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2020-21 WF Men's Soccer Thread - Yes, there is a Fall and Spring Soccer Season

Personally, I think the cancellation works out in our favor. It gives all our injured players a chance to come back and prepare before the postseason. Otherwise, it would have been an extremely compact schedule with the thin numbers we already have. After all, I think any NCAA field worth its salt will have to include us now. And this bars an unlikely upset at Syracuse that could have swayed the NCAA selection committee. All in all, I think this will let them prepare well for the tournament and not worry about some crazy back to back game week for an unnecessary and frankly worthless automatic bid
 
Personally, I think the cancellation works out in our favor. It gives all our injured players a chance to come back and prepare before the postseason. Otherwise, it would have been an extremely compact schedule with the thin numbers we already have. After all, I think any NCAA field worth its salt will have to include us now. And this bars an unlikely upset at Syracuse that could have swayed the NCAA selection committee. All in all, I think this will let them prepare well for the tournament and not worry about some crazy back to back game week for an unnecessary and frankly worthless automatic bid

I’ll be honest, this is a pretty hot take.

We could have lost 10-0 to Syracuse, and we’d still make the tournament.

As for the injured players, I’m not sure another game would have any bearing on their recovery. If they’re good to go, they’ll get some ease in minutes like Tubbs did. I’m sure the ACC isn’t going to stack a game against a first round NCAA game. It’ll likely be over a week between matches. I’d bet most guys on the team would have liked to get this game in.
 
If we played this game and won, as expected, and if Clemson lost or tied their game we would then have to play two more highly competitive games in the span of a week prior to the NCAA tournament. Again all of this for an automatic ACC bid that I do not think is necessary as I am pretty sure we will be drawn into the tournament regardless and at a high enough seed that I don't think it will be particularly unfavorable. I would rather set up a scrimmage with a local team a la Davidson where the stakes are less impactful and everyone who needs minutes to shake off the rust can get it without having to throw an extra 180 minutes on a depleted roster prior to a very back to back NCAA tournament format that will follow.
 
So, I like to think I'm fairly attuned to soccer bylaws and such, but I'm having a *really* hard time wrapping my head around why Clemson was able to lose to Louisville last night and it not matter in terms of the division standings.

Clemson: 4-1-1
Louisville: 4-2-0
Wake Forest: 3-0-2

Only thing I can think of is that they went with a raw points total (Clemson has 13, Louisville has 12, we have 11), but that seems pretty short-sighted and/or unfair given the whole COVID thing. I would've assumed they would've used points per match (WF: 2.2, Clem: 2.17, Lou: 2.0) or winning percentage (WF: .800, Clem: .750, Lou: .667) or literally anything that adjusted on a per-match basis rather than penalizing us for not being able to play the worst team in the division because their team suffered a COVID outbreak.

This is trash (even if I do agree with Ace's point above about rest being good for our NCAA chances).
 
Good showing by wake in the All ACC teams
Isaiah, Calvin - First team
Nico, Machop- Second team
Kyle- Third team
Garrison- All-Freshman team
A bit confused on how all this was decided though, to be honest. Two VT players on the first team with a .500 record? Only one defender on the first team, and an outside back/winger at that? Machop and Nico easily could have been First team in my book. Seems like they were playing fast and loose with the selections. Seems like they just added all the draft picks and then figured the rest out. Jahlane was an oversight in regards to All freshman team as well, Escribano also could have gotten a nod. Vidovich is a good coach though got to give him that.
 
So Syracuse getting COVID may have removed our chance to show we're better than Pitt, which in turn drops us in the bracket and let's just see who we're in line to fac-

Oh.

It's Stanford. It's always Stanford. The Selection Committee takes sadistic joy in doing this to us.

(At least UVA missed, I guess.)
 
Any reason why they are waiting 2 weeks to start?

Technically, it’s 10 days with the earlier matches on the 29th. With all the games in NC, I wouldn’t be surprised if all teams were told to make their way this week for testing and training here. Once here, they remain here in an NC bubble until they lose. That’s just my guess on that.
 
Game May 2 Coastal sold out in 2 hours. Anyone know how many tickets were available? Spry listed with 3k capacity, but I think that only includes permanent seats. Is 1/4 of capacity still the NC standard?
 
In rather strange news (until more comes out?), Louisville City and John Hackworth have mutually parted ways after their home opening win.
 
In rather strange news (until more comes out?), Louisville City and John Hackworth have mutually parted ways after their home opening win.

Now some buzz that perhaps he will be the next coach for Charlotte FC. I personally don’t buy it, but it’s out there.
 
Quick take on Coastal (WF's NCAA Tourney opponent on Sunday):

9-4-2 on the season.

Lost their last two games: 1-0 to College of Charleston; 2-1 to Liberty

Played one ACC team: lost to VT 2-0

Leading scorer is 6-5 Marcelo Lage (a GW transfer from Mass)

Goalie is Tor Saunders (an Akron transfer from the State of Washington)
 
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In doing a little deep dive into the brackets, the selection committee really did Clemson no favors.

Typically, the RPI goes a long way in determining who is in and who is out. The NCAA RPI is actually not great, but a poster on BS does a MUCH more analytical RPI. I looked at mainly his, and here are some thoughts.

Obviously, this season isn’t a perfect science with some teams not playing fall seasons or out of conference opponents and departures to the pros.

The average RPI ranking of a team in Clemson’s bracket was 20! If American wins their game tonight against Jacksonville, Clemson will face the team with the #1 RPI in American. Clemson also has Fordham and Georgetown in their bracket who are both very good and come in at 3 and 5 respectively in the RPI.

Wake “lucks” out with an average RPI at 43. Obviously, some thorns in our side in Stanford and UNC. New Hampshire though is actually the highest RPI at 2.

Indiana has a VERY good squad, but their competition hasn’t been great. Their RPI is 38, although their record obviously shows they are a team capable of winning the whole thing. The average team RPI in their bracket is 34. Seton Hall has a pretty good side and VT plays a game suited for a tournament run. I know nothing about Loyola (CA), but they’re one of only 4 undefeated in the fold.

Pitts’s bracket has an average RPI of 27. Grand Canyon and Missouri State may be outliers that make their bracket look harder than it is, but Washington and JMU have both been very good.

As for Coastal, they come in with an RPI of 71. Mentioned above, they have a bigger squad which has sometimes been our downfall. The boys have been finding ways to win all season, so let’s hope it continues.
 
Some Spry vibes seeing Clemson down early 1-0 to American.
 
Is the game televised.

ESPN3

Edit: Our game is ESPN3. Kick time is 8:00 but I would guess 8:30 based on other games on Spry. If you’re asking about Clemson-American (Clemson now up 2-1), it’s on ESPN+.
 
I hope we never switch to turf because our field is one of the best in the US. Such an incredible sight.
 
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