[Viking_Guy]

BTW, all the emphasis on how those free-flowing games would boost the scoring, if only the NCAA would accept that ACC teams should really be the only ones invited to the College Cup:

Since 1980, there have been 3 games in which more than 3 goals were scored in the NCAA championship.  Only one of them involved an ACC team - and that was Clemson losing 4-0 to Stanford two years ago.  St. John's beat FIU 4-1 in 1996, and Indiana beat Stanford 3-1 in 1998.

Here's the last 10 years:
2007 Wake Forest 2 Ohio State 1
2008 Maryland 1 North Carolina 0
2009 Virginia 0 Akron 0 (Virginia 3-2 in PKs)
2010 Akron 1 Louisville 0
2011 North Carolina 1 UNC Charlotte 0 (Jeremy Gunn's Charlotte team)
2012 Indiana 1 Georgetown 0
2013 Notre Dame 2 Maryland 1
2014 Virginia 0 UCLA 0 (Virginia 4-2 in PKs)
2015 Stanford 4 Clemson 0
2016 Stanford 0 Wake Forest 0 (5-4 in PKs)

and of course, today.

So in the last 11 championship games, 5 have been 1-0.  Three have been in PKs.  Only 3 have involved the winning side score more than once.  And a whole lot of the teams involved were from the ACC.

(EDIT: I also think that the 1-0 scorelines are emblematic of how TOO many teams react to scoring in a championship game - get ahead 1-0, and THEN bunker in.  A la Indiana in the semi-final - again, I saw one set up, with the ball 45 yards from goal, that was 6 across the back about even with the penalty spot, 3 about 25 yards out, and 1 guy chasing the ball. THAT's boring.)

Soccer may have a systemic problem with scoring, but I'm not sure the ACC solves it either.  I would rather watch a team attempting to take the ball away, trying to generate chances, then an endless retreat absorbing pressure followed by trying to score through 8 or 9 defenders in the last 20 yards of the pitch.

VG

[Viking_Guy]

BTW, all the emphasis on how those free-flowing games would boost the scoring, if only the NCAA would accept that ACC teams should really be the only ones invited to the College Cup:

Since 1980, there have been 3 games in which more than 3 goals were scored in the NCAA championship.  Only one of them involved an ACC team - and that was Clemson losing 4-0 to Stanford two years ago.  St. John's beat FIU 4-1 in 1996, and Indiana beat Stanford 3-1 in 1998.

Here's the last 10 years:
2007 Wake Forest 2 Ohio State 1
2008 Maryland 1 North Carolina 0
2009 Virginia 0 Akron 0 (Virginia 3-2 in PKs)
2010 Akron 1 Louisville 0
2011 North Carolina 1 UNC Charlotte 0 (Jeremy Gunn's Charlotte team)
2012 Indiana 1 Georgetown 0
2013 Notre Dame 2 Maryland 1
2014 Virginia 0 UCLA 0 (Virginia 4-2 in PKs)
2015 Stanford 4 Clemson 0
2016 Stanford 0 Wake Forest 0 (5-4 in PKs)

and of course, today.

So in the last 11 championship games, 5 have been 1-0.  Three have been in PKs.  Only 3 have involved the winning side score more than once.  And a whole lot of the teams involved were from the ACC.

(EDIT: I also think that the 1-0 scorelines are emblematic of how TOO many teams react to scoring in a championship game - get ahead 1-0, and THEN bunker in.  A la Indiana in the semi-final - again, I saw one set up, with the ball 45 yards from goal, that was 6 across the back about even with the penalty spot, 3 about 25 yards out, and 1 guy chasing the ball. THAT's boring.)

Soccer may have a systemic problem with scoring, but I'm not sure the ACC solves it either.  I would rather watch a team attempting to take the ball away, trying to generate chances, then an endless retreat absorbing pressure followed by trying to score through 8 or 9 defenders in the last 20 yards of the pitch.

VG