Figured we'd get a new thread for the upcoming season as the Massey preseason rankings are now up. https://masseyratings.com/csoc/ncaa-d3/ratings
Interested to understand what this was based off - not all schedules are even out yet. I would have assumed like the United Soccer Coach's poll it would start off identical to the previous end of season rankings but not the case.
Massey Ratings basically start where the last season Massey ratings ended. They are all mechanical based on formulas.
Quote from: Gray Fox on June 28, 2024, 02:35:10 PMMassey Ratings basically start where the last season Massey ratings ended. They are all mechanical based on formulas.
That's why I was asking - they are not the same:
2023 End of Season:
St Olaf
Middlebury
Amherst
Messiah
Tufts
Mary Washington
CT College
Calvin
Cortland St
Chicago
2024:
Amherst
St Olaf
Middlebury
CT College
Chicago
Tufts
Messiah
Mary Washington
Bowdoin
Williams
It's not only based on last season. Preseason rankings combine several season's worth of historical data. It all adjusts accordingly a couple weeks into the season. Massey himself talks about it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AVtJ4LARcs
Quote from: stlawus on June 28, 2024, 02:58:42 PMIt's not only based on last season. Preseason rankings combine several season's worth of historical data. It all adjusts accordingly a couple weeks into the season. Massey himself talks about it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AVtJ4LARcs
Thank you.
The Massey preseason ratings will be updated again later in summer when all scheduled matches for Fall are loaded in the system and the conferences will also be updated for teams that moved to new conferences.
SUNY New Paltz joining the NJAC. That's the first non-New Jersey school in that conference I think
https://x.com/njacsports/status/1808153404675613022?s=46&t=uXiupHZfR0TxrRyWF9BmRg
Quote from: Kuiper on July 02, 2024, 11:14:54 AMSUNY New Paltz joining the NJAC. That's the first non-New Jersey school in that conference I think
https://x.com/njacsports/status/1808153404675613022?s=46&t=uXiupHZfR0TxrRyWF9BmRg
This will give the NJAC 11 schools. I wonder if they are worried about losing any of their schools
New Jersey City University might be one source of concern. It definitely continues to have financial difficulties, which could lead to a merger with a larger institution according to a recent report
https://newjerseymonitor.com/2024/06/11/new-jersey-city-university-president-testifies-before-lawmakers-on-schools-financial-troubles/
QuoteAmoroso's report urged the university to find a larger educational institution to partner with to survive. Acebo said the university also has made "significant progress in identifying partners" to acquire real estate but was reluctant to discuss them because of ongoing negotiations.
Ultimately, the partnership may lead to it merging with a larger school, but New Jersey City University has an "obligation to study each and every opportunity and option, including looking at whether or not the university could sustain itself independently," Amoroso said.
QuoteSen. Joe Cryan asked if the university would be able to survive as a stand-alone institution.
"Without significant financial intervention, I do not think so," Amoroso replied.
Congrats to Oscar Herrera, Augsburg '23 and USC First Team All Region IX keeper in 2021, who was just signed to an MLS Next Pro contract by Minnesota United 2 and signed to a short-term loan agreement with first team Minnesota United for tonight's match against the Vancouver Whitecaps! And for those wondering if a sub 6'0 DIII GK can possibly make it to the pros, Herrera is listed at 5'11"
https://www.mnufc.com/news/mnufc2-signs-goalkeeper-oscar-herrera
QuoteOscar Herrera joins MNUFC2 after a prolific collegiate soccer career at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he played all four years from 2020-2023. With Augsburg, he made 54 appearances in net and made 182 saves while earning 27 wins throughout his time as an Auggie – making him the fourth-best keeper in school history in the wins category. Following his 2021 season, Herrera earned All-MIAC honors along with United Soccer Coaches Division III First Team All-Region IX honors.
During his collegiate career, Herrera trained with both Minneapolis City SC and Forward Madison in the off seasons. Prior to his time in college, the keeper played his high school soccer at Madison West High School in Madison, Wisconsin.
Transaction: MNUFC2 signs goalkeeper Oscar Herrera to an MLS NEXT Pro contract through the end of 2024. Additionally, Herrera signs a Short-Term Agreement with Minnesota United, making him available for selection ahead of Wednesday night's MLS match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
56 days until the Wabash Little Giant futbol team kicks off against Principia in St. Louis.
Maryville announces it is moving to the Southern Athletic Association in 26-27 (https://saa-sports.com/news/2024/7/17/general-maryville-college-approved-for-full-saa-membership.aspx)
Replaces Birmingham Southern and Hendrix and joins Trinity and Southwestern in moving to the SAA. Starts as a football affiliate in 2025
QuoteMaryville College has accepted a unanimous invitation to join the Southern Athletic Association (SAA). The Scots 19 programs will become members of the SAA beginning with the 2026-27 season while the football and women's golf programs are set to be conference affiliates starting in the 2025-26 academic year.
"Today marks another historic chapter in the Southern Athletic Association's history," remarked Jennifer Collins, Rhodes College President and Chair of the SAA President's Council. "We are delighted to welcome Maryville to the league and look forward to robust and collegial competition for years to come."
Maryville will join the SAA from the Collegiate Conference of the South where they were founding members in 2021. They have won back-to-back men's basketball conference titles and were joined last season by women's soccer, baseball, and softball as CCS champions. Maryville's football and women's golf programs play in the USA South and will be eligible for SAA championships in 2025-26. Scots football dates back to 1889 and boasts an appearance in the 1947 Tangerine Bowl.
D3Footy on Instagram listed its teams to watch. A few surprises, but if you think of it not as a ranking, but as a list of teams that might be interesting or perhaps improve based on something like ties or close results last year, coaching changes from recent years, recruiting classes or schedules, it makes a little more sense
https://www.instagram.com/p/C-VLUUrorkK/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Messiah
Kenyon
Oglethorpe
Vassar
Otterbein
Emory
St. Olaf
Chicago
Trinity
Stevens
Amherst
Honorable mention
Haverford
Franklin & Marshall
Middlebury
Tufts
Mary Washington
Lynchburg
John Carroll
Ohio Wesleyan
East coast bias.
Quote from: Gray Fox on August 06, 2024, 12:43:40 PMEast coast bias.
Can't argue with that. Who would you like to see included there outside of the East Coast/midwest?
Quote from: OldNed on August 06, 2024, 04:37:33 PMQuote from: Gray Fox on August 06, 2024, 12:43:40 PMEast coast bias.
Can't argue with that. Who would you like to see included there outside of the East Coast/midwest?
I don't want to speak for Gray Fox, but my guess is he would want to see Occidental on that list.
Div3Footy has posted its players to watch for 2024
https://www.instagram.com/p/C-XehWpozCd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
GK Gunnar Hoffman
CB Luke Madden
CB Connor Koschineg
LB Eli Piltcher
RB Ian Chesney
CM Kai Walsh
CM Josh Grand
CM JR Cozine
LW Alem Duratovic
RW Weyimi Agbeyegbe
ST Mohammad Nuhu
Honorable Mention
J. Palomino, T. Huck, G. Culley, D. Decker, S. Bechtel, K. Kaliebe, A. Knutson, D. Boettcher, M. Perugini
Quote from: Kuiper on August 07, 2024, 06:24:04 PMQuote from: OldNed on August 06, 2024, 04:37:33 PMQuote from: Gray Fox on August 06, 2024, 12:43:40 PMEast coast bias.
Can't argue with that. Who would you like to see included there outside of the East Coast/midwest?
I don't want to speak for Gray Fox, but my guess is he would want to see Occidental on that list.
St Thomas might be a good team to watch. A good team with a new coach that may make them more mature.
Does anyone else think this list is missing Amer Lukovic?
Quote from: SKUD on August 11, 2024, 09:18:58 PMDoes anyone else think this list is missing Amer Lukovic?
Montclair State's 2024 roster isn't out yet, but I noticed that Lukovic was on the MLS Super Draft 2024 Eligible List (which didn't bind a player this year). Do we know that he's returning to college or to Montclair State?
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-superdraft-2024-eligible-players
Good question Kuiper.
United Soccer coaches pre-season poll out...is this basically the same as end of 2023?
https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-diii-men/
Quote from: kansas hokie on August 14, 2024, 08:33:46 PMUnited Soccer coaches pre-season poll out...is this basically the same as end of 2023?
https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-diii-men/
Yes. Identical
Pretty cool that Augsburg men's soccer alum Tyler Heaps '13 was named sporting director for MLS expansion team San Diego FC
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/08/15/san-diego-fc-names-tyler-heaps-as-clubs-first-sporting-director-expect-a-coach-very-soon/
QuoteHeaps worked for U.S. Soccer for five years as coordinator of analytics and research, manager of analytics and research and director of sporting analytics. The son of a chemist, he graduated from Minnesota's Augsburg University with a degree in mathematics and computer science. He was drawn to analytics after seeing the movie "Moneyball," and soon after college decided to make it his livelihood.
https://athletics.augsburg.edu/sports/mens-soccer/roster/tyler-heaps/16535
Quote from: Kuiper on August 11, 2024, 10:24:12 PMQuote from: SKUD on August 11, 2024, 09:18:58 PMDoes anyone else think this list is missing Amer Lukovic?
Montclair State's 2024 roster isn't out yet, but I noticed that Lukovic was on the MLS Super Draft 2024 Eligible List (which didn't bind a player this year). Do we know that he's returning to college or to Montclair State?
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-superdraft-2024-eligible-players
He tore his ACL this summer. Not sure what that will do in terms of his eligibility/future
Quote from: Kuiper on July 02, 2024, 11:14:54 AMSUNY New Paltz joining the NJAC. That's the first non-New Jersey school in that conference I think
https://x.com/njacsports/status/1808153404675613022?s=46&t=uXiupHZfR0TxrRyWF9BmRg
Yes, in terms of full membership, but for several years now there's been a presence in NJAC football of associate member schools from outside of the Garden State. Christopher Newport and Salisbury are currently two of the six football teams in the NJAC.
It makes complete sense for SUNY New Paltz to switch conferences, since travel distances for Hawks teams are so ridiculously long in the SUNYAC. I wonder if the school's braintrust has been pushing for this move for a long time or if this is a recent application. Like you, this addition also makes me wonder if the NJAC is anticipating one or more departures from its ranks.
This is pretty granular griping at this point but if you don't have your roster posted by now I'm assuming you're doing it to "hide" your roster from the opposition for opening weekend. To be 2 days away from the season starting and not listing your roster is quite pathetic in my opinion. You can make excuses about overstretched SIDs all you want, but even the most barebones operation would have the ability to post a roster days before the season started. That leads me to believe it's intentional on the coaching staffs part.
Quote from: stlawus on August 27, 2024, 09:36:01 PMThis is pretty granular griping at this point but if you don't have your roster posted by now I'm assuming you're doing it to "hide" your roster from the opposition for opening weekend. To be 2 days away from the season starting and not listing your roster is quite pathetic in my opinion. You can make excuses about overstretched SIDs all you want, but even the most barebones operation would have the ability to post a roster days before the season started. That leads me to believe it's intentional on the coaching staffs part.
Knowing it and getting it posted on a web page are two different things.
They are but this is also a problem that has come up in basketball in recent years. Some think that hiding a roster can give them that slight competitive edge if only for a game or 2, and intentionally leave it off the site. I can sympathize with certain cases like a non-tech savvy head coach or late tryouts, but for the most part all that sort of housekeeping is taken care of the first week of preseason. If it was only 1 or 2 cases I wouldn't care, but when it's a significant amount of teams then in my opinion something is up.
It happens in football as well.
On a less serious note and more towards fun of D3 soccer in some ways.
Kid who filmed/edited this has been doing this for F&M for 3 years or so. Worth the few seconds. Check out his Instagram page for other reels like this.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_VsN38xPGT/
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on August 31, 2024, 01:45:19 PMOn a less serious note and more towards fun of D3 soccer in some ways.
Kid who filmed/edited this has been doing this for F&M for 3 years or so. Worth the few seconds. Check out his Instagram page for other reels like this.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_VsN38xPGT/
Love this.
SC.
W&L is worth watching for the naysayers (deserved) after the last game. They look different and are playing with more intensity.
I'm not sure this is the right place to put this, but if the redshirt rule passes for all sports, I expect the DI grad transfer to D3 schools for a Covid year might become a permanent fixture for certain high academic DI players. Tons of DI players don't play more than 30% of the season in their freshman year.
https://sports.yahoo.com/docs-ncaa-considering-applying-football-redshirt-rule-to-athletes-in-all-sports-154903963.html
QuoteThe NCAA is considering more historic changes to its amateurism rules.
Member schools plan to seriously consider granting athletes in all sports, not just football, the ability to participate in up to a certain percentage of games in a fifth season and still use their redshirt; permit athletes to earn prize money before they enroll in college; and eliminate the National Letter of Intent.
The talk is that they would allow a player to play in something like 30% of their freshman year and still call it a redshirt so they could play a 5th year. Not sure how many would do that in men's soccer where the 5th year will cost them full freight most likely, but there are certainly some doing so now with the Covid year and they probably could do a grad transfer with that 5th year that would enable them to start on an advanced degree. Many of those players could land in D3 for that 5th year, especially at the places like Hopkins, Emory, Chicago etc that have been getting a decent number of grad transfers in the current system.
Not sure where to put this, but this may be sign of the future. May mean talented players (esp. men) who intended to play D1 go D3 with the limit on roster numbers.
Check out this recruits statement on X. Just one I know, but I'm guessing that many (at least several) programs are doing this especially as D1 programs start stocking up with more and more int'l players. https://x.com/MaddieMescher_/status/1830710468526092538
From this article.
Impact on Men's Soccer
For men's soccer, the future is uncertain. Because football and basketball will get most of the revenue-sharing money, and women's sports are protected by Title IX, there might not be enough money left for men's soccer and other non-revenue sports. This could lead to several outcomes:
1. Smaller Rosters: Teams might have to cut the number of players on their rosters. This means fewer opportunities for athletes to play college soccer.
2. Dropping to Lower Divisions: Some schools might decide to move their soccer teams from Division 1 to Division 2 or 3, where there are fewer financial pressures.
3. Cutting Programs: In the worst-case scenario, some schools might have to completely cut their men's soccer programs.
I see cutting more men's D1 programs.
https://www.sportsrecruitingusa.com/post/the-future-of-ncaa-men-s-soccer
Anyone who thinks soccer can be D3 and football D1 doesn't know enough about the NCAA to be reputable
Quote from: jknezek on September 03, 2024, 09:59:31 PMAnyone who thinks soccer can be D3 and football D1 doesn't know enough about the NCAA to be reputable
I was surprised to see point No. 2 as I do not think that is allowed under current NCAA policy, but maybe I am wrong.
But let's say it is allowed, hypothetically or otherwise, I do not see a Division I program moving some sports to Division II or Division III. Those schools move straight to No. 3.
You can't split divisions. It's all D1 or bust. A probable outcome is teams totally cutting non-revenue producing sports.
Schools that have splits (like Colorado College, many east coast schools) were grandfathered in when the rules were changed.
Quote from: WUPHF on September 04, 2024, 10:20:40 AMQuote from: jknezek on September 03, 2024, 09:59:31 PMAnyone who thinks soccer can be D3 and football D1 doesn't know enough about the NCAA to be reputable
I was surprised to see point No. 2 as I do not believed that is allowed under current NCAA policy, but maybe I am wrong.
But let's say it is allowed, hypothetically or otherwise, I do not see a Division I program moving some sports to Division II or Division III. Those schools move straight to No. 3.
2 is not allowed. There are still a few grandfathered programs floating around out there, but you can't go to that option now. 3 is possible. Honestly though, I wouldn't mourn the loss of D1 men's soccer all that much. It would surely push down through the ranks and players who want to play in college will go D2 or D3, and there will be fewer spots overall, which is a shame for kids who just want to play a little longer. But D2/D3 schools will happily fill rosters with paying student athletes.
In all honesty, D1 soccer simply isn't a path to anywhere anymore. If you are good enough to even consider soccer as a career, academies are far better options and they usually have college programs attached. They don't draw crowds, it's expensive, and most D1 schools don't need 30-40 paying soccer players at their giant state schools to make budget.
I think this is how we are going to have to think about most men's non-revenue sports. D1 is just going to coalesce around the big 3, maybe a couple more options based on region, hockey in the north for example, lacrosse in the northeast/mid-atlantic, but most other sports are likely to be greatly reduced or go away over the next 20 years.
Going to suck for our Olympic teams...
There is another option, although it would require NCAA rule changes. That would be D1 continues with rules that are modified to be closer to D3. That sounds crazy, but given the current legal situation, it seems more likely that either football or basketball break off entirely from the NCAA or Congress legislates some kind of exemption for D3 sports that allows schools to split, then maintaining the status quo of rules. To my mind, current NCAA rules are actually the least likely obstacles to major reform because either the courts or the NCAA are going to change those rules one way or another under existing challenges. Heck, they are being changed radically already under the House settlement and there are more lawsuits to come.
A three-tiered competition level, all three levels of which are largely subject to something closer to D3 rules, although perhaps not the same rules exactly (e.g., D1 stays with more practice time and spring games etc), would preserve the desire for different levels, while keeping the sports alive. There will be political support for that if it ever gets to that level.
Quote from: WUPHF on September 04, 2024, 10:20:40 AMQuote from: jknezek on September 03, 2024, 09:59:31 PMAnyone who thinks soccer can be D3 and football D1 doesn't know enough about the NCAA to be reputable
I was surprised to see point No. 2 as I do not think that is allowed under current NCAA policy, but maybe I am wrong.
But let's say it is allowed, hypothetically or otherwise, I do not see a Division I program moving some sports to Division II or Division III. Those schools move straight to No. 3.
Perhaps, but #1 and #2 are very true and in many ways ultimately may benefit D3.
Yes, no one seriously goes to college to play in the next level now as it should be because of the way the college competition is set up. The MLS "Super Draft" is a joke. Playing college soccer is kind of like playing high school soccer in that the next level does not really take it to seriously. That's just the way it is now.
The D1 schools cant carry 30-40 players since the rosters will be capped at 26. Non-Power 3/4/5 schools will struggle to compete with the Power schools that can provide $$ to 26 players now. IMO it will make it much more difficult for domestic players to land roster spots at the top D1 schools. As previously mentioned the top domestics will be better off going pro (USL or MLSNext) as young as possible instead of the college route. Maybe will end up pushing more talented players to D3 which is trend i think that is already occuring
Quote from: jknezek on September 04, 2024, 10:29:09 AMQuote from: WUPHF on September 04, 2024, 10:20:40 AMQuote from: jknezek on September 03, 2024, 09:59:31 PMAnyone who thinks soccer can be D3 and football D1 doesn't know enough about the NCAA to be reputable
I was surprised to see point No. 2 as I do not believed that is allowed under current NCAA policy, but maybe I am wrong.
But let's say it is allowed, hypothetically or otherwise, I do not see a Division I program moving some sports to Division II or Division III. Those schools move straight to No. 3.
2 is not allowed. There are still a few grandfathered programs floating around out there, but you can't go to that option now. 3 is possible. Honestly though, I wouldn't mourn the loss of D1 men's soccer all that much. It would surely push down through the ranks and players who want to play in college will go D2 or D3, and there will be fewer spots overall, which is a shame for kids who just want to play a little longer.
Fewer spots overall, but there are currently fewer kids to fill those spots, so it all comes out in the wash.
Quote from: Ron Boerger on September 04, 2024, 10:24:06 AMYou can't split divisions. It's all D1 or bust. A probable outcome is teams totally cutting non-revenue producing sports.
Schools that have splits (like Colorado College, many east coast schools) were grandfathered in when the rules were changed.
*waves vigorously*
I'm old enough to have been around when Georgetown was only D1 in basketball.
https://magmilelaw.com/play-college-soccer-or-turn-pro/#:~:text=Summarizing%20what%20they%20found%3A,least%201%20season%20in%20college.
An agent's breakdown of college vs. academy/professional.
Quote from: Hopkins92 on September 04, 2024, 02:19:56 PMQuote from: Ron Boerger on September 04, 2024, 10:24:06 AMYou can't split divisions. It's all D1 or bust. A probable outcome is teams totally cutting non-revenue producing sports.
Schools that have splits (like Colorado College, many east coast schools) were grandfathered in when the rules were changed.
*waves vigorously*
I'm old enough to have been around when Georgetown was only D1 in basketball.
I'm guessing the same for Hopkins lax. Not sure but am thinking they have been D1 since forever. At least my memory of my cool mesh Hopkins lacrosse jersey when I was a kid tells me so...
Yeah, when I was there, even women's lacrosse was D3. (They went D1 in 1999.)
But, yeah, Hopkins has always been D1 in lacrosse. They started playing in the 1800s(!). Lacrosse was subsumed by the NCAA in the early 1970s.
W&L played men's D1 lacrosse till 85 or 86 and then dropped down which made a lot of sense.
A few reactions/observations on Kenyon vs Hopkins...and yes, I watched.
First, kudos to the Hopkins announcer. He was just outstanding while never being in a "it's about me mode." Not necessarily the most dynamic ever, but certainly dynamic enough and extremely knowledgeable. Showed tremendous respect for the Kenyon program and knew details about Kenyon players down to key subs that was quite impressive. He also knew a lot about Travis Wall and rather neatly transitioned from a very nice riff on OWU with a huge nod to Jay Martin's final season. Announcer obviously is very familiar with his own team (and program), but he was exceedingly fair and on the mark about the two programs in general and with respect to how the game in front of him played out. It's interesting what one notices when a team that you've watched major portions of for more than a dozen tilts over the past few years plays your team especially for the first time. Maybe I've heard the same announcer before but this was the first time I noticed his performance, akin to how I watched Hopkins differently and more closely than I have in the past and came away with mildly different overall impressions. As an aside, I love these intersectional matches, where you are very aware historically of some teams in other regions but don't entirely appreciate them until we get some of these crossover-type matchups and you observe them through the filter of being a direct opponent of "your team." At any rate, very classy broadcast of a game between two programs that arguably are the best ones over the past 10-15 years to not make a Final Four yet. Toss in F&M, Cortland, Rowan, etc but very strong arguments can be made for Kenyon and Hopkins, and of course not an argument programs like this want to be in because being in that conversation means you didn't get over the final hurdles.
I was really, really impressed with Hopkins. They looked like a Final Four caliber team to me, and they have the kind of maturity with so many seniors and grad students that is ideal for deep runs (and national championships). In the first half particularly, Hopkins was dominant, both defensively and offensively, and reminded me of one of the top tier Messiah squads or one of the better Tufts (or Amherst) outfits. I could not get over the defense. They were all over the intended recipient of every Kenyon pass leaving almost no room to maneuver but also somehow covering the rest of the field really well too. Excellent skill on offense and went forward (and often with ease) far more frequently than I expected. Very dangerous inside the final third, with cheeky touches and clever mini-runs, creating a number of excellent chances. Much, much respect to Hopkins. Imo, 1st half looked like a decent to good D1 team almost toying with a good to very good D3 squad. Hopkins had Kenyon pinned in its own half for almost the entire half and just looked one to two steps quicker and stronger. Not sure what adjustments, if any, made by Wall, but Kenyon was far more competitive in the 2nd half, edging the 2nd half overall imo with the caveat that Hopkins' advantage in the 1st half was far greater, with another caveat that Kenyon did seem to turn the tables more clearly in the last 10 minutes. [Interesting how many games are decided by goals in the last 6-8 minutes.] As a Kenyon supporter, I was most impressed that the Owls hung in until they did start winning a few of the battles in a crowd in the final minutes. I had thought Kenyon might decide to protect a draw which still would have been a good outcome especially given how the 1st half played out...but they kept pressing at the under 10 and under 5 marks, applied some heavy pressure in a more sustained fashion, and then of course were fortunate at the death.
For the Kenyon faithful (all three of you haha)...the best under the radar news here is that the Owls very, very likely have what will turn out to be 3 ranked wins (in only 3 games) in terms of NCAA selection (IF that is even still in the criteria which I haven't bothered to check). That's huge and quite different than starting last year with what would become two ranked losses. Again, good (or bad) fortune plays a big role. It's also a bonus to get these wins in the bank while still trying to integrate 6-7 freshmen who are playing heavy minutes. Noteworthy that the two Kenyon goals scored by two frosh each getting their first collegiate tallies. On the negative side, Martinez came out very early in the 1st half and never returned.
Onward to Amish country...although to be fair there is a large Amish population in Ohio within a 10 mile radius of Gambier, and indeed I would guess there are several Amish wagons selling their wares on Middle Path as I hit SEND now.
Quote from: PaulNewman on September 07, 2024, 11:44:30 AMOnward to Amish country...although to be fair there is a large Amish population in Ohio within a 10 mile radius of Gambier, and indeed I would guess there are several Amish wagons selling their wares on Middle Path as I hit SEND now.
Great summary. Good read on JHU announcer. I think he said that youngest JHU starter was a sophomore and maybe 2 juniors while the rest are seniors and grad students. I think the last time a gk started who wasn't a senior or grad was in 2019 maybe.
Kenyon v. F&M should be a great game with both teams just keeping up the pressure the whole game. F&M definitely not all cylinders, but could all be different tomorrow.
Lancaster and immediate surrounding area is now the capitalist Amish.
Quote from: PaulNewman on September 07, 2024, 11:44:30 AMA few reactions/observations on Kenyon vs Hopkins...and yes, I watched.
First, kudos to the Hopkins announcer. He was just outstanding while never being in a "it's about me mode." Not necessarily the most dynamic ever, but certainly dynamic enough and extremely knowledgeable. Showed tremendous respect for the Kenyon program and knew details about Kenyon players down to key subs that was quite impressive. He also knew a lot about Travis Wall and rather neatly transitioned from a very nice riff on OWU with a huge nod to Jay Martin's final season. Announcer obviously is very familiar with his own team (and program), but he was exceedingly fair and on the mark about the two programs in general and with respect to how the game in front of him played out. It's interesting what one notices when a team that you've watched major portions of for more than a dozen tilts over the past few years plays your team especially for the first time. Maybe I've heard the same announcer before but this was the first time I noticed his performance, akin to how I watched Hopkins differently and more closely than I have in the past and came away with mildly different overall impressions. As an aside, I love these intersectional matches, where you are very aware historically of some teams in other regions but don't entirely appreciate them until we get some of these crossover-type matchups and you observe them through the filter of being a direct opponent of "your team." At any rate, very classy broadcast of a game between two programs that arguably are the best ones over the past 10-15 years to not make a Final Four yet. Toss in F&M, Cortland, Rowan, etc but very strong arguments can be made for Kenyon and Hopkins, and of course not an argument programs like this want to be in because being in that conversation means you didn't get over the final hurdles.
I was really, really impressed with Hopkins. They looked like a Final Four caliber team to me, and they have the kind of maturity with so many seniors and grad students that is ideal for deep runs (and national championships). In the first half particularly, Hopkins was dominant, both defensively and offensively, and reminded me of one of the top tier Messiah squads or one of the better Tufts (or Amherst) outfits. I could not get over the defense. They were all over the intended recipient of every Kenyon pass leaving almost no room to maneuver but also somehow covering the rest of the field really well too. Excellent skill on offense and went forward (and often with ease) far more frequently than I expected. Very dangerous inside the final third, with cheeky touches and clever mini-runs, creating a number of excellent chances. Much, much respect to Hopkins. Imo, 1st half looked like a decent to good D1 team almost toying with a good to very good D3 squad. Hopkins had Kenyon pinned in its own half for almost the entire half and just looked one to two steps quicker and stronger. Not sure what adjustments, if any, made by Wall, but Kenyon was far more competitive in the 2nd half, edging the 2nd half overall imo with the caveat that Hopkins' advantage in the 1st half was far greater, with another caveat that Kenyon did seem to turn the tables more clearly in the last 10 minutes. [Interesting how many games are decided by goals in the last 6-8 minutes.] As a Kenyon supporter, I was most impressed that the Owls hung in until they did start winning a few of the battles in a crowd in the final minutes. I had thought Kenyon might decide to protect a draw which still would have been a good outcome especially given how the 1st half played out...but they kept pressing at the under 10 and under 5 marks, applied some heavy pressure in a more sustained fashion, and then of course were fortunate at the death.
For the Kenyon faithful (all three of you haha)...the best under the radar news here is that the Owls very, very likely have what will turn out to be 3 ranked wins (in only 3 games) in terms of NCAA selection (IF that is even still in the criteria which I haven't bothered to check). That's huge and quite different than starting last year with what would become two ranked losses. Again, good (or bad) fortune plays a big role. It's also a bonus to get these wins in the bank while still trying to integrate 6-7 freshmen who are playing heavy minutes. Noteworthy that the two Kenyon goals scored by two frosh each getting their first collegiate tallies. On the negative side, Martinez came out very early in the 1st half and never returned.
Onward to Amish country...although to be fair there is a large Amish population in Ohio within a 10 mile radius of Gambier, and indeed I would guess there are several Amish wagons selling their wares on Middle Path as I hit SEND now.
Spot on assessment. We were at Homewood Field so didn't get the benefit of the announcer's presentation of his knowledge base so appreciate the insight. Coach Wall is making good use of his new "hires" and they're meeting the challenge. Sometimes the best development is game-time experience. Tomorrow will be a game.
Thanks, Rcjh2245. I'd be curious to hear about the atmophere at Homewood. Watching via stream provides good quality video and view of the action but against the backdrop of a literally empty, huge concrete grandstand on the other side of the field. So you have no idea if there are literally zero fan attendees or 500. Also, the intensity of the match seemed to be Sweet 16/Elite 8 level with both teams going at it extremely hard. Any insight there welcome as well.
Congrats on your son's stellar career. Great, great player and seems like a good leader too. Best of luck the rest of the season. I'll be pulling for them.
It has not fully felt like we were "back" yet this season until Paul Newman returned. Glad to see you back!
Quote from: PaulNewman on September 07, 2024, 06:24:56 PMbut against the backdrop of a literally empty, huge concrete grandstand on the other side of the field. So you have no idea if there are literally zero fan attendees or 500.
The Hopkins stream doesn't do the atmosphere of Homewood justice since it shows the very large visiting stands that are typically empty except for lacrosse games. When I played, those stands didn't exist. They put up temporary stands for lacrosse season only.
The home stands (which are on the side of the field where the camera is) are where everybody sits. I wasn't at the Kenyon game but attend games at Homewood pretty regularly. Against a top conference rival, there might be several hundred people and the atmosphere can be electric.
As you noted, the Hopkins stream is very good. Decent camera work, replays, and the announcers have always been strong - knowledgeable about both teams and not obvious "homers." Watching away games with student announcers and camera operators can be a struggle.
Kenyon beats Ohio Northern and Hopkins.
Ohio Wesleyan beats Calvin.
Ohio Northern beats Calvin.
Ohio Northern beats Hope.
Hope beats Ohio Wesleyan.
Now we have Ohio Wesleyan playing Ohio Northern on Wednesday.
Interesting times.
Quote from: Hopkins Walk-On on September 07, 2024, 10:30:28 PMAs you noted, the Hopkins stream is very good. Decent camera work, replays, and the announcers have always been strong - knowledgeable about both teams and not obvious "homers." Watching away games with student announcers and camera operators can be a struggle.
You mean like Haverford? That is trip. Messiah is sometimes as well. Don't want to even touch camera operators.
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on September 07, 2024, 11:12:59 PMQuote from: Hopkins Walk-On on September 07, 2024, 10:30:28 PMAs you noted, the Hopkins stream is very good. Decent camera work, replays, and the announcers have always been strong - knowledgeable about both teams and not obvious "homers." Watching away games with student announcers and camera operators can be a struggle.
You mean like Haverford? That is trip. Messiah is sometimes as well. Don't want to even touch camera operators.
I caught some of a Haverford game recently and they had what sounded like a single adult announcer. Not sure if that is a one-off because it was early in the season and the students weren't signed up to do the announcing yet or a permanent change.
I sort of wonder if schools in conferences that sign contracts with streaming platforms like Flo or Hudl will be required to use adult announcers and/or camera operators. I saw a CMS game on FloSports because of the SCIAC deal that was using a couple of students who appear to be members of the CMS women's soccer team, but I don't think they can do that during league play anyway because the SCIAC schedule has the women's team playing at the same time away when the men are at home.
Quote from: Kuiper on September 08, 2024, 11:19:46 AMQuote from: SierraFD3soccer on September 07, 2024, 11:12:59 PMQuote from: Hopkins Walk-On on September 07, 2024, 10:30:28 PMAs you noted, the Hopkins stream is very good. Decent camera work, replays, and the announcers have always been strong - knowledgeable about both teams and not obvious "homers." Watching away games with student announcers and camera operators can be a struggle.
You mean like Haverford? That is trip. Messiah is sometimes as well. Don't want to even touch camera operators.
I caught some of a Haverford game recently and they had what sounded like a single adult announcer. Not sure if that is a one-off because it was early in the season and the students weren't signed up to do the announcing yet or a permanent change.
I sort of wonder if schools in conferences that sign contracts with streaming platforms like Flo or Hudl will be required to use adult announcers and/or camera operators. I saw a CMS game on FloSports because of the SCIAC deal that was using a couple of students who appear to be members of the CMS women's soccer team, but I don't think they can do that during league play anyway because the SCIAC schedule has the women's team playing at the same time away when the men are at home.
Yeah, hopefully so. Last year - https://www.centennialconference.tv/haverfordathletics/?B=586901
20 min mark or most likely anywhere during the broadcast.
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on September 08, 2024, 04:16:28 PMQuote from: Kuiper on September 08, 2024, 11:19:46 AMQuote from: SierraFD3soccer on September 07, 2024, 11:12:59 PMQuote from: Hopkins Walk-On on September 07, 2024, 10:30:28 PMAs you noted, the Hopkins stream is very good. Decent camera work, replays, and the announcers have always been strong - knowledgeable about both teams and not obvious "homers." Watching away games with student announcers and camera operators can be a struggle.
You mean like Haverford? That is trip. Messiah is sometimes as well. Don't want to even touch camera operators.
I caught some of a Haverford game recently and they had what sounded like a single adult announcer. Not sure if that is a one-off because it was early in the season and the students weren't signed up to do the announcing yet or a permanent change.
I sort of wonder if schools in conferences that sign contracts with streaming platforms like Flo or Hudl will be required to use adult announcers and/or camera operators. I saw a CMS game on FloSports because of the SCIAC deal that was using a couple of students who appear to be members of the CMS women's soccer team, but I don't think they can do that during league play anyway because the SCIAC schedule has the women's team playing at the same time away when the men are at home.
Yeah, hopefully so. Last year - https://www.centennialconference.tv/haverfordathletics/?B=586901
20 min mark or most likely anywhere during the broadcast.
Not sure I would pay for this commentary, but it is entertaining.
Quote from: Little Giant 89 on September 08, 2024, 07:05:49 PMNot sure I would pay for this commentary, but it is entertaining.
True, but you would think you would have a better team with them clowning around as much as they do.
I'm not sure how those 2 statements would be related :) They now have a dedicated media person since about halfway through the last season that does the game announcing.
Tweet re: D1 men's soccer and int'l players. 760 players of which there are 252 int'l which is about 33%. Also breaks down the top 25 and the number of int'l players. Marshall has 24 int'l of its 28 players.
https://x.com/ImCollegeSoccer/status/1833131627091804298
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on September 09, 2024, 02:23:40 PMTweet re: D1 men's soccer and int'l players. 760 players of which there are 252 int'l which is about 33%. Also breaks down the top 25 and the number of int'l players. Marshall has 24 int'l of its 28 players.
https://x.com/ImCollegeSoccer/status/1833131627091804298
I get it, but find it a bit sad. My question is what foreigner willing goes to Huntington West Virginia?
SC.
From this tweet - https://x.com/ImYouthSoccer/status/1833173527647944841
We estimate there are only 208 roster spots left in D1 and 100+ of those in the 4 lowest ranked RPI conferences (SWAC, MAAC, NEC, Southland) and agree with @ImCollegeSoccer that the focus for uncommitted 2025s should be on D2 and D3 programs. Here is some more detail
Quote from: SimpleCoach on September 09, 2024, 02:25:23 PMQuote from: SierraFD3soccer on September 09, 2024, 02:23:40 PMTweet re: D1 men's soccer and int'l players. 760 players of which there are 252 int'l which is about 33%. Also breaks down the top 25 and the number of int'l players. Marshall has 24 int'l of its 28 players.
https://x.com/ImCollegeSoccer/status/1833131627091804298
I get it, but find it a bit sad. My question is what foreigner willing goes to Huntington West Virginia?
SC.
You might think. Huntington is pretty bad. Marshall's coach who is English came to Marshall after coaching a reasonable successful Univ. of Charleston squad. Won the nat'l title during Covid with virtually no Amer. players. He's been doing this for years. Plus he never has to US teen tournament when he can get complete players 19 yrs or older. He now has direct pipeline to Brazil and other countries.
Quote from: SimpleCoach on September 09, 2024, 02:25:23 PMQuote from: SierraFD3soccer on September 09, 2024, 02:23:40 PMTweet re: D1 men's soccer and int'l players. 760 players of which there are 252 int'l which is about 33%. Also breaks down the top 25 and the number of int'l players. Marshall has 24 int'l of its 28 players.
https://x.com/ImCollegeSoccer/status/1833131627091804298
I get it, but find it a bit sad. My question is what foreigner willing goes to Huntington West Virginia?
SC.
Are you kidding, SC? Huntington is located in the promised land as far as Germans are concerned. And, no, I am
not being facetious.
Germans light up whenever they hear the two words "West Virginia". You think they love Bach and Beethoven? Well, those two guys are pikers compared to Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., better known to the world as John Denver:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf13z5gM-cw
The best part of the video is at the end, when the P.A. cuts out the song as play resumes on the field, but all those Germans just keep singing that damned song a capella. I suppose that you could chalk it up to Teutonic thoroughness in finishing what they'd started, but the truth is that they simply love "Take Me Home, Country Roads" to pieces.
A Dutch band covered the song in 2001 and had a #1 hit with it in only one country: Germany. Bill Danoff, who co-wrote the song with Denver and with Danoff's ex-wife Taffy, was invited by the German government to visit Deutschland for the first time on an all-expenses-paid trip eleven years ago. He got to meet the Prime Minister and all of the other political bigshots in Berlin at a party thrown in his honor at the American Embassy. And at the party they made him sing the song no fewer than four times.
I can attest to this phenomenon firsthand. I've been to Oktoberfest in Munich, and I can tell you that in every single one of the hangar-sized wooden beer tents in the Theresienwiese (the Oktoberfest grounds) the house band plays "Take Me Home, Country Roads" every hour on the hour. You might be confused and/or amused to hear an oompah band play "Take Me Home, Country Roads", but it's serious business to the locals. Even in the tent operated by Spaten Brewery, the most traditional and hidebound of the Oktoberfest beer tents, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is the ultimate crowd-pleaser. Every German in the tent stands up, swings his or her
mass (the supersized glass steins in which beer is served) back and forth, and sings every word of the song, many of them with tears in their eyes. It's awesome (and a little bit frightening) to behold, especially since sentimentality and emotionalism aren't words commonly associated with Germans. But to them there is no song ever written that captures
heimweh (which means both homesickness in terms of place and homesickness in terms of family) better than "Take Me Home, Country Roads". Forget "Deutschland über alles"; "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is the
real German national anthem.
If I'm the soccer coach at WVU or at Marshall, I'm devoting a huge chunk of my time and energy every year to recruiting German players ... because I know I have a sales pitch for them that no other soccer program in D1 can beat.
Marshall is not viable for an American Student Athlete/soccer player, especially if they had to suffer through years of the Regional youth tournament being held in Barborsville. The academics, addiction and despair of the place is too much for American players.
Quote from: SKUD on September 09, 2024, 08:27:47 PMMarshall is not viable for an American Student Athlete/soccer player, especially if they had to suffer through years of the Regional youth tournament being held in Barborsville. The academics, addiction and despair of the place is too much for American players.
Hahaha, we just missed that era as we did not let our son play for a top tier team (financial) till his junior year. All the parents told me about their war stories in Baborsville. Those were the days of USYS. Long, long gone.
Quote from: SKUD on September 09, 2024, 08:27:47 PMMarshall is not viable for an American Student Athlete/soccer player, especially if they had to suffer through years of the Regional youth tournament being held in Barborsville. The academics, addiction and despair of the place is too much for American players.
I spent a month long 5 day stay at the regional tournament. I thought I was in an episode of Twilight Zone.
SC.
Quote from: Gregory Sager on September 09, 2024, 08:22:08 PMQuote from: SimpleCoach on September 09, 2024, 02:25:23 PMAre you kidding, SC? Huntington is located in the promised land as far as Germans are concerned. And, no, I am not being facetious.
Germans light up whenever they hear the two words "West Virginia". You think they love Bach and Beethoven? Well, those two guys are pikers compared to Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., better known to the world as John Denver:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf13z5gM-cw
The best part of the video is at the end, when the P.A. cuts out the song as play resumes on the field, but all those Germans just keep singing that damned song a capella. I suppose that you could chalk it up to Teutonic thoroughness in finishing what they'd started, but the truth is that they simply love "Take Me Home, Country Roads" to pieces.
A Dutch band covered the song in 2001 and had a #1 hit with it in only one country: Germany. Bill Danoff, who co-wrote the song with Denver and with Danoff's ex-wife Taffy, was invited by the German government to visit Deutschland for the first time on an all-expenses-paid trip eleven years ago. He got to meet the Prime Minister and all of the other political bigshots in Berlin at a party thrown in his honor at the American Embassy. And at the party they made him sing the song no fewer than four times.
I can attest to this phenomenon firsthand. I've been to Oktoberfest in Munich, and I can tell you that in every single one of the hangar-sized wooden beer tents in the Theresienwiese (the Oktoberfest grounds) the house band plays "Take Me Home, Country Roads" every hour on the hour. You might be confused and/or amused to hear an oompah band play "Take Me Home, Country Roads", but it's serious business to the locals. Even in the tent operated by Spaten Brewery, the most traditional and hidebound of the Oktoberfest beer tents, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is the ultimate crowd-pleaser. Every German in the tent stands up, swings his or her mass (the supersized glass steins in which beer is served) back and forth, and sings every word of the song, many of them with tears in their eyes. It's awesome (and a little bit frightening) to behold, especially since sentimentality and emotionalism aren't words commonly associated with Germans. But to them there is no song ever written that captures heimweh (which means both homesickness in terms of place and homesickness in terms of family) better than "Take Me Home, Country Roads". Forget "Deutschland über alles"; "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is the real German national anthem.
If I'm the soccer coach at WVU or at Marshall, I'm devoting a huge chunk of my time and energy every year to recruiting German players ... because I know I have a sales pitch for them that no other soccer program in D1 can beat.
Great post!!
Mom born and raised in Germany with her bothers still there. Spent 6th and part of 7th grade there. Also did ROTC so I could end up in Germany for another 3 years. Great times.
IMO, there has always been tension in Germany - think "Sprockets" v. rural/small villages. Sprockets way, way too sophisticated to like "Take Me Home." The rural/small villages generally love America and all that it is about. Part where I was stationed we called the WV of Germany and they loved us. A lot of appreciation for country music and blue grass along with several real?? Wild West Towns scattered around Germany. One not far from where I was stationed and along with ones near Berlin and central northern Germany (Harz) https://www.pullmancity.de/en/
As to Fest, several liter mass and among the Bayerisch (which to this day I struggle to understand their dialect), you get a lot of emotion for Germans.
Just don't tell them that the couple who initially wrote "Take Me Home, Country Roads" were driving along the winding Klopper Road in Montgomery County, MD northwest of DC. Apparently, they met John Denver at a DC club and worked on the song. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Me_Home,_Country_Roads#:~:text=Inspiration%20for%20the%20title%20line,while%20Danoff%20played%20his%20guitar. Sort of like Paul Harvey and "The Rest of the Story" moment. (Look that up Youngens, but anyone on these boards probably knows exactly what I am saying)
As to Huntington and crime/drugs - this is interesting. https://crimegrade.org/drug-crimes-huntington-wv/ Obviously not in the brochure.
Now that is funny and worth repeating from SC,
"I spent a month long 5 day stay at the regional tournament. I thought I was in an episode of Twilight Zone."
SC.
Maybe there's a reason here, why the 2021 WV state player of the year went out of state--to Messiah. 8-)
I mean this Ethan Gregory https://gomessiah.com/news/2022/6/29/mens-soccer-welcomes-six-new-players-to-grantham.aspx, third man from the top), not to be confused with the Ethan Gregory from VA and Rider University soccer, or Ethan Gregory the American football player at Kentucky.
So far Case Western has the best video stream I've seen this year. Crystal clear 1080 HD with a perfect refresh rate, excellent work here. Stockton up 1-0, however.
Anybody watching the Mary Washington - Rhodes game (apparently costs $3.90 to watch from some service I've never heard of)? There is no Live Scores posted yet, but the NCAA site says that Rhodes is winning 3-0 in the 53rd minute
Quote from: Kuiper on September 15, 2024, 02:22:14 PMAnybody watching the Mary Washington - Rhodes game (apparently costs $3.90 to watch from some service I've never heard of)? There is no Live Scores posted yet, but the NCAA site says that Rhodes is winning 3-0 in the 53rd minute
Paywalls are getting annoying. NCAA says 4-0 now. I was hoping to watch.
Yes,4-0 with 27 left in 2nd
Rhodes had a PK saved in 1st 15 minutes that was the only real opportunity for Rhodes
Obviously the pen would have changed the game but it seemed to be a wake up for UMW
Quote from: Freddyfud on September 15, 2024, 02:30:02 PMQuote from: Kuiper on September 15, 2024, 02:22:14 PMAnybody watching the Mary Washington - Rhodes game (apparently costs $3.90 to watch from some service I've never heard of)? There is no Live Scores posted yet, but the NCAA site says that Rhodes is winning 3-0 in the 53rd minute
Paywalls are getting annoying. NCAA says 4-0 now. I was hoping to watch.
It looks like they have the teams reversed on the NCAA site and it's actually Mary Washington 4 - Rhodes 0
When you click on the game, they have the lineups and the scoring stats and they have Gabe Francesconi identified as going to Rhodes and scoring 2 goals, when he plays for UMW.
This is the second time I have seen a scoreline where the NCAA site has the score backwards because they switched the lineups.
Charging for video and refusing to post live stats at the same time ... pretty sad.
Quote from: Kuiper on September 15, 2024, 02:39:57 PMQuote from: Freddyfud on September 15, 2024, 02:30:02 PMQuote from: Kuiper on September 15, 2024, 02:22:14 PMAnybody watching the Mary Washington - Rhodes game (apparently costs $3.90 to watch from some service I've never heard of)? There is no Live Scores posted yet, but the NCAA site says that Rhodes is winning 3-0 in the 53rd minute
Paywalls are getting annoying. NCAA says 4-0 now. I was hoping to watch.
It looks like they have the teams reversed on the NCAA site and it's actually Mary Washington 4 - Rhodes 0
When you click on the game, they have the lineups and the scoring stats and they have Gabe Francesconi identified as going to Rhodes and scoring 2 goals, when he plays for UMW.
This is the second time I have seen a scoreline where the NCAA site has the score backwards because they switched the lineups.
[/quote
My bad - should have clarified that UMW was up
4-1 final
Garbage time goal by Rhodes
Not sure anyone is terribly interested, but Washington and Lee won their last two games. Too early to tell if their form is coming back, but encouraging.
You care.Do you think beating Brevard and Oglethorpe changes the narrative?
;D
Quote from: SKUD on September 15, 2024, 07:14:30 PMYou care.Do you think beating Brevard and Oglethorpe changes the narrative?
;D
Not yet. Against Oglethorpe the stats show a similar problem, very few shots, they just had a high percentage go in. Against Brevard they had more shots, but I suspect the opponent quality was not that high.
I do think W&L will grow into the style and system they are being asked to play. There is a lot of individual talent on that team and I suspect by the end of the season they will be dangerous.
Having seen them play 2 not so good games a week ago I doubt they morphed into a good team all of a sudden. But I do expect them to continue to improve throughout the season.
#3 Colorado College takes an early 1-0 lead over #13 Christopher Newport on an Oliver Ramirez goal in the 9th minute.
You can already see that CC passes the ball very deliberately to get in dangerous positions, while CNU tends to rely on longer balls or quicker action. Even Colorado College's headers tend to be used as passes to teammates rather than just clearances or shots. The goal was scored after Ramirez' defender fell, but I think Ramirez should get some credit that because he sent his defender leaning to his right and Ramirez blew by him to the defender's left.
UPDATE. Matt Liss scores the equalizer for CNU and in the 27th minute and it's 1-1. CNU is doing a better job now of cutting off passing lanes and mounting counterattacks. As the announcer mentioned, you can't let Colorado College get comfortable on the ball.
UPDATE: Luglio gets a second yellow card in the 43rd minute on a reckless challenge that was completely unnecessary far into CNU territory and Colorado College will play down a man for the last minute or two of the first half and all of the second half. Big mistake. You never want a sub to come on and in 15 minutes earn two yellow cards and put your team a man down.
FINAL: 1-1. Colorado College holds on for the tie after being down a man the entire second half.
#1 Mary Washington also takes an early 1-0 lead over #10 Rowan on a goal in the 13th minute.
Rowan came out quickly, but showed the lack of clinical precision that hurt them in the 0-0 tie to Haverford in their home opener, with 6 shots but only 1 on goal, while UMW has 7 shots with 6 on goal.
UPDATE: It remains UMW 1 - Rowan 0 at the half.
I won't be able to offer this kind of commentary in the second halves of these games (and I was mostly watching the CC-CNU game and checking in on the Rowan-UMW game), but they are definitely both worth watching.
FINAL: UMW 3 - Rowan 2.
Mary Washington comes from 2-1 down in the second half to win 3-2
Why is UMWs broadcast always crap. The feedback is so so bad.
Troiano with his left
Edit: Troiano with his right
Edit 2:fantastic game. Got there a little late with about 10 minutes left in the first half and barely found seats when above happened. Sorry for the chirps. But the left footed finish was quality.
I haven't been to many games for comparison sake but the crowd seemed large and the atmosphere was engaging. And the weather was perfect.
Credit to UMW making adjustments and playing out wide for some quality low crosses after realizing long balls over the top were not going to work.
Off to the Tidewater region of VA tomorrow. Looks like a chance for showers tomorrow night. But excited to see more action.
Colorado @ Mary Washington Game Notes. (https://d3soccer.fans/2024/09/20/rowan-mary-washington-game-notes-9-20-2024/)
Real good.
SC.
What a game what a win
Amherst has competition in the dark arts with Rowan
Quote from: eaglesoccerdad on September 20, 2024, 09:03:59 PMWhat a game what a win
Amherst has competition in the dark arts with Rowan
Rowan 12 fouls. Those are rookie numbers. Amherst can do that in 1 half
Quote from: paclassic89 on September 20, 2024, 09:07:22 PMQuote from: eaglesoccerdad on September 20, 2024, 09:03:59 PMWhat a game what a win
Amherst has competition in the dark arts with Rowan
Rowan 12 fouls. Those are rookie numbers. Amherst can do that in 1 half
Mary Washington 14 fouls.
Sitting here at my local USL Championship team and realizing once again why college soccer is useless at best and harmful at worst if you want to play pro soccer.
The organization is so different since the focus isn't solely on athleticism. It's not all press. The teams are compact, lines shift in unison. Forward and back, side to side. This is far below MLS, even though it's only 1 step on the pyramid, but it's a completely different game from college.
Without the practice limits, necessary for college of course, and the rampant substitutions, annoying for college in my opinion, it is the beautiful game.
Definitely a much different game. College soccer like all college sports just follows college football model.
We are the only country that has sports associated with college. Pretty stupid in my mind.
However without sports in college, the male-female ratio would be worse than 40-60.
USL Championship; 3 levels above bar league soccer.
Keep college sports particularly D3 about what happens off the field and in the classroom and don't try to compare it to the semi pro stuff you enjoy.
Quote from: SKUD on September 22, 2024, 07:47:46 PMUSL Championship; 3 levels above bar league soccer.
Keep college sports particularly D3 about what happens off the field and in the classroom and don't try to compare it to the semi pro stuff you enjoy.
I'm 100% behind you on that. This is D3, and D3 is all about the student experience. We fans sometimes forget that, so we need to check ourselves and realize that this is not supposed to be soccer played to cater to our own personal set of soccer aesthetics. Fans are merely incidental here.
Quote from: Ejay on September 20, 2024, 10:01:33 PMQuote from: paclassic89 on September 20, 2024, 09:07:22 PMQuote from: eaglesoccerdad on September 20, 2024, 09:03:59 PMWhat a game what a win
Amherst has competition in the dark arts with Rowan
Rowan 12 fouls. Those are rookie numbers. Amherst can do that in 1 half
Mary Washington 14 fouls.
Rowan had 12 fouls through 60 minutes on the official stats but somehow went the rest of the game without a foul despite getting 2 YCs. By my count an additional 7-8 fouls not tallied in the final 30 minutes.
Quote from: Gregory Sager on September 22, 2024, 10:03:25 PMQuote from: SKUD on September 22, 2024, 07:47:46 PMUSL Championship; 3 levels above bar league soccer.
Keep college sports particularly D3 about what happens off the field and in the classroom and don't try to compare it to the semi pro stuff you enjoy.
I'm 100% behind you on that. This is D3, and D3 is all about the student experience. We fans sometimes forget that, so we need to check ourselves and realize that this is not supposed to be soccer played to cater to our own personal set of soccer aesthetics. Fans are merely incidental here.
I will say that whilst I haven't seen many players likely to experience elongated periods at elevated levels on the professional side, that doesn't mean I haven't gotten to watch many very good D3 games involving players of high calibre. What I do know is that I have gotten to watch lots and lots of players who are going to enjoy considerable success as doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, politicians/elite public sector and cough, cough, bankers.
Quote from: SKUD on September 22, 2024, 07:47:46 PMUSL Championship; 3 levels above bar league soccer.
Keep college sports particularly D3 about what happens off the field and in the classroom and don't try to compare it to the semi pro stuff you enjoy.
Not to be too nitpicky, but this characterization of the USL Championship (3 levels above a bar league) is a little misleading. The league is sanctioned as Division II by the USSF and the play is a very high caliber. They have a regular spot on CBS Sports and I watched a good chunk of the Detroit vs. Louisville game on Sunday and came away pretty impressed with the skill and tactics employed. (Edit to add: And just to be a little pedantic, This makes the USL Championship one rung below MLS.)
And while I know this board is (obviously) focused on D3, what jknezek is talking about is players that want to play professionally choosing to play D1, instead of trying to latch onto an actual professional outfit in the USL structure. I don't want to speak for him, but I'm pretty sure he's not talking about D3 vs. professional, as that's not a discussion rooted in reality.
Given my glowing (maybe a touch premature) review of Hopkins 2-3 weeks ago, I'd like to offer a few impressions of Hopkins vs Mary Washington tonight. First, kudos to both teams for a very hard fought, highly competitive match. Despite the end result in a draw, I see why Mary Wash is so highly rated. I was especially impressed knowing that JHU has an extremely veteran group with multiple grad students/D1 transfers. Perhaps the two teams are very similar in regard to being older and more mature than most. Kudos to JHU for hanging in and equalizing in a match that for them seemed more like holding on and survival. JHU benefitted from the Mary Wash GK reciprocating on an apparent gaffe, while noting Sierra's point about weather conditions. I offer the above with the caveat that I only saw 20-25 minutes of the 1st half and maybe 30 minutes of the second. All that said, my overriding impression is that Mary Wash is very, very good and very deserving of the #1 slot. I haven't watched nearly as many as games as in the past, but I certainly haven't seen a better team. They ended drawing tonight, and Rowan had them down 2-1, so surely there are a handful or more of teams that could knock off MW in the tournament....BUT...what a relentless offensive machine. Seemed like they peppered JHU from start to finish. They create a high number of excellent chances and are willing to fire shots with pace from some distance, in addition to trying to work clever passes and runs just outside and inside the 18. As offensively lethal as any squad in my recent memory.
A bit of added pressure for MW...take advantage of the opportunity when you have it. I remember exactly when MW burst on to the top-tier scene for me...two years ago beat OWU in the round of 32, and then traveled to Amherst and knocked out two NESCAC powerhouses back to back to reach the Final Four...where they lost to another NESCAC in a national semi courtesy of 81st minute magic from homewrecker (for three straight tourney weekends), Nick Boardman. Anyway, I doubt very few (including the MW faithful) saw that weekend in Amherst coming.
Would be interested in any insider's assessment about Mary Wash's rise to the top of D3. How did they go from a solid/good program to one of the best? The coach? A particular recruiting class or couple of them? I know at least a few in the W&L world may have some insight about the emergence of the MW juggernaut.
Coaching probably has a lot to do with it but they might also be capitalizing on the current landscape of higher ed. To me they seem to be following the same trajectory as schools I"m more familiar with in Cortland and Oneonta. Public state schools that are hitting on in state/nearby talent and selling them on the idea of a likely lower cost of education. CNU was always ahead of the game in this regard but I think UMW might be catching up, at least in soccer.
I would say that UMW has been a solid program over the last 10-15 years. Won plenty of conference championships.
But they took the next step up with two really good recruiting classes.
The final four run also attracted a few quality transfers.
Obviously there will be a drop off next year but the are some real strong players in the wings.
Quote from: PaulNewman on September 25, 2024, 10:15:05 PMI was especially impressed knowing that JHU has an extremely veteran group with multiple grad students/D1 transfers. Perhaps the two teams are very similar in regard to being older and more mature than most.
JHU has 6 grad students on its roster. MWU has 9.
Quote from: Freddyfud on September 25, 2024, 11:45:54 PMQuote from: PaulNewman on September 25, 2024, 10:15:05 PMI was especially impressed knowing that JHU has an extremely veteran group with multiple grad students/D1 transfers. Perhaps the two teams are very similar in regard to being older and more mature than most.
JHU has 6 grad students on its roster. MWU has 9.
How many of those grad students have actually attended the school for undergrad? Almost all of the ones at UMW were four year student athletes not just one and dones.
As to UMW rise, while it was a solid program before. You are right 2022 was their year to go better than just decent. They only had about 10 wins with 4 loses at the end of that season. They really came on in the NCAAs.
One factor in 2022 was their keeper, Griffin Hemmendinger, who was a senior, but had not played much before that season. He had a great NCAAs. My son knows him pretty well and was impressed with him.
Success breeds success and so it just made UMW get its reputation to the next level. Price also plays a big attraction for some players and their families.
Quote from: d3soccerfan123 on September 25, 2024, 11:50:01 PMQuote from: Freddyfud on September 25, 2024, 11:45:54 PMQuote from: PaulNewman on September 25, 2024, 10:15:05 PMI was especially impressed knowing that JHU has an extremely veteran group with multiple grad students/D1 transfers. Perhaps the two teams are very similar in regard to being older and more mature than most.
JHU has 6 grad students on its roster. MWU has 9.
How many of those grad students have actually attended the school for undergrad? Almost all of the ones at UMW were four year student athletes not just one and dones.
HTF should I know? Better yet what difference does it make? The question was about the maturity of the teams. Do the Hopkins grad students have an advantage over others when it comes to maturity? And please don't invoke privilege in the event they may have come from an undergrad program labeled as D1. These days that is a debate worthy of its own thread.
Quote from: d3soccerfan123 on September 25, 2024, 11:50:01 PMHow many of those grad students have actually attended the school for undergrad? Almost all of the ones at UMW were four year student athletes not just one and dones.
Three of the Hopkins grad students played at JHU as undergrads and are using their COVID year. Three played their undergraduate soccer elsewhere.
Quote from: Freddyfud on September 26, 2024, 01:30:07 AMQuote from: d3soccerfan123 on September 25, 2024, 11:50:01 PMQuote from: Freddyfud on September 25, 2024, 11:45:54 PMQuote from: PaulNewman on September 25, 2024, 10:15:05 PMI was especially impressed knowing that JHU has an extremely veteran group with multiple grad students/D1 transfers. Perhaps the two teams are very similar in regard to being older and more mature than most.
JHU has 6 grad students on its roster. MWU has 9.
How many of those grad students have actually attended the school for undergrad? Almost all of the ones at UMW were four year student athletes not just one and dones.
HTF should I know? Better yet what difference does it make? The question was about the maturity of the teams. Do the Hopkins grad students have an advantage over others when it comes to maturity? And please don't invoke privilege in the event they may have come from an undergrad program labeled as D1. These days that is a debate worthy of its own thread.
Not an attack so no need for the HTF stuff. Just was posing a question to see if you indeed did know. Don't think it's invoking privilege either more along the lines of what their model has shifted to over the last few years based off of the reputation of the school.
I haven't seen Hop much past the second weekend, but my post at the time pointed out that the backline (and I include the GK in this) isn't as lights out as in years past. In that system, you just can't afford mistakes and the game against Rowan was a bit of a debacle on this front.
Even with the caveat that in years past, due to the grad students, it takes them a few weeks to gel... This year you can tell they are a notch below the usual steadiness and craftiness of the standard that's been set.
(BTW, just for comparison, the Jays lost 4-0 in Fredericksburg last year. I was concerned they'd get boat raced this year, so a 2-2 result is pretty encouraging... Even if what I'm reading about a fairly lopsided affair rings true.)
Quote from: d3soccerfan123 on September 26, 2024, 09:27:46 AMQuote from: Freddyfud on September 26, 2024, 01:30:07 AMQuote from: d3soccerfan123 on September 25, 2024, 11:50:01 PMQuote from: Freddyfud on September 25, 2024, 11:45:54 PMQuote from: PaulNewman on September 25, 2024, 10:15:05 PMI was especially impressed knowing that JHU has an extremely veteran group with multiple grad students/D1 transfers. Perhaps the two teams are very similar in regard to being older and more mature than most.
JHU has 6 grad students on its roster. MWU has 9.
How many of those grad students have actually attended the school for undergrad? Almost all of the ones at UMW were four year student athletes not just one and dones.
HTF should I know? Better yet what difference does it make? The question was about the maturity of the teams. Do the Hopkins grad students have an advantage over others when it comes to maturity? And please don't invoke privilege in the event they may have come from an undergrad program labeled as D1. These days that is a debate worthy of its own thread.
Not an attack so no need for the HTF stuff. Just was posing a question to see if you indeed did know. Don't think it's invoking privilege either more along the lines of what their model has shifted to over the last few years based off of the reputation of the school.
Fair enough, but I'm still missing the point in terms of relevance within the original context. Perhaps you ask out of simple curiosity.
I have a bit of fun (in my own mind at least) commenting on a The Athletic story around football players, asking what their major is. The typical response is, "who cares?". The most we might get it is, "Junior from Roanoke, Virginia". I'd love to see it embellished with, "Major in economics, minor in Central European History". It might give us just a bit more additional insight into the player wearing the shirt and what makes them tick.
I have JHU at 13th in the SC Rankings. But they have been dropping, largely because of what they do... don't do... in the final third. Add to that most teams seem to get through their back line pretty easily and often think they are one shot away from conceding.
I think UMW was unlucky not carrying the day, so as of now they are still the #1 team in the country by a pretty wide margin.
SC.
Quote from: EnmoreCat on September 26, 2024, 11:48:02 AMI have a bit of fun (in my own mind at least) commenting on a The Athletic story around football players, asking what their major is. The typical response is, "who cares?". The most we might get it is, "Junior from Roanoke, Virginia". I'd love to see it embellished with, "Major in economics, minor in Central European History". It might give us just a bit more additional insight into the player wearing the shirt and what makes them tick.
That is brilliant... makes me think if I can't put something together for the channel.....
SC.
Quote from: SimpleCoach on September 26, 2024, 12:02:54 PMQuote from: EnmoreCat on September 26, 2024, 11:48:02 AMI have a bit of fun (in my own mind at least) commenting on a The Athletic story around football players, asking what their major is. The typical response is, "who cares?". The most we might get it is, "Junior from Roanoke, Virginia". I'd love to see it embellished with, "Major in economics, minor in Central European History". It might give us just a bit more additional insight into the player wearing the shirt and what makes them tick.
That is brilliant... makes me think if I can't put something together for the channel.....
SC.
SC, you can tell I'm on holiday, waaaay too much time on my hands...
Speaking of stats...I hadn't noticed these before but they line up with what I observed...
UMW JHU
Goals 2 2
Shots 27 8
Shots on Goal 11 5
Saves 3 8
Corners 10 1
Offsides 8 1
Fouls 18 14
To reiterate, Hopkins is not LaRoche or PS-Brandywine. Perennial top 10-15 program, very recent Elite 8s, and at beginning of season viewed by many as a very top-level national contender. JHU also has a lot of season left, so who knows how formidable they may be in November. A reminder that St Olaf started last year 1-3 and went on to 20-3-3 and a title.
Just a few weeks ago Messiah at UMW would have been viewed by many of us as potentially Game of the Season. Huge match for both squads, and who would have guessed that Messiah would need this game far, far more than Mary Wash. Even with a loss and a slip to 4-5 I would be cautious in terms of writing the Falcons off. They still are likely to make the tournament (if only via AQ), and few teams will want to draw the Falcons in the 1st, 2nd, or Sweet 16 rounds. (See St Olaf above.) That said, will be interesting to see how Mary Wash performs after settling with a draw a couple of nights ago. Now if only we could talk into existence an improved video experience out of Fredricksburg.
And, yes, I am severely formatting challenged.
Nah, that's legible PN... And, yeah, backs those who watched and posted.
Messiah @ UMW game has been moved to 3:30 and onto the UMW turf field from the grass. Double negative with bad turf and the crappy camera.
Beyond the matches reviewed in the weekly poll, by Kuiper, and my mention of Messiah vs UMW, here are a few other tilts of consequence.
The weather impact will likely be significant although perhaps much of NY State/New England will be spared. Late last night the hurricane was still a couple of hours shy of Florida landfall, and already the impact is being felt as far away as Ohio.
Ohio games tonight...wet and windy...Denison already has been playing on a turf field while they build a new soccer facility and of course the Big Red host CNU tonight. Otterbein hosts Kenyon and they have a turf field so no change there. On Sunday, the opponents switch as Otterbein heads to Granville to take on Denison, and CNU makes the short trip north to Gambier. Will be curious to see if the Kenyon-CNU contest will get moved from grass to the football/lacrosse turf stadium as more rain forecast throughout the weekend.
Others...
Saturday
Rochester-Stevens
Union-Vassar
SLU-RPI
Babson-Brandeis
Williams-Colby
New Paltz-Cortland
Tufts-Wesleyan
Oglethorpe-Centre
Calvin-JCU
Hope-Chicago
Sunday
Amherst-Colby
Williams-Bowdoin
The Ohio games noted above
P.S. While not playing at the same venue one has to assume there was quite a bit of coordination between Bianco and Wall in scheduling CNU and Otterbein back to back. The dynamics in the NCAC are going to get more interesting. Before Wall arrived in Gambier one would have presumed that OWU and Denison enjoyed very good relations with a collaborative dislike of the Owls. Now we've got two OWU alums at the top two OWU rivals (other than OWU schedule staple Calvin) who I assume are close friends with the legendary OWU coach stepping aside after this season. I'm presuming that neither Bianco or Wall will be heading to Delaware. And then there's JCU walking through the NCAC door for next season which will inject a new, big wrinkle into the mix.
P.S.S. There are a lot of good to very good teams laying in the weeds with mediocre to just above mediocre records so far...Calvin, Messiah, OWU, Stevens, Wheaton (both?), Oglethorpe, Chicago, and a bunch of others.
BIG error on my part. Denison already has their new state of the art soccer/lacrosse turf facility. Very impressive.
Anyone interested can watch this below.
https://youtu.be/O_k_pxzPTcM
Re PN's PPS - I'd add W&L into that category of potentially good teams with mediocre records, and note that they've already beaten Oglethorpe this season.
Quote from: Another Mom on September 28, 2024, 02:22:23 PMRe PN's PPS - I'd add W&L into that category of potentially good teams with mediocre records, and note that they've already beaten Oglethorpe this season.
PJ Ryan is as good a defender I have seen and guessing a strong AA candidate this year.
Quote from: Another Mom on September 28, 2024, 02:22:23 PMRe PN's PPS - I'd add W&L into that category of potentially good teams with mediocre records, and note that they've already beaten Oglethorpe this season.
Hard to tell anything about W&L until 10/9 at CNU. I guess if they lose one of the next three that tells us something, but I'm not sure winning those three tell us anything.
10/9, 10/19, 10/23, and 10/26 are regular season defining at this point. 10/9 is the last chance for a solid OOC win, the others are everything for the ODAC.
Quote from: eaglesoccerdad on September 27, 2024, 03:12:08 PMMessiah @ UMW game has been moved to 3:30 and onto the UMW turf field from the grass. Double negative with bad turf and the crappy camera.
Bummer. Son was drooling at the grass pitch that wasn't used last weekend. Some day maybe...
Quote from: Freddyfud on September 28, 2024, 03:50:50 PMQuote from: eaglesoccerdad on September 27, 2024, 03:12:08 PMMessiah @ UMW game has been moved to 3:30 and onto the UMW turf field from the grass. Double negative with bad turf and the crappy camera.
Bummer. Son was drooling at the grass pitch that wasn't used last weekend. Some day maybe...
Was still a bit soggy from the week of rain. Both men and women were playing today so they didn't want to risk extensive field damage
Kenyon player just hit a worldie first time from outside the box to go up on CNU 2-1 with 15 minutes left.
https://x.com/kenyonmsoc/status/1840497863492559306?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet (https://x.com/kenyonmsoc/status/1840497863492559306?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet)
Quote from: Freddyfud on September 29, 2024, 12:54:48 PMKenyon player just hit a worldie first time from outside the box to go up on CNU 2-1 with 15 minutes left.
https://x.com/kenyonmsoc/status/1840497863492559306?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet (https://x.com/kenyonmsoc/status/1840497863492559306?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet)
...and the capper in the final 6 seconds
https://youtu.be/gbDNNBnuIhE?si=a2o6R1yu6MQu-hKx
Thought I saw that someone briefly post that maybe Tufts should be No. 1 this week.
Would not have a problem, but a big jump from 5 to 1 without a huge win against a ranked team. However, with a win tonight against Babson then Tufts probably should end up No. 1 next week.
1) Mary Wash
2) Tufts
WIDE GAP
3) Pick one among 6-8 candidates
In our annual "why the heck are they playing them?" series of D1 v. D3 contests, we had three on tap today:
Olivet at #11 Western Michigan
Western Michigan won 7-0. They outshot Olivet, which has lost to Wabash and Baldwin-Wallace in its last two games, 24-0 and 15-0 on goal. Fortunately, Olivet gave minutes to 4 goalkeepers to try to spread the GAA hit around!
Quinnipiac 9 - Farmingdale State 0
Quinnipiac isn't a great D1 team, so I can see why they would schedule a game to play their bench players and get a win, but Farmingdale State isn't exactly the top of D3 either. Unlike Olivet, though, Farmingdale State at least got off 3 shots and had 3 corner kicks! Only issue I have with this one is that while Quinnipiac emptied its bench, Farmingdale State played all but one player 90 minutes and gave 10 minutes to one substitute. Did they think they were going for the win? At what point on the way to losing 9-0 could they have figured out they had no chance to win and played more than 1 of the guys sitting on the bench?
Trine at Notre Dame at 7 pm local time
Notre Dame beat Clemson 2-1 last weekend and plays Syracuse next weekend, so a mid-week game against Trine just makes sense, right? To be fair, Trine played Indiana last season and only lost 2-0.
UPDATE: Trine actually scored on Notre Dame! They are down 3-1 in the 24th minute, but the fact that they scored in the first half, when ND hadn't gone deep into its bench and was way ahead (if 3-0 can still be deemed within reach in soccer), is pretty impressive. Braden Estep gets bragging rights.
FINAL: Notre Dame 7 - Trine 1. Both teams emptied their benches.
Babson breaks the 0-0 tie in the 80th minute with a goal after roaring down the left side and dancing on the end line and shooting past the Tufts GK.
Maybe this will be the key that unlocks this game, which has been very tight up until now.
UPDATE: Wow! Tufts equalizes on a corner kick in the 89th minute
Final Tufts 1 - Babson 1
I've had a night of quite heavy drinking in NYC, with various reports coming in from all over these United States, but I am very comfortable stating that D3 is super wide open this year and it's entirely feasible that this year's national champion doesn't currently reside inside the current USC top 14.
Quote from: Kuiper on October 01, 2024, 06:52:08 PMIn our annual "why the heck are they playing them?" series of D1 v. D3 contests, we had three on tap today:
Olivet at #11 Western Michigan
Western Michigan won 7-0. They outshot Olivet, which has lost to Wabash and Baldwin-Wallace in its last two games, 24-0 and 15-0 on goal. Fortunately, Olivet gave minutes to 4 goalkeepers to try to spread the GAA hit around!
Quinnipiac 9 - Farmingdale State 0
Quinnipiac isn't a great D1 team, so I can see why they would schedule a game to play their bench players and get a win, but Farmingdale State isn't exactly the top of D3 either. Unlike Olivet, though, Farmingdale State at least got off 3 shots and had 3 corner kicks! Only issue I have with this one is that while Quinnipiac emptied its bench, Farmingdale State played all but one player 90 minutes and gave 10 minutes to one substitute. Did they think they were going for the win? At what point on the way to losing 9-0 could they have figured out they had no chance to win and played more than 1 of the guys sitting on the bench?
Trine at Notre Dame at 7 pm local time
Notre Dame beat Clemson 2-1 last weekend and plays Syracuse next weekend, so a mid-week game against Trine just makes sense, right? To be fair, Trine played Indiana last season and only lost 2-0.
UPDATE: Trine actually scored on Notre Dame! They are down 3-1 in the 24th minute, but the fact that they scored in the first half, when ND hadn't gone deep into its bench and was way ahead (if 3-0 can still be deemed within reach in soccer), is pretty impressive. Braden Estep gets bragging rights.
FINAL: Notre Dame 7 - Trine 1. Both teams emptied their benches.
Incidentally St Joseph's played Stony Brook this evening as well and lost 0-6.
Quote from: Freddyfud on October 01, 2024, 11:47:12 PMQuote from: Kuiper on October 01, 2024, 06:52:08 PMIn our annual "why the heck are they playing them?" series of D1 v. D3 contests, we had three on tap today:
Olivet at #11 Western Michigan
Western Michigan won 7-0. They outshot Olivet, which has lost to Wabash and Baldwin-Wallace in its last two games, 24-0 and 15-0 on goal. Fortunately, Olivet gave minutes to 4 goalkeepers to try to spread the GAA hit around!
Quinnipiac 9 - Farmingdale State 0
Quinnipiac isn't a great D1 team, so I can see why they would schedule a game to play their bench players and get a win, but Farmingdale State isn't exactly the top of D3 either. Unlike Olivet, though, Farmingdale State at least got off 3 shots and had 3 corner kicks! Only issue I have with this one is that while Quinnipiac emptied its bench, Farmingdale State played all but one player 90 minutes and gave 10 minutes to one substitute. Did they think they were going for the win? At what point on the way to losing 9-0 could they have figured out they had no chance to win and played more than 1 of the guys sitting on the bench?
Trine at Notre Dame at 7 pm local time
Notre Dame beat Clemson 2-1 last weekend and plays Syracuse next weekend, so a mid-week game against Trine just makes sense, right? To be fair, Trine played Indiana last season and only lost 2-0.
UPDATE: Trine actually scored on Notre Dame! They are down 3-1 in the 24th minute, but the fact that they scored in the first half, when ND hadn't gone deep into its bench and was way ahead (if 3-0 can still be deemed within reach in soccer), is pretty impressive. Braden Estep gets bragging rights.
FINAL: Notre Dame 7 - Trine 1. Both teams emptied their benches.
Incidentally St Joseph's played Stony Brook this evening as well and lost 0-6.
And Wednesday, Albertus Magnus is playing at Yale
A handful or more of some good derby to quasi-derby matchups today...
Carleton @ St Olaf (Northfield Silver Nugget Derby)
Gettysburg @ Dickinson
Rutgers-Newark @ Rutgers-Camden
Geneva @ Grove City
Cortland @ Oneonta
Trinity @ Conn Coll
Messiah @ Lycoming ?
Chicago @ Calvin (a top regional derby)
Vassar @ Bard (isn't but should be?)
Very curious about NYU...a lot of noise past few seasons and barely a peep this year. Most curious about being invested enough for NYU to travel to Colorado in preseason for scrimmages with Colorado School of Mines and Air Force Academy...and then a modest non-conference schedule featuring Purchase College, Univ of Mt St Vincent, Rutgers-Camden, St Joseph's Brooklyn, PS-Harrisburg, Drew, Baruch, Sarah Lawrence. It's almost like NYU fell off the map as soon as the draw concluded with Chicago in the Stich vs Wyant coaching duel (which btw produced the only mild blemish on Chicago's 22-0-1 championship season in 2022).
Bonus random rambling...also curious about how some of the state schools arrange major travel trips...UMass-Boston to Pac NW a couple of years ago, Christopher Newport to Chicago, Colorado, and Ohio, and I know there are multiple other examples. For the record, I'm in favor of schools doing these trips, but wondering if they are built into the budget or do these teams have to do fundraising to make it happen? Same question for international trips allowed once very four years, and that applies to both private and public.
Quote from: PaulNewman on October 02, 2024, 09:36:08 AMBonus random rambling...also curious about how some of the state schools arrange major travel trips...UMass-Boston to Pac NW a couple of years ago, Christopher Newport to Chicago, Colorado, and Ohio, and I know there are multiple other examples. For the record, I'm in favor of schools doing these trips, but wondering if they are built into the budget or do these teams have to do fundraising to make it happen? Same question for international trips allowed once very four years, and that applies to both private and public.
I'm pretty sure that UC Santa Cruz's travel (mostly up and down the western coast, but still not cheap) is part of the budget since they acknowledge that it is the cost of being in D3 while on an island. I wouldn't be surprised if Christopher Newport is a similar decision calculus, since if you're going to be in the Coast-to-Coast conference your team should have some exposure to playing teams from other regions once in awhile both to get used to different styles of teams in the conference (e.g., they played fellow C2C member UCSC in Colorado) and to build up schedule strength under the old ranking system for Pool C bids. We'll see if the latter continues.
Quote from: EnmoreCat on October 01, 2024, 11:02:46 PMI've had a night of quite heavy drinking in NYC, with various reports coming in from all over these United States, but I am very comfortable stating that D3 is super wide open this year and it's entirely feasible that this year's national champion doesn't currently reside inside the current USC top 14.
Hope you are feeling OK today and didn't wake up next to a dumpster in Times Square or on a bench in Washington Square Park. Grab a NY bagel if you can...
Quote from: Freddyfud on October 02, 2024, 10:09:11 AMQuote from: EnmoreCat on October 01, 2024, 11:02:46 PMI've had a night of quite heavy drinking in NYC, with various reports coming in from all over these United States, but I am very comfortable stating that D3 is super wide open this year and it's entirely feasible that this year's national champion doesn't currently reside inside the current USC top 14.
Hope you are feeling OK today and didn't wake up next to a dumpster in Times Square or on a bench in Washington Square Park. Grab a NY bagel if you can...
Thanks Freddy, am not too bad, but what I can say is that I will be drinking a lot more coffee & cold water than I did last night. Will be heading to White Plains NY to watch the 🦣 take on Manhattanville this evening.
UMW with at least third game in a row coming back from a deficit. I suppose one can look at that like playing with fire will get you burned...but until proven otherwise imho just shows how confident and intentional the Eagles are about winning.
Who thought Hope (any season) would be (so far) having a significantly better season that either Calvin or Messiah...or a year when Calvin and Messiah were both struggling? I can't imagine that the Falcons have ever lost five out of six since the beginning of the Messiah championship-level era. Hope's only loss was to Ohio Northern and they have beaten OWU and Chicago. Nice recovery by the Hope program after a brief and unspectacular tenure with Dave Brandt at the helm. Hope and Calvin meet a week from today in Grand Rapids.
I hope my Owls are not looking past DePauw (with the final regular season match ever vs Jay Martin in Delaware which I'm sure will be an emotional evening for Travis Wall). The Tigers are off to a strong start and have earned draws against North Park and Hope. DePauw head coach Steven McCarthy is in his second year, guiding the Tigers to the NCAC semis last year. McCarthy, a 2010 Capital grad, at a young age already has breathed life back into two proud programs...first, replacing the legendary Dan Rothert at Loras, and then taking the helm at DePauw with the retirement of long-time skipper, Brad Hauter. The Kenyon NCAC schedule is heavily front-loaded, opening with DePauw, OWU, and Denison. Hopefully the Owls will be relatively healthy for this next stretch.
Eyerolls notwithstanding, I'm very impressed with Babson, although to be fair, 4-0-6 is flirting with 2022 Williams (which obviously could portend great things). The Beavers have earned three draws against NESCAC foes, including Amherst and Tufts. I'd be more concerned about a couple of the other draws against lesser opponents. I would not want to play Babson in November, and these high-level NESCAC affairs should serve them well (while acknowledging the Beavers usually have this level of scheduling). That said, Tufts was "who I thought they were," and I would have thought that even if they didn't equalize in the last minute. An extremely competitive contest, but for my neutral eyes Tufts carried most of the play and especially in the 2nd half was pressing and pressing with numerous good opportunities inside the 18. Yes, Babson had some chances occasionally on the counter, and (while I was similarly blinded from exactly what happened after the Tufts CB-GK miscue) the Babson player must have made a great individual play along the touchline. In my view, Tufts, Amherst, Midd, and Conn could all make the F4 and potentially win a title. I marginally prefer Tufts at the moment...and remember that the team that wins the NESCAC regular season isn't necessarily the most dangerous NESCAC come November. Also don't sleep too much on Williams...some excellent results and the GK is outstanding. Also caught some of a Conn game (maybe vs Midd) and Silvester is really, really good. In addition to being the strongest conference by some margin, there are always some superb GKs for most of the top half teams.
F&M is only one tie from equally Babson, haha 4-0-5 right now. Though losing or tying Ursinus tonight would be a huge disappointment.
(PN coming into form.)
In all seriousness, and with all due respect, in what universe is a 7:00 pm tilt between Chicago and Calvin under the lights at Zuidema Field NOT "televised"?
All this talk about paywalls, why can't D3 get a sliver of ESPN+ or similar?
Also, keep an eye on Virginia Wesleyan University...just a vibe based on absolutely nothing, but I bet I'm not the only one.
Chicago 2, Calvin 2 58th minute...
Chicago scored in 1st half, Calvin levels a minute into 2nd half, six minutes later Maroons go back on top, and 80 seconds later Calvin levels again. And no video!
Calvin wins it in 86th minute, 3-2. Five goals... I'm guessing was a very good, exciting D3 game. Big win for the Knights. Souders, as good as it gets, will be ecstatic and don't be surprised to see Calvin go on a nice run now.
And turns out this Messi kid is pretty good.
MAF Top 25
1. Mary Wash
2. Tufts
3. Amherst
4. Kenyon
5. Middlebury
6. Dickinson
7. Trinity Tx
8. CT College
9. Gustavus Adolphus
10. St. Olaf
11. North Park
12. Hopkins
13. Colorado College
14. Williams
15. Denison
16. Case Western
17. F&M
18. John Carroll
19. Ohio Northern
20. Montclair St
21. UW Platteville
22. Oneonta St
23. Hope
24. Buff St
25. Calvin
Most fouls per game
Old Westbury (Skyline) 16.27
Wis.-Stevens Point (WIAC) 15.85
Amherst (NESCAC) 15.30
Salisbury (C2C) 15.18
Franklin & Marshall (Centennial) 14.55
Middlebury (NESCAC) 14.44
Stockton (NJAC) 14.36
SUNY Maritime (Skyline) 14.20
Coe (American Rivers) 13.91
UMSV (Skyline) 13.85
Other fun fact: The Bluffton Beavers from Bluffton, Ohio, have missed all four of their PKs this season, the only team in Division 3 to take that many PKs without hitting at least one.
Quote from: Hopkins Walk-On on October 08, 2024, 08:21:27 PMMost fouls per game
Old Westbury (Skyline) 16.27
Wis.-Stevens Point (WIAC) 15.85
Amherst (NESCAC) 15.30
Salisbury (C2C) 15.18
Franklin & Marshall (Centennial) 14.55
Middlebury (NESCAC) 14.44
Stockton (NJAC) 14.36
SUNY Maritime (Skyline) 14.20
Coe (American Rivers) 13.91
UMSV (Skyline) 13.85
Would be some entertaining match ups amongst that group. Might even find a sponsor for the foul count.
Quote from: EnmoreCat on October 08, 2024, 08:46:21 PMQuote from: Hopkins Walk-On on October 08, 2024, 08:21:27 PMMost fouls per game
Old Westbury (Skyline) 16.27
Wis.-Stevens Point (WIAC) 15.85
Amherst (NESCAC) 15.30
Salisbury (C2C) 15.18
Franklin & Marshall (Centennial) 14.55
Middlebury (NESCAC) 14.44
Stockton (NJAC) 14.36
SUNY Maritime (Skyline) 14.20
Coe (American Rivers) 13.91
UMSV (Skyline) 13.85
Would be some entertaining match ups amongst that group. Might even find a sponsor for the foul count.
Slackers! Do better!!
Quote from: EnmoreCat on October 08, 2024, 08:46:21 PMQuote from: Hopkins Walk-On on October 08, 2024, 08:21:27 PMMost fouls per game
Old Westbury (Skyline) 16.27
Wis.-Stevens Point (WIAC) 15.85
Amherst (NESCAC) 15.30
Salisbury (C2C) 15.18
Franklin & Marshall (Centennial) 14.55
Middlebury (NESCAC) 14.44
Stockton (NJAC) 14.36
SUNY Maritime (Skyline) 14.20
Coe (American Rivers) 13.91
UMSV (Skyline) 13.85
Would be some entertaining match ups amongst that group. Might even find a sponsor for the foul count.
LOL. Amherst vs. F&M could possibly be the least entertaining game ever played!
I feel the complete opposite Ejay, two excellent teams, prepared to physically commit to the game, what's not to like? Apologies for inevitably offending the asthetes on the board, but I am sure you are all used to it by now.
It's all good. I can appreciate the competitiveness of two great teams battling, and respect your personal interest in the outcome. But as a neutral, this is not a matchup that I would enjoy watching regardless of the winning percentages of each team.
Quote from: EnmoreCat on October 09, 2024, 09:24:46 AMI feel the complete opposite Ejay, two excellent teams, prepared to physically commit to the game, what's not to like? Apologies for inevitably offending the asthetes on the board, but I am sure you are all used to it by now.
Throw back game and should be played on a Thursday. Just saying.
Interesting stat, and not sure as to Amherst this year, but I don't F&M has fouled in the box or allowed a foul free kick to lead to a goal. Definitely part of their game in some way. So what I am saying is that most of F&M fouls are in the middle section of the field. F&M definitely pressures the opponent with the ball with 2 players often and I am guessing leads to fouls or perceived fouls. Not a team to sit back and ball watch.
Quote from: Ejay on October 09, 2024, 10:11:45 AMIt's all good. I can appreciate the competitiveness of two great teams battling, and respect your personal interest in the outcome. But as a neutral, this is not a matchup that I would enjoy watching regardless of the winning percentages of each team.
True, but imo 90% of D3 soccer is not pretty. I have often thought that my son's club team could beat 80% of D3 teams and his team played possession (he only punted maybe 5 or 6 times a season). You play with what you have or able to. What generally I do not like is the constant substitution, though makes perfect sense in a game which allows this and such short compact seasons.
Also not sure as to Amherst, when possessing, F&M plays very nice possession unless the coach decides that it is not in its best interest (shoot if forward often and win 50/50 balls) which he has employed depending on the competition. F&M is not as successful as Amherst, but its results pretty much speaks for itself. If anything, F&M seems to only play high pace/pressure especially when it is off the ball. Some have said "swarm" especially in the midfield, but why wouldn't you play that way in D3?
^ can we put an APB out in the Lancaster area for the aforementioned team being described. I think they are missing
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on October 09, 2024, 10:40:53 AMQuote from: Ejay on October 09, 2024, 10:11:45 AMIt's all good. I can appreciate the competitiveness of two great teams battling, and respect your personal interest in the outcome. But as a neutral, this is not a matchup that I would enjoy watching regardless of the winning percentages of each team.
True, but imo 90% of D3 soccer is not pretty. I have often thought that my son's club team could beat 80% of D3 teams and his team played possession (he only punted maybe 5 or 6 times a season). You play with what you have or able to. What generally I do not like is the constant substitution, though makes perfect sense in a game which allows this and such short compact seasons.
Also not sure as to Amherst, when possessing, F&M plays very nice possession unless the coach decides that it is not in its best interest (shoot if forward often and win 50/50 balls) which he has employed depending on the competition. F&M is not as successful as Amherst, but its results pretty much speaks for itself. If anything, F&M seems to only play high pace/pressure especially when it is off the ball. Some have said "swarm" especially in the midfield, but why wouldn't you play that way in D3?
I agree that most of D3 soccer isn't played beautifully, but you can still have an entertaining and enjoyable game without resorting to the styles that F&M and Amherst play.
And I'm not denying their success, I'm simply saying those two teams would be near the bottom of the list of teams I want to watch given style of play, propensity of fouls, and sideline antics.
Dropping in to say W&L beat Christopher Newport last night 3-0. This year's team kind of feels a bit like last year's team . . .
Quote from: Another Mom on October 10, 2024, 02:15:29 PMDropping in to say W&L beat Christopher Newport last night 3-0. This year's team kind of feels a bit like last year's team . . .
it's a nice win but it looks like the opposite of the Averett tie. Averett got 2 goals on their first 3 shots, but were otherwise outplayed. That result happens in soccer, but Averett is not a good team and that's a poor result. W&L got 3 goals on 5 shots on goal against a CNU team that had more shots, more shots on goal, more corners. I mean, it's not huge in terms of discrepancies but it looks like a one goal game, not the much more impressive 3 goal margin.
Still, it's the type of game earlier this year I suspect W&L loses, so kudos to them.
With Roanoke, Lynchburg and Va Wes 3 of their last 4 ODAC games, and all in a 7 day span, the season is still all to play for. Slip ups against Ferrum, Shenandoah, and R-MC will complicate things if they don't get a sweep during the brutal 10/19 to 10/26 gauntlet.
I've said I thought this team would grow into itself and the new staff as the season went along and that they had more than enough talent to be at the top of the ODAC. Beating the Captains at least gives them a second decent OOC win to go with Oglethorpe.
Christopher Newport were the better team in the 1st half, and W&L was the better team in the second half. When I said this team felt like last year's, I meant that they feel shambolic at times, but (sometimes) manage to pull out the win. Which is how it felt watching the game yesterday.
Btw, the Averett scoreline really should have been 3-2 in the Generals' favor as their last goal was decreed to be offside, but the replay showed otherwise. Not complaining, just setting the record straight.
So SC, going to drop F&M this week?? Hahaha. F&M just beat a team 4-2 which had JHU tied 0-0 and beaten Dickinson.
JHU had a rough time at Gettysburg. Just not generating enough offense. The Gettysburg goal in the first time was a good one.
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on October 12, 2024, 09:33:34 PMSo SC, going to drop F&M this week?? Hahaha. F&M just beat a team 4-2 which had JHU tied 0-0 and beaten Dickinson.
JHU had a rough time at Gettysburg. Just not generating enough offense. The Gettysburg goal in the first time was a good one.
Think I explained myself on this already. But yes, thinking of dropping F&M one spot for every time they basically blindly booted the ball out of the back against Muhlenberg.
SC.
The dwindling list of unbeatens was reduced by one last night, as once-beaten North Park knocked off previously-undefeated Illinois Wesleyan, 2-0.
Middlebury 3 Babson 1. A game where Midd came out flying and could have been up multiple goals by halftime. Only a great save on a pk by Babson GK Walker White and several other spectacular saves kept the visitors in the game. Midd paid the price for not putting the game away in the first half when Babson equalized early in the second half. The Panthers immediately applied pressure and White made an unbelievable save, reaching behind his body to scoop a Shane Farrell header off the goal line. Midd finally broke through on a deflected shot in the 88th minute by Ari Klayman. First year Keegan Harder finished off a 2 v 1 a minute later for the final margin. Overall, Midd had a 28-10 advantage in shots and that felt like a fair reflection of the play on a drizzly Vermont fall afternoon. Impressive win for the Panthers to knock off a fellow unbeaten foe as they move to 10-0-2, while Babson is now 7-1-6. The Panthers played without star forward Gavin Randolph, who was on the receiving end of a crunching challenge from the Colby goalkeeper in yesterday's match. Final thought: Walker White is a very impressive goalkeeper who singlehandedly kept his team in the match.
In the meaningless Di v. DIII weekday games department . . .
Boston College 5 - Suffolk 1
The game was actually tied 1-1 until the 37th minute as Suffolk scored an equalizer in the 19th minute. Boston College went to work after that though
LaSalle 5 - Neumann 0
Not quite over, but it's basically over in the 78th minute
Battle of the heavyweights today with Tufts making the trip to Amherst. I believe it will be a close contest where the presumed outcome is a draw. However, I'm going to have to take the Jumbos in this contest after losing the last two games to Amherst. Predicting a 2-1 victory for Tufts.
Buffalo State....that's the tweet.
I'm also old enough to remember when North Park @ Chicago on a Wednesday night would be a big deal...like a F4 type of matchup.
Quote from: PaulNewman on October 16, 2024, 07:06:56 PMBuffalo State....that's the tweet.
I'm also old enough to remember when North Park @ Chicago on a Wednesday night would be a big deal...like a F4 type of matchup.
Weakest Chicago team I've seen in a decade and a half. I can't believe I'm using the verb
coasted to describe somebody beating the Maroons, but that's exactly what NPU did tonight on the South Side. After going up 3-0 in the 48th minute, the Vikings basically coasted to the 3-1 win.
I can't remember the last time that the two westernmost UAA schools were both mediocre in the same season, but that's definitely the case in 2024. Then again, it looks like the entire UAA is down quite a bit this season.
Where's the Sager nuance we've all come to cherish?
No question Chicago is struggling compared to their very recent tippy-top success...multiple F4s, national title 2 years ago, and an Elite 8 finish just last season when they were knocked out by eventual champ St Olaf 2-1 largely due to heroics from Gaulmin and Morgan. And while I haven't watched them much this year, the Maroons no doubt do not have the talent they had in their title run with their two first team AA CBs.
That said, there still are at least a handful of players from the national title squad. Chicago's campaign thus far certainly has been uneven but they do have some good results...wins over St Olaf, N Central, Wheaton!, NYU, etc and a draw versus UR. Also multiple tight 1 goal losses to the likes of GAC, Hope, and Calvin. A quick scan of their box scores suggests only UWEC had a substantial edge stats-wise, until last night's affair.
Maybe North Park is just really, really good 😉.
This may be trauma symptoms talking, but I wouldn't be thrilled to draw Chicago, Messiah, or Calvin in the tournament (and I wouldn't bet against any of them making the tournament).
Some of those teams that you mentioned on Chicago's schedule are also down from their usual lofty selves this season. If I was prone to make snap judgments based upon one season, I'd say that midwestern D3 men's soccer as a whole has been fed a heaping tablespoon of parity. Since I'm not, I'll just say for now that there's been a blizzard of anomalous results out here in the tall corn this season, and hold the "parity" judgment in reserve for a couple more years down the road.
I'm still not sure what to make of North Park, and I've seen more of the Vikings than anybody. Their depth is terrific, and they've needed it in light of several injuries to starters that've missed multiple games this season. The back line is solid, even with All-Region CB Christian Vaaland having missed almost the entire season thus far due to a concussion, and this trio of defenders (Hugo Neborg, Teo Helm, and Dennis Rinne) is the first back-liner group that has ever allowed Kris Grahn to go with his preferred 3-6-1. The 2024 iteration of the Park spreads the wealth around, scoring-wise, which is unusual for NPU but not unpleasant by any means, and freshman Alexander Gahm is coming around up top in the absence of injured veteran starting F Mike Dejworek. But the Vikings have difficulty finishing on a consistent basis (evidenced by their three scoreless draws and their 1-0 loss), and I'm a little worried that playing a schedule in which annual opponents that are typically great whetstones for the Viking sword (Wash U, Luther, Chicago, etc.) are under par this season may leave NPU less prepared for November than usual.
One of the most lopsided games of the season last Saturday. SUNY Delhi had 53 total shots, 31 shots on goal, and 14 goals against the kings of lopsided defeats VTSU Lyndon. :o
Quote from: FCGrizzliesGrad on October 17, 2024, 01:05:08 PMOne of the most lopsided games of the season last Saturday. SUNY Delhi had 53 total shots, 31 shots on goal, and 14 goals against the kings of lopsided defeats VTSU Lyndon. :o
Was it half-court with possession after first goal??
Quote from: Gregory Sager on October 17, 2024, 12:23:24 PMI'm a little worried that playing a schedule in which annual opponents that are typically great whetstones for the Viking sword (Wash U, Luther, Chicago, etc.) are under par this season may leave NPU less prepared for November than usual.
I thought the Bears played pretty well against North Park, even after going down a player with 30 minutes left to play. The Bears have struggled with injuries (as with many teams) and have had costly mistakes at times.
I believe that they will finish the season in the Top 30-40 with a Top 30-40 SOS.
Quote from: FCGrizzliesGrad on October 17, 2024, 01:05:08 PMOne of the most lopsided games of the season last Saturday. SUNY Delhi had 53 total shots, 31 shots on goal, and 14 goals against the kings of lopsided defeats VTSU Lyndon. :o
VTSU Lyndon would probably get beat by most D3 club teams.
Quote from: WUPHF on October 17, 2024, 01:18:10 PMI thought the Bears played pretty well against North Park, even after going down a player with 30 minutes left to play. The Bears have struggled with injuries (as with many teams) and have had costly mistakes at times.
I believe that they will finish the season in the Top 30-40 with a Top 30-40 SOS.
I sure hope so. The Vikings could use the SOS help.
Quote from: FCGrizzliesGrad on October 17, 2024, 01:05:08 PMOne of the most lopsided games of the season last Saturday. SUNY Delhi had 53 total shots, 31 shots on goal, and 14 goals against the kings of lopsided defeats VTSU Lyndon. :o
Sounds like the shots were going in Delhi, Dellow, Delright, and Delleft.
(Sorry. I'll see myself out.)
Yes and no as to soccer related. This goes to volume of teams will be able to continue. It is very interesting. FYI, have 3 kids, only one left. Oldest went to play soccer as academics was never an issue. Unlike me it was pretty easy for him. With all three price was a huge factor and pretty the biggest as we wanted to graduate with little or no debt. Long story as the son, we told he could not go to where he got in early decision as it would cost us to much. Fortunately, he got picked up by a D1 program.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/15/more-colleges-set-to-close-in-2025-while-ivy-plus-schools-thrive.html
I definitely don't see it as the sky is falling.
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on October 17, 2024, 07:12:25 PMYes and no as to soccer related. This goes to volume of teams will be able to continue. It is very interesting. FYI, have 3 kids, only one left. Oldest went to play soccer as academics was never an issue. Unlike me it was pretty easy for him. With all three price was a huge factor and pretty the biggest as we wanted to graduate with little or no debt. Long story as the son, we told he could not go to where he got in early decision as it would cost us to much. Fortunately, he got picked up by a D1 program.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/15/more-colleges-set-to-close-in-2025-while-ivy-plus-schools-thrive.html
I definitely don't see it as the sky is falling.
I don't see this as "the sky is falling" is either, I see this as a long overdue re-evaluation of the benefits and costs of college. Just because you can fog a check doesn't mean going to a college with a 99% admittance rate, a 40% 6 year graduation rate, and a real cost of 15-35K a year or more is a good idea. There are too many colleges in this country, they are charging way too much for what most are delivering, and there are way too many jobs that "require" a college degree that shouldn't, but it's an easy way to winnow down applicants.
We need to readjust what jobs actually needs degrees, what colleges actually provide an education that is worth the cost, and who should be expected to put in the time, effort and money to get a degree. That should end up closing a few hundred colleges. I don't actually see it happening that drastically, but it probably should.
I was taking a look at UMWs remaining schedule and noticed they play D1 UVA on 10/30. While UVA is having a relatively down year (7-4-3), they are still a perennially ranked D1 school, so I'm excited to see how a top D3 squad can compete against them!
I'm wondering if any folks out here have any recollections of similar matchups between top D3 squads and power 5 conference D1 schools and how the D3 boys faired in those matchups?
UMW played UVA in 2021. They lost 2-0. UMW was able to empty their bench so everyone could have this experience. The guys were all impressed with the quality of the facility. Link to boxscore https://umweagles.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2021/virginia/boxscore/5107
Quote from: NEsoccerfan on October 24, 2024, 08:01:12 PMI was taking a look at UMWs remaining schedule and noticed they play D1 UVA on 10/30. While UVA is having a relatively down year (7-4-3), they are still a perennially ranked D1 school, so I'm excited to see how a top D3 squad can compete against them!
I'm wondering if any folks out here have any recollections of similar matchups between top D3 squads and power 5 conference D1 schools and how the D3 boys faired in those matchups?
It's not officially listed anywhere but I know that Dezotell has taken Tufts to play Harvard at the start of the last two years and had a 1-1 draw and a 1-0 loss both of which were pretty even games.
Quote from: rdanie03 on October 25, 2024, 10:44:29 AMQuote from: NEsoccerfan on October 24, 2024, 08:01:12 PMIt's not officially listed anywhere but I know that Dezotell has taken Tufts to play Harvard at the start of the last two years and had a 1-1 draw and a 1-0 loss both of which were pretty even games.
Very cool! I suspect that might have something to do with Coach Shapiro. Thanks for sharing!
Coach Dez first year at Tufts, the team played Yale in the pre-season, can't remember the result now.
Quote from: eaglesoccerdad on October 24, 2024, 09:59:08 PMUMW played UVA in 2021. They lost 2-0. UMW was able to empty their bench so everyone could have this experience. The guys were all impressed with the quality of the facility. Link to boxscore https://umweagles.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2021/virginia/boxscore/5107
UVA's facility/field is very nice and definitely gets some very good talent.
Can anyone shed some light on the NCAA tournament (regional) hosting criteria? What does the host college have to offer to be picked for an early round regional hosting spot? thank you
Quote from: LibbyMoore on October 29, 2024, 09:37:48 AMCan anyone shed some light on the NCAA tournament (regional) hosting criteria? What does the host college have to offer to be picked for an early round regional hosting spot? thank you
It's in the ncaa championship manual on selection of host sights. It goes by a number of factors and not always being the best team or record. It's usually done in pods of four teams. At this level of investment a lot of times it may be the central location that's the easiest for the teams to get to as far as travel. Someone else will update it but there was a rule that anything over 500 miles is a flight compared to a bus.
Secondary factor is also if both men/women make the tournament and both want to host. There's a priority list that switches every year and in the tournament as well. First two rounds (round of 64/32) the men may have priority or the women. Then in round of 32/16 referred to as sectionals) the priority of hosts switches to the opposite. This is all covered in the ncaa championship manual. Actually liked going away myself as a coach and felt we were more focused as a team when we traveled.
NCAA reimburses for the day before to travel down and practice for the bus and hotel as well as meals. Makes it more of an event. Just my thoughts.
#1 UMW is about to kick off against D1 UVA! Very excited to see how they stack up.
Quote from: NEsoccerfan on October 30, 2024, 02:59:13 PM#1 UMW is about to kick off against D1 UVA! Very excited to see how they stack up.
Thanks! Watching now. So far all right.
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on October 30, 2024, 03:24:13 PMQuote from: NEsoccerfan on October 30, 2024, 02:59:13 PM#1 UMW is about to kick off against D1 UVA! Very excited to see how they stack up.
Thanks! Watching now. So far all right.
literally just tuned in to catch the OG....tough break
OG aside, UVA is having the better of the opportunities so far, but UMW is definitely holding their own and was unlucky not to bury one that went off the crossbar when it was 1-0.
Quote from: NEsoccerfan on October 30, 2024, 03:50:50 PMOG aside, UVA is having the better of the opportunities so far, but UMW is definitely holding their own and was unlucky not to bury one that went off the crossbar when it was 1-0.
Captain Obvious here but when playing better teams those are the chances that need to be taken
Really nice flick header to the back post for the 2nd goal tho
Worm kind of turned when the the first set of subs came on for UMW
Especially #10
Looks like UMW throwing in the towel and not putting out their best players in the 2H.
Quote from: NEsoccerfan on October 30, 2024, 04:17:03 PMLooks like UMW throwing in the towel and not putting out their best players in the 2H.
Nope
Good showing by UMW. They did D3 proud. Let's see what Trine can do against Indiana on Friday.
Quote from: Ejay on October 30, 2024, 05:14:05 PMGood showing by UMW. They did D3 proud. Let's see what Trine can do against Indiana on Friday.
Agreed. A 4-2 loss (with a disastrous own goal) to a historically excellent D1 program is nothing to scoff at.
Quote from: NEsoccerfan on October 30, 2024, 06:42:08 PMQuote from: Ejay on October 30, 2024, 05:14:05 PMGood showing by UMW. They did D3 proud. Let's see what Trine can do against Indiana on Friday.
Agreed. A 4-2 loss (with a disastrous own goal) to a historically excellent D1 program is nothing to scoff at.
From Head Coach George Gelnovatch:
"With this game, we took the approach of using it as a way to get ready for the postseason. Scoring four goals and getting the win helps. We have played a couple teams like Mary Washington, and they are a Division I caliber team. There is a reason why they are the No. 1 team in Division III, so I give them a lot of credit."
Quote from: Ejay on October 30, 2024, 08:32:31 PMFrom Head Coach George Gelnovatch:
"With this game, we took the approach of using it as a way to get ready for the postseason. Scoring four goals and getting the win helps. We have played a couple teams like Mary Washington, and they are a Division I caliber team. There is a reason why they are the No. 1 team in Division III, so I give them a lot of credit."
Very classy.
Welp, I waited to see if someone would step up on this, but, alas, I will do my best as a bitter rival/hater.
First, congrats to Denison on a great season for a surging program. We now will see how the Big Red respond as the hunted rather than the hunter. Denison has the perfect set-up on Saturday evening....a home match on their brand new, sparkling pitch, an end of of the regular season tilt against historical behemoth, Ohio Wesleyan, and a regular season NCAC title on the line for two teams unbeaten and once-tied in the conference. Certainly these squads have higher ambitions than a regular season conference title, but it's been a minute since either held up a banner for the regular season. There is of course seeding to chase for the bigger tournament and there is a good chance these two squads will meet again next weekend (and possibly again in 2-3 weeks). It is also the last regular season match for the legendary Jay Martin. Dr. Martin surely would like to win his last NCAC campaign and also a NCAC tourney towards an ultimate storybook ending with a Final 4 run. And surely Martin's players will want to see him off as a champion. No doubt he would have liked to pick up a couple more national titles along the way, but OWU holds the record for NCAA tourney appearances (by a lot), won the NCAC virtually every single year for about 30 or more years, and captured two national titles in 1998 and 2011 (the latter featuring national POY and current rival coach, Travis Wall). Definitely an interesting tilt for OWU nation and its legions of loyal and dedicated player alums. Bianco and Wall are both beloved, I presume, but I would guess the heartstrings are getting pulled hard in Martin's direction. The significance of this match goes well beyond any real or imagined impact on the rest of the season. This is an event. I also would guess that Wall will be there, ostensibly for scouting purposes, but more so to pay his respects (and it doesn't hurt that Granville is about a half-hour drive on rural, dead-deer-laced roads in Ohio's Amish country).
I expect Bianco (and Denison) to honor Dr. Martin by really going for a win and an outright NCAC title. I think Denison will play well. That said, my gut tells me OWU will pull this one out, or at least earn a draw. Remember they very easily could play again the following Saturday night on the pitch of whoever wins this weekend. Speaking of NCAC seeding, in prior years these teams might have had at least a slight interest in avoiding Kenyon in a semi, but they've both already beaten Kenyon this year and I'm sure are quite confident about taking on the Owls again. The winner will get DePauw (I think), and I wouldn't be shocked if that is the upset in NCAC tourney land.
Speaking of my Owls, I am less confident going into this part of the season than I have been since 2012. I lean pessimistic by nature, but Kenyon has not been playing well. Last night they had only one goal (that came late) and started diving for steals when Oberlin had the ball deep in their own third. The lunges (and misses) for the ball led to big openings for the Yeomen and of course they scored with a little over two minutes left. The Owls miraculously scored when with 4.4 seconds left the GK put a ball into the box that was headed forward and somehow put into the back of the net at literally 89:599. Supposedly the ball crossed the line with 01. left. Oberlin bitterly disputed the goal to no avail. At any rate, you can't be struggling with Hiram and Oberlin, especially heading into tourney season. In part there are too many injuries to too many players, but there also seems to a lack of rythym perhaps as a function of trying to figure out who is going to play and where. If they get some of the key players back (like Duratovic) then I will more hopeful, and if in form I would like our chances versus both Denison and OWU away from home with a chance to turn the tables on these programs that have won NCAC finals in Gambier.
Right now the big event is the game on Saturday night. Would be huge for Denison to come out on top over Kenyon and OWU. But, again, I think this is mostly about Jay Martin.
Tip of the cap to Dr. Martin. I'll never forgive you for 2014.
Monday 6:00 PM
D3 CCNY travels to D1 St John's University
Ouch
oooh, that's gonna be ugly
Question - NCAAs and streaming. If a tournament host uses Flo or some other paywall, are people who want to follow their teams going to have to pay???
Obviously, may not be a factor this year as there may not be any hosts who have this requirement in the reg. season, but for the future as more and more conf. may start to do this.
Looks like the NCAA will be streaming all rounds.
https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/11/4/media-center-division-iii-announces-new-livestreaming-initiative-for-2024-fall-championships.aspx
Quote from: oacalum on November 04, 2024, 02:38:50 PMLooks like the NCAA will be streaming all rounds.
https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/11/4/media-center-division-iii-announces-new-livestreaming-initiative-for-2024-fall-championships.aspx
Nice!!
Quote from: oacalum on November 04, 2024, 02:38:50 PMLooks like the NCAA will be streaming all rounds.
https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/11/4/media-center-division-iii-announces-new-livestreaming-initiative-for-2024-fall-championships.aspx
If it's anything like their web scoreboard we'll be better off finding an audio stream.
Yes - the announcement says "on ncaa.com via Hudl technology" - which often means a camera (badly) tracking the action via automation.
Quote from: Ron Boerger on November 04, 2024, 06:23:32 PMYes - the announcement says "on ncaa.com via Hudl technology" - which often means a camera (badly) tracking the action via automation.
Maybe so, but F&M always had a play-by-play guy and its equipment in the past (even the 1st rd teams not involving F&M)
Sure, many schools do better and just use Hudl to stream their broadcasts. I hope that the schools that are hosting will be allowed to leverage their usual in-house production when it is superior to the "where did that ball go" you see with the automation.
Flo has nothing to do with production. That is the responsibility of the school.
Quote from: SKUD on November 03, 2024, 04:22:34 PMMonday 6:00 PM
D3 CCNY travels to D1 St John's University
Ouch
Final 7-1 and SJU showed Mercy. CCNY goal was last goal scored in the last 20-30 minutes.
I know at Tufts we are keeping our usual production format and just adding it to hudl
https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/11/4/media-center-division-iii-announces-new-livestreaming-initiative-for-2024-fall-championships.aspx
UPSET ALERT
#1 Mary Wash is down 1-0 to Salisbury in the C2C Conference semifinal. #14 Tanner Calzado with an absolute rocket from the top of the box for Salisbury.
Quote from: Mr_November on November 08, 2024, 11:37:17 AMUPSET ALERT
#1 Mary Wash is down 1-0 to Salisbury in the C2C Conference semifinal. #14 Tanner Calzado with an absolute rocket from the top of the box for Salisbury.
Update: 1-1 midway through the second half
Onto 2nd OT here in Fredericksburg
To kicks we go
5-4 Win on PKs for Mary Wash over Salisbury. I believe it took 7 or 8 rounds of PKs, as there were a few misses/saves in there. eaglesoccerdad can probably confirm.
What an entertaining match to watch. Hats off to the Seagulls who came so tantalizingly close to clinching a spot in the C2C final. Now onto the the next semifinal - Banana Slugs vs the Captains!
UMW advances
Salisbury is a tough out - beating them 3 times in a month is never easy
Quote from: Mr_November on November 08, 2024, 01:47:29 PM5-4 Win on PKs for Mary Wash over Salisbury. I believe it took 7 or 8 rounds of PKs, as there were a few misses/saves in there. eaglesoccerdad can probably confirm.
What an entertaining match to watch. Hats off to the Seagulls who came so tantalizingly close to clinching a spot in the C2C final. Now onto the the next semifinal - Banana Slugs vs the Captains!
Two saves by the Salisbury GK who came in as a specialist - dude was at least 6'5"
Two misses over the goal and one saved PK for Salisbury
UMW advances
Salisbury is a tough out - beating them 3 times in a month is never easy
Quote from: Mr_November on November 08, 2024, 01:47:29 PM5-4 Win on PKs for Mary Wash over Salisbury. I believe it took 7 or 8 rounds of PKs, as there were a few misses/saves in there. eaglesoccerdad can probably confirm.
What an entertaining match to watch. Hats off to the Seagulls who came so tantalizingly close to clinching a spot in the C2C final. Now onto the the next semifinal - Banana Slugs vs the Captains!
Two saves by the Salisbury GK who came in as a specialist - dude was at least 6'5"
Two misses over the goal and one saved PK for Salisbury
Tasty bites from Paul Newman's Own Postseason Charcuturie Board...
Messiah...and Calvin....and, NO, you don't want to see either the first weekend or even in the Sweet 16...
Kudos to St Olaf and Gustavus Adolphus...STILL pretty much under the radar despite both being
among the very best in D3 for at least several years running...most recent national champ...GAC lost first game of season to Oles yesterday in another tight one, with St Olaf prevailing 3-2 after a regular season 3-3 shootout...GAC now 15-1-3...St Olaf with another stellar campaign, after a slow start, but remember that their national title came last season after a 1-3 stumble out of the gate...As remarkable a story (or more so) than Conn Coll from the far more media-soaked Northeast/New England corridor.
Also under the radar are two of the University of Wisconsin satellite operations...UW-Eau Claire and UW-Platteville. Other than the mercurial scoring machine that is Nathan Donovan (for UWEC) I can't name a single player from either squad. Lezzz Go Blugolds and Pioneers!
The Middlebury announcer has earned the esteemed moniker of "Gregory Sager of the NESCAC," albeit with the subtle calming effect of half a Xanax.
Speaking of under the radar...how about a team right smack in the middle of the NESCAC "we are overwhelmingly the best and very happy to tell you all about it" media hype? Yep, the Babson Beavers. How much joy would the finance world gurus experience knocking off a USDA-Choice NESCAC Tomahawk Steak?
Speaking of under the radar in major media markets...remember when the Profs of Rowan were whiplashing their fans during an early season gauntlet? These are dangerous teams...took their lumps, know what it takes versus tippy-top competition, and going into the tourney on a roll.
Until a not entirely surprising result in the CCIW I would have slotted in North Park as an under the radar challenger. Dismiss at your own risk. See Messiah, Calvin above.
Can a school easily in the top 10 (probably top 5) of D3 historically and in the midst of their more typical outstanding seasons find itself under the radar? The answer is yes...if that school hails from San Antonio and bears the name Trinity.
Did I hear a shoutout for Mt Union? Oh, yes, yes you did. Despite the school's most famous D3 soccer soldier who has a controlling stake in the D3 soccer media circus writ large (or because of that gentleman's gentlemanly modesty and deference), the Purple Raiders are in a position to take a bid they thought they had earned a year ago. Sure, a sneakily dangerous Otterbein took the AQ, but Mt Union will be hopeful tomorrow. What happened to JCU? Are the Blue Streaks done in 2024?
Other under the radar candidates? CMS? Buff State? Wesleyan? Vassar? SLU? Oglethorpe? Rhodes? St Thomas? Emory?
After a 1-3 start, W&L is 12-0-4. Those 3 losses to start the year under a new coach? Johns Hopkins, Catholic, and Covenant. 2 playoff teams and a bubble.
PN: Not winning a conference tournament since 2018 will do that to a team. St. Thomas has had their number in the SCAC tourney the last three years.
Quote from: Ron Boerger on November 10, 2024, 12:32:43 PMPN: Not winning a conference tournament since 2018 will do that to a team. St. Thomas has had their number in the SCAC tourney the last three years.
Yeah, I'm not sure that explains it for me. Even prior to that very little would be said about Trinity until they would get sent to Amherst or Tufts.
As an aside...I guess it's not surprising but so few have much interest at all beyond their partisan (and perhaps partisan-adjacent) interests.
Mary Washington beats Christopher Newport with a golden goal in OT to win the C2C AQ 3-2
The results today mean Mary Washington will be 1, Middlebury 2, Tufts 3 and Conn. College 4 in the NPI, with Amherst locked into the 5 and spots 6-8 TBD between Babson, Williams, JHU and WI-Eau Claire.
As a melancholic UChicago fan at the moment, I just wanted to reflect on the amazing run the Maroons had from 2014 to 2023. Nine-straight trips to the postseason with 1 national title, 4 Final Fours, 6 UAA titles, cumulative record of 139-28-23 (.792 winning percentage) while regularly playing one of the toughest schedules in the country.
When Mike Babst arrived on campus in 2013, he proceeded to bring in the best soccer talent the school's ever seen. The finesse and athleticism that the Maroons cultivated over the years transformed them into perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing brand of soccer in all of Division III. A tactical, possession-focused squad that patiently built play from the back, putting a lot of onus on fearless defenders to make the right decisions and passes, and take the ball up the field themselves if they had the opportunity (Richard Gillespie being the prime example). They had creative players at forward and in the midfield who were always looking to set up the best shot possible.
Most opponents resorted to packing 10 or 11 behind the ball, parking the bus, and relying exclusively on counters to create any chances. Even if that led to some low scoring affairs, UChicago remained unfazed – they were comfortable in tight contests and knew how to deliver in the final minutes if needed.
The golden class of Lopez, Koh and Capotosto brought the program to new heights (each one earned a UAA MVP award and multiple All-American accolades). Then the legendary 2022 squad put together one of the greatest seasons in D3 history to help them finally get to the top of the mountain. Each year, the Maroons were a joy to watch as a fan.
Babst, Pat Flinn, and Julianne Sitch all had D1 backgrounds and they excelled in both recruiting and establishing a playing style/identity that won games.
The fact that the coaching hiring pool was so shallow after the 2022 season still has me in disbelief. I thought the UChicago job would have been hugely desirable as the defending champs, but it didn't show in the candidate pool. IMO, I would have preferred that they elevated Mike Mauro to interim coach and gave him a prove-it season to see if he could handle the top job. His tactical acumen was a huge asset for those teams.
Going forward, I'm not sure if the trainwreck 2024 season is a blip on the radar, or an indication that the Maroons are slipping from the national elite. My worry is that this will be a slow slide back to being an average-to-good team whose best days are behind them. I'd love the players to prove the opposite, however.
I'll go on record here and say the nescac will take three out of the four spots in Vegas.
Tufts, Midd and either Amherst or Conn but wouldn't be terribly surprised if PN's "four horsemen" are all in attendance.
Not backing this up with any stats or history; just a standard Nescac'er take with the intention of ruffling feathers.
Quote from: blue_jays on November 12, 2024, 03:07:44 PMAs a melancholic UChicago fan at the moment, I just wanted to reflect on the amazing run the Maroons had from 2014 to 2023. Nine-straight trips to the postseason with 1 national title, 4 Final Fours, 6 UAA titles, cumulative record of 139-28-23 (.792 winning percentage) while regularly playing one of the toughest schedules in the country.
When Mike Babst arrived on campus in 2013, he proceeded to bring in the best soccer talent the school's ever seen. The finesse and athleticism that the Maroons cultivated over the years transformed them into perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing brand of soccer in all of Division III. A tactical, possession-focused squad that patiently built play from the back, putting a lot of onus on fearless defenders to make the right decisions and passes, and take the ball up the field themselves if they had the opportunity (Richard Gillespie being the prime example). They had creative players at forward and in the midfield who were always looking to set up the best shot possible.
Most opponents resorted to packing 10 or 11 behind the ball, parking the bus, and relying exclusively on counters to create any chances. Even if that led to some low scoring affairs, UChicago remained unfazed – they were comfortable in tight contests and knew how to deliver in the final minutes if needed.
The golden class of Lopez, Koh and Capotosto brought the program to new heights (each one earned a UAA MVP award and multiple All-American accolades). Then the legendary 2022 squad put together one of the greatest seasons in D3 history to help them finally get to the top of the mountain. Each year, the Maroons were a joy to watch as a fan.
Babst, Pat Flinn, and Julianne Sitch all had D1 backgrounds and they excelled in both recruiting and establishing a playing style/identity that won games.
The fact that the coaching hiring pool was so shallow after the 2022 season still has me in disbelief. I thought the UChicago job would have been hugely desirable as the defending champs, but it didn't show in the candidate pool. IMO, I would have preferred that they elevated Mike Mauro to interim coach and gave him a prove-it season to see if he could handle the top job. His tactical acumen was a huge asset for those teams.
Going forward, I'm not sure if the trainwreck 2024 season is a blip on the radar, or an indication that the Maroons are slipping from the national elite. My worry is that this will be a slow slide back to being an average-to-good team whose best days are behind them. I'd love the players to prove the opposite, however.
Don't know how much coaches make, much less at UChicago. However, to have to live in Chicago where your dollar clearly could go much further in similar (though not as successful) program might be factor as to who may be interested. A lot cheaper places to live/coach. You would want to attract an already established successful coach, but to move to an expensive city may not be the best way to attract this type of coach much less keep such a coach. These types of coaches also almost have families they have to raise so . . . .
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on November 12, 2024, 04:42:06 PMQuote from: blue_jays on November 12, 2024, 03:07:44 PMAs a melancholic UChicago fan at the moment, I just wanted to reflect on the amazing run the Maroons had from 2014 to 2023. Nine-straight trips to the postseason with 1 national title, 4 Final Fours, 6 UAA titles, cumulative record of 139-28-23 (.792 winning percentage) while regularly playing one of the toughest schedules in the country.
When Mike Babst arrived on campus in 2013, he proceeded to bring in the best soccer talent the school's ever seen. The finesse and athleticism that the Maroons cultivated over the years transformed them into perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing brand of soccer in all of Division III. A tactical, possession-focused squad that patiently built play from the back, putting a lot of onus on fearless defenders to make the right decisions and passes, and take the ball up the field themselves if they had the opportunity (Richard Gillespie being the prime example). They had creative players at forward and in the midfield who were always looking to set up the best shot possible.
Most opponents resorted to packing 10 or 11 behind the ball, parking the bus, and relying exclusively on counters to create any chances. Even if that led to some low scoring affairs, UChicago remained unfazed – they were comfortable in tight contests and knew how to deliver in the final minutes if needed.
The golden class of Lopez, Koh and Capotosto brought the program to new heights (each one earned a UAA MVP award and multiple All-American accolades). Then the legendary 2022 squad put together one of the greatest seasons in D3 history to help them finally get to the top of the mountain. Each year, the Maroons were a joy to watch as a fan.
Babst, Pat Flinn, and Julianne Sitch all had D1 backgrounds and they excelled in both recruiting and establishing a playing style/identity that won games.
The fact that the coaching hiring pool was so shallow after the 2022 season still has me in disbelief. I thought the UChicago job would have been hugely desirable as the defending champs, but it didn't show in the candidate pool. IMO, I would have preferred that they elevated Mike Mauro to interim coach and gave him a prove-it season to see if he could handle the top job. His tactical acumen was a huge asset for those teams.
Going forward, I'm not sure if the trainwreck 2024 season is a blip on the radar, or an indication that the Maroons are slipping from the national elite. My worry is that this will be a slow slide back to being an average-to-good team whose best days are behind them. I'd love the players to prove the opposite, however.
Don't know how much coaches make, much less at UChicago. However, to have to live in Chicago where your dollar clearly could go much further in similar (though not as successful) program might be factor as to who may be interested. A lot cheaper places to live/coach. You would want to attract an already established successful coach, but to move to an expensive city may not be the best way to attract this type of coach much less keep such a coach. These types of coaches also almost have families they have to raise so . . . .
Well, 56th and Cottage Grove is just a deep throw-in from the Indiana border, where everything (including homeownership and rents) is a lot cheaper than it is in Chicago.
interesting podcast with discussion on D3 soccer + other sports https://open.spotify.com/episode/6vdBxitN6k35NAOE8S6rab?si=FyJptOucRhaeEqIR76wiXg&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A4rOoJ6Egrf8K2IrywzwOMk&nd=1&dlsi=2e2baf3dbe1d48c5
Have at it
https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-diii-men/
NATIONAL - LAST POLL - DECEMBER 10, 2024
Rank School Prev W-L-T
1 Amherst College 8 16-2-4
2 Connecticut College RV 14-3-7
3 Middlebury College 3 17-2-4
4 Washington & Lee University 21 15-4-6
5 Babson College 11 17-1-7
6 Denison University 10 15-2-6
7 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 7 17-2-5
8 Dickinson College 6 17-4-3
9 University of Mary Washington 1 19-2-3
10 Williams College 20 12-4-4
11 Trinity University (Texas) 13 19-1-3
12 University of Wisconsin-Superior NR 18-4-3
13 Kenyon College 14 13-3-5
14 University of Wisconsin-Platteville NR 16-2-5
15 Tufts University 2 12-0-6
16 Buffalo State College 17 16-3-4
17 Claremont-McKenna-Harvey Mudd-Scripps Colleges NR 16-4-3
18 Johns Hopkins University 15 13-3-5
19 Gustavus Adolphus College 4 16-2-3
20 Colorado College 5 16-3-3
21 Stevens Institute of Technology RV 12-3-5
22 Franklin & Marshall College 19 10-3-7
23 Vassar College NR 13-4-3
24 Ohio Northern University 22 14-4-4
25 Messiah University NR 14-6-2
Records shown are final 2024 records
Also receiving votes: SUNY Cortland, Rowan University, St. Olaf College, Hope College, Ohio Wesleyan University, University of Lynchburg
FloSports picked up a few more conferences this year and I guess they have enough content to do something like this. It probably should be labeled the top 5 goals on FloSports, but even that's debatable (some are just generally good goals, while others are great mostly because of the game context). Still, it's nice that they do something extra. Plus, this a decent amount of geographic diversity, ensuring that most people won't have seen all of these clips before.
Top 5 D3 Men's Soccer Goals from the 2024 Season (https://www.instagram.com/p/DD-D57QRmKn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link)
5. Brandon Trent: Springfield
4. Phillip Kostenko: Redlands
3. Maximilian De Anda: La Verne
2. Rafe Otero: CMS
And the number 1 goal of the 2024 season:
Kevin Martinez: Drew
Very interesting article, the trickle down could be substantial especially if the poorer colleges have to cut D1 programs which I think mens soccer programs could be on the chopping block. https://www.si.com/high-school/news/proposed-ncaa-settlement-threatens-non-revenue-sports-roster-caps-jeopardize-25-000-d1-roster-spots-01jfrmymg4m6
https://x.com/MenInBlazers/status/1880723041715675161
QuotePATRICK AGYEMANG SCORES IN HIS USMNT DEBUT. Amazing moment—and amazing journey—for the former D-III college soccer player, to climb all the way from Eastern Connecticut St. University to getting a goal to go with his first cap
Quote from: Kuiper on January 18, 2025, 04:12:56 PMhttps://x.com/MenInBlazers/status/1880723041715675161
QuotePATRICK AGYEMANG SCORES IN HIS USMNT DEBUT. Amazing moment—and amazing journey—for the former D-III college soccer player, to climb all the way from Eastern Connecticut St. University to getting a goal to go with his first cap
Agyemang scores again (a left footed blast) in the US victory over Costa Rica (https://bsky.app/profile/cboehm.bsky.social/post/3lgescsrk6c2x)
QuoteFour years ago, Patrick Agyemang was playing D3 college ball.
Now he's the big winner from #USMNT January camp.
https://www.soccerjournal.com/patrick-agyemang-transfers-to-uri-from-eastern-connecticut-state/
Quote from: Kuiper on January 18, 2025, 04:12:56 PMQuoteFour years ago, Patrick Agyemang was playing D3 college ball.
Now he's the big winner from #USMNT January camp.
https://www.soccerjournal.com/patrick-agyemang-transfers-to-uri-from-eastern-connecticut-state/
Not quite try 5 or 6 years ago. It appears that he played two years with ECU which ended in 2019. Yes, he scored 21 goals in 2019, but most of those were against not great D3 teams. COVID happened and he transferred to d1 Univ. of RI to finish his college. https://qcnerve.com/patrick-agyemang-charlotte-fc/ He did pretty well with URI where he played 2.5 season for good to mediocre D1 team. I bet he still owes some college loans.
Also it appears that he was around 5'8" as a junior in HS and finished growing to 6'4" in college. He also came from East Hartford which is a really tough part of of CT. Besides being smaller early, the other reason IMO it appears to be he was from a poor family. No big mystery, no big star in the rough. He's 24 now and has a few more years.
I know we all want some great player to emerge from D3 purgatory/obscurity, but that does not appear to be here. He plays MLS and scored a goal against Venezuela. He had a decent season last year with splitting between starting and coming off the bench (19 starts 12 sub with 10 goals). I do hope it gets even better in the future, but don't think he'll end up in the EPL.
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on January 23, 2025, 09:34:38 AMQuote from: Kuiper on January 18, 2025, 04:12:56 PMQuoteFour years ago, Patrick Agyemang was playing D3 college ball.
Now he's the big winner from #USMNT January camp.
https://www.soccerjournal.com/patrick-agyemang-transfers-to-uri-from-eastern-connecticut-state/
Not quite try 5 or 6 years ago. It appears that he played two years with ECU which ended in 2019. Yes, he scored 21 goals in 2019, but most of those were against not great D3 teams. COVID happened and he transferred to d1 Univ. of RI to finish his college. https://qcnerve.com/patrick-agyemang-charlotte-fc/ He did pretty well with URI where he played 2.5 season for good to mediocre D1 team. I bet he still owes some college loans.
Also it appears that he was around 5'8" as a junior in HS and finished growing to 6'4" in college. He also came from East Hartford which is a really tough part of of CT. Besides being smaller early, the other reason IMO it appears to be he was from a poor family. No big mystery, no big star in the rough. He's 24 now and has a few more years.
I know we all want some great player to emerge from D3 purgatory/obscurity, but that does not appear to be here. He plays MLS and scored a goal against Venezuela. He had a decent season last year with splitting between starting and coming off the bench (19 starts 12 sub with 10 goals). I do hope it gets even better in the future, but don't think he'll end up in the EPL.
This young man had many people who doubted he would end up Pro so I am sure some believing he won't go EPL does not affect him in the slightest.
Football does not work going from 5 8 to 6 2, this is not basketball. The kid made it through hard work skill set and dedication to improvement. What does his school loans have to do with anything? This is a great story, an inspiring story for D3 as a whole, footballers individually and just a brilliant human story, but there will always be those who try to down play someone else's achievement and accomplishment. If you are a young athlete or a parent of one, this D3 to National story should inspire.
Ian Wright and Jamie Vardy were underrated as well and made the jump. This is Football.
Quote from: Saint of Old on January 23, 2025, 09:50:36 AMQuote from: SierraFD3soccer on January 23, 2025, 09:34:38 AMQuote from: Kuiper on January 18, 2025, 04:12:56 PMQuoteFour years ago, Patrick Agyemang was playing D3 college ball.
Now he's the big winner from #USMNT January camp.
https://www.soccerjournal.com/patrick-agyemang-transfers-to-uri-from-eastern-connecticut-state/
Not quite try 5 or 6 years ago. It appears that he played two years with ECU which ended in 2019. Yes, he scored 21 goals in 2019, but most of those were against not great D3 teams. COVID happened and he transferred to d1 Univ. of RI to finish his college. https://qcnerve.com/patrick-agyemang-charlotte-fc/ He did pretty well with URI where he played 2.5 season for good to mediocre D1 team. I bet he still owes some college loans.
Also it appears that he was around 5'8" as a junior in HS and finished growing to 6'4" in college. He also came from East Hartford which is a really tough part of of CT. Besides being smaller early, the other reason IMO it appears to be he was from a poor family. No big mystery, no big star in the rough. He's 24 now and has a few more years.
I know we all want some great player to emerge from D3 purgatory/obscurity, but that does not appear to be here. He plays MLS and scored a goal against Venezuela. He had a decent season last year with splitting between starting and coming off the bench (19 starts 12 sub with 10 goals). I do hope it gets even better in the future, but don't think he'll end up in the EPL.
This young man had many people who doubted he would end up Pro so I am sure some believing he won't go EPL does not affect him in the slightest.
Football does not work going from 5 8 to 6 2, this is not basketball. The kid made it through hard work skill set and dedication to improvement. What does his school loans have to do with anything? This is a great story, an inspiring story for D3 as a whole, footballers individually and just a brilliant human story, but there will always be those who try to down play someone else's achievement and accomplishment. If you are a young athlete or a parent of one, this D3 to National story should inspire.
Ian Wright and Jamie Vardy were underrated as well and made the jump. This is Football.
All true, but what would it have been like if he was not raised poor? If we actually had a pathway forward from an early age in soccer that was not dependent on parents' incomes. Thankfully, he had a school near him that played d3 soccer that probably was in his price range (29k for on campus in state right now), plus he probably was not on a full ride his first season at URI or even his 2nd. Then his MLS salary appears to be $71k which is the base salary. So probably still paying off his school loans.
As to height, yes, that could be, but if you watch his goals, it is about physicality matching most defenders who start at 6'2" on most clubs. IMO, he would not have been in this position, but for his height and size.
One can always dream and my son did at the D3 level, but if we did not have some resources, he might have never even had a chance. However, while the Charlotte striker started his career at ESU (IMO because he was poor) he ended up at D1 URI. Suggesting that he is not a D3 miracle, but rather a D1 player all the time who didn't have the resources to go to college ID camps. Also being smaller in HS when your playing style ends up being physicality, played a role.
All this talk seems to suggest that he jumped directly from D3 to MLS to a friendly against Ven. Sounds like a great story. Without doing a little research, you would find that that was not the case.
As to loans, we are asking kids, who are not in great fin. situations and playing HS or club, to make a jump into world of hurt just to play D3 soccer. Financially, the loans can ruin a kid's life for a long, long time just to play d3 soccer. They may graduate (ESU right now has 57% 6 year grad rate), but they will always have the loans. Debby downer here, but for almost all it is almost a crime IMO saying that somehow D3 is going to lead to a situation where a kid will play at a high level and make money.
My son could have caught on at some lower level team, and, maybe, maybe make a USL team on a way to MLS team (most likely not), but he figured after we discussed that he was sacrificing a whole lot of time/life where he could be competing in the job area so that by the time he was 30 he would be on his way to a career and way to make a living without loans. Same age as Agyemang right now and making over 80k in a long term career that will most likely lead to much more money than Agyemang may make. He also had some club teammates which chased the dream and are trying to start to compete for jobs right now with little or no idea what to do (only so many can make a living with soccer workouts on TikTok).
Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on January 23, 2025, 09:34:38 AMQuote from: Kuiper on January 18, 2025, 04:12:56 PMQuoteFour years ago, Patrick Agyemang was playing D3 college ball.
Now he's the big winner from #USMNT January camp.
https://www.soccerjournal.com/patrick-agyemang-transfers-to-uri-from-eastern-connecticut-state/
Not quite try 5 or 6 years ago. It appears that he played two years with ECU which ended in 2019. Yes, he scored 21 goals in 2019, but most of those were against not great D3 teams. COVID happened and he transferred to d1 Univ. of RI to finish his college. https://qcnerve.com/patrick-agyemang-charlotte-fc/ He did pretty well with URI where he played 2.5 season for good to mediocre D1 team. I bet he still owes some college loans.
Also it appears that he was around 5'8" as a junior in HS and finished growing to 6'4" in college. He also came from East Hartford which is a really tough part of of CT. Besides being smaller early, the other reason IMO it appears to be he was from a poor family. No big mystery, no big star in the rough. He's 24 now and has a few more years.
I know we all want some great player to emerge from D3 purgatory/obscurity, but that does not appear to be here. He plays MLS and scored a goal against Venezuela. He had a decent season last year with splitting between starting and coming off the bench (19 starts 12 sub with 10 goals). I do hope it gets even better in the future, but don't think he'll end up in the EPL.
I have to admit, I think he is a great player. World Class? No. But anyone who pulls on the shirt for the U.S. at this stage is a great player. Even if it's only the January camp. You just don't get that invite if you aren't playing great at the moment.
I'm not going to hold it to great = world class. There are only a scant few Americans who have ever been even close to World Class, and usually just for a season or two. Dempsey and Howard for some seasons, Pulisic is consistently there when given a chance. Otherwise? Donovan, Friedel, Keller, Claudio Reyna? Harkes? Bahr? World class? No.
Come on, that's not the bar for a great player. There are 2.5 million youth soccer players in the U.S. In any given year, about 50 players, counting the January camp, get a cap for the Men's U.S. National Team. You have to be pretty great to beat those odds.
Give the man his due. He may never play in a competitive National Team match. But he pulled on the Senior National Team shirt and that's a pretty great outcome for a kid who came out of an under privileged area, played D3 soccer, jumped to D1, pushed on to MLS and was called up to the National Team.
99.99999% and probably a bunch more 9s fail at one of those stops, he didn't. We see every year where outstanding D3 players transfer to D1 and struggle to make an impact. He found a way. And then found a way at the next step, and the next. That's great.
I don't care if he was a D1 caliber player who was under-recruited. He played D3 and he kept on going. It's a great story.
Maybe one last point, a coach, whose team was competing on a national level eventually getting into final 4s and who my son like a whole lot, said to me and him - this decision will affect the next 40-45 years of his life if you don't pick my school. Paraphrasing a bit, but that was the sense. He also said that, since we did not get any fin. aid from the school, he could apply for outside scholarships and that other players' parents paid (really meant got thousands of $ in loans) for their kids to be on his team.
All that is insane!! He was asking our son and us to go into at least 150k-200k in debt so that our son can play 4 yrs of D3 soccer. We actually considered it, because our son had worked so hard. However, we also had 2 other kids to put through college and it would have wrecked us financially and our son as well for most of our lives and probably for our son's next 20-30 years. Just to play d3 soccer. Next 40-45 years - but in the direct opposite way.
Son graduated after playing d1 and after COVID d3 with about 10k or so in loans. He now has the rest of his life (as well as our daughters) to pick and choose what he wants to pursue.
One can dream and point to the D3 miracle which is awesome, but let's talk downsides.
Quote from: jknezek on January 23, 2025, 10:40:55 AMQuote from: SierraFD3soccer on January 23, 2025, 09:34:38 AMQuote from: Kuiper on January 18, 2025, 04:12:56 PMQuoteFour years ago, Patrick Agyemang was playing D3 college ball.
Now he's the big winner from #USMNT January camp.
https://www.soccerjournal.com/patrick-agyemang-transfers-to-uri-from-eastern-connecticut-state/
Not quite try 5 or 6 years ago. It appears that he played two years with ECU which ended in 2019. Yes, he scored 21 goals in 2019, but most of those were against not great D3 teams. COVID happened and he transferred to d1 Univ. of RI to finish his college. https://qcnerve.com/patrick-agyemang-charlotte-fc/ He did pretty well with URI where he played 2.5 season for good to mediocre D1 team. I bet he still owes some college loans.
Also it appears that he was around 5'8" as a junior in HS and finished growing to 6'4" in college. He also came from East Hartford which is a really tough part of of CT. Besides being smaller early, the other reason IMO it appears to be he was from a poor family. No big mystery, no big star in the rough. He's 24 now and has a few more years.
I know we all want some great player to emerge from D3 purgatory/obscurity, but that does not appear to be here. He plays MLS and scored a goal against Venezuela. He had a decent season last year with splitting between starting and coming off the bench (19 starts 12 sub with 10 goals). I do hope it gets even better in the future, but don't think he'll end up in the EPL.
I have to admit, I think he is a great player. World Class? No. But anyone who pulls on the shirt for the U.S. at this stage is a great player. Even if it's only the January camp. You just don't get that invite if you aren't playing great at the moment.
I'm not going to hold it to great = world class. There are only a scant few Americans who have ever been even close to World Class, and usually just for a season or two. Dempsey and Howard for some seasons, Pulisic is consistently there when given a chance. Otherwise? Donovan, Friedel, Keller, Claudio Reyna? Harkes? Bahr? World class? No.
Come on, that's not the bar for a great player. There are 2.5 million youth soccer players in the U.S. In any given year, about 50 players, counting the January camp, get a cap for the Men's U.S. National Team. You have to be pretty great to beat those odds.
Give the man his due. He may never play in a competitive National Team match. But he pulled on the Senior National Team shirt and that's a pretty great outcome for a kid who came out of an under privileged area, played D3 soccer, jumped to D1, pushed on to MLS and was called up to the National Team.
99.99999% and probably a bunch more 9s fail at one of those stops, he didn't. We see every year where outstanding D3 players transfer to D1 and struggle to make an impact. He found a way. And then found a way at the next step, and the next. That's great.
I don't care if he was a D1 caliber player who was under-recruited. He played D3 and he kept on going. It's a great story.
All true and all great. Not taking anything away from him scoring in friendly late against Ven. He may go on to play in Europe?? He may get called up again to the USMNT? Hopefully so.
He obv. beat all the odds to be paid $71k a year (probably a little more) for the next two years unless Charlotte sells him (Charlotte has his option for the next two years) until he is 26/27 years old.
Some D3 coaches can now go out and say - take these loans, because you could be the next Agyemang and play for the USMNT!!
Dark maybe, extreme maybe, but we did hear that if we don't pick his school we will endanger his future over the next 40 yrs. Further, when my son asked about maybe making it to the pros from this high level d3 program, the coach did tell him that it was a possibility and pointed to player graduating who was going to play USL (he lasted a season). Fortunately, my son came from a club that could probably beat 90% of the d3 teams and had a head coach who was the assoc head coach at the Univ. of Maryland (son had several teammates who went to play for MD and won a nat'l champ in 2018 nearly the last hurrah for American d1 players). In other words, took as a grain of salt coming from this D3 coach.
Interjecting to say that a great, but poor, player would get 100% financial aid at a "meets need" school they are recruited to. And some of these schools meet need with zero loans in their aid package. So they graduate debt free.
What you are talking about is a middle class family -- not poor -- who makes too much for financial aid, but not enough to pay now going on $400,000. And that is definitely an issue.
Quote from: Another Mom on January 23, 2025, 03:40:34 PMInterjecting to say that a great, but poor, player would get 100% financial aid at a "meets need" school they are recruited to. And some of these schools meet need with zero loans in their aid package. So they graduate debt free.
What you are talking about is a middle class family -- not poor -- who makes too much for financial aid, but not enough to pay now going on $400,000. And that is definitely an issue.
True - not sure where academically Agyemang fell. Immigrant family growing up in tough situation where they could not afford to get the exposure from things like college ID camps. Many top, top D3 schools do have zero loans for kids, but they also have to meet academic requirements which are much higher than ESU and similar schools. He may have not the academic opportunities which means his only chance was a D3 lower level schools like ESU. So while there are PELL grants and similar opp, he would have had to come up with 10-15k a year most likely. So back to loans. Take the loan, play soccer. He goes to college incurs 25-40k in loans possibly graduates (remember only 57% do in 6 years at ESU) with what sort of degree (remember he may have had a tough academic background)?
As to URI, he was out of state, and, if they were fully funded which some D1 programs are not, the team had to share 9.9 scholarships for 28 plus players. Probably had to some other resources to help pay, but still had to come up with 15k a year and he went an extra semester at least.
Instead, if he was in Europe growing up and showed promise, he could actually work through a youth system where many rise to the top while working and/or an apprentice. Generally, and not always so, if a player who showed promise does not work out or gets injured, he has something he can do post soccer. No debt or very little incurred. That kid can go on to a long productive life. Also just think where he could have been at 20 or 21 with the some of the best coaches/training opportunities.
FYI, my German uncle had some skills, but had a gruesome injury as a 19-20 year old. He was projected to go far, maybe not make the Bundesliga level but a possibility. As a teen, he went the apprentice route (still nobody goes to college in Europe to play soccer) where he learned a trade, went to school part time and trained. Kind of like a VoTech for soccer. Once healed, he did his mandatory 2 yr service with the German Army, but had a trade. While in, he applied for a customs position (he was a border guard on the West German side which is a great story) and eventually rose to high level as a customs official (he was responsible for Mercedes Benz plant at one point) all without a college degree. None of my German uncles went to college and all had incredibly good paying jobs - city planner and a great sales job.
Well, this was an interesting catch-up.
One item that really jumps out is how much this kid grew from high school through college. That is a remarkable growth spurt, and kind of makes me think that even if he had luck-boxed into some club giving him a tryout when he was younger, he likely wouldn't have stood out all that much. As has been mentioned, he's sort of in the Dike mold of using his considerable size, power and speed to beat his opponents. Maybe he was super fast as a youth?
Quote from: Hopkins92 on January 24, 2025, 01:01:40 PMWell, this was an interesting catch-up.
One item that really jumps out is how much this kid grew from high school through college. That is a remarkable growth spurt, and kind of makes me think that even if he had luck-boxed into some club giving him a tryout when he was younger, he likely wouldn't have stood out all that much. As has been mentioned, he's sort of in the Dike mold of using his considerable size, power and speed to beat his opponents. Maybe he was super fast as a youth?
Was definitely going to make the comparison. Dike has been a down hill striker. Not much subtly to his game. Pure physicality. Son played against during Daryl Dike's freshman year at UVA (he left after his soph year in 2019) He gave up a tough goal which he could not have done much more unfortunately in the 2nd half. They lost to UVA 2-1. Tough game.
Now that Dike is almost fit (ruptured achilles), he might crack the lineup for EFL Championship West Brom soon. He has had a lot of injuries unfortunately and has stalled his rise.
From his UVA roster bio where it appears that he had notoriety at least in OK and grades for UVA. He also appears to be Nigerian
PREP
• Served as the Edmond North team captain since his sophomore season
• Named the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year in 2018
• A three-time Oklahoma Offensive Player of the Year
• Four-time All-City, All-District and team MVP
• Scored 70 career goals in high school, the Oklahoma 6A state record
• Helped his team win a state championship during his sophomore campaign
• Graduated in the top 5% of his high school class of 650 students
PERSONAL
• Son of Vincent and Jacinta Dike
• Youngest of five siblings
• His brother Bright played at Notre Dame from 2005-09. He totaled 66 career points (27g, 12a) and was named the 2009 Big East Player of the Year. He was later selected in the 1st round of 2010 MLS SuperDraft by the Columbus Crew, played for Portland Timbers and also earned two caps on the Nigerian National Team.
Random drive-by of the site this morning and just stunned to find this discussion.
Agyemang is a great story. Full stop. The D3 angle is a fun, side element, especially to D3 fans like us, but in truth has only a very incidental relevance to the overall story. This should NOT be a story about how self-perceived very savvy middle class and upper middle class parents guide their kids to the most advantageous financial and social outcomes. Could a guy have gone to ITT Tech instead of college, or a more prestigious D3, or a full-scholly D1? Would he already be making 85K as a high end mechanic for a trucking or RV company? Really?
Is there anyone on the planet who believes Duncan Robinson and his parents had an extremely nuanced and brilliant strategy to get him to the Miami Heat and a long, lucrative career in the NBA by going to Williams as a way to get to Michigan as a way to get to the NBA. No, no, no. Absolutely not. Oh, sure, but you said Williams, right? What an opportunity...where you go with a 98% chance to graduate in 4 years with almost 400K of debt in exchange for a 100K+ job that projects to 1.5 million per year inside of 10 years?
First, kudos to @ecsualum who got offended by me and stormed out a couple of years ago. He highlighted Agyemang's exploits and overall story. There is NOTHING to criticize here, EVEN IF ESCU only has a 57% six year graduation rate. What tf are we doing??? The kid was 17, a good athlete, good soccer player, who enrolled at a local college. He and his family might not have even known the difference between D3 and D1. They certainly didn't pick the route because some coach said "come here and your next 40-45 years will be great."
The kid deserves the credit...and congrats to him even if he never earns another dime as a professional and never plays in a WC...and if he merely ends up being the future coach at a ECSU and makes money off camps..or if he chooses to become homeless and live in the woods. Who cares??? He's made it to a point that announcers on a national broadcast of the USMNT are tripping over themselves about this kid's ability abd potential.
All of us defend our choices. We all made the most brilliant decisions in the end, and all of our kids are now excelling at a level that would have been unimaginable but not for our brilliant, savvy decisions. And nothing is more savvy apparently than leaving the world of D1 to find the elite academics and fantastic ROIs that we've navigated them into.
Brilliant goal, btw...literally within minutes of the announcers screaming watch out for this kid.
I definitely didn't mean to start a controversy by posting about Agyemang. I just thought it was nice to see a former DIII guy make it as far as he has thus far. No commentary about DIII being as good as DI. It might be better for some players to start at DIII and then try to transfer to DI after a year (more playing time early, build confidence, more time to mature physically and emotionally and to adjust to college-level academics etc), but I wouldn't advise anyone to do that because it was a better pathway to the pros or anything like that.
If you're looking for a similar case where a player went DIII and transferred after 1 successful year to start on a pro pathway in DI, check out Jayden Da. He was a Presidents Athletic Conference player of the Year and Newcomer of the year for Washington & Jefferson in 20-21. He then transferred to DI Duquesne and was drafted by Columbus Crew in 2024 (https://gopresidents.com/news/2024/1/5/mens-soccer-former-president-standout-jayden-da-selected-in-mls-superdraft-by-columbus-crew.aspx). He played last season with Crew 2 (9 goals/5 assists in 27 games) and just signed with New England Revolution 2 for the 2025 season (https://www.revolutionsoccer.net/news/new-england-revolution-ii-sign-boston-born-forward-jayden-da).
I think Agyemang and Da are not really cases where DIII made the players (although DIII may have helped smooth their adjustment to DI), but a combination of being a late bloomer and the inefficiencies in the club and recruiting scenes made DIII a good place to start. Here's a podcast video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMEMgVBALcY) where Da explains in the first question in the video that he grew up playing soccer in West Africa (early on with balled up plastic bags wrapped together to make a ball) and then moved to the US around 10 or 11 and played at a decent club, but not an MLS Academy or DA. Plus, he said he was not tall or fast until he hit puberty later than other kids and grew "overnight" around sophomore year. Da said it took him time to adjust to his body. In the Revs press release, he's listed as 6'5" and 205 lbs.
Interesting article on Univ of Maryland's swing towards int'l players which obv mirrors other D1 programs. In the middle, check out the graph. Some of my son's club team played at UMD and had good careers there. Plus have two daughters there. The student who wrote this did a pretty good job.
https://dbknews.com/2024/12/08/maryland-mens-soccer-international-recruiting/
As an international consumer, I'm a strong advocate. World class academic possibilities, a robust athletic experience, plus one of the few countries left (sadly not including Australia so much these days) that offers an authentic student life. Can't ask for more really...
This has nothing to do with soccer, but I thought it was an interesting peek into expenses of DI, DII, and DIII teams in a different sport - wrestling - that points out just how little the "higher-level" programs spend on actually running the programs, as compared with scholarships. It might be that the difference is attributable to DI programs getting jerseys and training gear paid for through sponsorships, but I don't know that either CSU or Lake Erie have high level gear sponsorships and many, if not most, DIII schools either make the players pay or fundraise from donors for the cost. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some DIII programs that also outspent D1 programs on operating expenses in men's soccer too.
[Edited to add that the reason for this analysis was because Cleveland State is dropping its wrestling program]
https://stevedittmore.substack.com/p/taking-a-deepish-look-at-four-cleveland
(https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8ebe0fa0-1b13-43ce-81a7-d1fd512c5fce_1276x568.png)
CSU is dropping Wrestling after this season along with softball and Women's golf to try to plug a budget shortfall.
Brazilian club Flamengo will practice at Stockton University in June when it is in the states to play group stage games at Lincoln Field in Philadelphia in the FIFA Club World CUp
https://stockton.edu/news/2025/cr-flamengo-practicing-at-stockton.html
QuoteOne of Brazil's most iconic and globally beloved soccer teams has announced that it will train at Stockton University this summer, ahead of its first two matches for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™.
CR Flamengo, based in Brazil's largest city Rio de Janeiro, has an estimated fan base of nearly 50 million and is reportedly the country's most valuable soccer team.
CR Flamengo
Facts about CR Flamengo
Will arrive at Stockton June 11 to practice before first two FIFA Club World Cup 2025 games.
Games are in Philadelphia on June 16 (Esperance Sportive de Tunisie) and June 20 (Chelsea FC).
CR Flamengo is the most popular team in Brazil with more than 46.9 million fans.
Founded in 1895 and named after the Flamengo neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro.
Rubro-Negro (Scarlet and Black) is a popular nickname.
The team will arrive at Stockton's Galloway campus on June 11, ahead of its first game in the global tournament at 9 p.m., June 16, against Tunisian squad Espérance Sportive de Tunisie. The team will continue to practice at Stockton before its second name against English Premier League standouts Chelsea FC at 2 p.m., June 20. Both games will be played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
QuoteThe team will have access to two natural grass outdoor fields, including G. Larry James Stadium, and the air-conditioned Sports Center, which includes physical therapy facilities and meeting rooms for the coaching staff.
Quote"At Stockton, we have a proud, rich history of hosting for FIFA going back to the 1994 World Cup, and thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our Associate Athletic Director Jeff Haines, we are able to continue that tradition," Berich added.
In 1994, Stockton University hosted the Saudi Arabia national soccer team that competed in that year's World Cup. The university also hosted a friendly match with Trinidad and Tobago.
Quote from: Kuiper on January 25, 2025, 02:11:58 PMI definitely didn't mean to start a controversy by posting about Agyemang. I just thought it was nice to see a former DIII guy make it as far as he has thus far. No commentary about DIII being as good as DI. It might be better for some players to start at DIII and then try to transfer to DI after a year (more playing time early, build confidence, more time to mature physically and emotionally and to adjust to college-level academics etc), but I wouldn't advise anyone to do that because it was a better pathway to the pros or anything like that.
If you're looking for a similar case where a player went DIII and transferred after 1 successful year to start on a pro pathway in DI, check out Jayden Da. He was a Presidents Athletic Conference player of the Year and Newcomer of the year for Washington & Jefferson in 20-21. He then transferred to DI Duquesne and was drafted by Columbus Crew in 2024 (https://gopresidents.com/news/2024/1/5/mens-soccer-former-president-standout-jayden-da-selected-in-mls-superdraft-by-columbus-crew.aspx). He played last season with Crew 2 (9 goals/5 assists in 27 games) and just signed with New England Revolution 2 for the 2025 season (https://www.revolutionsoccer.net/news/new-england-revolution-ii-sign-boston-born-forward-jayden-da).
I think Agyemang and Da are not really cases where DIII made the players (although DIII may have helped smooth their adjustment to DI), but a combination of being a late bloomer and the inefficiencies in the club and recruiting scenes made DIII a good place to start. Here's a podcast video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMEMgVBALcY) where Da explains in the first question in the video that he grew up playing soccer in West Africa (early on with balled up plastic bags wrapped together to make a ball) and then moved to the US around 10 or 11 and played at a decent club, but not an MLS Academy or DA. Plus, he said he was not tall or fast until he hit puberty later than other kids and grew "overnight" around sophomore year. Da said it took him time to adjust to his body. In the Revs press release, he's listed as 6'5" and 205 lbs.
Here's some video (https://x.com/CharlotteFC/status/1887897358102315519)of Agyemang from when he played for Eastern CT State in DIII in 2017 and comparing it to today. He was definitely a man among boys then, but not exactly our finest examples of DIII goalkeeping either though.
Quote from: jknezek on January 23, 2025, 10:40:55 AMQuote from: SierraFD3soccer on January 23, 2025, 09:34:38 AMQuote from: Kuiper on January 18, 2025, 04:12:56 PMQuoteFour years ago, Patrick Agyemang was playing D3 college ball.
Now he's the big winner from #USMNT January camp.
https://www.soccerjournal.com/patrick-agyemang-transfers-to-uri-from-eastern-connecticut-state/
Not quite try 5 or 6 years ago. It appears that he played two years with ECU which ended in 2019. Yes, he scored 21 goals in 2019, but most of those were against not great D3 teams. COVID happened and he transferred to d1 Univ. of RI to finish his college. https://qcnerve.com/patrick-agyemang-charlotte-fc/ He did pretty well with URI where he played 2.5 season for good to mediocre D1 team. I bet he still owes some college loans.
Also it appears that he was around 5'8" as a junior in HS and finished growing to 6'4" in college. He also came from East Hartford which is a really tough part of of CT. Besides being smaller early, the other reason IMO it appears to be he was from a poor family. No big mystery, no big star in the rough. He's 24 now and has a few more years.
I know we all want some great player to emerge from D3 purgatory/obscurity, but that does not appear to be here. He plays MLS and scored a goal against Venezuela. He had a decent season last year with splitting between starting and coming off the bench (19 starts 12 sub with 10 goals). I do hope it gets even better in the future, but don't think he'll end up in the EPL.
I have to admit, I think he is a great player. World Class? No. But anyone who pulls on the shirt for the U.S. at this stage is a great player. Even if it's only the January camp. You just don't get that invite if you aren't playing great at the moment.
I'm not going to hold it to great = world class. There are only a scant few Americans who have ever been even close to World Class, and usually just for a season or two. Dempsey and Howard for some seasons, Pulisic is consistently there when given a chance. Otherwise? Donovan, Friedel, Keller, Claudio Reyna? Harkes? Bahr? World class? No.
Come on, that's not the bar for a great player. There are 2.5 million youth soccer players in the U.S. In any given year, about 50 players, counting the January camp, get a cap for the Men's U.S. National Team. You have to be pretty great to beat those odds.
Give the man his due. He may never play in a competitive National Team match. But he pulled on the Senior National Team shirt and that's a pretty great outcome for a kid who came out of an under privileged area, played D3 soccer, jumped to D1, pushed on to MLS and was called up to the National Team.
99.99999% and probably a bunch more 9s fail at one of those stops, he didn't. We see every year where outstanding D3 players transfer to D1 and struggle to make an impact. He found a way. And then found a way at the next step, and the next. That's great.
I don't care if he was a D1 caliber player who was under-recruited. He played D3 and he kept on going. It's a great story.
I'm not going to lie. I didn't know his story until reading this thread, but when I saw him in the USMNT game, I said aloud "not impressed, not sure I'd call him back".
Still a cool story and I wish him continued success.
A sad day for soccer and the Wheaton College community with the passing of legendary coach Joe Bean.
A great coach and better man. He will be greatly missed.
https://athletics.wheaton.edu/news/2025/2/13/mens-soccer-wheaton-college-remembers-former-mens-soccer-coach-joe-bean-1939-2025.aspx
I had a chance to officiate numerous Wheaton games from 1988 to Coach Bean's retirement in 2006. He was an intense competitor who was a true gentleman at all times. Going to referee at Wheaton was always a treat, and Coach Bean was a big part of that experience. RIP to a wonderful man.
Div3Footy, an Instagram account, came out with a Best 11 for last season
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGUUoOtMNXD/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Not a bad mix of players, although you might describe it as the Best 11 of teams that didn't make the Final Four (other than Madden of Middlebury).
Quote from: Kuiper on February 21, 2025, 01:42:43 AMDiv3Footy, an Instagram account, came out with a Best 11 for last season
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGUUoOtMNXD/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Not a bad mix of players, although you might describe it as the Best 11 of teams that didn't make the Final Four (other than Madden of Middlebury).
Much like the brackets they made before the tournament, so far off base. Yikes.
Glad they got the goalie correct!
Hopkins influence on the world!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUUT1SdA_dI
That was a baller move.
(And the big BIG difference is that guy went all sneak attack. The issue I had with the Hop PK takers is that they spent way too much time over the ball. Got in their own heads.)
Former Dickinson GK Andrew Kempe signs a pro contract in Ireland
https://www.instagram.com/p/DG0_0OlPtjv/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
He originally signed with Rhode Island, transferred to Dickinson and played two years and 27 games and then did a grad year at Temple
Former Conn College goalkeeper AJ Marcucci has another D3 to the Pros moment as he starts his first game for the New York Red Bulls in a win (https://x.com/NewYorkRedBulls/status/1904176184130257217)yesterday!
https://www.amny.com/sports/aj-marcucci-red-bulls-debut-exc-3-19-25/
QuoteAJ Marcucci has been forced to ride the bus, as most professional athletes must do, a little longer than most in his journey to the top flight of American soccer. After five years of waiting, his trip finally comes to an end this Saturday when he will man the goal at Sports Illustrated Stadium for his MLS debut as his New York Red Bulls host Toronto FC.
"It's hard to wait as long as I have," Marcucci told amNewYork on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old goalkeeper has developed into a stalwart within New York's system. The No. 67 overall selection of the 2021 MLS SuperDraft out of Connecticut College had made 54 appearances with Red Bulls II — the club's reserve team — recorded 11 clean sheets, and his 185 saves rank second in franchise history.
St. Francis moving from D1 to D3 and joining the PAC
https://sfuathletics.com/news/2025/3/25/inside-athletics-saint-francis-university-announces-move-from-ncaa-division-i-athletics-to-division-iii-athletics.aspx
Today, Saint Francis University announced a decision by its Board of Trustees that directs the president and the leadership team to pursue a reclassification of its NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics program to Division III. The shift in athletics offerings for men's and women's athletic competition would occur concurrent with the 2026-2027 academic year and fall 2026 athletic competition, with the Red Flash participating in the Presidents' Athletic Conference.
The university's athletics teams will continue to participate in Division I intercollegiate athletics as part of the Northeast Conference through summer 2026 competition. The university will file the necessary paperwork with the NCAA and has accepted an invitation from the Presidents' Athletic Conference.
"This was not an easy nor a quick decision for the Board of Trustees," stated Chairman and the Very Rev. Joseph Lehman, T.O.R., Ph.D. "The governance associated with intercollegiate athletics has always been complicated and is only growing in complexity based on realities like the transfer portal, pay-for-play, and other shifts that move athletics away from love of the game. For that reason, as a Board, we aim to best provide resources and support to our student-athletes in this changing environment that aligns with our mission, Catholic institution, and our community's expectations."
The Board of Trustees participated in an extensive discussion and review of their options for the future of the university's athletics program and determined that this decision helps Saint Francis to achieve the institution's mission and strategic plan.
Lehman continued, "All of the university's offerings that are a core part of the Saint Francis identity and student experience are reviewed by the Board on an ongoing basis, including intercollegiate athletics. Based on the changes in athletics nationally, it would be a disservice to our student-athletes and athletic department staff not to review and assess how we can best provide the resources necessary for them to be competitive."
President and the Very Rev. Malachi Van Tassell, T.O.R., Ph.D., added, "The Board and I have been concerned about the student-athlete experience for many years. The geography of our conference is huge. Our students travel either to Chicago or to Boston or to points in between. That's a lot of time not spent on campus, developing friendships or in the classroom. This change allows our students to be present on campus and lets their friends attend more of their home and away games. This decision is about creating and maintaining community and allowing our student-athletes to thrive in the classroom and their chosen sport."
Van Tassell stressed, "I want to be clear—we are very proud of our Division I history and success, and our student-athletes. We know this transition may be stressful. We will do everything possible to support our student-athletes, their families, our coaches, and our staff and do right by you."
Saint Francis has established a website with additional information, including a chart that outlines what this decision means for current student-athletes, coaches, and athletic department staff. In addition, anticipated questions are answered online and other questions can be submitted to athletics@francis.edu.
Whoa. My boxed in brain hadn't really considered this, but I wonder how many more schools are going to follow suit.
And as someone that attended one of the last schools allowed to have just one program as D1 and the rest D3, I wonder if the NCAA is going to revisit that rule change.
At least their men's basketball players will have the memory of their March Madness participation this season.
Here's perspective from a men's soccer player at St. Francis about the move:
https://x.com/imcollegesoccer/status/1904728782336123096?s=46&t=uXiupHZfR0TxrRyWF9BmRg
DM: I am a current freshman at SFU and I can provide some insight on the schools decision today. We were notified less than a hour after our coaches were told, we were pulled from class for team meetings when the news was broken. It is definitely something very difficult to digest and I feel like we are the beginning of a lot of smaller division one schools that will make the transition to lower levels of play. My opinion is that we cannot financially afford to compete with the bigger division one schools because of the NIL lawsuit. It sucks because our school is such a high athletic population that enrollment will for sure decline.
Another loss for the America East conference
Bryn Athyn to End Athletics Program (https://brynathynathletics.com/news/2025/3/26/athletics-bryn-athyn-college-to-end-athletic-program-offerings-at-the-end-of-2025-school-year.aspx)
QuoteAfter a comprehensive review of our financial position, we have made difficult —but essential
—changes to protect our core academic offerings and position the College for sustainable
growth. We have taken strong and necessary action to ensure the long-term sustainability of our
mission: to provide a distinctive higher-education offering grounded in the Heavenly Doctrine.
This is a turning point —not an ending.
...
We are restructuring Student Life and discontinuing all 11 NCAA Division III athletic
programs, our club hockey team, and associated athletic staff and trainers. These
programs will remain active through the end of the academic year, and all affected
students will receive full support. A new model —robust, inclusive, and financially
sustainable —will rise in the form of Club Sports. This change accounts for a net
reduction of 11 FTEs.
The review of athletics costs revealed an untenable financial reality. According to benchmarking
data from 69 DIII institutions without men's football, athletic expenses should comprise roughly
3% of an institution's budget. Ours, conservatively, stand at 12% and climb as high as 21% when
accounting for overhead. That places us at 400–700% of the national benchmark. This level of
financial expenditure is unsustainable. And the choice, due to NCAA requirements, is binary:
maintain ten teams or none. (NCAA, Trends in Division III Athletics Finances, November 2021,
p. 17)
I had hoped to preserve club hockey, given its storied legacy. But even stripped of overhead, its
cost remains too high. I share the grief this will bring especially considering the magnitude of
hockey's history in the college and in Bryn Athyn.