SLU vs Fairleigh Dickinson (NCAA Rnd 2)

[DeSmetBilliken]

Not sure what brought this on, perhaps it was justified, but there was a play in the first half where a FDU player was cautioned for a foul. I think McGinty was unhappy that a yellow wasn't given, so he yelled something at the ref. The ref held up play for a couple of seconds to yell back at McGinty from midfield. I had never seen anything like that before.

[SLUBALLS]

Yep I remember that as well. I thought for sure the foul was a yellow and it didn't happen prompting mcginty to react. And as you noted the ref turned to mcginty and yelled at him. Strange as mcginty had been quiet up to that point. The other strange play was when sweetin got taken out on the east side of the field in the first half. He laid on the ground out of bounds as the ref called for advantage for slu. We got down toward the 18 and FD got the ball back and started a counter, I thought at that point with sweetin still down the reef would blow his whistle to stop the game for sweetin but he let it continue. FD got down to the 18 where Robson took out their guy. Then the ref halted play. It all adds up now as to why things seemed off with the ref.

[Bobby Metzinger]

I'll say it again, even as a casual fan of soccer (thanks to my sister who played a season for Tim Champion at the U before transferring), that the officiating was God-awful. A guy basically went spikes high into Sweetin in the first half and Al was down for at least 2-3 minutes in agony before any whistle was blown. #20 for FDU flopped so blatantly it was like he was being hit with sniper fire (too bad it wasn't the case) and the kid with the pony tail tried to horse-collar Hidalgo on at least two separate occasions.

"Let 'em play," people say. Well in soccer, sometimes the worst calls are the calls that aren't made. Those came back to bury SLU's magnificent 2012 season. It's unfortunate that one man's agenda cost us the chance at hosting UNC this coming Sunday.

I'd be surprised that after all the game footage the NCAA gets of this official if he ever referees another soccer match again.

[DeSmetBilliken]

One possible play that we might have caught a break on was when Kingsley picked up his yellow card late in the first half. At halftime I heard someone say that Kingsley went in studs up. Whenever you go in studs up, you're risking getting a red card.

[SLUBALLS]

Yea just ask Adebayor from Tottenahm after he went in studs up on Cazorla this past weekend.

Love to see if anyone has video of that play on Robson. I was 20 yards from the play and near SLU's goal line. It looked like a clear foul. If so, it should be sent to the NCAA as proof of the ref's incompetence.

[slufanskip]

One possible play that we might have caught a break on was when Kingsley picked up his yellow card late in the first half. At halftime I heard someone say that Kingsley went in studs up. Whenever you go in studs up, you're risking getting a red card.

Risking ... maybe. However, if a red card was given even 25% of the time a player goes in with his studs up there would be at least 1 red card per game. I'd say a yellow is probably more the norm.

Dissapointing end to a very good season. I wish I could have seen the game. However, overall I'm happy with how the program is progressing under McG. I hope Sweet desides to return. If so Robs is the only starter lost. Mags will also be missed, he got a lot of time and played very well down the stretch. Even if Sweet goes we return 9 of 11 starters, plus I expect McG to add a couple players who displace current starters. We also have a few players who are stars in the making in Robbie, Graydon, and Manning.

I've loved this season and can't wait until next year

[kwyjibo]

"Let 'em play," people say. Well in soccer, sometimes the worst calls are the calls that aren't made. Those came back to bury SLU's magnificent 2012 season. It's unfortunate that one man's agenda cost us the chance at hosting UNC this coming Sunday.

I'd be surprised that after all the game footage the NCAA gets of this official if he ever referees another soccer match again.

You'll never here me say let them play (it is usually stupid announcers who say that crap). I saw early on the game was going to be lightly officiated and win or lose it was not going to help SLU.

This is a bit of a tangent and I may not watch enough college soccer (but I see 1-3 games a year) but the referee seemed noticeably out of position and slow to react to the flow of play. I would guess the NCAA has standards for that and if nothing else he may lose his job for being so lazy.

[slufanskip]

You'll never here me say let them play (it is usually stupid announcers who say that crap). I saw early on the game was going to be lightly officiated and win or lose it was not going to help SLU. This is a bit of a tangent and I may not watch enough college soccer (but I see 1-3 games a year) but the referee seemed noticeably out of position and slow to react to the flow of play. I would guess the NCAA has standards for that and if nothing else he may lose his job for being so lazy.

Let 'em play usually favors the less talented scrappy type teams and rarely benefits the team controlling possession. It's a stupid idea in most if not all sports and always favors the team that needs the help of being allowed to foul to compete.

[Cowboy]

-i agree that "let 'em play" is ridiculous

-there is a guy with a very distinctive voice who has bball seats near me usually every third or fourth game he screams 'let 'em play' and then later in the same game he complains about a non-call, can you have it both ways?

-congrats soccer Bills on a good season, hopefully a harbinger of things to come!!!

[DeSmetBilliken]

Risking ... maybe. However, if a red card was given even 25% of the time a player goes in with his studs up there would be at least 1 red card per game. I'd say a yellow is probably more the norm.

You're right. Normally more likely to be a yellow, but sometimes the ref gives a red, and you just don't know which card the ref will take out. So it's a risk.

[SLUBALLS]

Here's what happened last weekend in the NCAA soccer tourney. Interesting to note that against three of the teams that advanced, SLU was 2-1 this year; we beat Creighton and Louiville and lost a very close one to Indiana. McGinty's squad is not that far off from being back in the elite of college soccer; another solid recruiting class will just add to what is already a strong returning team. I think one could argue that our youth was a factor in our last loss as our experience in big games, like the one against FDU, was limited. FDU wasn't a weak loss either as they took #1 NC to overtime this past weekend.

Indiana 2 - Notre Dame 1 (ot)

North Carolina 1 - FDU 0 (ot)

Creighton 1 - Akron 1 (Creighton advances 5-4 in penalty kicks)

Connecticut 2 - New Mexico 1 (ot)

Georgetown 1 - Syracuse 1 (Georgetown advances 4-2 in penalty kicks)

San Diego 2 - Tulsa 1

Louisville 2 - Northwestern 1

Maryland 5 - Coastal Carolina 1

[kwyjibo]

Just one other small follow-up about home field in the NCAA tournament. The higher seed was at home in all the 3rd round games and quarterfinal games. The only game where the lower seed did not play at home was when Tulsa went to USF and I assume that was because Tulsa facilities or staff were not available. So, SLU would have home games until the semis or they lost (whichever came first).