[Embo]

I’m here at St. Mary’s.  Was expecting a sparse crowd because of Thanksgiving weekend.   I could not have been more wrong.  Tremendous attendance.  Blue skies and terrific weather.

This is a tough opponent- undefeated and ranked #4.    So far 4 shots on goal by them.   None scary.   Just one by Stanford. 

I’ll post updates as they occur.

[Embo]

I’m here at St. Mary’s.  Was expecting a sparse crowd because of Thanksgiving weekend.   I could not have been more wrong.  Tremendous attendance.  Blue skies and terrific weather.

This is a tough opponent- undefeated and ranked #4.    So far 4 shots on goal by them.   None scary.   Just one by Stanford. 

I’ll post updates as they occur.

[BostonCard]

Probably worth mentioning we are talking about men's soccer here.

https://www.ncaa.com/game/soccer-men/d1/...t-marys-ca

We have two shots, one on goal, which is not great.

BC

[BostonCard]

Probably worth mentioning we are talking about men's soccer here.

https://www.ncaa.com/game/soccer-men/d1/...t-marys-ca

We have two shots, one on goal, which is not great.

BC

[Redrum]

Still nil-nil after two OTs per NCAA site.

[Redrum]

Still nil-nil after two OTs per NCAA site.

[Embo]

Well regulation ended scoreless.   Both OT as well.   Ball spent much time w Stanford fending off shots (21 by St Mary’s) with only 8 by Stanford.  
PKs now.

[Embo]

Well regulation ended scoreless.   Both OT as well.   Ball spent much time w Stanford fending off shots (21 by St Mary’s) with only 8 by Stanford.  
PKs now.

[Viking_Guy]

Stanford's midfield has essentially been MIA the entire game.  They are lucky to be in PKs.

VG

---

4-2 Stanford in PKs.  They owe their lives to Andrew Thomas.

Woo-hoo (sort of)!

VG

---

Oh, and Akron leads #1 seed Wake Forest 1-0 in the 74th minute.  If Akron holds on, they play at Cagan next weekend,

VG

[Viking_Guy]

Stanford's midfield has essentially been MIA the entire game.  They are lucky to be in PKs.

VG

---

4-2 Stanford in PKs.  They owe their lives to Andrew Thomas.

Woo-hoo (sort of)!

VG

---

Oh, and Akron leads #1 seed Wake Forest 1-0 in the 74th minute.  If Akron holds on, they play at Cagan next weekend,

VG

[BobK]

Love wins. Akron up 1-0 minute 74

[BobK]

Love wins. Akron up 1-0 minute 74

[Viking_Guy]

Thomas made an absolutely spectacular save (from what I could tell from a livestream) on the first PK, and may very well have made one with under a minute left in OT, both on upper corner strikes.

Stanford's takers converted four straight (Cardinal shooting first) then a Gael hit the crossbar, so the shootout only went 4 rounds.

VG

---

Akron up with 5 minutes lefts in Winston Salem, on ESPN3.

http://www.espn.com/watch/player?bucketI...b0e78f5d11

VG

[Viking_Guy]

Thomas made an absolutely spectacular save (from what I could tell from a livestream) on the first PK, and may very well have made one with under a minute left in OT, both on upper corner strikes.

Stanford's takers converted four straight (Cardinal shooting first) then a Gael hit the crossbar, so the shootout only went 4 rounds.

VG

---

Akron up with 5 minutes lefts in Winston Salem, on ESPN3.

http://www.espn.com/watch/player?bucketI...b0e78f5d11

VG

[Griffins78]

Wake Forest got a team red card

[Griffins78]

Wake Forest got a team red card

[BostonCard]

Zips win!

It will be stanford Acron in the quarterfinal.  Acron has already knocked off two seeds.

BC

[BostonCard]

Zips win!

It will be stanford Acron in the quarterfinal.  Acron has already knocked off two seeds.

BC

[DenverCard]

Re Akron-Wake:

Wake scored an apparent tying goal with one minute left.  Oh, but offside!  Chaos ensued, then the game came to a merciful end.  Akron 1-0.  So instead of having to play at Wake Forest (had they won), Stanford hosts the quarterfinal against Akron on 12/1.

Glad that Stanford gets another game to show what they're made of.  Apart from Andrew Thomas and the PK takers, Stanford looked very outclassed today.  They seemed to lose confidence, and it turned into panicky booting it long for the entire 2nd half.  Game turned into somewhat of a throw-in fest, apart from when St. Mary's was creating dangerous chances.  I think the Card is better than they showed today.

[DenverCard]

Re Akron-Wake:

Wake scored an apparent tying goal with one minute left.  Oh, but offside!  Chaos ensued, then the game came to a merciful end.  Akron 1-0.  So instead of having to play at Wake Forest (had they won), Stanford hosts the quarterfinal against Akron on 12/1.

Glad that Stanford gets another game to show what they're made of.  Apart from Andrew Thomas and the PK takers, Stanford looked very outclassed today.  They seemed to lose confidence, and it turned into panicky booting it long for the entire 2nd half.  Game turned into somewhat of a throw-in fest, apart from when St. Mary's was creating dangerous chances.  I think the Card is better than they showed today.

[Viking_Guy]

Wacky end of the Akron-Wake Forest game.

Akron scored just after the half, and took a 1-0 lead, and then played bunker and counter.  The Zips best forward (Egbo) had a breakaway with about 4 minutes left, as the Deacons pressed forward.  Lots of scrum balls played into the box, but no great chances.

Until about 1 minute left.  All of the Zips' defense was ball-watching on the (Deacon's) left side, leaving a Deacon forward alone about 15 yards out on the right, but onside.  The ball was played through to him all alone, and he checked up as the goalie came out on him, then pushed the ball across the face to an onrushing player on the left post, who punched it into the back of the net.

And the offside flag was up.  The player who put the ball was in an offside position, and MAY have been ahead of the ball (it was about 2 yards outside the crease, and he looked to be about 1 yard when it was struck, and just behind his defender.)

The Wake team went nuts.  Their coach got red-carded.  One of their stars (Gdula) got in the center ref's face and drew a yellow.  The cameras somewhat luckily didn't follow the AR who made the offsides call.

After several minutes delay, the ball gets put back in play, and Akron is bringing the ball forward on the left.  Gdula launches himself into a late dangerous slide tackle.  Instant direct red card, and direct scuffling between the two sides.  Then Akron possessed, and Wake couldn't get anything close to goal in the last 30 seconds.

Upshot is that Akron will be playing at Cagan in the men's NCAA quarterfinals at some point next weekend.

More in a bit,

VG

[Viking_Guy]

Wacky end of the Akron-Wake Forest game.

Akron scored just after the half, and took a 1-0 lead, and then played bunker and counter.  The Zips best forward (Egbo) had a breakaway with about 4 minutes left, as the Deacons pressed forward.  Lots of scrum balls played into the box, but no great chances.

Until about 1 minute left.  All of the Zips' defense was ball-watching on the (Deacon's) left side, leaving a Deacon forward alone about 15 yards out on the right, but onside.  The ball was played through to him all alone, and he checked up as the goalie came out on him, then pushed the ball across the face to an onrushing player on the left post, who punched it into the back of the net.

And the offside flag was up.  The player who put the ball was in an offside position, and MAY have been ahead of the ball (it was about 2 yards outside the crease, and he looked to be about 1 yard when it was struck, and just behind his defender.)

The Wake team went nuts.  Their coach got red-carded.  One of their stars (Gdula) got in the center ref's face and drew a yellow.  The cameras somewhat luckily didn't follow the AR who made the offsides call.

After several minutes delay, the ball gets put back in play, and Akron is bringing the ball forward on the left.  Gdula launches himself into a late dangerous slide tackle.  Instant direct red card, and direct scuffling between the two sides.  Then Akron possessed, and Wake couldn't get anything close to goal in the last 30 seconds.

Upshot is that Akron will be playing at Cagan in the men's NCAA quarterfinals at some point next weekend.

More in a bit,

VG

[Farm93]

Wacky end of the Akron-Wake Forest game.

Akron scored just after the half, and took a 1-0 lead, and then played bunker and counter.  The Zips best forward (Egbo) had a breakaway with about 4 minutes left, as the Deacons pressed forward.  Lots of scrum balls played into the box, but no great chances.

Until about 1 minute left.  All of the Zips' defense was ball-watching on the (Deacon's) left side, leaving a Deacon forward alone about 15 yards out on the right, but onside.  The ball was played through to him all alone, and he checked up as the goalie came out on him, then pushed the ball across the face to an onrushing player on the left post, who punched it into the back of the net.

And the offside flag was up.  The player who put the ball was in an offside position, and MAY have been ahead of the ball (it was about 2 yards outside the crease, and he looked to be about 1 yard when it was struck, and just behind his defender.)

The Wake team went nuts.  Their coach got red-carded.  One of their stars (Gdula) got in the center ref's face and drew a yellow.  The cameras somewhat luckily didn't follow the AR who made the offsides call.

After several minutes delay, the ball gets put back in play, and Akron is bringing the ball forward on the left.  Gdula launches himself into a late dangerous slide tackle.  Instant direct red card, and direct scuffling between the two sides.  Then Akron possessed, and Wake couldn't get anything close to goal in the last 30 seconds.

Upshot is that Akron will be playing at Cagan in the men's NCAA quarterfinals at some point next weekend.

More in a bit,

VG

Offside by about a yard.   Even the very bias commentator could realize that he was "just" off.  Which is, of course, offside.

So game is on Nov 30 at 6PM per the Stanford Twitter Feed.

[Farm93]

Wacky end of the Akron-Wake Forest game.

Akron scored just after the half, and took a 1-0 lead, and then played bunker and counter.  The Zips best forward (Egbo) had a breakaway with about 4 minutes left, as the Deacons pressed forward.  Lots of scrum balls played into the box, but no great chances.

Until about 1 minute left.  All of the Zips' defense was ball-watching on the (Deacon's) left side, leaving a Deacon forward alone about 15 yards out on the right, but onside.  The ball was played through to him all alone, and he checked up as the goalie came out on him, then pushed the ball across the face to an onrushing player on the left post, who punched it into the back of the net.

And the offside flag was up.  The player who put the ball was in an offside position, and MAY have been ahead of the ball (it was about 2 yards outside the crease, and he looked to be about 1 yard when it was struck, and just behind his defender.)

The Wake team went nuts.  Their coach got red-carded.  One of their stars (Gdula) got in the center ref's face and drew a yellow.  The cameras somewhat luckily didn't follow the AR who made the offsides call.

After several minutes delay, the ball gets put back in play, and Akron is bringing the ball forward on the left.  Gdula launches himself into a late dangerous slide tackle.  Instant direct red card, and direct scuffling between the two sides.  Then Akron possessed, and Wake couldn't get anything close to goal in the last 30 seconds.

Upshot is that Akron will be playing at Cagan in the men's NCAA quarterfinals at some point next weekend.

More in a bit,

VG

Offside by about a yard.   Even the very bias commentator could realize that he was "just" off.  Which is, of course, offside.

So game is on Nov 30 at 6PM per the Stanford Twitter Feed.

[Spiny_Norman]

Next weekend, Stanford hosts NCAA women's volleyball, NCAA men's soccer and NCAA men's water polo. I hope all Cardboarders in the area can get out to support the Cardinal in one or more of these matches.

[Spiny_Norman]

Next weekend, Stanford hosts NCAA women's volleyball, NCAA men's soccer and NCAA men's water polo. I hope all Cardboarders in the area can get out to support the Cardinal in one or more of these matches.

[PVTree]

Not only hosting next game, we are the remaining top seed in our half of the bracket. This means that we should be favored to get to the championship game. Seeds 2 and 3 are still alive in the other half of the draw.

[PVTree]

Not only hosting next game, we are the remaining top seed in our half of the bracket. This means that we should be favored to get to the championship game. Seeds 2 and 3 are still alive in the other half of the draw.

[BobK]

for sure spiney

[BobK]

for sure spiney

[muiron]

My long write up, copied from the Sears Board - nothing all that different from what others, including Embo, who I saw at the match, but in (painfully?) greater detail.

Glad I made, with two Section C friends, the trip to Moraga. St. Mary's looks like a nice little college - with an excellent men's soccer team. The Gaels came in 18-0-1, having beaten 1-0 in the NCAA second round Oregon State, the team that gave us fits this year. And the Gaels gave us fits. But we're going on and they're staying home. (And, in fact, thanks to Akron upsetting #1 national seed Wake Forest, we are going on by staying home - quarter finals at Cagan next Friday at 6:00 pm PST).
For most of the game, and all of the first half, this was a tense, tight match played mainly in the middle third of the field. At 22:30 neither team had a shot. We got the first shot shortly thereafter; at the half we had one, they had four - and no one had a threatening one. (Though all four of theirs had been on frame.) A game in the middle of the field can sound (and can be) dull but this one wasn't. Both teams played well and St Mary's had several players with truly exceptional skills at controlling and passing the ball - and the whole team seemed to head well. I held my breath every time they went forward.
The second half started as more of the same but with the sound turned up. By 67:30 we had four shots, they had seven; we had five saves, they had two. By the last 20 minutes or so, the sound was turned WAY up. St. Mary's ended regulation with 14 shots, 8 on frame; we had 7, 2 on frame. By the end we were playing long balls - dump and run - in the hope that a ball would fall well. It got the ball away from our goal and was better than trying to move the ball through their excellent midfield. And yet we had, for most of the match (but not all of it) the single best opportunity, a blast just off the bar in the 57th.
They added three shots, two on goal, in the first OT, including some dangerous balls. Andrew Thomas several times came up brobdingnagian. The second OT they got four more shots, one on goal; we got one more, not on goal.
So, after 110 minutes we had extended our streak of not giving up a goal in an NCAA postseason match since the second round of ... 2014. (Golden goal loss to UCI.)
On to PKs - our specialty. We advanced over U o P in PKs last year and the year before we won the semis after 19 consecutive PK were made (before one was missed) and the finals when they, leading 4-3, got blocked to open the fifth frame, we scored, they got blocked again in the 6h (all honor to Andrew Epstein!), and scored to win.
So I don't think we were playing for PKs - but we were comfortable with them. Adam Mosharrafa stepped up for the first - buried it. Their first shooter was blocked cleanly by Andrew Thomas - he guessed right, leaped right, and had a two handed rejection. Always nice to go up 1-0 in PKs! Our next three shooters buried theirs - Arda Bulut, Tanner Beason, and Derek Waldreck. None of our four PKs was close to being blocked - or missing. Very nice shots! St. Mary's second and third shooters nailed theirs. But their fourth hit the bar - and it went over. 4-2 with one round left - we win.
I do feel bad for St. Mary's, which is an excellent team. They could easily have beaten us 1-0. But they didn't. OTOH IF the NCAA seeders are right and they ARE the 8th best team in the country, 1-7 must be pretty great. Not that I believe that IF. So now we have unseeded Akron, at the Q, with a fourth consecutive trip to the College Cup on the line. And it's at UC Santa Barbara!
Good, tough, testing match today. We survive. And move on!
Go Card!

---

Looking at the men's bracket. 
In our regional, it's #9 Stanford v. unseeded Akron.
The winner's opponent will come from a bracket that matches unseeded George Mason against unseeded Michigan State
On the other side, #3 Kentucky faces #11 Maryland, and 
#2 Indiana plays #7 Notre Dame.

So, converting to a common currency, the men have left in the quarters 2 #1 seeds, 1 #2 seed, 2 #3 seeds, and 3 unseeded teams left.
The women have 4 #1 seeds left in the Cup. In the quarters they had 4 #1 seeds, 3 #2 seeds, and one unseeded team.

If the men can beat Akron the match against the George Mason/Mich State winner looks attractive.

[muiron]

My long write up, copied from the Sears Board - nothing all that different from what others, including Embo, who I saw at the match, but in (painfully?) greater detail.

Glad I made, with two Section C friends, the trip to Moraga. St. Mary's looks like a nice little college - with an excellent men's soccer team. The Gaels came in 18-0-1, having beaten 1-0 in the NCAA second round Oregon State, the team that gave us fits this year. And the Gaels gave us fits. But we're going on and they're staying home. (And, in fact, thanks to Akron upsetting #1 national seed Wake Forest, we are going on by staying home - quarter finals at Cagan next Friday at 6:00 pm PST).
For most of the game, and all of the first half, this was a tense, tight match played mainly in the middle third of the field. At 22:30 neither team had a shot. We got the first shot shortly thereafter; at the half we had one, they had four - and no one had a threatening one. (Though all four of theirs had been on frame.) A game in the middle of the field can sound (and can be) dull but this one wasn't. Both teams played well and St Mary's had several players with truly exceptional skills at controlling and passing the ball - and the whole team seemed to head well. I held my breath every time they went forward.
The second half started as more of the same but with the sound turned up. By 67:30 we had four shots, they had seven; we had five saves, they had two. By the last 20 minutes or so, the sound was turned WAY up. St. Mary's ended regulation with 14 shots, 8 on frame; we had 7, 2 on frame. By the end we were playing long balls - dump and run - in the hope that a ball would fall well. It got the ball away from our goal and was better than trying to move the ball through their excellent midfield. And yet we had, for most of the match (but not all of it) the single best opportunity, a blast just off the bar in the 57th.
They added three shots, two on goal, in the first OT, including some dangerous balls. Andrew Thomas several times came up brobdingnagian. The second OT they got four more shots, one on goal; we got one more, not on goal.
So, after 110 minutes we had extended our streak of not giving up a goal in an NCAA postseason match since the second round of ... 2014. (Golden goal loss to UCI.)
On to PKs - our specialty. We advanced over U o P in PKs last year and the year before we won the semis after 19 consecutive PK were made (before one was missed) and the finals when they, leading 4-3, got blocked to open the fifth frame, we scored, they got blocked again in the 6h (all honor to Andrew Epstein!), and scored to win.
So I don't think we were playing for PKs - but we were comfortable with them. Adam Mosharrafa stepped up for the first - buried it. Their first shooter was blocked cleanly by Andrew Thomas - he guessed right, leaped right, and had a two handed rejection. Always nice to go up 1-0 in PKs! Our next three shooters buried theirs - Arda Bulut, Tanner Beason, and Derek Waldreck. None of our four PKs was close to being blocked - or missing. Very nice shots! St. Mary's second and third shooters nailed theirs. But their fourth hit the bar - and it went over. 4-2 with one round left - we win.
I do feel bad for St. Mary's, which is an excellent team. They could easily have beaten us 1-0. But they didn't. OTOH IF the NCAA seeders are right and they ARE the 8th best team in the country, 1-7 must be pretty great. Not that I believe that IF. So now we have unseeded Akron, at the Q, with a fourth consecutive trip to the College Cup on the line. And it's at UC Santa Barbara!
Good, tough, testing match today. We survive. And move on!
Go Card!

---

Looking at the men's bracket. 
In our regional, it's #9 Stanford v. unseeded Akron.
The winner's opponent will come from a bracket that matches unseeded George Mason against unseeded Michigan State
On the other side, #3 Kentucky faces #11 Maryland, and 
#2 Indiana plays #7 Notre Dame.

So, converting to a common currency, the men have left in the quarters 2 #1 seeds, 1 #2 seed, 2 #3 seeds, and 3 unseeded teams left.
The women have 4 #1 seeds left in the Cup. In the quarters they had 4 #1 seeds, 3 #2 seeds, and one unseeded team.

If the men can beat Akron the match against the George Mason/Mich State winner looks attractive.

[StanfordMatt]

Great writeup, muiron! Just one minor nit to pick which I feel compelled to point out as a native of Fairfax, Virginia. The bottom half of the draw features James Madison (JMU) of Harrisonburg, VA and Michigan State - not George Mason (GMU) of Fairfax, VA.

[StanfordMatt]

Great writeup, muiron! Just one minor nit to pick which I feel compelled to point out as a native of Fairfax, Virginia. The bottom half of the draw features James Madison (JMU) of Harrisonburg, VA and Michigan State - not George Mason (GMU) of Fairfax, VA.

[oldalum]

it's clear there's much greater parity in the men's game, which makes playing an unseeded team that is playing well enough to beat a high seed not as appetizing as it might seem. I doubt Wake Forest is currently thinking they had an easy path to the regional final through an unseeded team that upset the seeded team that should have been Wake's opponent. On the other hand, the parity also means that a non-#1 regional seed (e.g., us) has as good a chance to win it all as anyone.

[oldalum]

it's clear there's much greater parity in the men's game, which makes playing an unseeded team that is playing well enough to beat a high seed not as appetizing as it might seem. I doubt Wake Forest is currently thinking they had an easy path to the regional final through an unseeded team that upset the seeded team that should have been Wake's opponent. On the other hand, the parity also means that a non-#1 regional seed (e.g., us) has as good a chance to win it all as anyone.

[Viking_Guy]

A bit more on the midfield.  Again, the lack of size seemed to be killing us.  Time after time, our midfielders would get shrugged off as they went in after 50-50 balls, often ending up on the turf while the Gaels players streamed forward.  One reason that Andrew had so much work was the number of even-number chances we gave up in transition while our midfielders were trying to get back into the play.  On multiple occasions, Gaels midfielders shrugged off two challenges, leaving two Cardinal defenders out of position, and our center backs trying to defend forwards 1v1 in the center of the pitch.

It also seemed like we conceded the center channel of the field almost entirely - I watched Logan Panchot play most of the game, offensively at least, within 10 yards of the sideline, instead of ever trying to flow to the middle of the field.  So the team ended up having what possession they did have go either immediately over the top to two forwards who are not great back to the goal players, or so close to the sideline that they hit many uncontested passes over the touch line for Gaels throw-ins, and in all cases allowed St. Mary's to use the sideline as an extra defender.

They were tough, and game.  But giving up 20 pounds and 3 inches was costly.  I was really concerned about free kicks and corners.

The other thing I thought - they were not outworked.  But they were outrun - St. Mary's got into the open a lot, and our defenders' recovery speed was definitely lacking.  You could see it in the chances referenced above - the midfielders who got shrugged off trying to get back into the play, but not being able to make up significant ground against someone carrying the ball forward.

We'll see what happens against the Zips, and in Gunn we should trust.  Having lost seven starters, making the NCAA quarters is remarkable.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

A bit more on the midfield.  Again, the lack of size seemed to be killing us.  Time after time, our midfielders would get shrugged off as they went in after 50-50 balls, often ending up on the turf while the Gaels players streamed forward.  One reason that Andrew had so much work was the number of even-number chances we gave up in transition while our midfielders were trying to get back into the play.  On multiple occasions, Gaels midfielders shrugged off two challenges, leaving two Cardinal defenders out of position, and our center backs trying to defend forwards 1v1 in the center of the pitch.

It also seemed like we conceded the center channel of the field almost entirely - I watched Logan Panchot play most of the game, offensively at least, within 10 yards of the sideline, instead of ever trying to flow to the middle of the field.  So the team ended up having what possession they did have go either immediately over the top to two forwards who are not great back to the goal players, or so close to the sideline that they hit many uncontested passes over the touch line for Gaels throw-ins, and in all cases allowed St. Mary's to use the sideline as an extra defender.

They were tough, and game.  But giving up 20 pounds and 3 inches was costly.  I was really concerned about free kicks and corners.

The other thing I thought - they were not outworked.  But they were outrun - St. Mary's got into the open a lot, and our defenders' recovery speed was definitely lacking.  You could see it in the chances referenced above - the midfielders who got shrugged off trying to get back into the play, but not being able to make up significant ground against someone carrying the ball forward.

We'll see what happens against the Zips, and in Gunn we should trust.  Having lost seven starters, making the NCAA quarters is remarkable.

VG

[Spiny_Norman]

Some great video of the hero of the match, GK Andrew Thomas.

[twitter]https://twitter.com/GoStanford/status/1067124075515076614[/twitter]

[Spiny_Norman]

Some great video of the hero of the match, GK Andrew Thomas.

[twitter]https://twitter.com/GoStanford/status/1067124075515076614[/twitter]