CFU Club Championship Update – 4/13

All 3 ties got underway on Monday, and here are the reults.

• San Juan Jabloteh (Trinidad and Tabago) 2-1 Inter Moengotapoe (Suriname)

San Juan Jabloteh got the win on a Marvin Oliver goal in the 86th minute.   This was a huge goal to get them the home win, still Inter Moengotapoe got the away goal in the 72nd minute, and that after Stefano Baneti was sent off in the 31st minute… so they have to be happy.  Now going home a 1-0 win can move them through.

• Hoppers (Antigua and Barbuda) vs. Tempête FC (Haiti)

Well Tempête FC had trouble finding a flight into Antigua, and so the clubs were going to play April 19th instead… but then the Caribbean Football Union said no you play on April 13th like we said… so… that’s where the article ends.

However looking at the CONCACAF website, it appears they are going to play April 20th in Antigua and then May 1st in Haiti.  We’ll see… Tempête FC has their tie postponed last round too.  This will be the last time, they won’t be able to do it with the semifinals should they get there.

• W Connection (Trinidad and Tabago) 3-1 Cavaly (Haiti)

W Connection got a nice 3-1 win, but Cavaly can draw some momentum from a goal by Jean Alex Millien in the 3rd minute of stoppage time to get an away goal.  Going home they’ll need a 2-0 win, which looks unlikely but who knows.

D2 Softball – Conference Title Watch – 4/14

Well Conference Carolinas got rained out on Monday… but they’ll play other games on Tuesday.  A few other conferences will be involved too.

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division

Kutzown can clinch a share of the Eastern Division title tomorrow by splitting with East Stroudsburg, while a sweep would lock up the Division outright.  Shippensburg hosts Millersville and must split to retain any chance of winning a share of the title and sweep to retain any hope of winning the conference title outright.

Lone Star Conference

Cameron will travel to Central Oklahoma in a really big two game set, while Southeastern Oklahoma State travels to Southwestern Oklahoma.  While no result in the first matchup alone will eliminate either team, if Southeastern Oklahoma State is able to sweep their set, Central Oklahoma would be eliminated if they are swept.  Cameron would be eliminated if they lose either game and Southeastern Oklahoma sweeps.

Conference Carolinas

Well Limestone and St. Andrwe’s have already figured out when to play their series, on Wednesday, but Queens (N.C.) and Lees-McRae are still working on figuring theirs out.  Queens needs to play the game to have a chance at the conference title, and we’re going to assume they’ll find a way to play it (probably on Wednesday) until we hear otherwise.

Mount Olive is your clubhouse leader having finished the season at 11-5.  Two teams are left on the course, and both need to reach 14-6 to win the title over Mount Olive.

Queens (N.C.) must win all 4 remaining games to have a shot at the conferencce title, and on Tuesday they have to play two at St. Andrew’s.  If they lose either game, they are out.

Limestone needs to win 2 games to knock Mount Olive off the top and clinch a share of the conference title.  They can do that by sweeping Lees-McRae on the road Tuesday.

Mount Olive now needs to see the following happen to stay in the lead and win the conference:

• See Queens (N.C.) go 3-1 or worse
• See Limestone go 1-3 or worse

If either of those don’t happen, they will be eliminated.

D2 Baseball – 4/14

I’m gonna switch up the style of things after today… it’s too much work to try and figure out how the conferences look and how the matchups are affected every day.  So gone will be the daily national updates, and in it’s place will be conference summaries once a week.

April 13^th Review

East Region

(#14) West Chester @ Wilmington (Del.)  - West Chester wins 14-8

Wilmington (Del.) missed a chance to pick up a big win, but they’ll play again tomorrow at Citizen’s Bank Park in Philly.  The winner will be the Bill Giles Inivational Champion. West Chester has won 5 of the last 6 including last years, but Wilmington (Del.) won it in 2007.

Southern Connecticut @ UMass Lowell – Southern Connecticut State wins 10-3, 3-1 (More info here and here)

UMass Lowell missed a chance to keep pace here, Southern Connecticut State got must needed wins.

Saint Anslem @ Bentley – Game of the Day – Saint Anselm wins 10-5 (More info here)

Saint Anslem moves up in the standings while Bentley falls back.

D2 Softball – 4/14

April 13th Review

East Region

(#7) Bloomfield @ (#5) New York Institute of Technology – CACC GOTW – Bloomfield wins 4-1, loses 0-8 (5) (More info here)

I suppose the split favors Bloomfield who was able to pick up a nice win on the road…

(#9) Dominican (N.Y.) @ (#8) Queens (N.Y.) – Dominican (N.Y.) wins 11-0 (6), 18-3 (More info here)

Dominican (N.Y.) has to have the advantage on that 8th spot now right?

New Haven @ Merrimack – Merrimack wins 7-5, loses 1-5 (More info here)

New Haven remains a game back of Merrimack by getting the split in the 2nd game.

Southeast Region

(#1) North Georgia @ (#4) Georgia College – Game of the Day – Postponed until April 14th

North Georgia has already won the conference, but this is still a possible preview of the Conference Final and a great match-up.

(#3) Lenoir-Rhyne @ Mars Hill – Postponed until April 17th

Lenoir-Rhyne and Mars Hill’s conference records appear to be flipped at first, as Mars Hill was up 2 games going into this week.  We’ll see what happens on the field.

April 14th Preview

Atlantic Region

(#2) Kutztown @ (#7) East Stroudsburg

East Stroudsburg is looking to pick up a couple wins here to try and move up the regional rankings. Kutztown can clinch the East Division.

East Region

(#6) Southern Connecticut State @ Assumption

Assumption is pretty much toast after a week that left them at 5-5, but Southern Connecticut State is still in it 2 games back.  Need to get these wins though.

Midwest Region

(#1) Ferris State @ (#8) Grand Valley State

Ferris State is poised to make a move on 1st, only a game out, but faces a tough road test at Grand Valley State who is only 3 games back.

South Region

(#3) Valdosta State @ (#4) West Florida

Valdosta State controls their own destiny now, but they could lose that chance if West Florida could spring the upset here.

Delta State @ (#9) Arkansas-Monticello

Arkansas-Monticello is tied with Delta State for the lead right now, this match-up will do a lot to determine who ends on top.

South Central Region

(#10) Cameron @ Central Oklahoma

Cameron and Central Oklahoma are fighting to see who can challenge Southeastern Oklahoma for the North Division Title.

Southeast Region

(#1) North Georgia @ (#4) Georgia College – Game of the Day

North Georgia has already won the conference, but this is still a possible preview of the Conference Final and a great match-up.

CONCACAF Champions Leauge 2009-2010 Qualifying Update – 4/13

Well it’s another week closer to finding out more of the qualifiers for the CONCACAF Champions League… let’s see how things look.

USA

• Columbus (Group Stage)
• Houston (Group Stage)
• New York (Preliminary Stage)
• D.C. United (Preliminary Stage)

Mexico

• Deportivo Toluca (Group Stage)
• Cruz Azul (Preliminary Stage)

Pachuca got a big 3-1 win over Toluca this week and Universidad Nacional got a big 3-1 win over Puebla.  Both winners jumped the losers in the standings.

After 13 of 17 rounds in the Clausura, the top 8 are Pachuca, Deportivo Toluca, Universidad Nacional, Puebla, Monterrey, Atlas, Chiapas, and Club América.  If form holds, Pachuca and Universidad Nacional would be the top 2 teams favored to qualify.  Cruz Azul is in 16th place, and looks like they won’t be a factor.

Next week Guadalajara and Club América will play, with Guadalajara jumping into the top 8 with a win.

Costa Rica

• Saprissa

CS Cartaginés and CS Herediano tied keeping those teams 5 points apart.  Liberia Mia beat AD Ramonense on Sunday 1-0 to jump into a 4-way tie for 4th. Saprissa won 3-2 over Pérez Zeledón to move within 3 points of CS Herediano at the top (with a game in hand) and knocked Pérez Zeledón into that 4-way tie.

After 13 of 16 rounds, CS Herediano, Saprissa, CS Cartaginés, AD Ramonense/Puntarenas F.C/Liberia Mia/Pérez Zeledón would make the playoff, with CS Herediano favored to win the playoff and grab the 2nd Champions League spot.

Next week we see two of those 4th place teams square off when Puntarenas F.C. faces AD Ramonense.  We also see anonther game between CS Cartaginés and CS Herediano.

Honduras

• Marathon

After 14 of 18 rounds, Olimpia, Marathón, Real España, and Victoria are in qualifying position.  Olimpia is the favorite to get the 2nd Champions League spot.

Marathón will take on Platense (who is tied for 4th but loses on Goal Differential) on the 16th, and Olimpia play Real España on the 19th.

Guatemala

• Comunicaciones

Heredia defeated Deportivo Suchitepéquez 2-0, knocking them back to 7th place, while Jalapa beat Deportivo Zacapa 2-0, knocking them back to 5th.

After 11 of 18 rounds, Municipal, Jalapa, Deportivo Heredia, Club Xelajú MC, Deportivo Zacapa, and Comunicaciones are in qualifying position.  Municipal is the favorite to get the 2nd Champions League spot.

Next week Club Xelajú MC and Comunicaciones will faceoff in a top 6 matchup.

El Salvador

• Isidro Metapán

Nejapa beat Club Deportivo Águila 1-0, knocking them out of the top 4 into 5th place.

After 12 of 18 rounds, Isidro Metapán, Nejapa, Chalatenango, and Luis Angel Firpo are in qualifying position.  Isidro Metapán is the favorite to win the playoff, and Nejapa is in position to get the 2nd Champions League spot.

Next week Isidro Metapán and Chalatenango battle with Chalatenango able to catch Isidro Metapán with a win.

Panama

• Árabe Unido

Alianza F.C. and Atlético Chiriqui tied last Sunday 4-4.

After 7 of 18 rounds, Chorrillo F.C., Tauro FC, Atlético Chiriqui, and San Francisco are in qualifying position.  Chorillo FC is the favorite to win the playoff, and Árabe Unido is in 9th place at this point.

Nicaragua

In the hexagonal, where the top 4 teams will move on, after 2 of 6 rounds, Real Estelí, Deportivo Walter Ferretti, Xilotepelt, and Diriangén FC are in position to move on.

Caribbean Football Union

The CFU Club Championship continues Monday with the following ties having their first leg:

• San Juan Jabloteh (Trinidad and Tabago) vs. Inter Moengotapoe (Suriname)
• Hoppers (Antigua and Barbuda) vs. Tempête FC (Haiti)
• W Connection (Trinidad and Tabago) vs. Cavaly (Haiti)

D2 Softball – Conference Title Watch – 4/12

Conference Carolinas could be decided today! Read on to find out how….

Conference Carolinas

Mount Olive is your clubhouse leader having finished the season at 11-5.  Two teams are left on the course, and both need to reach 14-6 to win the title over Mount Olive.

Queens (N.C.) must win all 4 remaining games to have a shot at the conferencce title, and today they have to play two at Lees-McRae.  If they lose either game, they are out.

Limestone needs to win 2 games to knock Mount Olive off the top and clinch a share of the conference title.  They can do that by sweeping St. Andrew’s today at home.

Mount Olive now needs to see the following happen to stay in the lead and win the conference:

• See Queens (N.C.) go 3-1 or worse
• See Limestone go 1-3 or worse

If either of those don’t happen, they will be eliminated.

D2 Softball – 4/13

April 11th/12th Review

Atlantic Region

Bowie State @ Elizabeth City State – Bowie State wins 14-2, 14-4 (More info here)

Bowie State is definitely the best team in the East, and it looks like they will fight Fayetteville State for the postseason berth.

(#7) East Stroudsburg @ (#4) California (Pa.) – California (Pa.) wins 8-2, loses 6-7 (More info here)

East Stroudsburg will be helped by the win over California (Pa.) who has only lost 5 games all year.

(#1) Lock Haven @ (#10) Indiana (Pa.) – Lock Haven wins 9-0, 8-0 (More info here)

Indiana (Pa.) is probably in big trouble now sitting 7 games back and with a season record of 16-16.  Lock Haven gets a needed sweep to keep pace with Bloomsburg at 11-1.

East Region

New Haven @ Merrimack – Postponed until April 13th

New Haven is a game back of Merrimack and both are right at the top of the standings.  Great series here.

(#2) C.W. Post @ Southern New Hampshire – C.W. Post wins 6-2, 5-2 (More info here)

Southern New Hampshire loses a chance to get a nice out of conference win, for C.W. Post this was really a no-win situation… but they took care of business.

Midwest Region

(#3) Ashland @ (#7) Saginaw Valley State  - GLIAC GOTW – Saginaw Valley State wins 2-1, loses 5-6 (More info here)

Sagniaw Valley State missed a chance to extend their lead over Ashland and Ferris State takes advantage by moving within a game.

Quincy @ (#10) Kentucky Wesleyan – Quincy wins 3-1, 3-0

Quincy keeps pace, but Kentucky Wesleyan has to be off the rankings… right?  Quincy gets over .500 (20-19) with the sweep.

(#9) Northern Kentucky @ (#4) Missouri-St. Louis – GLVC GOTW – Missouri-St. Louis wins 2-0, 2-0 (More info here)

Missouri-St. Louis does what was expected and hold serve at the top of the standings.

South Region

(#1) Alabama Huntsville @ (#3) Valdosta State – GSC GOTW – Game of the Day- Valdosta State wins 4-2, loses 4-9 (More info here)

Alabama-Huntsville has now lost twice in a week, doubling their losses on the year.  And now they sit with one more loss than Valdosta State and no longer control their own destiny.

South Central Region

Tarleton State @ (#3) Abilene Christian – Ablene Christian wins 5-4 (More info here)

Abilene Christian moves back into a tie with Angelo State at the top of the South Division.

(#6) Midwestern State @ (#2) Southeastern Oklahoma State – LSC GOTW – Midwestern State wins 4-2 (10), loses 1-2 (More info here)

The win could be big for Midwestern State’s regional ranking, but in conference it means Southeastern Oklahoma State still only leads Cameron and Central Oklahoma by 1 game.

(#7) Central Missouri @ (#5) Missouri Western – MIAA GOTW – Central Missouri wins 4-0, 9-1 (More info here)

Well MIAA, the team to beat is Central Missouri who is now 10-0 on the year and only 8 wins from a perfect regular season.  They still have to go to Emporia State and host Nebraska-Omaha though, so this is far from over. Missouri Western will also stay in the thick of things at 8-2.

Southeast Region

(#5) Newberry @ (#10) Carson Newman – Carson-Newman wins 4-1, 7-2 (More info here)

Carson-Newman got a much needed sweep here which might help their regional ranking.

West Region

(#3) Cal State Stanislaus @ (#1) Humboldt State – Cal State Stanislaus wins 13-7, loses 0-5 (More info here)

Humboldt State will take the 3-1 series win, while Cal State Stanislaus really needed a better result falling to 12-12 in conference.

Western Oregon @ (#7) Montana State-Billings – Montana State Billings wins 5-2, loses 2-7.

Western Oregon is stil toast, but it was nice for them to get a victory here.

April 13th Preview

East Region

(#7) Bloomfield @ (#5) New York Institute of Technology – April 13^th – CACC GOTW

Both of these teams would love a regional boost before heading back to conference play, we’ll see if either one can do it.

(#9) Dominican (N.Y.) @ (#8) Queens (N.Y.) – April 13^th

This is a battle for the final spot in the East, we’ll see who might have the edge going into the final weeks.

New Haven @ Merrimack

New Haven is a game back of Merrimack and both are right at the top of the standings.  Great series here.

Southeast Region

(#1) North Georgia @ (#4) Georgia College – Game of the Day

North Georgia has already won the conference, but this is still a possible preview of the Conference Final and a great matchup.

(#3) Lenoir-Rhyne @ Mars Hill – April 13^th

Lenoir-Rhyne and Mars Hill’s conference records appear to be flipped at first, as Mars Hill was up 2 games going into this week.  We’ll see what happens on the field.

D2 Baseball – 4/13

April 11/12^th Review

Atlantic Region

Mercyhurst @ (#30) Slippery Rock – Merychurst wins 9-6, loses 9- 13 (More info here)

Mercyhurst was unable to get as much seperation as they wanted from Slippery Rock (only up 1 game), while they now trail California (Pa.) by 2 games.

Seton Hill @ Davis and Elkins – Seton Hall wins 6-4, loses 3-4 (More info here)

Seton Hill misses a chance to take the lead in the Northern Division, but with the weekend Davis and Elkins is now up a game in the Central Division.

West Virginia State @ Concord – West Virginia State wins 4-3, 4-2 (More info here)

West Virginia State now leads Concord by 4 games in the Southern Division, meaning it’s pretty much over already.

East Region

Nyack @ Wilmington (Del.) – Postponed until April 27th

UMass Lowell @ Southern Connecticut – Postponed until April 13th

UMass Lowell is only 1 game out but faces a tough series at a Southern Connecticut team who is only 3.5 games out but really can’t afford to fall any further back.

Bentley @ Saint Anselm – Postponed

Midwest Region

Rockhurst @ (#22) Southern Indiana - Rockhurst wins 3-5, loses 6-4, wins 6-0, loses 3-4

Well with the split nothing will change in the conference standings between these two.  Southern Indiana is on top by .5 games, but definitely advantage Rockhurst for getting the sweep on the road.

Northern Kentucky @ Indianapolis – Northern Kentucky wins 5-0, loses 2-3, loses 1-2 , wins 3-2 (More info here and here)

Indianapolis missed a chance to pull away from Northern Kentucky, however a 4 game margin is looking pretty safe at this point.

South Central Region

Southwestern Oklahoma @ (#25) Angelo State – Angelo State wins 3-2, 13-3 (More info here)

Angelo State remains 3 games back of Abilene Christian, hoping they make a mistake to jump on.

Southeastern Region

Limestone @ Mount Olive – Mount Olive wins 17-4 (More info here)

This is what I get for not paying close enough attention… the regular season is over for Mount Olive!  They end up the #2 seed in the conference tournament.  Limestone gets the #6 seed.

(#29) Barton @ (#21) Erksine – Game of the Day – Barton wins 5-4, loses 0-5 (More info here)

Well since they swept, they stay near each other and Barton gets the #3 seed in the conference tournament, Erksine the #4 seed… rematch next week?

(#8) Georgia College @ Columbus State – PBC GOTW – Georgia College wins 5-4, loses 4-6 (10) (More info here)

Georgia College probably doesn’t need to worry about Columbus State (3.5 games back), but they will have their eye on another team…

Augusta State @ (#24) South Carolina Aiken – South Carolina Aiken wins 3-2, 8-5 (More info here)

South Carolina Aiken got the sweep they needed and are only a game out now thanks to Georgia College’s split.

April 13^th Preview

East Region

(#14) West Chester @ Wilmington (Del.)

Wilmington (Del.) is a middle of the pack team in the CACC, but have a great chance to pick up a big non-conference win here.

Southern Connecticut @ UMass Lowell

UMass Lowell is only 1 game out but faces a tough series at a Southern Connecticut team who is only 3.5 games out but really can’t afford to fall any further back.

Saint Anslem @ Bentley – Game of the Day

Great matchup near the top where Bentley is .5 games out and 1 game ahead of Saint Anslem.

D2 Softball – Conference Title Watch – 4/12

Did we see our first conference title clinched on Saturday?  Read on to find out…  We’ll preview Monday’s important games in Conference Carolinas later today.

Lone Star Conference

Southeastern Oklahoma State knocked off Midwestern State in the 2nd game of their doubleheader, knocking Midwestern State out of contention and narrowing the LSC race to 3 teams.  April 14th could be the day for Southeastern Oklahoma State when they could clinch a share of the title depending on how the games between Cameron and Central Oklahoma play out.

Conference Carolinas

Mount Olive is your clubhouse leader having finished the season at 11-5.  Two teams are left on the course, and all need to reach 14-6 to win the title over Mount Olive.

Queens (N.C.) split with Anderson (S.C.) on Saturday. Queens must now win all 4 of their remaining games to have a chance to win the conference title.

Both Queens (N.C.) and Limestone will be back in action on Monday April 13th.

Mount Olive now needs to see the following happen to stay in the lead and win the conference:

• See Queens (N.C.) go 3-1 or worse
• See Limestone go 1-3 or worse

If any of those don’t happen, they will be eliminated.

Peach Belt Conference

North Georgia is the first team in the country to clinch a conference title as they clinched the conference title on Saturday by sweeping Georgia Southwestern. (More info here)

D2 Softball and Baseball – 4/12

Well considering there is only one Softball game I’ve got my eye on today and 2 baseball games, it’s a lot easier to just cover these all in one post… we’ll recap the 11th and 12th together.

Baseball

Northern Kentucky @ Indianapolis

Rockhurst @ (#22) Southern Indiana – GLVC GOTW

These two series began yesterday and will finish today.  We’ll just cover the entire series in the recap tomorrow.

Here was the previews for the series.

Rockhurst is just a .5 game back of Southern Indiana in the West.  This is a big series to see who the top team in the Division is.

Indianapolis has a chance to pull away from a Northern Kentucky team who is 3 games behind them.

Softball

(#9) Northern Kentucky @ (#4) Missouri-St. Louis – GLVC GOTW

This game was originally scheduled for Friday, and here’s the preview that was written then.

Missouri-St. Louis is alone at the top. Northern Kentucky is a surprise regionaly ranked team to me who doesn’t seem to have much going on.  If they do want to make the tourney they need to move up and this would be a good chance for a big win.