huge disappointment to me in the tournament.

Michigan continued to give it their all and didn't look like a team a man down, but gave up another set piece about 25 yards out with 7 minutes remaining. The set play was masterfully executed. Vargas tapped it five feet to the left to Roth, who tapped it back to Vargas who blasted the ball into the left side of the goal. Dzubay had been replaced by senior Joe Zawacki, and he didn't move on the play. Northwestern ended the game with 5 goals on 5 SOG and 3 CK. Michigan had no goals on 4 SOG and 7 CK. But none of Michigan's shots were well hit, (some of) Northwestern's certainly were, and that was the difference.

Knox Cameron had every reason to run with Trai Blanks on a breakaway in the first half but chose to jog slowly upfield instead, so clearly something is still wrong. Overall he wasn't very sharp, I'd still be shocked if he went in the first round. Trai Blanks didn't have the same impact he had against Ohio State, although he did have a decent game. The Michigan back line and midfield worked hard in general but played erratically, while the front line didn't create many opportunities and couldn't get anything forceful on net with the opportunities they did have.

Word from Niemeyer's father, at least, that's who I assumed he was, was he may have broken a bone in his foot. I have to say it was a bit funny to watch him try to get up to get back into the play just before the third goal was scored. My hat's off to him, he certainly tried.

Coach Burns is holding practice on Sunday with hopes of getting into the NCAA tournament. He a dreamer!

 

Great summary - there's not much I can add. MSU's goals were world-class. The FK was unstoppable. MSU is a counterattack team and that's what they did for the second goal, again put right in the upper left corner from 20 on a 2 on 1 counter.

IU did have lots of chances, especially Ambersley's shot that beat the keeper, hit the post, then rolled lazily in front of the goal along the goalline. HOWEVER, IU is not taking the ball AT people. Everyone is laying the ball off and looking to somebody else to make a play. This makes a very talented team mediocre. This is especially true for Peterson, who is at his best turning and running right at the D w/ the ball. He's been trying to play one-touch w/ his midfielders and not getting the ball back very much.

Kudos to MSU. They played a whale of a game. I saw another post about the relative strength of the Big-10. I'm one of those who thinks it's the toughest in the nation right now. BTW, I'm glad to see that PV's view of the officiating was similar to mine. RS didn't have the guts to call the clear foul on Ambersley in the first half, but he does blow the whistle any time somebody falls over (for whatever reason). He was weak today but, other than the PK, not a factor.

BRF

 

I am sick and tired of reading how the 1995 National Championship of Wisconsin was a fluke. To say that is really shows your ignorance. That Championship was the culmination of some prior outstanding achievements. You are referring to a program that leading up to the Championship had NEVER had a losing season since the program's inception in 1977. This is also a program that won the inaugural Big Ten regular season title by going 5-0 in conference play in 1991. They had also qualified for the NCAA tournament 3 of the four years leading up to the Championship (when the Tournament field was smaller then it is now), including going to the final 8 in 1993! Just because the program has not had the same kind of success since then (for various reasons) does mean that the National Championship in 1995 was a fluke. The program was very strong in the early 1990s and it culminated with the Championship in 1995. To say it was a fluke would be disregarding all the accomplishments the program enjoyed up until that time.

 

What you've just argued is that it is a fluke that they didn't build on it, not a fluke that they won it.

 

Sandon, your response just clarifies your ignorance. I am glad lawbestcharlton took the time to actually read my post and understood the point I made.

For the record, many of the players off that roster went on to play professional soccer. True, none with MLS (although Scott Lamphear and Mike Gentile spent pre-seasons with the MLS teams that drafted them) but many played in the A-League/D3 and Brian Doherty actually played in the German 3rd division for a couple of years.

The fact that Wisconsin has not built upon their Championship, does not make it a fluke in and of itself. If they had no history up until that point and also had not built upon it, then I would agree with you. But they did have a history (I won't rehash it, just read my post). I mean this is a team that did not give up a goal the entire Tournament in 1995-they shut-out every opponent they faced. That is not a fluke. Granted, what has happened since is rare, but the Championship itself was most definitely not a fluke.