MCLA-A Semifinals

[Zamboni_Driver]

On Friday -

5pm
#1 BYU v #5 UCSB

8pm
#2 CSU v #3 Oregon

Comments, analysis, predictions, discussions, unsubstantiated claims?

[PigPen]

interesting-Gauchos looking for revenge -so are the Rams. Hmmmm... could get chippy. Gotta love it. I still think BYU will get by SB in a tight one. All bets are off for the other. These games hopefully will live up to the hype. What a treat.

[CATLAX MAN]

UCSB will have their work cut out for them as BYU has looked very strong at the end of the season. UCSB is battling some injury problems also, so it could be an uphill battle for them. Nevertheless, the defense has still been there so far for them.

The CSU v. Oregon game should be very interesting. It's been a long time since the disaster that CSU had in their first game being dismantled by Oregon. CSU is a very different team now. What could make this a long game for CSU is their troubles at faceoff. If Oregon controls the faceoffs and protects their ensuing possessions, they will be hard to beat. Should be very interesting.

[laxfan25]

My predictions;
BYU over UCSB by 3
CSU over Oregon by 2

BYU over CSU by 2 in the final.

[Zamboni_Driver]

Hoping the people at the tournament or people who've seen the teams in the semi-finals can build upon or challenge some of my thoughts......


#1 BYU v #5 UCSB
Last Meeting: Feb 24, 2007; BYU 15 - UCSB 4 @BYU

- BYU runs three offenses (1-4-1; 3-1-2; 2-2-2) very effectively. Earlier in the year I said I thought the majority of their offense was looking for early slides to open a draw and dump. Later I saw video that showed that there were several iso threats - thus giving them multiple threats and a high powered offense. I noticed however during the the regular season matchup against Colorado, that Colorado's zone (2 short poles at the GLE), slowed BYU down - taking away the iso's and quick ball movement. Now, CU didn't get into it until the second half and didn't use it as much as I would have thought, but BYU seemed to respond with taking more outside shots. UCSB has been reported to be running a tough zone, and clearly the points against shows that. The problem with a zone is it can put your goalie on an "island" by himself. Anyone with thoughts on UCSB's goalie? Obviously all have great goalies or else they wouldn't be in the finals; but differences in skill become more obvious at this level...

- BYU's defense is very aggressive, and why not? When your offense is that prolific you can take some chances (i.e. the rich get richer). But with UCSB controlling time of possession, and thus lowering scoring, will BYU be able to send their men? With that, will the BYU offense be patient with the ball after watching UCSB with it for 5 minutes? On the UCSB side, their offense sounds very methotical and patient. Doesn't sound like they take alot of shots, but when they do, they are not only on cage but in the back of the net. BYU's goalie seemed to struggle in some of the video I saw (again, very good goalie, but some weaknesses may be masked due to the level of his defense in front of him). Again, if the BYU defense has to pack it in and be less aggressive to protect their goalie, how will that effect the game?

- Finally, I'm still intrigued with BYU's ride. I couldn't quite make out what they were doing, but UCSB must have seen it earlier in the year. Any thoughts on UCSB's ability to clear the ball? Anyone who saw the first game - could you comment on whether this was UCSB's problem earlier in the year. Secondly, what about UCSB's ride? Can they force turnovers to keep the ball at their end away from the BYU offense?


I'll be back in a bit with CSU - Oregon matchup questions.....

[DG]

The game in Provo was 7-4 at the half, and a 15-4 final. I expect the game to be much closer this time. Here are the stats from the last game...

SHOTS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
-------------------------------------
UC Santa Barbara 3 5 6 9 - 23
Brigham Young Univ.. 9 12 10 11 - 42

GROUND BALLS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Tot
-------------------------------------
Univ. of Santa Barb. 7 8 5 8 - 28
Brigham Young Univ.. 11 13 14 13 - 51

FACE-OFFS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Total
----------------------------------------------------
UC Santa Barbara 1-4 1-9 2-5 2-5 - 6-23
Brigham Young Univ.. 3-4 8-9 3-5 3-5 - 17-23

CLEARS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Total
----------------------------------------------------
UC Santa Barbara 7-9 8-13 7-9 7-11 - 29-42
Brigham Young Univ.. 9-10 12-14 9-12 8-9 - 38-45

EXTRA-MAN OPPS 1 2 3 4 Total
----------------------------------------------------
UC Santa Barbara 0-2 0-0 0-1 0-4 - 0-7
Brigham Young Univ.. 0-0 0-1 1-2 1-2 - 2-5

SAVES BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
-------------------------------------
UC Santa Barbara 2 6 2 6 - 16
Brigham Young Univ.. 1 2 3 4 - 10

TURNOVERS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Tot
-------------------------------------
UC Santa Barbara 6 7 3 6 - 22
Brigham Young Univ.. 3 3 5 4 - 15

[scooter]

BYU/Oregon final.......BYU takes it home