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Bryan Bristol from BGA is the best keeper with a bad defence I have ever seen

Yeah, anyone who was paying attention to DII soccer a couple of years ago remembers Jason Bristol. Well Ryan, Jason's little brother, has got the physical ability and the skills to be a great goaltender. I don't know if Coach Lape is still working with the keepers there but if he is he will definately help Ryan to be better every day. Lookout for this kid cause he is, and is gonna continue to be very good.

Wow, well that definately really hurts BGA. Morrissey was prob the staple of the center of their attack. Get well soon Stephen

I gotta throw BGA's 06 team out there. The way they were playin at the end of the season, I think they could have played with just about anybody.

Ahh, why not...

Maxi Rodriguez's goal for Argentina in overtime against Mexico in the world cup. I kinda just sat there with my jaw dropped for awhile. That was the goal of the year.

I wonder if now that four years have passed since the USN incident gonzo explained earlier the players are back to trusting their coach, or have the older players feelings rubbed off on them too. I think it will be very interesting to watch Brothers next year. They lost most of their leadership but I think they still could be very good. I for one would love to see a rematch next year. The teams would be the same except this time the roles could be reversed, with Baylor being the confident ones and Brothers the less experienced team.

I gotta give it to Baylor. I know first hand what it is like to play against Brothers and they are a tough team to beat. Great job to Baylor for the shutout. Brothers has always been a team that presses harder and harder throughout the game, so to hold on to a 1 goal lead is a credit to their entire team. Good attacking always starts in the back and good defense always starts up top. Well done.

That being said, I also have to say that I whole heartedly agree with what was said about CBHS' coach earlier. He has had one of the best teams in the country for the past few years but has hardly anything to show for it. I remember when they lost to USN in the first round in 04. They prob should have won state that year. You can say they chocked on that PK against Ryan in 05 or that they broke when the pressure was on last year against BGA. You can say that they choked this year too. I don't think so. I think they were just unprepared. They are a team that comes in to their games cocky. They just know that they are going to win, and to their credit usually they do. But every so often they get a team that stands up to them, a team that doesn't back down. When this does happen and they have to play toe to toe with a good team, they find that they are unprepared for it.

Now I'm not blaming this on any Brothers player. They always keep playing hard and fight everygame, that is the main reaon it is so hard to beat them. The problem is their coaches. It seems that brothers never ever changes strategy. Its always control the ball in the back, work it up the wings, then send it to the middle for a chance on goal. Brothers stubborly plays this style regardless of the situation. Their coach just seems so cocky that he refuses to change his strategy regardless of what happens. This is why they are still beatable.

It is and will always be a great coaching strategy to be positive with your team before a big game. Letting players know that they have a great opportunity to do something big is always good motivation. That is why I have no problem with a coach telling his players that they can and maybe even will win the game. A problem does start to arise when a coach, the person all the players look to, is overly confident before a game. Thinking you will win is one thing, thinking all you have to do to win is show up is another. In the past the Bothers coaches have always seemed overconfident. Sure they are good mannered and politically correct, but it is easy to see, even from newspaper articles that they are already sure of winning. As was said before, this has to be contagious. I can't see how the Brothers players wouldn't expect to win with the way their coach approaches the game, so I can see how they could be caught off guard in big games.

Finally, something must be said for the situation. It is clear to everyone that Brothers has had a very good soccer team for awhile now. They can beat most teams they play. In the regular season they come out expecting to win games and they do. The problem seems to come when they get to championships. The reason for this is that when you finally get to a championship game your are guarenteed to be playing a good team. But why should brothers worry they have beaten good teams before? Well something always happens to the littledog in a big game. They stop being little. Everybody always plays with something extra when a chmpioship is on the line. Everyone gives everything they have trying to win. People really learn something about what they can do when there is that tension and apprehension around. The problem for Brothers is that there seems to be no apprehension or tension. Their coach knows that they will win so why should the players worry. And it is hard to give everything you have when you don't think you need to.

I could be wrong, and somebody will probably call me out on it (actually, judging from my CoachT history, I'll be suprised if no one does). This is just my opinion, but I will stand by it. If anyone has anything to add, or if anybody has a question, feel free.

Not to be too random, but I seem to remember everybody picking the same winner in the boys DII bracket last spring. It didn't quite turn out the way many people expected. My point is that once you get down to the last two games of the season, there is no "better team" at the beginning of the game. The outcome of the game is determined by the way the teams play once the whistle blows and by nothing else. If you are good enough to make it to the championship game, you are good enough to win, but so is the team you are playing. It is all about how badly you want to win it. The winner will be the team who doesn't bend.

I know its early, but I wouldn't be suprised if BGA went far this year. They have a very strong core of girls who have played together for awhile (alot like the boys team). They should be a good team to watch.

First, team rankings last spring, now player rankings for every position. Its really awesome that you do this MJUHB, but how do you have so much spare time.

TENNESSEE'S REGION

Rank School Prev. W-L-T

1 Thomas Dale (Chester, Va.)* 24 - 0 - 0

2 Northwestern (Rock Hill, S.C.)* 26 - 2 - 0

3 Battle Ground Academy (Franklin, Tenn.)* 16 - 2 - 0

4 Greenville (Greenville, S.C.) 23 - 2 - 0

5 Gar-Field (Woodbridge, Va.) 19 - 3 - 0

6 Beardon (Knoxville, Tenn.)* 18 - 5 - 3

7 Christian Brothers (Memphis, Tenn.) 18 - 1 - 0

8 North Stafford (Stafford, Va.) 19 - 4 - 0

9 Spring Valley (Columbia, S.C.) 22 - 6 - 0

10 Riverside (Greer, S.C.)* 22 - 6 - 0

* - Indicates State Champion

NATIONAL RANKINGS

Rank School Prev. W-L-T

1 Thomas Dale (Chester, Va.)* 4 24 - 0 - 0

2 Lincoln (Neb.) East* 2 18 - 0 - 0

3 Randolph School (Huntsville, Ala.)* 3 25 - 1 - 0

4 Snohomish (Snohomish, Wash.)* 6 20 - 1 - 0

5 Van Buren (Van Buren, Ark.)* 5 20 - 0 - 3

6 Northwestern (Rock Hill, S.C.)* 19 26 - 2 - 0

7 Shades Valley (Birmingham, Ala.)* 10 25 - 2 - 0

8 Jenks (Jenks, Okla.)* 8 15 - 1 - 1

9 Valley (West Des Moines, Iowa)* 13 20 - 2 - 0

10 South Kitsap (Port Orchard, Wash.) 13 18 - 3 - 0

11 Battle Ground Academy (Franklin, Tenn.)* NR 16 - 2 - 0

12 Walton (Marietta, Ga.)* 15 17 - 2 - 2

13 Norman North (Norman, Okla.) 16 15 - 2 - 0

14 East (Salt Lake City, Utah)* NR 13 - 3 - 0

15 The Marist School (Atlanta, Ga.)* 18 20 - 3 - 0

16 Greenville (Greenville, S.C.) NR 23 - 2 - 0

17 Cheyenne Central (Cheyenne, Wyo.)* 17 15 - 2 - 0

18 Mead (Spokane, Wash.) 20 18 - 5 - 0

19 Pace Academy (Atlanta, Ga.)* NR 21 - 1 - 1

20 Lake Stevens (Lake Stevens, Wash.) 9 18 - 4 - 0

* - Indicates State Champion

p.s. where is Bristol going? i am quite interested, he really played well in the state final game and i do not thin BGA would have won without him.

Yeah, he will be at West Virginia next year. And there is no thinking about it, without Jason, we would not have won state. The same can be said for Dustin or Wade.

Sniff.

I love the smell of Napalm in the morning.

As a fan or a player?

Yeah, sorry. I just wanted people to know that we played our game and won. It wasn't like we changed everything to defend against Brothers. That is what we did against MBA and we wound up losing. We decided that we would play the way we had played all year and we did and we won. This is why I don't believe Brothers really controlled play. They had the ball but were no real threat and were already losing.

BGA did what they needed to do to win. Possession percentage was won by brothers but the scoreboard is what counts in the end, and nobody can say that BGA sat back and defended the whole game. BGA had been criticized this year and last for not being a "team", but they proved that they were the best team on Saturday. Congratulation to the the team and the coaches for their state championship

Yeah, Brothers did have the ball alot more than we did. But they held it in the flank around midfield. As far as I'm concerned, they can hold the ball there as long as they want, especially when they were loosing for 70 mins of the game and never in the lead. They led posession, but they really didn't do anything with it. They had no long combined attacks, they didn't really even switch the field that much. Instead they just held the ball and then try to play a ball over the top. Posession doesn't mean that they controlled the game. The fact that they really weren't able to play their great combination game thru the middle is proof of this.

I agree, Taylor. Despite the fact that I had just won a state championship and was elated, I felt very bad for Brothers. They played very hard and with more class than other teams I have played (cough Ryan cough). They continued to play their game, even while they were down, and fought back twice. Their honor, sportsmanship, and class is something that many other teams could and should aspire to match.

I'm not trying to be mean, I would love to bury the hatchet, and I'll take any complement I can get. I just find it funny that R.O.B. is telling someone to use common sense.

I think it was obvious throughout the season that DII was the strongest. I'm with you that BGA and Brothers should go first and second. I think they played the best soccer all year.

I love how everyone keeps saying that BGA was outplayed. I don't think so. CBHS was playing from behind the entire game. They did control the flanks, but that has always been the weakest part of BGA's game. They were unable to come down the middle and get good shots. The only good shot they had came from about 40 yards out. Instead they kept taking the ball down the wing and crossing it in. This is how they got their two goals.

Also, it is important that people don't confuse arrogance and confidence. Being confident is very important in any sport. If, deep in your mind, you already know that you are going to win then as a player you can come out, play your game, and win.

Arrogance, however, is taking that confidence and going public. It is not needed in sports. It has no use except to belittle ones opponent and brag over victory.

I believe that many of the CBHS players were confident. They played very hard and fought for every second of the game. From what I have heard, I think that their coach was arrogant. Something that probably got into the head of some of Brothers' younger players.

P.S.

Earlier on some topic somewhere, I saw where a Brothers supporter was making excuses for only beating MBA in P.K.'s. He said that it doesn't matter how the game went because "good teams find ways to win". In light of recent events, I will have to agree.

It was a slide tackle from behind. Not cleats up, there was no intent to injure, the guy didn't even get cleated, he just got tripped up. I thought the play deserved a yellow but a red was not necesary. And the ref was very inconsistant, but at least he was inconsistant evenly. He missed plenty of calls both ways.

On the other hand, I thought the linesman of the game did a very good job. They were always in position and missed very few calls.

that was easily the best game i have ever played in. cbhs is a great team and they showed they deserved to be there. we took advantage of our few chances and came out on winning side. it was unfortunate that one team had to win but thats how it goes. congrats to cbhs on a great season. this is a picture perfect way to end our senior's careers here.

Yeah, it was.

Excluding PKs, every goal came off a header. It was a very close game.

The MUS BGA game was closer than the score would indicate. Both teams had possession and opportunities, but BGA found ways to score and created better opportunities. Both of these teams are full of highly skilled, quality players, and it will be a great game to watch.

Its not that MUS didn't capitalize on opportunities, they just didn't have any. It was 4-0 not a one or two goal game. It was 3-0 at halftime. The game was clearly BGA's and anyone who disagrees spent too much time watching the Brothers game.

All I will say is that this is potentially the best game anyone will see all year. Brothers is VERY, VERY, good and will be looking to finish a perfect season. BGA has been playing very well this year and is only looking better as the season comes to a close.

These two teams + the environment + the stakes = a very good game of soccer.

BGA 4 MUS 0

That is a final.