Playoffs!?

Yeah Jimmy I wanna talk about playoffs... So there we have it, CAA Playoffs are over and its the end of the road for the majority of the men's soccer teams in the CAA on the long 2010 campaign.  For some the road wasn't so kind, Drexel is among these poor and weary travelers.  We finished dead last in the CAA for the second year in a row, making it ever harder to cling to the recent successes of the 2007 and 2008 seasons.  As depressing as that may seem, that will certainly not stop The Ineligibles from keeping up the usual nonsense, that is for certain.

For other teams though the road was less cruel than it was for the Dragons.  William & Mary finished their CAA season first in the conference, allowing them to play both of the CAA playoff matches at home in Williamsburg VA.  The Tribe took full advantage of the home playoff schedule by first knocking off Delaware in a double OT thriller in the semi-finals.  Thank god for that! Can you think of anything more depressing than Drexel finishing last in the CAA -AND- Delaware making it to the finals?  We may have shot ourselves in the foot plenty of times all season, but at least we dodged that bullet, thank you W&M.  The Tribe then went on to embarrass Hofstra in the finals with a 4-0 ass-kicking in Williamsburg earlier today solidifying their automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Check out the official CAA write up and nifty video after the semi-finals on CAAsports.com.
Check out the official CAA write up of the final game on CAAsports.com.  

Not quite sure yet how the 4-0 spanking of Hofstra in the final will play in the at-large bidding scene for the NCAA tournament... Usually when a conference like the CAA has so much parity (that's "evenness") as many as 4 or even more teams can get bids to the NCAA Tournament.  That being said the playoff parody (that's Hofstra's performance in the final game...) may tip the scales away from granting any other team an at-large bid to the tournament.  It may be the case that William & Mary solidified themselves as top dog and essentially screwed everyone else out of a chance to compete in the NCAA's.  Regardless of how it pans out, the only thing Drexel should really worry about is rooting for William & Mary when the big dance rolls around.  As much as it sucks to cheer for a team out of your conference, its in Drexel's best interest if The Tribe do well.. That whole "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" business doesn't really apply here.  The more success that more CAA teams have, the more recognition the CAA and its other teams get nationwide, even the ones at the bottom.

Visit NCAA.com for Tournament Central on Division I Men's Soccer action.

Some more Drexel specific post-season news is the 2 All-Conference selections that The Dragons received, despite their late season drop off.  Two of my favorite players Nathan "Gerrard" Page & freshman Ken Tribbet each received All-CAA honors.  #8 Nate Page (aka the only Englishmen ever to come to Drexel that didn't bring along an insatiable lust for loose women) was honored with a Second-Team All-CAA award in just his sophomore season in West Philly.  #16 Kenny Tribbet snatched up a CAA All-Rookie Team in his first go around at Vidas Field.  Two of the most solid performers in the midfield for The Dragons all season, these boys deserved the recognition.  Congrats gentlemen!

Check out the official write up on drexeldragons.com
Visit CAAsports.com for the full list of 2010 All-CAA selections.