Congrats to Williams on advancing to another final 4. Terrible conditions for both squads made this a tough game to watch. Best of luck to the Ephs, I hope they go and win the title.

Cacattack. Appreciate you taking a look at it from both sides of the coin. I'm trying to find the pictures you describe that show the play, I've looked on the Amherst and Williams sites that both link to the same photo gallery on the Amherst website. I'm more than happy to admit I saw the play the wrong way, from my angle the Amherst player did not go in with his studs up, but it was an extremely fast play so I could easily have not seen it correctly. I know this comes off as extremely biased but that's what I saw. Happy to admit I'm wrong here on the studs up situation. If you have a photo of the play in your possession, happy to look at it. Irregardless, what I will say is that I believe that the Amherst player had 0 intent to injure his Williams counterpart. I'm going to take a leap of faith here and assume that you disagree, vehemently. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.

I didn't comment on the Williams striker #20 being "cut down from behind in the box while attempting to shoot. No whistle, no foul, no card, no PK," because it seemed like a good no call for me just like the one Amherst was whining about not getting in the Bowdoin game the day before. That's how I saw it. I thought the ref made a terrible no-call by not calling the Amherst center back on the foul in the corner of the field in the second half closer to the away team benches when he and #20 were at it again.  That was a foul and should have been called.  I'm going to take a wild guess that folks on here don't want to hear my second-by-second analysis 48 hours after a game is finished, so I omitted those two plays from my previous post and chose to focus elsewhere.

First off, congrats to both Amherst and Williams for making it to the tournament and from my estimation having a good shot at getting to an Elite 8 matchup again by playing at home for the first two games. St. Lawrence is certainly a threat as is Rutgers-Newark, Gordon has a good record but not real sure how they'll deal with the increase in competition.

I'll leave the other NESCAC teams not getting bids as I think it's been pretty well-covered and fair on the boards. Williams getting such a "favorable" draw is a little surprising but I guess that means that if you play a tough schedule you get rewarded and that's how it should be.

I'm going to attempt to give the most even-keeled recap of the NESCAC championship weekend and hope that this does not turn into the mud-slinging competition that it turned into last year.

Semi-Finals:

Wesleyan v. Williams - Missed the first 20 mins but saw the rest of the game and was very very impressed by both teams and their commitment to play possession soccer. I would say Wesleyan had the most possession in the first half but Williams did a better job of converting their possession into dangerous chances around the 18. The first Williams goal was a fantastic piece of combination play between Rashid and Grady(I believe) and a nice finish. Wesleyan came out in the second half and moved their left-back Sousa, to the center of the midfield to presumably try and get him on the ball more with #10. I would say the second half was a lot like the first until Williams scored their second off a ridiculous combo between Murralles and Rashid (very unselfish of him btw on the second goal to pass instead of shoot).  Wesleyan responded at the end there with a nice goal and it was game on from there, missing a great chance with a header at the last second. #8 from Williams was fantastic and his centerback partner #4 is very very strong as well (slight edge to #8 in my opinion due to his ability to distribute better). #10 and #8 for Wesleyan as well as the goalkeeper (who made some great saves), were very strong as well.

Amherst v. Bowdoin - This one will be shorter than the previous summary because it was an absolute snore. Amherst wins 2-1 off a great goal by the younger Aoyama from about 20 minutes out.

Final - Amherst over Williams 1-0 in an absolute slugfest, with Williams losing the game on a bad mistake by Morrell. Feel terrible for him because he's a very good goalkeeper who turned off mentally for a few seconds and Amherst pounced.

Now I want to say a couple things before I voice my opinion on the injuries to Williams and the Amherst playing style. First is that while being an Amherst supporter, I have a ton of respect for the class of Mike Russo and the way he commits to possession soccer. It's a pleasure to watch.  He is a gentleman and I have friends who played for him and speak about him and the program with glowing terms. I was also at the game on Sunday, and happened to be standing right under the camera stand where the Williams left back was injured. I did not see what happened to the first Williams player on the free kick in the first half where I'm assuming he broke his leg. I remember it being a free kick, having a large mass of bodies be inside the box and then them having to help #5 (i think) off the field. I didn't see the play so have no clue or right to say anything about the nature of the injury. I hope he heals quickly as he is a very good player that probably goes unheralded for Williams' midfield. The second injury was right in front of me. That was a 50/50 ball that the Amherst right back went to ground for (studs not up) and the Williams Left back going in on the tackle very hard as well. It was obvious immediately that the Williams player was hurt and the Amherst player was at least shaken up. From my view there was no intent to injure and it easily could have been the other way around. That was two committed players going into a challenge 100% and what resulted happens in soccer sometimes.  Saying that Amherst had the intent to injure the Williams player is wrong in my opinion.

On playing style, I think Amherst kicks the ball way too much for having the talent that they have. They have players who can play possession but they choose not to for whatever reason. They have gotten results and are great on set pieces and defend very well so get a lot of wins but this will come back to bite them at some point.  Amherst plays extremely hard and definitely do push the envelope at times, but on Sunday that was definitely a two way street. There were some great, clean, physical battles between the center back of Williams #4 and #25 of Amherst where both players gave as good as they got. Same goes for Amherst's centerback #4 and Williams' #20 (Ritter, I think).  Caslin and Murralles had a battle in the center of the midfield. NESCAC finals, and rivalry games, are like this. Unfortunately two players from Williams got injured. No one wants to see that but it happens in sports. Also on the throw-ins, anyone who was at that game on Sunday saw that this was a point of emphasis for the referee who routinely moved players back to the proper spot on both teams.

Agree with La Paz on this one. The problem for the NESCAC this year is that while folks have beaten up on each other 2-8 (which is something that happened in previous years), there are multiple teams in New England with strong records that will get in before the NESCAC 3rd or 4th best team. Forgive me for not looking this up, but the years when the NESCAC has done so well with bids have been years where the league has literally not lost a game out-of-conference or lost very very few. That's an argument that you can win when your 8th place team is smoking the team from a weak conference with a great overall record but not one you can win when your team's in the 2-8 slots tie teams like Thomas or Plymouth State.

Also, folks who know this stuff more than I do, does the Chicago-Brandeis game count in the regional rankings? Forgive my ignorance but I somehow remember this being counted as out-of-region and not included in the regional rankings but incorporated in Pool C discussions? The reason I remember is that I think UAA teams have had pretty loud arguments (rightly-so) in that they were being punished for being in a multi-region conference when it came to regional rankings.  Figured I'd ask the question here as I'm sure someone must have the right info here.

Best part of the season here folks, NESCAC Tournament.

Will try and opine on NCAA bids later this weekend as I haven't had the time to look at the rest of the country and what it means for the NESCAC, will try and take a closer look this weekend and hopefully catch a game in-person as well.

Quarterfinal picks:

8. Hamilton at 1. Amherst (Amherst 1-0)
Amherst has rolled through the NESCAC this year besides for two blemishes in Hamilton and Conn College. They will be looking for a little payback and combined with them being at home and motivated I think they get this one done. Julien Aoyoama by all reports is rounding into shape and Hamilton only saw Aoyoama Lite in the first game (his younger brother). That being said Hamilton will not be afraid of the Jeffs as they probably (rightly so) feel they should have gotten 3 points at home. Still think Amherst has too many weapons here though.

7. Conn at 2. Wesleyan (0-0; Wes in PKs)
Wesleyan won the regular season match-up 1-0 yesterday. This pick comes from a couple of things: 1.) Wesleyan will tighten up in the back as they always have and play defense first and 2.) Wesleyan has not scored more than 1 goal in a game since the first week in September. Conn will try and stretch the game with their attacking players and particularly Hawkey but I don't think they have enough weapons to punch one in, especially @ the "birdcage." I'll go with the home squad in PKs but don't really have a particular reason other than that they are at home. I like Sousa for them btw, seems to be a pretty steady player.

6. Midd at 3. Williams (Midd 2-1)
Williams won 2-1 in the regular season matchup in early October. The beginning of this game means a lot for a couple reasons. First off, sounds like Williams really let one go yesterday against Hamilton at home and a couple guys might be hanging their heads a little lower today than yesterday. Combine that with the youth of Middlebury and if Williams lets Midd think they can win the game in the first 20, I think it might swing in Midd's favor.  I like Batista a lot, as well as Tyler Smith. Williams has never really gotten on track in my opinion this year. They're not as potent in attack as one would like to see.  Midd gets the win.

5. Bowdoin at 4. Tufts (Tufts 2-1)
Really hope this game is more interesting than the one I saw on webcast earlier this week, which was an absolute snore. Hoppenot the difference here as Bowdoin scores one late to make it interesting.

short and sweet here as I still haven't seen enough of these teams:

Hamilton Over Colby 1-0

Amherst over Wesleyan 2-0; Amherst too tough at home and Older Aoyama is back and healthy, which is not good news for Wesleyan

Tufts over Williams 2-0; Tufts will like playing on that big field 2-0; would like to see them hit their stride here and make things interesting in the NESCAC tourney

Conn over Bowdoin 2-0; Bowdoin coming off a big win vs. Tufts but I think Conn is tougher than folks are giving them credit for. they went toe to toe with Amherst in a pretty brutal game, I don't think Bowdoin's physicality will intimidate them

Midd over Bates 3-0; Midd is becoming more and more dangerous each week those young guys get time

Interesting start to the season from a lot of perspectives. Seems to me that no team has really separated themselves from the pack decisively. Amherst and Tufts were widely expected to be the class of the league but seem to have hit roadblocks (Amherst 0-0 tie at home against Conn, Tufts loss to Wesleyan and tie to Plymouth State tonight) but have won some big games (Amherst 1-0 win @ Williams and Tufts win against Brandeis).

Wesleyan seems to be the biggest wildcard, as the suspensions seem to change games pretty drastically (which is what it seems like from the outside, I haven't seen Wesleyan play live yet).

I think Conn tying Amherst away is a sign of a team that might be figuring it out. I wouldn't count the camels out of making some noise in the NESCAC tournament.

Tufts can certainly play with anyone, which isn't a surprise, yet they have a couple bad results. I've seen them a bit live and they are certainly talented, looking forward to watching them play Amherst this weekend in person and seeing how they respond to a frustrating tie to Plymouth State. If they're ready to make the next step they will get a win or a result, if they aren't ready they might self-destruct. We'll see how far they've come against an Amherst team that has had a week to prepare.

Williams puzzles me again. Didn't make the drive to see the rivalry game, but Amherst does post all their goals (little tacky if you ask me, but whatever, good to be able to see things), and Fikke's goal was a great run and pass from the right midfielder (the freshman, think it's Chris Martin but not sure) but what's more alarming is that everyone on Williams is flat footed. Plenty of guys back behind the ball, none of them paying attention. Russo needs to get these guys dialed in, Williams teams don't make mistakes like that especially at that point in the game.

Anyway, those are some ramblings, I'll have more once I can get out and watch more games. Picks for the weekend:

Colby 0 @ Midd 2 - Colby can't win this game, don't think they're talented enough against a pretty impressive panther squad that looks like it's getting better every week.

Trinity 1 @ Bates 0 - Just going off of results here, haven't seen both teams play but Trinity seems to be playing better as of late.

Conn 2 @ Williams 2 - Conn can certainly play on the wings with the freshman from NYC having some good speed and Hawkey is a threat all game. Williams doesn't know who they are yet and have some injuries that are hurting them.

Tufts 0 @ Amherst 2 - Game of the weekend? I think Amherst gets a goal on a set piece (shocker) and then gets another one late when Tufts is pushing forward. Difference here is 1-15 Amherst is more talented and tougher. Tufts has the two most talented players in Hoppenot and Santos but it's towards the end of the depth chart where they will struggle. Also think the Plymouth State tie is a sign of poor leadership, good teams with good leaders win games like that. Just my opinion.

Weselyan 3 @ Hamilton 1 - Wesleyan just far more talented than Hamilton.

Sidenote: Anyone who tried to watch the Conn Amherst game via stream knows this, but that was the worst soccer game I've ever seen. Largest waste of 90+ minutes I've had in a long time. Had to get that off my chest.

Well, this just got more lively. Good to have a couple more perspectives on this board. I haven't posted since last season but am also a recent player but will try and keep my homerism to a minimum. La Paz, love that you have an opinion and share it, hate that you resort to dramatics to try and get attention. Your soccer insights are valuable and I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to hear them but I'm guessing I'm not alone in that I won't be begging you to come out of retirement solely so that you feel you have been satisfied with enough attention. I encourage you to take the high road here.

I think we can all agree the preseason rankings are there solely because people want to release them, not because they are based on any facts or insight other than finish of last year's tournament.

I can confirm that Heo is out this season for Amherst, which will certainly be a loss but don't think it is going to change much in the NESCAC standings (more on this later)

Although I disagree with the tact Bury456 went with expressing it, I agree the hazing incident shouldn't be discussed on this board as it leads to a whole lot of speculation about something that leads to very serious ramifications and no one on here knows the facts (I include myself among those who know nothing).

I only saw a few games in person last year and a bunch more via video or webcast so take everything with a grain of salt. I chose to use tiers instead of a top to bottom list as I haven't seen everyone play. Here are my thoughts on the first tier, I'll try and take a stab at the other tiers shortly:

Tier 1
Amherst - Still believe they are the team to beat without Heo more because of their GK, backs and center midfield. Sucres out means a little less rough and tumble on headballs and more soccer (hopefully), but the fact remains that they return Norton, Wirz, Aoyama, Caslin, Rico, Gooden, Fikke, and Bull. That's a pretty tough side to score against. Bury456, I'll take the Amherst back 4 as the best in the league. Attacking wise, I think there's plenty of talent, you just won't see one guy rack up points like a Noon. My guess is there will be a lot of interchange in the attacking positions and riding of the hot scorer.
Bottom Line:Favorite to win the league, a lot of attacking questions

Tufts - Put up or shut up time for these guys. Don't really lose a lot, Bauer is a leadership void which could be an issue with a young side but I don't think he did anything that is irreplaceable other than that (him and Lerner from Amherst very similar in that respect IMO). Santos and Hoppenot are probably the two best returning individual attacking players in the league at their respective positions (for those of you screaming that Rashid is better, I'd take Santos at the positions they play and would argue Hoppenot plays a different position). I think Nakamura is a very good player that will probably benefit greatly from a year of seasoning from a physical standpoint, thought in the couple games I saw his technical/tactical side was all there but physcially he got pushed around at times. GK position has to be better, you need your keeper to make a big save every once and a while to steal/save a game and the kid they had last year does not cut it. I'll harp on this because I'm a little old school and I think effort matters but Santos needs to grow up on the field. Whatever happens off of it happens, when he is on the field he should be giving max effort and when he does it shows but too often in the games I've seen he has a tough time here or there or doesn't get the ball and starts whining at his teammates and pouting. Pretty disappointing from a fan's perspective because he's so talented, probably even more disappointing if you're his teammate. I like Shapiro as a coach a lot, seems to do things the right way and his guys play hard for him.
Bottom Line:Lot of attacking talent, will definitely score goals, need to figure out goalkeeper and get over youth/growing pains

Williams - Morel starts in goal (hopefully if Russo can chill out with the GK headgames, which are insane to me, I don't know how a recruit goes to Williams as a GK after watching him pull goalies and make random decisions). I don't think there's much difference in Morel and Finan, I think Morel is better from what I've seen but I will preface that with saying I haven't seen a ton. Ratajczak is a huge loss, I frankly don't rate Burbank-Crump so I don't really know who fills the leadership void. Lima has all the physical tools to do so, I just wonder how he will do without Ratajczak, probably depends a bit on who they pair with him. In midfield, I like Madding and Muralles and think they can be very effective in there. Would like to see Muralles take a game by the horns a little more and be more dynamic and get a little further forward. La Paz said they had a good recruiting class so maybe there might be some help coming here as well. Up front you have User who is effective against most teams, but in my opinion doesn't have the technical ability to cause problems against the best teams. He's fast, we get it, he'll score some goals but he's not going to create much. Rashid on the other hand was my pick to have a dominant season, him being out hurts them a lot hopefully he's back for the Babson game as that looks like they're first real test.
Bottom Line:Plenty of talent here to win the league, will be a question if a few guys make the jump from being good to being class of the league