NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal matches

Bit of a tough break for RPI #1 OSU having to play RPI #9 Wake to get to the College Cup, while #2 Denver gets #23 UMass and #4 Pitt gets #19 Vermont.

 

Nothing is given. Seems like Vermont and UMass are on a roll.

 

Go, Catamounts !!!

 

Congrats to one of college soccer's OGs Fran O'Leary. A journeyman career back and forth between D1 and D3 but a winner at every stop. Between Jay Vidovich and Fran, it's good to see those guys who are eligible to collect Social Security doing things at places that haven't always been the easiest to win at in the past... and if any P4 openings happen this year and Rob Dow from Vermont is not on speed dial, not sure admins know what they are doing. Two Elite Eights in 3 years? at Vermont? Great job!

 

If we are going to talk about coaches who deserve a shot then lets talk about:

88-6-3
1 Final 4 DII College Cup
1 Elite 8
3 Sweet 16s
The #1 over all seed this year

University of Charleston's Daniel Smee

If I was an athletic director looking for a men's soccer head coach I would have Smee on speed dial.

 

Only if it is a place that caters to mostly international players like Marshall, West Virginia, Pitt, etc. The successful D2 Coach who can recruit internationally has transferred quite well to D1 level including Grassie, Jeremy Gunn (Charlotte), Marc Hubbard, etc. where they can recruit similar players. If I'm Stanford, Northwestern, Notre Dame, or Duke not sure I would go in that direction.

 

Rooting for Denver to get this done. I have a soft spot for the Pioneers.

 

NCAA Men's Soccer ESPN+
3:00 pm Massachusetts vs. #3 Denver (Quarterfinal)
3:00 pm Vermont vs. #2 Pittsburgh (Quarterfinal)
5:00 pm #8 Wake Forest vs. #1 Ohio State (Quarterfinal)
7:00 pm #13 Marshall vs. #12 SMU (Quarterfinal)

 

and my son attends UMass Amherst!!! So let's get 'er done...lol

 

first goal to Denver

 

I mean, we're still waiting for full-time, but I can't imagine OSU still feels like they got a tough break considering the score in Pittsburgh

 

There's the insurance goal... looks like UVM is heading to the final 4 for the first time in program history

 

Pitt was unlucky today. Dominated the stats, but made one bad mistake.

So even after today's result, I'd still much rather play Vermont than Wake Forest.

 

I thought Pitt was better after the goal, but didn't threaten enough in the first half despite dominating possession. Too slow and methodical to break down a team that was kinda parking the bus from the jump.

 

Denver is going to be really tough to beat.

 

They have to play at sea-level the next game so that benefit goes away.

 

What happened with the SMU - Marshall game? It now shows that they play tomorrow.

 

Standing water on SMU's surface - field deemed unplayable this evening.

 

Statement from SMU:

‼️ Match Rescheduled ‼️

Due to inclement weather our Elite Eight match against Marshall has been rescheduled for 2 pm, Sunday. pic.twitter.com/ATdFpWHkPS

— SMU Men's Soccer (@SMUSoccerM) December 8, 2024

 

Tears after the football game?

 

Final four: RPI #1 v #8, #2 v #19

 

And no ACC. How many ACC teams started the tournament?

 

Seven