Cal 2, Santa Clara 1 All three results so far were re-matches of regular season games, and each time, the same team won.
The tournament has its first upset as George Washington takes out North Carolina, 1-0 in Chapel Hill. http://www.ncaasports.com/soccer/mens/gamecenter/boxscore/02/01
Tough game. The GW goal was...well, granted, I was hearing/seeing from a Tar Heel bias, but controversial, and very, very early. GW played a very nice game and Carolina had several quality chances at the end, they just couldn't quite put one in. Congrats to the Colonials, but I'm sad :-(
I missed the goal (in the second minute); couldn't get to the game until 20 minutes in. What happened? After that, it was basically UNC unsuccessfully trying to break down the bunker, and GW sending long balls. GW's defense looked pretty strong and well organized, and they won most of the balls in the air - their offense looked mostly feeble. Carolina has trouble with bigger teams, and I don't think they've come from behind to win yet this year, so they had their work cut out after falling behind early. They had something like 13 corner kicks, and McCarty and Watson both wasted good chances in the last 20 minutes, but overall GW did a pretty good job not letting the Heels get good looks at the goal.
What's your point here, exactly? Anyone who looks at the schedules can see that UNC faced much tougher competition than GW this year; it has nothing to do with what conference they're in.
College of Charleston 3 South Carolina 2 Two Goals by Darren Toby and Jermey Gold for CofC Gamecock goals by Ayo Akinsete and Ryan Deter 26 min Header GOAL by CHARL Darren Toby (FIRST GOAL), Assist by Troy Lesesne, goal number 4 for season. 62 min GOAL by CHARL Jeremy Gold, goal number 4 for season. 73 min GOAL by SC Akinsete, Ayo, Assist by Ramos, Jose, goal number 5 for season. 79 min GOAL by CHARL Darren Toby, Assist by Jeremy Gold, goal number 6 for season. 81 min GOAL by SC Deter, Ryan, Assist by Reece, Greg, goal number 5 for season. Go cougars Mikey
Judging by the online PBP, this was a great game. 18 saves between the two teams, and SC had six shots in the last six minutes after they pulled within a goal. http://www.ncaasports.com/soccer/mens/gamecenter/play-by-play/03/01
You haven't been following the dissussion about at-large bids, which DOES have to do with what conference they're in.
It was a throw-in into the box. A header kept it in the box, then the GW guy headed it down to the corner. Williams made the save, or so some of us thought, but the refs said it crossed the line. Sorry for the lack of specificity, I was just walking in myself.
Ok, but I don't see the relevance to this particular game, because the fact is that UNC obviously did have a much tougher schedule than GW. That's why UNC was about 90 places higher on soccerratings.com, despite having almost the same record. I won't argue with the idea that there are questionable decisions made in handing out at-large bids, but I don't think this game offers any evidence of that.
It does. Imagine a team with a much higher power rating and equivalent schedule strength than GW not getting in. Think you could dismiss them as being less competitive than UNC?
Thanks. I noticed that one of GW's players had maybe the longest throw in I've ever seen in a college game, so that makes sense - in fact, later in the game I mentioned to my brother that I wondered if that was how they got their goal, because they didn't seem to have much else going offensively.
I listened to it online and it was a good game. CofC keeper Wiggins had a great game to deny the Gamecocks but CofC missed out on a couple ones on ones thanks to Gamecock keeper, Guzan. Seemed to be end to end with both teams wanting the win.
The Big Ten finally loses one as Michigan State falls to Tulsa 3-1. Also, Boston University edges Dartmouth in PKs 4-3 following a 2-2 draw.
Impressive win. One of the few teams in the WCC worthy of respect. USF still an unknown but they may do well.
In their defense, SCU played the #11 team. How far into the tourney do you suppose CU will go to play against that tough of an opponent? And the winner takes on #1 SMU. SCU had an impossible bracket. That being said, I attended the game and will give a short recap. SCU started 6 Freshman and 3 Soph - a young and talented team. SCU went ahead early, about 15 minutes in on some great combination play up the center of the Cal D, before Bellouchi dished it to the right side for DeVey for the strike. That was the only real quality play they put together as the offense often looked disjointed (as it has all year). It was a pretty evenly matched game from there forward, but Cal had the majority of the posession and SCU looking for the counter. Cal had several forays into the box and finally earned a PK with a nicely placed thru ball which left Purtell? no choice but to try to disrupt the shot with a shoulder charge plus a little bit more. It was a close call, but the ref blew the whistle. The elder Hatzke took the PK well to tie it up (little brother Matt starts for SCU). It went into OT and Cal immediately had three major chances and finally put away the third for the Golden Goal win. Since Cal is moving on, I'll talk about their players. Carl Acosta is a great little player and struck the game winner. But I emphasize little. 5-5 at most and a lightweight. He'd get killed in the pros. Tyson Wahl is a very solid left defender. Tall, athletic, and able to bring the ball upfield and put in some very nice balls into the box. Troy Roberts in Central D was also very solid and I liked Navarro on the right who also did well moving forward into the attack. Hatzke was a very nice player and took the PK well. He's the kind of player that doesn't make mistakes, but not flashy either. The Cal offense is lacking, however, and I think they'll have a tough time when they run up against a really solid defense.
Nice to see what appears to be an objective post from a Santa Clara fan. I am surprised they would start 6 freshmen. Why is that? For a program like Santa Clara, why on earth do they have to rely on such inexperience? Sounds very odd.