Sun Belt Soccer Tournament

[Mean Green Matt]

The seeds were finalized tonight...this is how they worked out.

1. Denver

2. Middle Tennessee

3. North Texas

4. Florida International

5. Troy

6. Western Kentucky

7. Florida Atlantic

8. Louisiana-Lafayette.

North Texas will take on Western Kentucky in the first round. A team that they lost to 1-0 on the road. Western Kentucky is hosting the tournament. This will not be an easy game at all, but the good news is that WKU has been in a slump recently. The tournament starts next Wednesday.

[UNTDude]

The seeds were finalized tonight...this is how they worked out.

1. Denver

2. Middle Tennessee

3. North Texas

4. Florida International

5. Troy

6. Western Kentucky

7. Florida Atlantic

8. Louisiana-Lafayette.

North Texas will take on Western Kentucky in the first round. A team that they lost to 1-0 on the road. Western Kentucky is hosting the tournament. This will not be an easy game at all, but the good news is that WKU has been in a slump recently. The tournament starts next Wednesday.

Very unlucky draw for the girls. Finishing third and having to run through WK, MT, and Denver. Hopefully when our girls advance, FIU can wear down Denver.

[Mean Green Matt]

Very unlucky draw for the girls. Finishing third and having to run through WK, MT, and Denver. Hopefully when our girls advance, FIU can wear down Denver.

Having to play the host is never good. I think we get by WKU though. We knew we were probably going to get MTSU or Denver in the semifinal, I'll take MTSU and give FIU a chance to knock off, or as you said, wear down Denver. We were very competitive with Denver last Friday, at Denver, and at altitude. Hopefully we saved our win against them for the title game.

UNT vs. WKU is at 7pm on Wednesday in Bowling Green, KY.

[Mean Green Matt]

Sloppy conditions in Bowling Green, KY today for the soccer tournament. Game 1 between Denver and ULL is going on right now in the rain.

[Mean Green Matt]

Denver is up 2-1 with about 10 minutes left. It was tied at 1 after an hour, but Denver quickly took back the lead. Louisiana-Lafayette is pressing like crazy to get the equalizer. It hasn't been a bad game to watch while I apply for jobs...

[Mean Green Matt]

Denver is the first team to advance to the semifinals with a 2-1 win over Louisiana-Lafayette.

Next up is Troy vs. FIU.

[Mean Green Matt]

FIU takes down Troy 2-1. Semifinal #1 is set, and will be Denver vs. FIU. FIU lost to Denver in OT earlier this year.

Middle Tennessee vs. Florida Atlantic is the next quarterfinal game.

[Mean Green Matt]

Middle Tennessee takes down Florida Atlantic 3-1. They will be our opponent in the semifinal if we win tonight.

North Texas vs. Western Kentucky starts at 7pm.

[Mean Green Matt]

16th Minute: WKU takes a 1-0 lead.

[Mean Green Matt]

2-0 wku

[CMJ]

[Mean Green Matt]

3-0 wku just before half...that needed to be our goal.

[CMJ]

Down 3-0 in soccer is a monumental deficit. Wow.

[Mean Green Matt]

Down 3-0 in soccer is a monumental deficit. Wow.

Goal 1: Lucky shot off a bad clearance...went through a group of our players without hitting anything

Goal 2: western put a ball across the box on a counter...we had a defender in position...she tried to kick it..missed it, and on the backside western one timed it into the net

Goal 3: 1 minute until half, free kick that we did not mark anyone...tapped in on back post...

Anything is possible, but they are only going to play defense in the second half, and it is not hard to defend a 3 goal lead.

[Mean Green Matt]

Still 3-0...about 10 minutes left, and UNT just got a red card, so we are down a player. That will just about do it.

This is the first time ever that UNT has not at least made the semifinals of the SBC tournament. Very Disappointing.

[Pen Yan Fan]

Time for some new ideas.

[GrandGreen]

This is a young NT team, but I don't like the direction this team has had the last few years. Yes, the conference has gotten a lot better, but all that means is that NT apparently has not. There are lots of excuses, young team, playing WKU at their home in the tournament etc, etc.; but going from a perennial front runner to losing 0-3 to the sixth seed is certainly not progress. This decline no matter how small is coming at a time when the facilities have been greatly improved. Maybe just relying on local second tier players is no longer enough to sustain a premier program. Most of the Belt clubs are recruiting nationally including the DFW area and a few are getting big help from international players. The metroplex is a premier soccer area no doubt, but maybe NT should widen their net a bit. Like football it appears everyone recruit the area for players. Obviously, the main thrust of recruiting the metro should continue but maybe concentrating on a few local club teams is not sufficient anymore.

It is not time to give up on the coach and team, his record is outstanding but NT soccer is no longer dominating the Belt and the historical best team at NT is down the list now. The facts are that NT got into women's soccer relatively early and feasted on a lot of bad opponents. In general, the rest of the soccer world has upgraded while perhaps NT has not upped their game enough. Complaining about a team that has never had a losing record maybe strange but I would prefer this team not sink into mediocrity before progress is questioned.

Edited November 4, 2010 by GrandGreen