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Soccer Match Thread

going to penalty kicks to determine the winner. The most exciting thing about soccer.
 
Is it common the have your keeper kick in the PKs? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it.
 
Physical match throughout. Thought the weight of fouls and cards in the first half was overwhelmingly in Virginia's favor when it should have been the other way around. Officiating was better in the second half and overtime periods. Herd was perfect in the shootout.
 
Is it common the have your keeper kick in the PKs? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it.
Yea, I was shocked to see our keep taking the first shot… but I really appreciate the confidence. He nailed it and got the block… the rest was just trading 1 for 1.
 
Grassie discussed the PK training post-2020.

They practice them extensively, and keep spreadsheets of everyone's conversion percentage, and then ranks the lineup from there. My guess is Semmle practiced and was quite well. We've obviously seen from his 75 yard kicks, dude's got a boot.

Pretty bad ass though, he had a really nicely placed upper corner PK with a ton of speed, just to turn around and block UVA's.
 
The coaches seem to respect Marshall and continually rank us high. The tournament seeding committee never seems to take us seriously.
 
UVA was picked to be last in their division of the ACC but ended up winning the division by beating Pitt twice. They also lost in the ACC championship on penalty kicks.
 
I was surprised to see Washington go down so easily. They were the #1 ranked team in the country and the #2 seed behind Kentucky.
That is one of the things that makes soccer rankings almost impossible to get right (and why the NCAA uses the RPI to essentially put matchups together in the first round of the tournament)... Because soccer is played regionally, there is no way to know whether Washington, St. Louis, Maryland, Cornell, etc are any better than each other. They likely don't even have any common opponents, let alone play in the regular season.

On the flip side, that's also what makes the tournament so much fun... If you make the bracket, you have a chance to win it. All the games are low scoring, so all it takes is one guy making a play, one bounce, etc. I doubt anyone had Vermont, Portland and Western Michigan in their Sweet 16, yet they all have a chance.

Should be a heck of a game in Bloomington next weekend!
 
I imagine Indiana got in on reputation. They are not even listed in the top 25 coaches poll. Like any sport, politics always comes into play.
 
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We better bury Indiana, we’re far better talent wise.
In soccer you never know... Both teams play a defense-first game, so I would expect a 1-0, maybe 2-1 max, kind of game. We are also far more talented than JMU and we lost to those guys. In soccer all it takes is one defensive lapse or one crappy ricochet, rebound, etc.
 
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Yea, some of us over here in IU were very surprised about the seeding. But I think it’s likely because of our strong SOS
Very excited for the matchup nonetheless. Took a look at your guys' roster and saw that you guys have quite a few from last may, like us. Should be quite the contested match.
 
Yea, some of us over here in IU were very surprised about the seeding. But I think it’s likely because of our strong SOS
I think I got the boot over on your guys' Rivals page. One of your posters asked me how much of our NC team is returning.

I believe we have 6 returning, Semmle, Alves, Fernandes, Souza, Milo and Collin.

Our mid field has definitely taken a hit with the loss of Schneider (Playing for MLS STL City now).

Our strikers haven't really fallen off though with the loss of Pedro, Jamil, and Vitor.. one can make the argument they're actually better with True Freshman Bell - who everyone including Grassie is expecting to leave for the MLS this year.

Definitely going to be a good match, gonna attend on my way back from being home in Chicago for the Holidays.
 
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