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1A State

So who you all got in the first round and winning it all? I tried to predict a Solon upset of Regina but got laughed at (disclaimer, I just knew Jeremy would incorporate something to pack and stack and keep it close).

Obviously BND hasn't been touched in 1A competition but I feel they are definitely beatable. Will be an interesting game against Columbus as they have some talent. Edge BND.

Regina should win. Greene County only has one quality win and Regina beat them this season. I actually don't expect this one to be close but I'm probably wrong.

WL has some good wins but some head scratching losses. Wish I would have attend one of their games to see if it is a talent or team approach. Either way I'll take WL.

No idea about either NFV or WC. Suspect they are both filled with athletes and not soccer players, which isn't a recipe for a title but always good enough for 3rd in 1A. I'll go WC since they owe me for ending Regina's football title streak.
For WL you would need to look at who played for them in each game. Did Galvan play in their losses, if so which ones. Did he play in their wins, if not who did they beat without him. Also, not sure how good MId-Prairie actually was. Yes, Mepo lost to them 3-0, but I think it would be a different game today.
 
So who you all got in the first round and winning it all? I tried to predict a Solon upset of Regina but got laughed at (disclaimer, I just knew Jeremy would incorporate something to pack and stack and keep it close).

Obviously BND hasn't been touched in 1A competition but I feel they are definitely beatable. Will be an interesting game against Columbus as they have some talent. Edge BND.

Regina should win. Greene County only has one quality win and Regina beat them this season. I actually don't expect this one to be close but I'm probably wrong.

WL has some good wins but some head scratching losses. Wish I would have attend one of their games to see if it is a talent or team approach. Either way I'll take WL.

No idea about either NFV or WC. Suspect they are both filled with athletes and not soccer players, which isn't a recipe for a title but always good enough for 3rd in 1A. I'll go WC since they owe me for ending Regina's football title streak.
You'll recall, I didn't laugh, I believe I said "anything can happen in post season."

I'll agree that Regina shouldn't have much problem with Greene County - they're younger than their tournament team two years ago. That said, It should only be a one or two goal win.

I'll agree with BND, slight edge over Columbus - This one could go extra time to decide though.

St Albert's problem is depth. WL scores goals and they play physical, it could be close at half, but WL pulls away to win this one by at least 2 goals, probably more.

I'll pick NFV - I think they've been warming up on better competition that WC has had available. WC might come in with kings of the kingdom view, but it's not a very big or competitive Kingdom. They are athletic though, so this will be a battle.

So, looking at the 1A tournament bracket and trying to pick favorites, it's interesting, none of the three teams with the top goal scorers in the state made the tournament. I do feel bad that they don't get a chance to show themselves on the big stage.

Varsity Bound has an interesting filter on the "Leaders" board, that you can filter stats to the state tournament participants.

The first obvious thing is that everyone in the tournament should be concerned that West Liberty not only has the top goal scorer, but both the number 1 and 2 goal scorers in the tournament - a whopping 69 goals between them. That's some fire-power (but I agree on the head scratching losses.)

The second thing is that BND has 4 of the top 10 goal scorers in the tournament. They can respond well to attempts to defend them. For anyone to knock them out, they're going to have to keep the ball away from them and create those special opportunities - I don't know who has that kind of control and creativity. Columbus is the one that comes to mind as possibly having it. That would be an interesting first round upset (I haven't looked (yet) for when the last time a number one seed has fallen in the first round)
 
You'll recall, I didn't laugh, I believe I said "anything can happen in post season."

I'll agree that Regina shouldn't have much problem with Greene County - they're younger than their tournament team two years ago. That said, It should only be a one or two goal win.

I'll agree with BND, slight edge over Columbus - This one could go extra time to decide though.

St Albert's problem is depth. WL scores goals and they play physical, it could be close at half, but WL pulls away to win this one by at least 2 goals, probably more.

I'll pick NFV - I think they've been warming up on better competition that WC has had available. WC might come in with kings of the kingdom view, but it's not a very big or competitive Kingdom. They are athletic though, so this will be a battle.

So, looking at the 1A tournament bracket and trying to pick favorites, it's interesting, none of the three teams with the top goal scorers in the state made the tournament. I do feel bad that they don't get a chance to show themselves on the big stage.

Varsity Bound has an interesting filter on the "Leaders" board, that you can filter stats to the state tournament participants.

The first obvious thing is that everyone in the tournament should be concerned that West Liberty not only has the top goal scorer, but both the number 1 and 2 goal scorers in the tournament - a whopping 69 goals between them. That's some fire-power (but I agree on the head scratching losses.)

The second thing is that BND has 4 of the top 10 goal scorers in the tournament. They can respond well to attempts to defend them. For anyone to knock them out, they're going to have to keep the ball away from them and create those special opportunities - I don't know who has that kind of control and creativity. Columbus is the one that comes to mind as possibly having it. That would be an interesting first round upset (I haven't looked (yet) for when the last time a number one seed has fallen in the first round)
Great analysis.
 
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West Liberty's goals are inflated by the weaker schedule. They had 5 games with over 10 goals, another with 9.
But, every time they played a quality team, it was a relatively close game. They drew what I think appears the weaker side of the bracket though, and I think they advance to the finals.
 
Interesting
I could come up with about 5 possible explanations, but that would be complete conjecture and I don’t think I’ll do that.
I wasn’t aware that that was what occurred Wednesday.
Not sure that just because it happened then, it will happen again. I suppose it does make an upcoming coach prepare for about anything....
 
Anyone else able to find the game livestream? I followed the NFHS link on the states page and it says no live events found? Searched the state association, searched Iowa Soccer, searched Regina, Can't find a current game...
 
According to Varsity Bound, Regina leads 2-0 at half. No other 1A games with someone live scoring?

Clicked on the Regina game in Varsity Bound, says 3-0 39:08 left.
 
Been watching the twitter hashtag #iahssoc BND up 4-0 late, Regina up 3-0 late and WL up 2-1. I think WC and WFV were locked 0-0 at the half
 
Looking like it's going to be a BND v Regina rematch in the Semi.

Regina should have Wick this time around, what else do you think they'll do different?

In the other bracket, it looks like St A and WL got a little chippy - 2 yellows each way, but Galvan is carrying one into the semi. Mateo left injured at one point. Hope it's not serious.

There are accumulation yellows through the state tournament, correct? That's my recollection, anyway.
 
WC over NFV 2-0 Final.

Still waiting for WL to go final - still up 2-1

Reportedly, over 25 fouls in that match, so there's been a lot of stoppage
 
West liberty 2, St Albert 1 - Final (finally)
So, we have the semi-finals set:

Regina v BND
West Liberty v Western Christian
 
In the other bracket, it looks like St A and WL got a little chippy - 2 yellows each way, but Galvan is carrying one into the semi. Mateo left injured at one point. Hope it's not serious.

There are accumulation yellows through the state tournament, correct? That's my recollection, anyway.

Part of the reason the West Liberty game finished late is because somehow they got to have water breaks during the game. The temperature never hit 80. Someone told me is was because WL had a short bench. That’s no reason to alter the rules I think. None of the other games had water breaks that I saw.

The other reason the game went long was because of the stalling down the stretch by WL. They have a very good team, I wish they wouldn’t play that way. They don’t need to. Flopping, faking injuries, staying down on purpose to kill time, slow, late subs. The ref was getting upset and started getting after the WL players and coach at the end.

Mateo (the younger one) was playing at the end and didn’t appear to be injured. I imagine he’ll be fine for the next round.
 
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Part of the reason the West Liberty game finished late is because somehow they got to have water breaks during the game. The temperature never hit 80. Someone told me is was because WL had a short bench. That’s no reason to alter the rules I think. None of the other games had water breaks that I saw.

The other reason the game went long was because of the stalling down the stretch by WL. They have a very good team, I wish they wouldn’t play that way. They don’t need to. Flopping, faking injuries, staying down on purpose to kill time, slow, late subs. The ref was getting upset and started getting after the WL players and coach at the end.

Mateo (the younger one) was playing at the end and didn’t appear to be injured. I imagine he’ll be fine for the next round.

No place for those tactics.
 
Part of the reason the West Liberty game finished late is because somehow they got to have water breaks during the game. The temperature never hit 80. Someone told me is was because WL had a short bench. That’s no reason to alter the rules I think. None of the other games had water breaks that I saw.

The other reason the game went long was because of the stalling down the stretch by WL. They have a very good team, I wish they wouldn’t play that way. They don’t need to. Flopping, faking injuries, staying down on purpose to kill time, slow, late subs. The ref was getting upset and started getting after the WL players and coach at the end.

Mateo (the younger one) was playing at the end and didn’t appear to be injured. I imagine he’ll be fine for the next round.
I don’t have a problem with water breaks if the other team agreed. It could benefit them as well and has no impact on the other games.

As for the stall tactics, I absolutely hate them. They should get called for delay each time especially at the state tournament. We had a team do that to us at the Sporting KC affiliate tournament. They would bomb the ball across the field next to us after it was already dead. The ref laughed and said I’d be doing it too. The slow subs is the other one I don’t like. If they take too long I’d restart the game without them being ready or again call delay.
 
A couple impressive seasons by both Greene County and North Fayette Valley.
GC in just their third season overall have reached the State Tournament twice.
NFV reached the State Tournament in just the second season of their program.
Other new teams had success this year too. Soccer is growing in Iowa, and that is great to see.
 
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NFHS got their act together and are streaming the Field 9 matches today.

BND 1 Regina O at the half
 
and 1A is in the books for today

BND 4 Regina 1
Western Christian 2 West Liberty 1

And Western Christian answers, "Can they play in the west?"
 
Congrats to West Burlington/Notre Dame. They have a great team, and I expect they win the Championship comfortably.
Regals needed to capitalize on their opportunities and just couldn’t today.
Big no call on an obvious handball in the box by BND early could have given the game a different look.
Top Regina midfielder had to leave early in the 2nd half with a broken collarbone (no foul called) which was a big disadvantage as well.
But BND was clinical with their finishing in the box and they were the better team today.

Hope they look to add an additional class soon.
BND 9-11 enrollment 330
Regina 9-11 enrollment 159
 
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Congrats to West Burlington/Notre Dame. They have a great team, and I expect they win the Championship comfortably.
Regals needed to capitalize on their opportunities and just couldn’t today.
Big no call on an obvious handball in the box by BND early could have given the game a different look.
Top Regina midfielder had to leave early in the 2nd half with a broken collarbone (no foul called) which was a big disadvantage as well.
But BND was clinical with their finishing in the box and they were the better team today.

Hope they look to add an additional class soon.
BND 9-11 enrollment 330
Regina 9-11 enrollment 159
Someone needs to bottle this up and let it age 10 years
 
Congrats to West Burlington/Notre Dame. They have a great team, and I expect they win the Championship comfortably.
Regals needed to capitalize on their opportunities and just couldn’t today.
Big no call on an obvious handball in the box by BND early could have given the game a different look.
Top Regina midfielder had to leave early in the 2nd half with a broken collarbone (no foul called) which was a big disadvantage as well.
But BND was clinical with their finishing in the box and they were the better team today.

Hope they look to add an additional class soon.
BND 9-11 enrollment 330
Regina 9-11 enrollment 159
Don’t know the answer, but I’d be interested to see how many of their starters actually attend West Burlington. I know of one. Most of these kids have been playing together for years at SESA.
 
Congrats to West Burlington/Notre Dame. They have a great team, and I expect they win the Championship comfortably.
Regals needed to capitalize on their opportunities and just couldn’t today.
Big no call on an obvious handball in the box by BND early could have given the game a different look.
Top Regina midfielder had to leave early in the 2nd half with a broken collarbone (no foul called) which was a big disadvantage as well.
But BND was clinical with their finishing in the box and they were the better team today.

Hope they look to add an additional class soon.
BND 9-11 enrollment 330
Regina 9-11 enrollment 159
Yeah, I don't know about the size argument. I would like to see another class for the benefit of those small school in 2A who can't compete and the lower half of 1A in general, with teams who can't field a full set of reserves. Regina doesn't qualify as being disadvantaged at all. It wasn't size that ended things today. There was a lack of experience and command at midfield that kept them from mounting well organized attacks and allowed BNDs great back line to do its job very well. Everything was two touch and frantic. That being said, I think they were the second best team in the tournament. I think BND will walk away over WC.

I've long said, "If you don't like someone winning, step up and beat them." Time and again, sport after sport, programs have stepped up and done it, and in general it improves the level of competition.

When the discussion of classing, and advantaged teams comes up, I think the proximity to urban resources is one of the big factors in those nearby small teams success. I'd like to look into the concept of an enrollment tax on programs within a diameter of a city. Teams like Regina, Assumption, Solon, Van Meter etc. would get a 10-15% bump added to their enrollment for classing considerations. Then the truly small, struggling schools might end up with their peer opponents and a real chance to compete. This would avoid making those decisions on something artificial, like private status. Because there are some smaller public programs that benefit from their geography too.

We have to get many more programs to exist, before the state can truly consider adding a class.
 
I'm not suggesting enrollment size was the difference yesterday.
But, rather that we are seeing good growth in the sport, with teams such as Greene County, North Fayette Valley, Tipton, West Branch, Cascade and others adding programs in the past few years.

I think it is nearing time to move to four classes, instead of asking those programs to compete against schools like Solon, West Liberty and others who generally compete at the 3A and 2A level in other sports, and have double their enrollment.
 
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Yeah, I thought that too, until I went and looked at the numbers.

Because of programs stopping and joining coop arrangements (which we've already seen is a necessity for survival for some) the number of programs really hasn't grown that much. If you keep the substate format, with 8 substate brackets feeding an 8 team state bracket, then 64 teams per class is the optimal number. You could do it with 48 per class and two bies in each substate bracket. IF you do that with the current classing, you take 8 out of 2A and about 10 or 12 out of 1A (couple non participating schools still listed makes it foggy. So, you end up with an additional class of less than 20. So, to "Fill" 4 classes they need to be smaller than 48. Not sure that's very geographically maintainable.
 
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If BND stays in class 1A, you can go ahead and write them in for the title next year. They lose their best offensive and defensive player but have a very solid Junior class. Their back line is very sketchy but returning mids and strikers will get them back to the title game. Hearing of significant transfers out of Regina to West as well. Long time until next season though. On to football.
 
Don’t know the answer, but I’d be interested to see how many of their starters actually attend West Burlington. I know of one. Most of these kids have been playing together for years at SESA.
4 of WB-ND starters attend WB. 2 of the 5 subs that have seen regular action are also from WB. The Nikes lose 5 seniors and will be able to replace 3 of them comfortably I would suggest.
 
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