DIII Boys Tournament

[John Evans]

Can any SE DIII Boys teams beat the top teams in the EAST District?

Bishop Rosecrans (8-1-0); SCC (8-1-0); Hiland (5-4-0) are all looking to go far in the post season....

Can any teams in the SE District beat any of them?

[FlatBack4REAL]

I believe South Webster could beat those teams. It would take our best soccer to do it but we have beat Hiland before (not sure on BR). SW has a coaching staff that scouts any team they will play in the tourney. It seems that's the problem with most SE teams. They try to play head to head with the monsters of the east or central district, not knowing how they play and they get smashed. At that level you HAVE to change your approach. I hate seeing good SE teams get beat by 5 or 6 goals in the regional or district final.

[4thgoal]

The good thing is that the 1&2 seeds from the east will play eachother. SW or Burg could challenge them and pull off the upset. In a single game anything can happen.

[John Evans]

So are South Webster and Wheelersburg the top 2 and most likely advancing to face the East District Team? Any other dark horses have a chance?

I wish them ALL the best of luck!!

[4thgoal]

SW and Burg are most likely the 2 top teams from the South sectional, which ends up on the side of the bracket with the teams from the East district. As far as the other side of the bracket, Minford would be my pick, but I don't much about the teams from the West sectional.

West Schools: Adena, Eastern Sardinia, Leesburg Fairfield, Lynchburg Clay, North Adams, Peebles, West Union (7)
North Schools: Alexander, Belpre, Minford, Piketon, Southeastern, Valley, Westfall. (7)

You can see how the brackets are set up here:
http://www.seodab.org/index.php/fall-sports/boys-soccer

[817]

I would guess Minford and Alexander will advance out of the North sectional. They will pair with the West and Lynchburg Clay will probably be one of the teams from the west.

[4thgoal]

I believe South Webster could beat those teams. It would take our best soccer to do it but we have beat Hiland before (not sure on BR). SW has a coaching staff that scouts any team they will play in the tourney. It seems that's the problem with most SE teams. They try to play head to head with the monsters of the east or central district, not knowing how they play and they get smashed. At that level you HAVE to change your approach. I hate seeing good SE teams get beat by 5 or 6 goals in the regional or district final.

Every year you know that you will run into teams that the typical SE Ohio soccer style will be challenged greatly to have any success. Knowing that, why wait until 17-18 games into the season to change? You can't flip a switch and go from kick-n-run to possession soccer. The fact is, teams from the SE district do not have the talent or coaching to compete at that level consistently. I am not sure about SW, but Burg has been to the regionals 8 times and to the regional finals 2 times and I think the numbers are very similar for SW. Once you get to the regionals, you are up against teams full of club players who are concentrated on soccer year round. The limited success of SE district teams has been a result of having better athletes who were stronger and/or faster than the teams they have faced in the district/regional tournament, not because of coaching adjustments to a different style at the end of the season. That would be the same as a football team who has primarily passed all year to try and change to be a running team because they knew they were facing an opponent who had defensive backs who were faster than their receivers.....it won't work.

Sorry for the long post, but I just think that if you are going to change your style, the time to do it is in the offseason, not in October. Play whatever style got you there and try to get the other team out of their comfort zone and see what happens. And the "good" SE teams that lose by 5-6 goals probably really weren't that good, they were just better than everyone else in the SE district.

[4thgoal]

Also, keep in mind that the grand total of Final 4 appearances for Berlin Hiland or Bishop Rosecrans is 1 (BR in 1987). They are both excellent programs, but not on the same level as Worthington Christian, Mansfield Christian, Summit Country Day, etc. There has been a grand total of 1 final 4 appearance by a Scioto County team ever.

[Gview]

And that is why we attend the Shawnee State Super Scrimmage, to defend against teams that are constantly better at that style. If we can hold the ball against your fast teams, then I don't need to be fast in the back to defend. I just need to posses (with a purpose) the ball.

[4thgoal]

I haven't seen you on here in a while Gview. Nice to see you guys in the 5 spot in this week's poll!

[Gview]

I'm on here everyday, just don't post much.

But you are correct about style of play. To be successful at run and gun, you still need to learn to possess with a purpose. I've told my teams, 4-5 passes and we should be in front of their net. Any more is wasted time, and any less is out of control.

While we don't compete year in and year out with the Summit's, we compete very well with the MV doing just what I've said.

And there are no Cincinnati teams in the last poll (none nominated, I assume rep forgot to nominate them).

[vballsoccer178]

Some good discussion here. I agree that teams in this area need to continually improve the way soccer is played. It has been kick & run for too long. That direct style of play unfortunately works fairly well to a point (which seems to be District finals & Regionals), so many teams see no need to change.

I think things have improved for some schools. Wheelersburg , South Webster & Minford have moved the ball well this year, and Waverly has done this in the past as well. The biggest problem I have seen is the disconnect between the defensive and offensive players. There is all too often a gap in the midfield because the defense isn’t pushing up after playing it forward. Forwards all too often make runs for the through ball, but seldom come back to get the ball and work with the midfield. It is a rare thing for a defender to actually get involved on offense.

It is something we have been working on for years at South Webster. We have competed well in the district, but it is always a battle playing the teams from the East. They are quality teams and the games have been competitive. A lucky break here or there has decided the game many times in recent years. The East teams have given the Central District a run for the money as well. Yes, our district is behind, but I’m not so sure our best teams are that far behind.

[4thgoal]

Now that we are 2 weeks away from the seeding, how does everyone think it will end up in each sectional?

West Schools: Adena, Eastern Sardinia, Leesburg Fairfield, Lynchburg Clay, North Adams, Peebles, West Union (7)
South Schools: Chesapeake, Clay (Portsmouth), Glenwood, Ironton St. Joseph, Northwest, South Webster, Wheelersburg. (7)
North Schools: Alexander, Belpre, Minford, Piketon, Southeastern, Valley, Westfall. (7)

[jinks]

Wouldn't it be nice if seeding was determined within the west, south, and north respectively? Especially for the first rounds. Whole lot less travel involved for all schools.

[4thgoal]

Wouldn't it be nice if seeding was determined within the west, south, and north respectively? Especially for the first rounds. Whole lot less travel involved for all schools.

It is. District semi-finals is when it begins crossing.

[jinks]

good!

[jinks]

Is the same true for the girls??

[4thgoal]

Is the same true for the girls??

Yes. For both there are 1-2 rounds of sectional play before going to districts (girls @ Waverly, boys @ Athens). Last year the girls was a mess because they put all 15 teams into 1 sectional and it created a lot of crazy travel, but the girls are broken into 2 sectionals this year since there are more teams.

The girls district tournament, to me, was put in a great location with respect to the geography of the district. To me, the boys being in Athens is way too far toward the outer boundary of the district, but I am sure that consideration was given that teams from the East District will have to make the trip.

[jinks]

Thank you!

[John Evans]

The draws come out Saturday/Sunday.... Who will have the top four seeds?