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Post by bearsandbulls on Oct 22, 2017 18:45:31 GMT -5
Again, we control our destiny. Things broke pretty well for us today, but there is a monstrous logjam at the top with all sorts of possibilities. Best business is to take care of business.
Xavier, with 14 points, can tie us by beating us at home, and head to head would put them up on us in the standings (seedings)
Butler, if they figure out how to avoid a tie, can surpass us unless we win. A tie for us with X and a win for them puts us in the 2 or 3 slot. Butler is playing NOVA, maybe, maybe not.
Providence, like Butler sits right behind us with 16 points. Same thing with W/L/T. Playing Creighton, I would bet on the Friars.
So with things this close, "Just Win Baby" sez it all, and someone get some Tylenol PMs to Nolan for sleep between now and Thursday.
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GUJook97
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Post by GUJook97 on Oct 26, 2017 15:02:42 GMT -5
Congrats to the ladies. Big East Champs!
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Oct 26, 2017 19:06:04 GMT -5
You know, it's funny... of all the teams that Dave Nolan has sent out onto the pitch ever since Ingrid Wells came along, this probably wouldn't be the one you'd pick out as being the most likely candidate for the Hoyas first-ever regular season title. In fact, I learned today, the Big East credits the Hoya's sharing the 2012 National Division title with Notre Dame as Georgetown's first regular season title. And that's all well and good...but Marquette finished that season with 3 more points than the Hoyas or Irish. So in my book, this is the true, unvarnished, undisputed first season crown.
Unlike most people, I'm pretty big on regular season titles - I find sustained excellence over the course of the marathon more impressive and indicative of quality than a successful tournament sprint. And if there's any sport where that's justified, it's gotta be soccer, where the big leagues globally eschew playoffs entirely. So for me, this isn't just a means (the #1 seed) to an end (the Big East tournament). It is a tremendous accomplishment worthy of rings and banners and a prominent spot in the Hoya history book all on its own.
And, in point of fact, this outcome is exactly what was predicted. The Hoyas were the unanimous pre-season coaches pick to win it all and came into the season ranked #5 in the nation. I believe that last year's College Cup squad would, on paper, strike most as being a more talented, more accomplished, more dominant team than this year's edition... and yet when the season came to an end last year, the conference awards were remarkably short of Hoyas. Now, I still maintain that was a travesty, but the point stands: Amanda Carolan's Freshman of the Year honor was the only major individual award Georgetown took home, with Marina Paul, Rachel Corboz, and Grace Damaska taking 3 of the 11 All-Big East First Team spots. You'd think that a College Cup-bound team would merit more... but then, you'd also think a College Cup-bound team would finish higher than the #3 seed.
Fast forward to this year, and the Hoyas swept the individual Preseason awards. So can we really say the 2017 Hoyas were less talented, less formidable on paper and on the pitch? I'm not so sure we can... but if we do, then we also have to acknowledge that their relative decline was minimal compared to the rest of the league. DePaul - Dave Nolan's vote for the league champ, since you can't vote for your own squad - just barely scraped into the tournament as the 6 seed despite having two of the best players in the league in Alexa Ben and Franny Cerny (happy for Ben that she doesn't have to end her senior season without even a single tournament game - I'd take her on my team any day). Marquette has ended up with a respectable record, but have looked limp at times, including an inexplicable 4-1 pasting at home by Villanova. St. John's was picked to finish fourth and instead missed the Big East tournament entirely. Butler has exceeded all expectations and could well finish the Big East season unbeaten... but only by channeling some combination of the New Jersey Devils and Ben Olsen's DC United, playing an ugly, inelegant brand of grind-it-out soccer.
Against this backdrop, it very well may be that the Hoyas were the only ones who did what they were expected and supposed to do. And if they haven't lived up to their lofty national preseason ranking, well - there's still plenty of time to make up group in that regard. They've proven themselves worthy marathoners, now let's see how it translates to the sprint.
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Oct 26, 2017 20:15:16 GMT -5
Way to go, Georgetown women!!!
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Oct 26, 2017 22:02:05 GMT -5
As for the game itself, it feels like Xavier tried to follow the script used with some success by St. John's, Creighton, and Providence, but this time the Hoyas were committed to attacking from all over the field. This approach resulted in far fewer than their usual nation-leading rate of corners - only 4, to Xavier's 2 - but the 19-2 shot differential tells the story of the Musketeers under siege and rarely able to trouble the Hoyas defense anywhere near the 18. A couple of moments of clutter in the box, but that's it... aside from one critical sliding save by Liz Wenger on a breakaway. See below for video. The upshot is that, with attacks coming from all over the place, Xavier was forced into some unsettled defending and gave up a pair of free kicks just outside the box. The second of these was beautifully converted by Rachel Corboz for the game-winner. What a Senior Day for her. Might've liked another goal or two - somewhat uncharacteristically, the Hoyas activated Run Out the Clock Mode earlier than usual - but given the stakes and Xavier's anemic attack, it was a prudent approach. There also might be something to be said for the fact that this was the first true fall homegame this season at globally warmed Shaw Field. The games have a different texture once the mercury starts dropping. Time will tell whether that plays out in the Hoyas' favor.
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Oct 27, 2017 7:28:19 GMT -5
Wow what a goal.
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Post by FrazierFanatic on Oct 27, 2017 9:09:29 GMT -5
Fantastic job and a wonderful regular season. Russky is right - never downplay the sustained excellence required to win the regular season title.
Now let's go grab some more hardware!
Hoya Saxa ladies!
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Post by bearsandbulls on Oct 27, 2017 9:49:39 GMT -5
Russky. Do you happen to know if those brackets hold as rigid. My question is what if DePaul and Marquette both win. Do we automatically get Marquette as a #4, or do we get the lower seed, DePaul as a #6? The way it is drawn up looks like it is frozen and would probably good for us, irrespective of seed, as I think we match up better with either Marquette or Xavier than we do with DePaul or Providence.
Let the games begin.
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Oct 27, 2017 12:07:41 GMT -5
Russky. Do you happen to know if those brackets hold as rigid. My question is what if DePaul and Marquette both win. Do we automatically get Marquette as a #4, or do we get the lower seed, DePaul as a #6? The way it is drawn up looks like it is frozen and would probably good for us, irrespective of seed, as I think we match up better with either Marquette or Xavier than we do with DePaul or Providence. Let the games begin. Yeah, I think for ease of travel, they are frozen. Both schools can lock in tentative plans and then the loser cancels.
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RusskyHoya
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Post by RusskyHoya on Oct 28, 2017 12:51:33 GMT -5
Call me a purist or a grumbler, but the notion of a soccer all-star team that has FOUR forwards on it is preposterous. Anyway...dust off some more room in the trophy case, Hoyas! Well deserved.
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Post by bearsandbulls on Oct 29, 2017 11:48:28 GMT -5
Congrats to the ladies and coaches on a great Big East season. My recollection is that our pre season prime wins last year gave us a better RPI going into the NCAA tourney than this year. That, with Butler having been ranked above us until maybe Monday's rankings come out, and our overall RPI make going into the Big East tourney a big question mark. Were we to lose in the semis I think we take a chance of no bid, but best case scenario all games on the road. If we win it, I think we look at least two games at Shaw, then the road.
All that can be done is to take care of business, but the Rutgers tie, the Creighton tie, and the Providence loss really hurt with regards to the post season. The big loss to Stanfurd is excusable for they have done that to almost everyone. Considering we tied Rutgers, and lost to WVU while controlling play is frustrating. But that is the difference between this years team and last years. 2016 finished out, where this year we slow play much more. We certainly can score, but teams other than Stanfurd are bunkering in (St. Johns, Butler most notably) on defense and we are not closing. That must change or the run shall be a short one. The front line is the new aspect of this team and it is coming along very well. Time to take it to the next level ladies. Go Hoyas.
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GUJook97
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Post by GUJook97 on Oct 31, 2017 8:43:38 GMT -5
Congrats to the ladies and coaches on a great Big East season. My recollection is that our pre season prime wins last year gave us a better RPI going into the NCAA tourney than this year. That, with Butler having been ranked above us until maybe Monday's rankings come out, and our overall RPI make going into the Big East tourney a big question mark. Were we to lose in the semis I think we take a chance of no bid, but best case scenario all games on the road. If we win it, I think we look at least two games at Shaw, then the road. All that can be done is to take care of business, but the Rutgers tie, the Creighton tie, and the Providence loss really hurt with regards to the post season. The big loss to Stanfurd is excusable for they have done that to almost everyone. Considering we tied Rutgers, and lost to WVU while controlling play is frustrating. But that is the difference between this years team and last years. 2016 finished out, where this year we slow play much more. We certainly can score, but teams other than Stanfurd are bunkering in (St. Johns, Butler most notably) on defense and we are not closing. That must change or the run shall be a short one. The front line is the new aspect of this team and it is coming along very well. Time to take it to the next level ladies. Go Hoyas. Was worried about the same thing. Our RPI is not very good, and if we lose in the semis, it could be a nervy. I will say, though, it would be tough to leave out a final four team that won the BE this year. We will get in our reputation, although we could get shipped somewhere.
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GUJook97
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Post by GUJook97 on Oct 31, 2017 8:50:16 GMT -5
You know, it's funny... of all the teams that Dave Nolan has sent out onto the pitch ever since Ingrid Wells came along, this probably wouldn't be the one you'd pick out as being the most likely candidate for the Hoyas first-ever regular season title. In fact, I learned today, the Big East credits the Hoya's sharing the 2012 National Division title with Notre Dame as Georgetown's first regular season title. And that's all well and good...but Marquette finished that season with 3 more points than the Hoyas or Irish. So in my book, this is the true, unvarnished, undisputed first season crown. Unlike most people, I'm pretty big on regular season titles - I find sustained excellence over the course of the marathon more impressive and indicative of quality than a successful tournament sprint. And if there's any sport where that's justified, it's gotta be soccer, where the big leagues globally eschew playoffs entirely. So for me, this isn't just a means (the #1 seed) to an end (the Big East tournament). It is a tremendous accomplishment worthy of rings and banners and a prominent spot in the Hoya history book all on its own. And, in point of fact, this outcome is exactly what was predicted. The Hoyas were the unanimous pre-season coaches pick to win it all and came into the season ranked #5 in the nation. I believe that last year's College Cup squad would, on paper, strike most as being a more talented, more accomplished, more dominant team than this year's edition... and yet when the season came to an end last year, the conference awards were remarkably short of Hoyas. Now, I still maintain that was a travesty, but the point stands: Amanda Carolan's Freshman of the Year honor was the only major individual award Georgetown took home, with Marina Paul, Rachel Corboz, and Grace Damaska taking 3 of the 11 All-Big East First Team spots. You'd think that a College Cup-bound team would merit more... but then, you'd also think a College Cup-bound team would finish higher than the #3 seed. Fast forward to this year, and the Hoyas swept the individual Preseason awards. So can we really say the 2017 Hoyas were less talented, less formidable on paper and on the pitch? I'm not so sure we can... but if we do, then we also have to acknowledge that their relative decline was minimal compared to the rest of the league. DePaul - Dave Nolan's vote for the league champ, since you can't vote for your own squad - just barely scraped into the tournament as the 6 seed despite having two of the best players in the league in Alexa Ben and Franny Cerny (happy for Ben that she doesn't have to end her senior season without even a single tournament game - I'd take her on my team any day). Marquette has ended up with a respectable record, but have looked limp at times, including an inexplicable 4-1 pasting at home by Villanova. St. John's was picked to finish fourth and instead missed the Big East tournament entirely. Butler has exceeded all expectations and could well finish the Big East season unbeaten... but only by channeling some combination of the New Jersey Devils and Ben Olsen's DC United, playing an ugly, inelegant brand of grind-it-out soccer. Against this backdrop, it very well may be that the Hoyas were the only ones who did what they were expected and supposed to do. And if they haven't lived up to their lofty national preseason ranking, well - there's still plenty of time to make up group in that regard. They've proven themselves worthy marathoners, now let's see how it translates to the sprint. To be fair, I would say we aren't as good. It's not a takeaway. I agree with many of your points. But, as we were just discussing, there is a reason our RPI is lower despite winning the BE. I actually dont think we were even ranked last week. The conference isnt that good and we didnt beat anyone all that good in the OOC. But, yes, a title is a title. And, we could make a run. It happens all the time with experienced teams.
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Post by FrazierFanatic on Nov 2, 2017 11:05:06 GMT -5
Home vs. #4 Marquette at 2 today. We beat them 3-0 at home 2 weeks ago. Let's do it again. Hoya Saxa!
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Post by TrueHoyaBlue on Nov 2, 2017 13:23:52 GMT -5
14 minutes in, Hoyas up 2-0. Not a bad start!
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Elvado
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Post by Elvado on Nov 2, 2017 14:35:02 GMT -5
Nice. Break them early and get ready for the final.
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Post by FrazierFanatic on Nov 2, 2017 14:51:43 GMT -5
A fairly tidy 4-0 with 5 minutes left. Well done Hoyas!
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Nov 2, 2017 14:56:42 GMT -5
dominating performance. Will play the winner of Providence and Butler on Sunday.
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Elvado
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Post by Elvado on Nov 2, 2017 14:58:20 GMT -5
Well done ladies.
Rest up and repeat.
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njhoya78
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Post by njhoya78 on Nov 2, 2017 15:13:26 GMT -5
Nicely done. Let's keep it going.
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