So the Lady Bills are rolling as of right now. Is it too earlyi to start talking about how we'll get screwed by the NCAA if we don't win the A-10 tourney??? Now Mr. XYZ for those people not into the Jones rankings as much as we are you might wish to explain it to them, cause you would do much better than I could. Let's see to catch up quickly, I have no real complaints on the all decade team except for a certain forward who should have been on defense If you did that you could put Izzy at forward (1 goal in 1 start over her 4 years). Anyways, what's the deal with this weekend XYZ??? Let us know what the numbers say.
Just for all of you who are interested the Lady Bills are regionally ranked. According to the Soccer Buzz Staff (which is one dude in a small apartment with his dog) the Bills are fifth in the Central region. Oklahoma, who defeated the Lady Bills earlier this year, is ranked sixth and has a record of 11-2-1 so maybe that loss ain't so bad after all. The other two teams the Lady Bills suffered defeats to (Duke and Santa Clara) are both ranked 3 in their respective regions. We may not get hosed by the NCAA Mucky Mucks this time (I pray) Your thoughts???
A Billiken fan besides me be posted in this thread? Cool. This week the Billikens are receiving votes in two national polls, Soccer Times and Soccer Buzz. It's not the first time. Several years ago they were actually ranked... at least in one poll... for a week.
Here's hoping that the a-holes at the NCAA don't bypass this team once again for the tourney. The Lady Billikens DESERVED to be in that tourney last year.
The problem the Billikens now face is that they are in the A-10, which has struggled in the past to get two teams into the tournament. If the Billikens keep winning, and only get upset in the tournament, I believe they will be in due to their stronger non-conference schedule this year than in past years (at least that is my impression of their schedule). However, if they are upset in A-10 play (not including Dayton), and don't win the tournament, things could get dicey for them.
You're right. Being in the A-10 won't help. If they don't win the A-10, the Billikens will, once again, be at the mercy of the selection committee. I have no doubt this is the best Billiken women's team ever - better even than last year's team. They have so many great attacking players, players who can actually score goals. In ten years, I have never seen anything like it.
Unless there is a huge unforseen collapse they will get in. The A10 is getting stronger, St Louis is stronger, and getting royally screwed in the past will work in their favor.
I wish I had your confidence. A number of people thought the Billikens were in last year. There was no meltdown and they didn't get in. There was no meltdown the year before and they didn't get in. I don't see how getting screwed before works in their favor. The committee doesn't care. Screwing over teams from the West and Midwest is the selection and seeding committee's job and they're darned good at it. They do it every year and it's getting worse, not better. The committee looks at RPI (which is meaningless but that doesn't stop the idiots at the NCAA from looking at it). With the lousy A-10 teams the Billikens have to play, I don't see how they can get a decent RPI. The Billikens need to win the A-10 and not leave their fate to a biased, incompetent committee. I absolutely hate the way the NCAA does this. I have hated it for years. The selection and seeding process is broken. It doesn't work.
Let 'em figure it out for themselves. In other words, let them eat cake. I explained the Jones ratings on page 4 of the Division I polls, rankings and ratings thread (posts #47 and #51). Numbers? What numbers? The Billikens have a good team. We don't need no numbers. Oh, OK. The Bills play at Rhode Island on Friday and at UMass on Sunday. They need to watch out for Rhode Island (the ratings difference, with home field advantage is only 123 points). In contrast, the ratings difference with Massachusetts is in the 400 point range, so the Billikens should be heavily favored in that one. Just for you, jstats, I also looked up Army's rating. UMass is rated lower than Army (although I'm sure Army has been on the wrong end of some questionable calls - just ask the Army coach). October 11 Jones ratings rating.SE.rank..team...........W-L-T .1720..83...34..St..Louis.....10-3-0 .1533..79...90..Rhode Island...7-4-1 .1366..77..168..Army...........8-4-1 .1275..79..197..Massachusetts..5-6-1
Game Friday at Rhode Island postponed Billikens Battle Past UMass 1-0 Billikens Shut Out Minutewomen 1-0 box score and play by play summary ____________SLU___UMass shots........13.....4 SOGs.........10.....3 saves.........3.....9 corners.......6.....1 offsides......2.....0 fouls.........7....11 cautions......0.....1 SCORING SUMMARY: 69:16 SLU Caroline Sweeney (Courtney Hulcer) Weather: Overcast and windy Attendance: 517 SLU Pos.##..Player.............Sh SOG GK...0..GOELLNER, Abby..... -...- D....3..OLSON, Lauren.......-...- D....6..GRESCO, Tara........-...- D....9..EASTMAN, Lachlyne...-...- D...13..GREEN, Mary.........-...- M....2..HULCER, Courtney....4...4 M....5..FERGUSON, Kelly.....-...- M...14..HUGHES, Maureen.....-...- M...19..TWELLMAN, Alex......4...2 F....8..GUEMPEL, Dee........1...1 F...12..WINCHELL, Cassi.....2...2 ---------- Substitutes ---------- .....4 HARTMANN, Molly.....1...- ....10 FOX, Liz.............-...- ....11 CRAWFORD, Heather....-...- ....15 SWEENEY, Caroline....1...1 .......Totals..............13..10 ##.Player.............MIN.GA.Saves .0.GOELLNER, Abby...90:00..0....3
Sounds like the Lady Bills dominated and were unlucky not to have more goals. Other thoughts.....doesn't Caroline Sweeney remind you of another player with a the same last name (you know who I mean XYZ). Also....dare I say might we have a bit of a keeper situation here with Goellner getting the start??? Just a thought.
Not really. Maybe if she were several inches shorter and played with her back to the goal more often. I'm going to guess that you mean Rachel Sweeney (not related as far as I know), who played for Washington U. back when they made back-to-back quarter-final appearances in the Division III national tournament (1997 and 1998, the two years they had both Rachel Sweeney and Lori Thomas). I can't find a media guide on the WU website but I'm guessing that Rachel Sweeney graduated after the 1998 season and that her breakaway goal (that's right, a breakaway) in a national quarterfinal against Macalester was in 1997 (1997 was also the year WU was in the Final Four). With Caroline Sweeney in the game, it's hard for me refer to the Billikens using a comment Tony DiCicco once used to describe the national team: "it's like a bunch of midgets out there" (DiCicco was talking about such midgets as Hamm and Milbrett). While I won't name a Billiken All-Decade All-Midget Team, I will say that Jenny Kehl would make a good captain. I also won't name an All-Decade All-Physical Player Team although Kathleen Schager might be a good choice for captain (for Wahington U., Rachel Sweeney could be captain of both teams). No comment - except to say that you apparently got the point of me posting the lineup. The Billikens play at Missouri State in Springfield tomorrow night (Thursday) and finish the regular season at home next weekend against George Washington and LaSalle.
Thoughts: Was 'the line up' the issue? Did SLU overlook the Bears? Will the loss keep SLU from a much deserved trip to the NCAA tournament?
Losing to Missouri State is disappointing but perhaps not all that surprising. MSU is a solid, well-coached team and may have seen this game as a chance to make a statement. (In eight previous meetings the Billikens had a 6-0-2 record against MSU.) The Billikens had all their big guns (Ferguson, Guempel, Hughes, Hulcer, Winchell) in the game and yet they were shut out. The MSU keeper made 10 saves which is the one statistic that stands out. The Billikens evidently had their chances. Albyn Jones ratings Warning - analysis of the October 11 Jones ratings follows: Rating SE Rank..Team............W-L-T .1742..90..32..St. Louis.......11-3-0 .1464..75.114..Missouri State...8-2-4 The result illustrates, once again, how much parity there is in the middle of the Division I pack. The difference in Jones rating for this game between SLU and MSU (including a home field advantage of 55 points) is only 223 ratings points. That's less than 5-1 odds in favor of the Billikens. That may seem like good odds but it means that, if the teams played 6 times, MSU would be expected to win once. Looking at it another way, a team can expect to have one (or possibly two) upsets of this magnitude in a season. The difference in rank between SLU and MSU is large (32 vs. 114, a difference of 82) but the difference in rating is relatively small (278 points). That difference is less than the difference between #1 North Carolina and #10 California (324 points). There may not be a lot of parity at the top of Division I but there's a ton of parity in the middle. ***************************** ***************************** St. Louis 0 at Missouri State 1 Oct 20 at Springfield, Mo. ..........SLU...MSU Shots......15....8 SOGs.......10....4 Saves.......3...10 Corners.....8....3 Offsides....3....0 Fouls......11...10 Cautions....0....1 Attendance: 162 This result shouldn't have much effect on the Billikens' chances of getting in the national tournament. But, when it comes to getting an at-large bid, every game is important. But, then, if the Billikens take care of business in the A-10, it won't matter. As I often say, I wouldn't mind if we lose every game, as long as we win the league. I fully expect the Billikens to be in the national tournament this year. But it won't be easy. They will have to be on their game. ---- The Billikens have not lost a game by more than one goal since the 0-2 loss to at Kansas on Sept. 5 of last season. 2005 SLU Billiken Schedule/Results _________________________time/result____GWG Fri 08-26 Oklahoma _______L 1-2(OT) --- Sun 08-28 at Rice ________W 3-1 Ferguson (Hulcer) Fri 09- 2 at SEMO ________W 1-0 Gresco (Hughes) Sun 09- 4 Illinois State__W 2-1 Ferguson (Hulcer) Thu 09- 8 at Mississippi__W 2-1 Ferguson (Hulcer) Sun 09-11 Duke ___________L 1-2 --- Fri 09-16 Duquesne _______W 5-0 Hughes (Hulcer, Winchell) Sun 09-18 Air Force _____ W 3-0 Hulcer (Hughes) Fri 09-23 at Santa Clara_ L 1-2 --- Fri 09-30 Charlotte_______W 2-1 Ferguson (unassisted) Sun 10- 2 Richmond________W 3-1 Winchell (Hughes, Ferguson) Fri 10- 7 at Temple_______W 4-1 Hughes (Hulcer) Sun 10- 9 at St. Joseph's_W 2-1 Ferguson (Gresco) Fri 10-14 at Rhode Island_postponed Sun 10-16 at UMASS________W 1-0 Sweeney (Hulcer) Thu 10-20 at Missouri St__L 0-1 --- Fri 10-28 Geo. Washington_7 pm Sun 10-30 LaSalle_________1 pm Thu 11- 3 A-10 Tourney at Dayton, OH Fri 11- 4 A-10 Tourney at Dayton, OH Sun 11- 6 A-10 Tourney at Dayton, OH Albyn Jones - October 19 Rating SE Rank..Team............W-L-T .1742..90..32..St. Louis.......11-3-0 .1237..78.209..La Salle.........4-9-2 .1234..83.210..Geo. Washington..4-9-0 Oh, my goodness. The A-10 is not exactly loaded with powerhouses. Those games won't help SLU's RPI. Seriously, this is the year the Billikens are going to be in the national tournament. They have the talent. They just need to take care of business.
Ferguson Leads Bills Past Colonials 2-0 box score George Washington 0 at Saint Louis 2 October 28 ...........SLU...GWU shots.......18.....4 SOGs.........7.....2 saves........2.....5 corners......9.....2 offsides.....2.....0 fouls........6....11 cautions.....0.....1 SCORING: 3:36 SLU Mary Green (Kelly Ferguson) 25:28 SLU Kelly Ferguson (Courtney Hulcer) Weather: Clear skies, cool Attendance: 734
Billikens Overpower LaSalle 5-0 Claim A-10 Regular Season Title box score The Billikens honored 6 seniors, Amy Smith, MaKensie Johnson, Lachlyne Eastman, Kelly Ferguson (who scored two goals), and goalkeepers Amanda Martin and Sarah Schweitzer (who combined for the shutout). SLU finishes the regular season with a 13-4-0 overall record and a perfect 8-0-0 record in the A-10. The Billikens will get a first-round bye in the A-10 tournament and will play in a conference semifinal on Friday, Nov. 4, in Dayton, Ohio against the winner of a first round game. (A-10 Tournament information) --------- Saint Louis 5, La Salle 0 October 30 _________SLU__LaSalle shots.....20.....4 SOGs......11.....1 saves......1.....6 corners....1.....2 offsides...1.....0 fouls......6....22 cautions...0.....1 SCORING: 21:58 SLU Maureen Hughes (Cassi Winchell) 27:31 SLU Kelly Ferguson (Courtney Hulcer) 32:27 SLU Ferguson (Caroline Sweeney) 48:09 SLU Hughes (Dee Guempel) 48:17 SLU Winchell (Hughes, Hulcer) Weather: Mostly sunny, 65 deg. Attendance: 654 ------------- And this just in: Field Set For A-10 Women's Soccer Championship First round (Thursday, Nov. 3) Charlotte (#3) vs. Duquesne (#6) Dayton (#4) vs. St. Joseph's (#5) Semifinals (Friday, Nov. 4) St. Louis (#1) vs. lowest remaining seed Rhode Island (#2) vs. highest remaining seed Final (Sunday, Nov. 6)
First of all congratulations to the Lady Bills for their 2nd straight conference title (regular season ofcourse). Looking at the seedings for the tournament Dayton is the biggest suprise, considering I thought they'd be the two seed when the season began. Do we happen to know what time on Sunday the final will be in Dayton??? Anybody with any answers for that please reply here and fill me in.
First of all thanks for the info. I presume that that is 1 Eastern time which is kind of a pain in trying to get out there just for the day of the finals without a hotel room. Hmmm. Well I shall figure something out I'm sure of that
Five Billikens Named First-Team All-Conference (Courtney Hulcer, Kelly Ferguson, Lachlyne Eastman, Tara Gresco and Maureen Hughes) Hulcer was named Defensive Player of the Year (for the second year in a row) Ferguson and Hulcer are also on the Academic All-Conference team. Lauren Olson was named to the All-Rookie team.
Lady Bills play Dayton tonight at Dayton. Winner advances to the final on Sunday at 1 eastern. Damn I wish there was television or radio or anything for this match