D2 State Brackets and Predictions

[chasanooga]

I'm going to say St. Agnes vs. Baylor in the final, and St. A wins 1-0 in 2OT

 

 

DonC I think you have the finals right but the wrong winner

 

I predict Baylor 1-0 OT

[DonCChatt]

DonC I think you have the finals right but the wrong winner

 

I predict Baylor 1-0 OT

 

I hope I'm wrong. With Baylor's goalie out, I think that will make the difference against St. A.

[mjuhb]

Not to detract from the GK play on the teams you mentioned, but perhaps you should be looking more closely at the defenders in front of them. If you looked at the number of shots those keepers faced you would probably also see very low numbers there as well.

i am a firm believer that the goalie runs the defense if she comes out and commands the game the defense will back her up

 

but i have seen teams where a single defender(like the left back) tries to run the defense and the goalie than they wonder why they give up 5 or 6 goals a game

[kickgrass]

True, but a GK that does not have talent in front of them will have problems. They can direct the defense, as they should and set the walls, but players still have to execute and it takes talent to do that. In many cases, for teams that play with a sweeper, that player is doing much of the direction.

 

I guess a correlation would be football where the quarterback runs the team, but if they don't have a good offensive line they still won't get much done. Yet, the quarterback gets most of the credit for success and blame for failure, while the offensive line rarely gets mentioned.

[Jewell]

Looks like all you formidable pontificators have all your $$$$ on the Baylor - SAA game. Shoud BGA and Brentwood just surrender?????? I think both SAA and Baylor would rather set up the field for the finals without having to go through the battles they are going to fight tonight. Any chance of an upset??? Remember the better team does not always win.

[chxian]

Looks like all you formidable pontificators have all your $$$$ on the Baylor - SAA game. Shoud BGA and Brentwood just surrender?????? I think both SAA and Baylor would rather set up the field for the finals without having to go through the battles they are going to fight tonight. Any chance of an upset??? Remember the better team does not always win.

Not me. I'll take BGA although with Baylor dominating their quarterfinal match it could be Baylor/SAA after all. If BA beats SAA that will be the upset of the tournament regardless of division.

[Soccer Gypsy]

Looks like all you formidable pontificators have all your $$$$ on the Baylor - SAA game. Shoud BGA and Brentwood just surrender?????? I think both SAA and Baylor would rather set up the field for the finals without having to go through the battles they are going to fight tonight. Any chance of an upset??? Remember the better team does not always win.

 

 

They should have checked out yesterday and gone home.

 

I was fooled by all the hype surrounding FRA in AA. Always a chance any team could win and I don't think you could call it an upset if either BA or BGA wins. The last four teams are all very good and have atleast a 25% chance of winning it all. Should be good games and wish I could be there.

 

Don't be fooled by that better team thing. If you win you are the better team, atleast for that game. And with single elimination all arguments are off after the whistle.

 

Good luck to all and stay healthy and warm.

 

Off to practice.

[chxian]

Any SAA/BA updates at half time?

[Jewell]

Any SAA/BA updates at half time?

SAA-1

BA-0

[Jewell]

Final

 

SAA 1

BA 0

[ydet]

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.

[h2odog]

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.

Have to add: coaching strategy can make the difference. The emotions are so high, someone has to try to stay grounded.