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MAC Tourney Championship Game - Nov 12 v WMU


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Very disappointing. Hard to fathom that we could be so unprepared for this game on our home field. I guess perhaps it could have been worse but not much. Unbelievable that 2 players whom we count on to score and win games lose their composure and get STUPID red cards that not only hurt the ability to pull this game out but puts the team in a bad situation for the first NCAA Tourney match. As @zippyfan34said, here's to hoping we face an "easier" NCAA round one opponent and not need Shokalook or Clapier. 

 

 

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Absolutely nauseating!  Pretty much from start to finish.  Zips were beaten on 75% of individual contests.  Man for man, Broncos were first to the ball, first to deliver the pass, and first to receive the pass.  Personal toughness and desire were all with the Broncos.

 

Regarding in-game coaching decisions, the Zips started to exert offensive pressure only after going to 3-man back line, thereby preventing our excessive lateral passing along the back line, and also adding one to midfield.  In retrospect, perhaps this tactical move should have been made at HT.

 

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theoretically.....if the zips get seeded in the 17 to 24 range, they should face one of the 8 weakest teams(one of the teams that the seeding committee ranked...between 41 and 48.....)  in the NCAA tournament 

 

However, we all remember last year....where the zips faced a Santa Clara team that was not highly regarded

 

Ryan Kingsford and Stefan Dobrijevic will have to step up on Thursday and play well...while splitting time at Center forward

 

I have been very impressed by the improvement shown by Terence Okoeguale over the course of the year.   Terence and Johnny Fitz are going to need to influence the game from the outside winger spots on Thursday night.

 

       

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20 minutes ago, TennZip said:

theoretically.....if the zips get seeded in the 17 to 24 range, they should face one of the 8 weakest teams(one of the teams that the seeding committee ranked...between 41 and 48.....)  in the NCAA tournament        

 

Perhaps we'll get Xavier in preparation for moving to the Big East.

 

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1 hour ago, fknbuflobo said:

...our excessive lateral passing along the back line...

 

That excessive lateral passing across the backline is infuriating. I thought we had gotten rid of it for the most part in our success this season. But no, we had to go back to it today...just as successfully as we've used it the past few seasons. UGH!!!

 

Edited by Zip_ME87
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4 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

My comment was more directed at the fact that WMU found themselves in a MAC Championship game because the MAC cannot properly sponsor soccer. 

It's not the MACs fault that their member schools don't offer men's soccer. A conference doesn't "sponsor" a sport.  If a school chooses not to fund a program, the MAC can't prop it up by funding being offered.   It has everything to do with Title IX and football budgets.  Look at most major conferences and the mid-majors and well, and you'll see a handful of men's sports, and a plethora of women's sports.  

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To clarify, lateral passing along the back line is done by the professionals on down.  It is done to maintain possession and to tire out the defense.  Keeping the ball is worth a "negative" pass now and then.  The problem arises when your possession is exclusively in your defense. 

 

Today our Defenders had way too much of the ball.  It becomes too predictable.  The ball eventually needs to move into Midfield.  We had far too little possession in the Midfield today.  We played the ball over the top with mixed success, but the quick, short passing through the Midfield was strangled today.  This match was all too reminiscent of the loss earlier this year at Indiana, where we rarely had a second pass out of the midfield.  

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Many of the comments regarding today's game are right on. Overall we got beat because another team was willing to come to our field and outwork us. They wanted the ball more, defended tighter, took away the passing lanes and stayed within their game plan. We stopped working to get/stay open and therefore we had no passing out of our defensive third. The lateral pass was the only thing WMU gave us. We either took it or went over the top. Neither is in our nature. Western punched us in the mouth and we folded. Our frustration led to two ejections. As pointed out before this game was huge. The team did not respond to the challenge. Congrats to WMU, they earned it. 

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49 minutes ago, zippy-claws said:

It's not the MACs fault that their member schools don't offer men's soccer. A conference doesn't "sponsor" a sport.  If a school chooses not to fund a program, the MAC can't prop it up by funding being offered.   It has everything to do with Title IX and football budgets.  Look at most major conferences and the mid-majors and well, and you'll see a handful of men's sports, and a plethora of women's sports.  

 

Headline from the MAC's official press release: MAC to Suspend Sponsoring Men’s Soccer Following 2022 Season

 

The MAC has had West Virginia, FIU, etc., as men's soccer members and failed to keep them. From what I know, the MAC has 3-4 full time members with mainstream sports that contend for national championships every year, and none of these sports are now sponsored by the MAC - Men's Hockey and Men's Soccer. Title IX is an issue, but the culprit for their own problems is the MAC. It is an atrocious DI athletic conference. 

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So now you're going to hide behind semantics.  Your hatred for the MAC is duly noted and has been.  The headline simply means they are dropping mens soccer, not "sponsoring it".  The MAC, no matter how badly you hate it, has been trying to provide men's soccer as a Championship since Akron joined in 1993. That season, there were only 6 MAC teams, Akron, WMU, EMU, Miami and BG, and CMU.  CMU dropped out in 1995, and the MAC got Kentucky to make it 6.  NIU joined the MAC in 1997 and there were 7 teams.  1998 saw Marshall and Buffalo join the MAC in soccer.  making it a robust 8 teams.  Miami dropped mens soccer in 1999, EMU dropped mens soccer in 2000.  Marshall left the MAC in 2002, leaving Akron, WMU, BG, Kentucky, NIU and Buffalo.  Marshall rejoined the league in 2003.  Kentucky and Marshall left the league in 2005, and the MAC went out and got IUPFW to make 6.  2007 saw IUPFW leave, and the MAC got Hartwick so they could have the required 6.  In 2009 the MAC added Florida Atlantic for soccer.  West Virginia joined in 2012 and we were back to 8 teams.  Hartwick and Florida Atlantic left in 2014.  2017 saw SIU Edwardsville added.  When WVU left, MAC added 2 schools, they left, and the MAC added Chicago State.  It would have been very easy for the MAC to drop mens soccer many times throughout the years when the team roster dropped near or below the NCAA required level, but they didn't.  You can't force your member schools to carry a sport.  

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Firstly, Western Michigan deserved their win today. No doubt. 

 

Today we didn't have enough of our big players perform well enough to win the game. The midfield was not near the level we need to go on a run. Tojaga (who I have liked a lot since 2018) was slow and Buechte was avoiding the ball. 

 

I dont think we went to a 3 back @fknbuflobo. I believe Malik Henry just had more freedom to get even more up the field after we were chasing the goal deficit. Zips played faster when a goal down. 

 

A few questionable officiating calls in the game. I rewatched the ESPN to see why the corner kick goal was called back and it seems a questionable call. Shokalook red card started with #5 pushing him into his own player. Then the scuffle was nothing really. Each player involved pushed somebody at some point. There was also a potential pk call early in the 2nd half for hand ball. 

 

With the officiating being so poor, I hope it changes in our new conference. No doubt WMU deserved their win, but a lot of things didnt go Zips way today. 

 

Lets all hope that Mondays draw is good to us.

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1 minute ago, YipaZip said:

Firstly, Western Michigan deserved their win today. No doubt. 

 

Today we didn't have enough of our big players perform well enough to win the game. The midfield was not near the level we need to go on a run. Tojaga (who I have liked a lot since 2018) was slow and Buechte was avoiding the ball. 

 

I dont think we went to a 3 back @fknbuflobo. I believe Malik Henry just had more freedom to get even more up the field after we were chasing the goal deficit. Zips played faster when a goal down. 

 

A few questionable officiating calls in the game. I rewatched the ESPN to see why the corner kick goal was called back and it seems a questionable call. Shokalook red card started with #5 pushing him into his own player. Then the scuffle was nothing really. Each player involved pushed somebody at some point. There was also a potential pk call early in the 2nd half for hand ball. 

 

With the officiating being so poor, I hope it changes in our new conference. No doubt WMU deserved their win, but a lot of things didnt go Zips way today. 

 

Lets all hope that Mondays draw is good to us.

Twelve minutes after Shook was sent off, Mani Diop came in at CB and Will Jackson went to L with Joel Sangwa at R, essentially 3 CBs. 

Malik Henry moved into Right Wing. 

Our customary 4-2-3 (down a man) morphed into a 3-3-3 (down a man).

That is how it looked to me.

I pay close attention to such things, and I watch a barely healthy volume of futbol.

This does not necessarily make me correct, but it does mean that my observation is more than merely casual.

 

If only Shook would not have lost his soup!

And Dyson Clapier getting two YC in five minutes, the second a wildly reckless slide tackle from behind. 

C'mon, Dice!  How you gonna act?  

 

Let's all hope that Monday's draw is good to us.

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I’m as far from a soccer expert as there is on this board. Please keep that in mind. I have left Lee Jackson field disappointed before, but rarely embarrassed like I did today. Last Sunday, I left happy to win the regular season title, but incredibly uneasy about the upcoming match. 
 

Though the Zips had some life late, it felt like they were doomed right from the jump. Props to WMU, that is a tough squad who is insanely focused at doing their job at each position. 
 

Our emotional coaching staff, all of them, constantly scream at the officials. Not to say a lot of staffs don’t, but you saw today how that made its way onto the pitch. We have possibly gone from fringe top 10 seed in the tournament to now hosting a hungry Santa Clara type opponent without two of our most important offensive players because they played overly emotionally and were stupid. I felt like I was watching the aforementioned Hartwick. To me, that is a huge breakdown of the program’s championship culture, especially if you do drop that first game. 
 

I do apologize to the regular Zip soccer die-hards if this is upsetting. I have a lot of respect for Jared and the staff, but I have much, much higher expectations than the crap I saw today. 

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9 hours ago, YipaZip said:

A few questionable officiating calls in the game. I rewatched the ESPN to see why the corner kick goal was called back and it seems a questionable call. Shokalook red card started with #5 pushing him into his own player. Then the scuffle was nothing really. Each player involved pushed somebody at some point.

 

I watched the ESPN+ broadcast this morning and do not see an offside on the Akron corner kick at ~52:23. Broncos #17 is between Johnny Fitzgerald and the Broncos goal. All of our other players are between them and midfield. How could we be offside? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Zip_ME87
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9 hours ago, fknbuflobo said:

Twelve minutes after Shook was sent off, Mani Diop came in at CB and Will Jackson went to L with Joel Sangwa at R, essentially 3 CBs. 

Malik Henry moved into Right Wing. 

Our customary 4-2-3 (down a man) morphed into a 3-3-3 (down a man).

That is how it looked to me.

I pay close attention to such things, and I watch a barely healthy volume of futbol.

This does not necessarily make me correct, but it does mean that my observation is more than merely casual.

 

If only Shook would not have lost his soup!

And Dyson Clapier getting two YC in five minutes, the second a wildly reckless slide tackle from behind. 

C'mon, Dice!  How you gonna act?  

 

Let's all hope that Monday's draw is good to us.

 

The reckless tackle was all emotion and horribly disappointing. I am a huge fan of our coaching staff, but the players were definitely fueled by their displeasure with the refs.  Also, the ESPN coverage ends with Jared in the face of the head ref.  Bad look.  Reminds me of a certain Columbus State coach that was a complete #%%#$.

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10 hours ago, zippy-claws said:

So now you're going to hide behind semantics.  Your hatred for the MAC is duly noted and has been.  The headline simply means they are dropping mens soccer, not "sponsoring it".  The MAC, no matter how badly you hate it, has been trying to provide men's soccer as a Championship since Akron joined in 1993. That season, there were only 6 MAC teams, Akron, WMU, EMU, Miami and BG, and CMU.  CMU dropped out in 1995, and the MAC got Kentucky to make it 6.  NIU joined the MAC in 1997 and there were 7 teams.  1998 saw Marshall and Buffalo join the MAC in soccer.  making it a robust 8 teams.  Miami dropped mens soccer in 1999, EMU dropped mens soccer in 2000.  Marshall left the MAC in 2002, leaving Akron, WMU, BG, Kentucky, NIU and Buffalo.  Marshall rejoined the league in 2003.  Kentucky and Marshall left the league in 2005, and the MAC went out and got IUPFW to make 6.  2007 saw IUPFW leave, and the MAC got Hartwick so they could have the required 6.  In 2009 the MAC added Florida Atlantic for soccer.  West Virginia joined in 2012 and we were back to 8 teams.  Hartwick and Florida Atlantic left in 2014.  2017 saw SIU Edwardsville added.  When WVU left, MAC added 2 schools, they left, and the MAC added Chicago State.  It would have been very easy for the MAC to drop mens soccer many times throughout the years when the team roster dropped near or below the NCAA required level, but they didn't.  You can't force your member schools to carry a sport.  

 

No, my first sentence was in response to the second sentence in your post: A conference doesn't "sponsor" a sport.

 

The literal verbiage used by the MAC was "sponsor," hence why I used the term "sponsor."

 

I'm well aware the conference can't force its members to carry a sport. However, this isn't equestrian, field hockey, or other obscure sports like that. This is soccer - the world's sport - in which they have a perennial national contender as a member. They're also close to dropping Track & Field, which they have a perennial national contender as a member. They don't sponsor men's hockey either, which 2-3 of their full time members are national contender in. I don't know how good the swimming & diving is as a conference, and I don't know about any other sports in which their full time members have a program that is a perennial national contender (i.e. OU volleyball). I won't bring up rifle cause that's incredibly obscure (although I'm damn proud that Akron could shoot the nuts off a squirrel at 50m). 

 

Yes, I hate the MAC. You're right, that is well documented. I think it's also pretty well supported by the constant failure by the MAC to grow, become an attractive G5 conference for other schools to be full members, and support its current list of members, especially when it comes to their best sports. 

 

What is a D1 conference without men's soccer and soon to be Track & Field? That's pathetic. 

 

 

 

Also, regarding the game, WMU embarrassed us and earned their NCAA tournament appearance. Congrats to them. 

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On 11/12/2022 at 8:15 PM, zippy-claws said:

Look at most major conferences and the mid-majors and well, and you'll see a handful of men's sports, and a plethora of women's sports.  

 

That goes by a head count, doesn't it? If you have, to simplify, 30 football scholarships, and the other sports have the same number of scholarships as the men's, then you have to add women's sports until you award 30 scholly's on the women's side. When baseball came back, they also added Women's Lacrosse to offset the difference.

Edited by Spin
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5 minutes ago, Spin said:

 

That goes by a head count, doesn't it? If you have, to simplify, 30 football scholarships, and the other sports have the same number of scholarships as the men's, then you have to add women's sports until you award 30 scholly's on the women's side. When baseball came back, they also added Women's Lacrosse to offset the difference.

Exactly. If they'd exempt football from the Title IX quota it'd make a lot of sense & even it out.  You've got to sponsor quite a few additional women's sports to meet the Title IX quota for football alone.

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To provide equality for women, an equal number of athletic scholarships has to be available for both men and women. So, D1 schools that have football have to offer more women's sports teams to make up for the large number of football scholarships. You can't exempt football and provide equality.

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