On 3 Mar 2002 at 10:00, S. Hayes wrote, in part:
> i would like someone to explain to me why maine's goalie wasn't pulled
> in the last minute of the b.u. game last night - a tie was meaningless
> for maine - what am i missing???

Since Maine's 3 of 4 weekend points from BU ... with no change in HEA
standings seems odd, I think it's a matter of confidence and attitude.

A win would have brought PC to Maine to start the HEA tournament
instead of BC.  So if Maine pulls the goalie and wins, their NCAA
ranking is helped a bit (I haven't looked to see how much), they have
great confidence going into the HEA tournament, and a weaker opponent
in PC. If pulling the goalie causes a loss (a substantial prospect!),
then confidence is down, NCAA ranking is down, and the opponent is the
same as if they played to a tie.

I don't know Coach Whitehead's reasoning, but I think he made a great
and near-obvious choice in playing hard for the win, but not pulling
the goalie.  The goalie-pull was fodder for announcer and fan
discussion, but not a good choice in any real sense, IMHO.

Besides, a Maine victory this weekend over BC would be sweet revenge
after last year, and be valuable toward an NCAA bid, whereas victory
over PC would only be affective wrt winning % (PC has a losing record).

cheers, wayne

Wayne T. Smith                    mailto:[log in to unmask]
Systems Group - UNET              University of Maine System
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