Conference previews
By D3soccer.com contributor Chris Shirk
Of the 39 conferences that will hold season ending tournaments to crown a champion, two already began this week and ten more get underway this weekend. Most of the others will start the middle of next week. On the line are not just conference honors but the cherished automatic berths into the NCAA tournament. Even with seventeen Pool C at-large berths available to fill out the 60-team bracket those invites prove elusive given the sheer number of D-III schools. In fact, only about half of the regionally ranked teams that do not claim their conference’s automatic berth will get selected. So for all but a very few there are no guarantees without winning the conference championship. Here’s a look at a few of the more prominent conferences with playoff games this Saturday that potentially have Pool C implications as well.
NEW JERSEY ATLETIC CONFERENCE (NJAC)
Two Quaterfinals - Saturday, 10/30
#6 Kean (8-10-2 / 4-5-0) at #3 Ramapo (11-2-4 / 5-1-3)
#5 Richard Stockton (14-4-2 / 5-2-2) at #4 Montclair St. (12-4-2 / 6-3-0)
http://www.njacsports.com/custompages/msoc/tournaments/msoctour.2010.pdf
It was an even more crazy and surprising NJAC season than normal as there was no clear top team like Montclair St. has been in recent years and no one performed as expected. The preseason coaches’ poll (http://www.njacsports.com/news/2010/8/15/MSOC_0815103542.aspx?path=msoc) could hardly have been more wrong, with three unexpected teams making the playoffs (Kean, Ramapo, and TCNJ who finished first) and Rutgers and Rowan not living up to expectations. Looking like slight favorites for their fifth consecutive title, Montclair St. then fell from first to fourth when they finished with two overtime losses to Richard Stockton and Ramapo. TCNJ, the biggest surprise, took advantage to claim the No. 1 seed with a 7-1-1 conference record completely out of kilter with their non-conference mark of 2-4-3. With William Paterson claiming the second seed, the quarterfinals set-up as follows: No. 6 Kean at No. 3 Ramapo and No. 5 Richard Stockton at No. 4 Montclair St. Indications from the latest NCAA regional rankings are that only Paterson, ranked third in the South Atlantic, has a shot at a Pool C berth if they do not grab the NJAC’s automatic berth, so this is do-or-die for all involved.
Given the bracket, the question is: will the NJAC champion come from among the teams playing in the two quarterfinals for the first time since the inaugural year of the expanded six team NJAC tournament when No. 3 Rowan won three games for the title? Or is three straight wins in this rough and tumble conference a task too tall? The only school who would be a complete shock to win it all is Kean while the winner of the Stockton-Montclair quarterfinal will take no backseat the resting top seeds. Stockton hasn’t lost in over a month, going 10-0-2 in that stretch despite only a few commanding performances. Just a week after the two played at Stockton, Montclair hosts Saturday and keeping their composure and 11 men on the field is the first key for them to have success. Offensive duo Duarte and Evans have heated up for Stockton down the stretch, but neither got on the score sheet against Montclair and they will be motivated the change that this time. It’s a true pick’em for the right to meet top seeded TCNJ on Tuesday. Ramapo, who hasn’t lost since mid-September, should deal with visiting Kean who is winless in their last seven, but given the season so far, would you really be surprised if it was Kean travelling to No. 2 William Paterson Tuesday?
OLD DOMINION ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (ODAC)
Four Quarterfinals – Saturday, 10/30
http://www.odaconline.com/tournament/fall/msoc/index
#8 Randolph-Macon (6-9-1 / 3-6-1) at #1 Lynchburg (12-4-1 /
9-1-0)
#7 Hampden-Sydney (7-8-2 / 4-4-2) at #2 Roanoke (13-3-2 /
7-1-2)
#6 Washington & Lee (7-6-2 / 5-5-0) at #3 Virginia
Wesleyan (10-4-4 / 7-2-1)
#5 Guilford (10-5-3 / 6-3-1) at #4 Randolph (9-7-1 / 6-3-1)
Besides the fact that the coaches’ preseason favorite, Hampden-Sydney, looked at one point like they would even make the eight-team conference tournament, the make-up of the ODAC playoffs doesn’t have any shock-value as Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Virginia Wesleyan, in that order, top the conference. The standings and results indicate a hierarchy that makes the higher seeds obvious favorites in all but the No. 4 - No. 5 quarterfinal. No. 4 Randolph frustratingly required double-overtime to beat Bridgewater on Tuesday and get home-field against No. 5 Guilford with home they ended tie in the standings. Randolph defeated Guilford early in the conference schedule by a 3-1 count having scored three in an eight minute stretch in the first half. But Guilford has improved some since then and is coming off a fortunate but nevertheless confidence-boosting 2-1 overtime win against Lynchburg who despite having already clinched the #1 seed could have used the win to improve their Pool C resume should it be needed.
Speaking of Pool C, it’s unlikely a Pool C berth finds its way to an ODAC school as Lynchburg is only ranked No. 7 this week in the South Atlantic region by the NCAA. And the fact is that ODAC schools have not fared well against quality non-conference opposition this season, perhaps Virginia Wesleyan representing the best having beaten North Carolina Wesleyan in overtime and tied Christopher Newport after a disastrous 1-2-2 out-of-conference start to the season. If there is a potential upset in the quarterfinals, it would probably be Roanoke falling to Hampden-Sydney who have done better the past few weeks. The two just played to a scoreless draw on Tuesday at Roanoke. Look for Virginia Wesleyan and Lynchburg to not just win Saturday, but also reach the final. It’s been five years since the No. 1 seed won the ODAC tournament; can Lynchburg do it?
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SUNYAC)
Two quarterfinals - Saturday, 10/30
http://www.sunyac.com/menssoccer/
#6 Cortland St. (6-10-1 / 4-5-0) at #3 Brockport St. (11-2-2 / 7-2-0)
#5 Geneseo St. (8-7-1 / 5-4-0) at #4 Plattsburgh St. (12-4-1 / 6-3-0)
Besides Plattsburgh St., there are no SUNYAC schools that are consistently among the best in the conference from year to year making it an interesting to see who rises to the top each year. And there is usually some team that is unexpectedly very competitive in the conference despite being very poor in non-conference play. This year there is Fredonia who started the season 0-5 and went 2-6-0 against a solid but not overwhelming non-conference slate, but know how to grind out 1-goal wins in SUNYAC play. Eight of their nine conference matches and thirteen of their seventeen total games were decided by a single goal, including the last ten (and yet no ties!). They edged Plattsburgh and Brockport the past two weekends to force themselves into a three-way tie atop the standings and the tie-breakers gave them the No. 2 seed meaning both Brockport and Plattsburgh have to play, and win, an extra game if they want the title. Oneonta was awarded the top seed and hosting privileges for the two-day semifinal/final finish next weekend.
Neither Cortland nor Geneseo won or tied a single game against any of the top four seeds, so expect Brockport and Plattsburgh to advance to set up a very balanced final four, impossible to predict. Could any of them lose and still go to the NCAA tournament via a Pool C berth? Not impossible, but odds aren’t the best. Plattsburgh, Oneonta, and Brockport came in at No. 6, 7, and 8, respectively, in the NCAA East rankings. The scenario that would give the conference the best shot at a second entry in the NCAAs would be to have the winner of the Plattsburgh-Oneonta semifinal lose to Brockport in the final. Fredonia and Brockport definitely need the conference’s automatic berth.
OTHERS CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT THIS WEEKEND
The Allegheny Mountain Conference (AMCC), Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), Northern Athletic Conference (NAC), and Skyline Conference get their tournaments underway this Saturday with a pair of quarterfinals, while The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) and Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) kick off with four quarterfinals. None of these conferences have legitimate candidates for Pool C berths except the CAC with Salisbury and York, but they both have byes into the semifinals next week.
Sunday, the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) tournament begins with four quarterfinals. Their regular season schedule only concludes Friday, so the seeding and match-ups are pending. There’s a very good chance that the top four teams all get into the NCAA tournament, but all four will want to avoid a quarterfinal upset so as not to give the NCAA committee any reason to just take three.
