Men's Sectional Previews: Central

By Christan Shirk

Third Round - Friday, Nov. 16

Quarterfinals - Saturday, Nov. 17

Sectional Final, 5:00 pm CT

How they reached the Sweet 16

Loras: IIAC Automatic Berth (AQ) | 1st Rnd: W1-0 St. Scholastica (H) | 2nd Rnd: W1-0 North Park (H)

UW-Platteville: Pool C at-large berth | 1st Rnd: T0-0(2ot-pks) Gust. Adolphus (N) | 2nd Rnd: W2-1 Carroll (N)

Wheaton (Ill.): CCIW Automatic Berth (AQ) | 1st Rnd: W3-0 Transylvania (H) | 2nd Rnd: W2-0 Centre (H)

Dominican: Northern A.C. Automatic Berth (AQ) | 1st Rnd: W3-1 Webster (H) | 2nd Rnd: W2-1(ot) DePauw (H)

2012 Statistical Overview

Loras: 21-1-1 (.935) | 2.72 GSA, 0.35 GAA (+2.37) | Avg. D-III OWP: .572 | Last Ten: 10-0-0

UW-Platteville: 15-3-2 (.800) | 2.67 GSA, 0.62 GAA (+2.05) | Avg. D-III OWP: .512 | Last Ten: 7-2-1

Wheaton (Ill.): 17-3-3 (.804) | 2.29 GSA, 0.87 GAA (+1.42) | Avg. D-III OWP: .648 | Last Ten: 9-0-1

Dominican: 18-2-1 (.881) | 3.63 GSA, 0.60 GAA (+3.03) | Avg. D-III OWP: .560 | Last Ten: 9-1-0

Loras Season Review

This Loras team very easily could be undefeated and untied at this point. They lost perfection the second weekend of the season when they couldn't make their 23-7 advanatge in shots (SOG 8-2) pay off against Washington U. and had to settle for a scoreless tie. Later in September the Duhawks fell from the ranks of the undefeateds, done in by the brilliant shooting of UW-Platteville's Brandon Chmiel in a 2-1 loss despite more than double the shots, SOG, and corner kicks. They get the chance to revenge that lone loss in a Sweet 16 rematch with Platteville. They are riding a 14-game winning streak that includes eleven shutouts and a clean sweep of all conference games en route to the IIAC title and AQ. Sandwiched into their conference run was two hard fought wins over Wheaton (Ill.) and Dominican who make up the other half of the sectional to create another rematch if Loras can advance. The concern with Loras is finishing, especially from their forwards. For example, in their 1-0 round one win over St. Scholastica they took 30 shots, 11 on target, but had to wait until the 85th minute to finally find the back of the net. The win over North Park by the same score resulted from a goal in 73rd minute when they finally converted their seventeenth shot of the game. The team has a good mix of sophomores, juniors, and seniors and is led by the midfield duo of senior Brad Joiner (8g, 3a) and junior Kevin Cavers (6g, 7a). The team has posted an impressive +2.37 goal differential.

UW-Platteville Season Review

One of the surprises of the men's Sweet 16, UW-Platteville has filled the void created by the shrinking of the traditional WIAC powers Oshkosh and Whitewater. The Pioneers had a good season that included a 10-game unbeaten streak. Nevertheless, it's unclear if they would have gotten noticed and selected for the tournament if they had not beaten Sweet 16 opponent Loras in late September on the back of a pair of superb goals from the star of the team, Brandon Chmiel (14g, 7a). With opponents like Macalaster and Augsburg having disappoiting campaigns, Platteville's schedule was decent but not exceptional. In trying guage this team, the Loras win is more than offset by the list of opponents to whom they have lost or tied: 4-win Macalester (T0-0), sub-.500 Wartburg (L2-3), and conference foe UW-Superior (L0-1) (let's forgive the early season loss to 11-6-1 Dubuque). Any doubts about the Pioneers strength and competitiveness on a national level will not have been quieted by their two tournament matches. They were a little fortunate to advance past a good but unranked Gustavus Adolphus on penalty kicks and a 2-1 win over MWC champions Carroll is not a measuring stick. The win over Loras shows they can stay in and win a game with anyone, but nevertheless this is a Cinderella team and any win from here on will be considered upset.

Wheaton (Ill.) Season Review

As is their tradition, Wheaton (Ill.) again played a very tough schedule with very impressive .648 average opponent's winning percentage. That often means the Thunder pick up a couple more blemishes than other top teams, and this year is no exception. And after two years in which the weight of a gruelling schedule and high expectations did the Thunder in, it is nice to again have a tournament featuring one of its most frequent and succesful participants. Having gotten one of the easier opening weekend pods, questions remain about this Wheaton team. In an improvement over recent years they won most all the games they were supposed to win, the tie with Webster the notable exception. However, besides possibly the win over a Calvin side that was still coming to terms with a new coach and player turnover in mid-September, they did not register a win over a top team, losing to Whitworth, Dominican, and Loras without scoring a single goal. Whether their current 11-0-1 unbeaten run is an indication of improvement since September or that their conference schedule is significantly easier than their non-conference slate is unclear. Their sectional worst 0.87 GAA might partly reflect the strength of their schedule, but the Thunder defense will need to be better. To reach the Final Four Wheaton will probably have to get past two high-scoring teams to whom they lost in September: Dominican and Loras. The Wheaton attack is fairly balanced, led by sophomore forward Adam Blackman (11g, 5a), but production off the bench is minimal. Unless the defense can carry them to penalty kicks, the attack needs to prove it can score against Top 25 teams.

Dominican Season Review

It was a typical season for Dominican: lots of goals, lots of wins, and a perfect run to the Northern A.C. conference title and automatic berth. The Stars typically face a few Top 25-caliber teams in their early-September non-conference slate of games before their season is overtaken by conference play: eleven regular season games followed by a pair of tournament games. Besides a little resistance from one or two teams, it's thirteen games that tell us very little about the quality and championship potential of Dominican. So we are left trying to evaluate the Stars on the basis of those early September games even though we know that most teams don't hit their stride right out of the gate, especially depending on the amount of player turnover. This year the results were mixed. A season-opening tie at Chicago and a 2-1 loss at Hope two weeks later on one side; wins against North Park and Calvin inbetween on the other. The 2-0 win over Wheaton (Ill.) on the eve of conference play convinced some, and an exciting 3-2 loss to Loras in mid-October seemed to confirm their Top 25 status. The Stars get goals from all over as eight players have scored five or more times. Senior midfielder Leo Elizalde (6g, 11a) and senior forward Ryan Roberts (13g, 6a) lead the high-powered attack.

Seniors' 4-year Record (through Nov. 11)

Loras: 73-14-6 (.817) overall | NCAA's ('09-'10-'11-'12): 5-3-1, Sweet 16 - '09, Elite 8 - '10

UW-Platteville: 43-29-7 (.589) overall | NCAA's ('12): 1-0-1, Sweet 16 - '12

Wheaton (Ill.): 52-22-11 (.676) overall | NCAA's ('09-'12): 2-1-0, Sweet 16 - '12

Dominican: 75-8-6 (.876) overall | NCAA's ('09-'10-'11-'12): 8-2-1, Sweet 16 - '12, Final Four - '09

Tournament Experience

Both Loras and Dominican have been in the tournament each of the last four years, Dominican playing in 11 games, Loras 9. Given that Dominican starts 8 seniors and Loras starts just 4 or 5, the tournament experience edge would go to Dominican, but both the coaches and both sets of players should know how to deal with the pressure. UW-Platteville comes with no prior experience and the program has only one previous NCAA appearance. Wheaton's seniors would have been freshmen when the Thunder went one-and-out in 2009.

Tournament Re-Matches

There has been a lot of interplay between these teams during the regular season. Wheaton, Loras, and Dominican have all played each other while Loras and UW-Platteville have also met. Loras lone loss of the season came in that encounter after having already beaten the other two. Dominican split and Wheaton came out 0-2 and will be looking to return the favor with a pair of wins this weekend.

Why they will advance to the Final Four

Loras: Simply put, Loras is the best and most complete team in the sectional. They have one of the best coaches is the nation and have a group of players hungry to match (and exceed) the standard set by the Loras teams that preceded them with Final Four runs in 2007 and 2008 just before they enrolled.

UW-Platteville: There's no pressure on them, so UW-Platteville can play relaxed and loose and feed off the underdog role. They also have a lethal striker that has already downed Loras once this season.

Wheaton (Ill.): This team is battle-tested and now gets to see some teams for a second time and if it's true that beating a team a second time is more difficult, that will favor the Thunder. And after two years in the wilderness, so to speak, there should be plenty of motivation to put Wheaton back among the elite teams in the country.

Dominican: This team knows how to score with the best forward line in the section. With one of D-III's most successful coaches guiding them, their superior finishing (most goals scored and best shooting accuracy) will lead them to victory.

Comments or feedback for the author?  Email Christan Shirk.