soccerfanatic
Active member
Wow!!! Did anyone see Northern Arizona at Stanford last night. What a game!!! #1 seeded Stanford, with a 20-0-0 record going into the tournament, was the unanimous #1 ranked team in the nation. NAU held them to a 0-0 tie at halftime and only lost 2-0 to a team that wreaked havok on the other Pac-10 and national power teams. This just goes to show that there is much more parity in soccer than many think and that the Big Sky is not as weak as some think. Frankly, the Sky was balanced enough that almost any of the teams were capable of taking the championship. Plus, if you look at the Big Sky record against "power" conferences, it is not that bad. This year, the Big Sky as 2-4-1 against the Pac-10... and most of the losses were 1 goal (some in OT) against Big Sky teams that did not even make the tournament. The Pac-10 sent 7 of their 10 teams to the NCAA tournament, but the NCAA only gives the Big Sky 1 spot. ISU has only played the Pac-10 twice in the past four years, and recorded a 1-0 loss to Arizona State and a 1-1 tie with Washington State (both in a year when ISU did not make the Big Sky tournament.) The last time ISU made the NCAA tournament (2006), we were up by one goal with less than 1 minute in the match remaining, when a terrible call caused a tie with nationally-ranked opponent, who won in OT. Maybe we need more respect. GO BIG SKY!!!
