And then there were 2: the National Championship Game

I was planning on tweeting from the Final Four games tonight... but just about the time that it was obvious the Wash U/Amherst match-up would head into overtime, Twitter stopped working on my phone. Perfect timing, I know. So to sum it up:

Amherst led Washington U most of the game (although I'm not sure the Wash U fans knew they were losing), but the Bears battled and by the end of regulation play the game was tied  and we headed into overtime. This is when a lot of people, including myself, seemed to think the undefeated, top-ranked, Amherst would pull away and finish the game. But it was Wash U who dominated the OT play and will advance to the National Championship game tomorrow.

Hope faced the tournament's Cinderella team tonight, the Yellowjackets of Rochester. By halftime the Flying Dutch led Rochester 40-30, but early in the second half some lights overheated, blowing a fuse. So for 15 minutes we watched fans take half court shots to win mini-basketballs while the teams headed to the lockerrooms until the lights were able to turn back on. When play finally resumed, Rochester made a comeback to come within four, but an 8-0 run allowed Hope to pull away for good.

Wash U and Hope both earned themselves 40 more minutes of basketball and the opportunity to play for a National Championship. The Bears and the Dutch are the only two teams left in D3 basketball, but there is only one National Champion. Only one team in all of D3 basketball can end their season with a win tomorrow. So who's it going to be?

And the Messiah soccer dynasty continues...

It’s a great time to be a Messiah soccer player. Both the men’s and women’s teams can call themselves National Champs… for the second year in a row. 
Messiah’s opponents were held scoreless in both games as the Messiah men defeated Calvin 2-0, while the women defeated Wash U. 1-0. The men AND women were able to take home the trophy for the second consecutive year. This was the seventh men’s championship soccer team in school history and third for the women. 

In the women’s game, Messiah controlled most of midfield play and the Falcons outshot the Bears 16-6. Amanda Naeher was credited with the game winning goal in the first half. Scoring is something the Falcons are used to as they have outscored their opponents an impressive 102-7 this season.
Although the men were no strangers to playing in the national championship game, there was one thing new to them, their coach. Even though Brad McCarty was not completely new to the program (assisted for 8 years), it was still his first time as the head coach. He got off to a great start with a 1-0 record in national championship games.