Quote from: Falconer on November 06, 2026, 01:05:53 PMLet me propose renaming this thread for accuracy:

2026 NESCAC tournament finalists = NCAA Final Four

 

Is the prophet without honor in his own country?

Quote from: Footy on Yesterday at 07:57:20 AMIm right here....And I stand by my comments.  Sweet 16 after a soft opening weekend, and then got dismantled when they played a team with a national standing.  Much better record this year, thanks to some self awareness and a much, much easier schedule. 

Obviously you are still here, Footy. You've been here for 14 months and made 19 posts, several of them simply proclaiming that McCarty is a shadow of his former self, that Messiah soccer has decayed from the inside, and that they are basically done.

What I and others have wondered is, why do you lurk and then enter suddenly just to trash the Falcons? I speculated (that's the correct verb) whether you're simply trying to turn your comments into a self-fulfilling prophecy--maybe you just hate Messiah for some reason and want to discourage recruits from considering it? It looks that way, frankly, but I can only speculate. Care to enlighten us? What's your point?

I doubt, honestly, whether any D3 soccer team will ever come close to the domination UCLA exerted over D1 basketball in the 1960s and 1970s. The fact that no one ever matched John Wooden doesn't mean that UCLA self-destructed or that Wooden lost it after 1973 (he stayed 2 more years). It means lots of things, including the fact that no dynasty lasts forever.

My comments here have mainly focused on analyzing this year's team (as I always like to do, and I always criticize them when they don't play well or when they just aren't very good like 2015 and 2025). I will continue to do that, and unless you unmask yourself (as e.g. a former Falcon player whom you name or something like that) I will continue to assume that you know a lot less than me about Falcon soccer. FW and a few others are entitled to their opinions on self-destruction, but you aren't.

The biggest change I see in D3 soccer has nothing to with Messiah. The NESCAC teams are all playing follow the leaders (Tufts and Amherst). That is, they are using soccer very aggressively to recruit big, strong young men who starred in soccer at "independent" schools (i.e., private schools with enormously high tuition prices), some of whom might not have been admitted to a NESCAC if they hadn't excelled at soccer. This helps explain why places like W & L and the UAA schools are also a lot better nowadays. Messiah, Calvin, Rowan (which won natties when it was called Glassboro State), the former top power Loras (now nearing financial extinction) and similar non-elite schools can't follow that leader. They still get lots of really good players, even occasionally a brilliant player (like Luke Groothoff at Messiah a few years ago), but the landscape has changed fundamentally from even just 15 years ago.

If you (Footy) want to respond to that analysis, by all means go for it, but I will ignore your jealous rants about Messiah. I didn't raise this matter in the posts you quoted above. A former Hopkins GK did. He was right, of course, but I'm done with that.

Quote from: Sandon Mibut on November 06, 2026, 07:14:34 AMMAC Commonwealth: Nailbiter for Messiah (#17) hosting York (#71). Multiple lead changes and 5 total goals in the first 31 minutes. Messiah ultimately won 4-3 in overtime to eliminate York which also bolsters other NCAA-bubble teams as Messiah is guaranteed a spot in NCAAs whether by AQ or AL.

One of the greatest games ever at the Shoe--and I would say the same if the outcome were reversed. Both teams wanted it, both played with minimal mistakes other than missing a few gimmes, and the stars came out for both at just the right time.

It's unfortunate that York didn't play this well often enough earlier, or they'd be off to the NCAA races with an at-large bid.

The recent rise of York and the recent move of Neumann into the MAC Commonwealth has given the Falcons exactly what they needed most: conference opponents with fair chances of taking them down on any given day. A decade ago, the Falcons had both Etown and Lycoming (under Nate Gibboney) as major conference opponents. Then they both left for (greener?) pastures, first Etown and then Lycoming. Now Lycoming has been resurrected as York (under Nate Gibboney), while Neumann is presently better than Etown was when they left the MAC. Other conference teams are two steps lower, and most of those have never defeated Messiah.

Likewise, the recent rise of Dickinson (under Jorge Chapoy) only helps Messiah. Prior to 2024, Dickinson had never managed even one single result vs Messiah in 40 years, despite scheduling one another most seasons.

Partly, of course, this has resulted from the Falcons taking a step down--although the team that lost in PKs vs Williams in 2022 was IMO the #1 team nationally. But, it's also a result of local teams getting a lot better. That can only help Messiah. No conference presently has a chance to rise to the level that NESCAC has these past 15 years. The best anyone else can do is to play a strong schedule. When your neighbors get better, teams like Messiah with great traditions usually get better. (Here's rooting for OWU to get their magic back.)

Let me propose renaming this thread for accuracy:

2026 NESCAC tournament finalists = NCAA Final Four

 

Quote from: Hopkins92 on October 23, 2026, 05:45:19 PMBTW, re: Messiah... Where's that clown(!) who used a relatively down year last year to mark the end of the Messiah era?

Laughable.

Good question. One can only wonder what that was about. Maybe someone jealous of the Falcons who was trying to steer recruits away? Don't know, but if so they failed. The talent level in the last two incoming classes is near their historical ceiling. And, obviously, McCarty isn't losing anything. Last year's coaching job was just excellent, taking a mediocre team out of the doldrums and into the Sweet Sixteen. (Liberty teams had recently eliminated the Falcons a couple times, but last year they turned the tables at Hobart, and this year they won at Vassar.) All the while, he was developing that great FR group into the SO who are leading the team this year and recruiting another high level group coming in this fall.

Anyway, I appreciated your support last fall when that was going down.

Quote from: SimpleCoach on October 23, 2026, 03:40:49 PMAlso Perry will be an All American at some point.

I think you're right. He has an impressive background, including experience on a European youth club. It's not often you get to hear a Falcon speaking German, years before arriving on campus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2dYZZDCvmc&list=PLHIxvmH2bisZ66ZkRSFh0NkWL4oIRcHfs&index=11   

One of these days, he's liable to explode, just as Owen Resch has exploded in the past few weeks.

At this point, I've seen enough games to have an opinion about where the Falcons are this year. They are currently #7 in NPI and #9 on Massey. Overall that's about right. Specific observations follow.

(1) This year's Falcons are very deep, with unusually strong FR and SO classes, both of which are getting large amounts of PT although there are no FR starters. Last year 3 FR started at least 10 games, MF Jalen Keller (17), CB Caleb Daniels (12), and all purpose DEF Jack Marcantonio (11). Marcantonio has zero starts in 2026, although he's played in all 15 games and averages 26 mins/game. Keller and Daniels have started all 15. This year the Falcons have a set lineup; all 15 games have had the same group of starters. After that group, the man with the most minutes is FR Chase England, a short, fast player with a nose for the ball. He is usually the first sub, replacing JR Kyle Spodnik who is the closest thing to the striker but not very close. Spodnik runs all over the field and doesn't play target. He's also short, especially for a central attacker, and they send him back on defense on set plays. He gets the occasional header, but only in the run of play. However, he's very dangerous, a very accurate shooter (.684 % SOG), and capable of acrobatic plays (like the only Falcon goal vs Tufts last fall). FR Cam Holiday, a regional HS AA from Nashville, is right after England in MP despite missing a recent game. He's much bigger than England or Spodnik but doesn't play centrally. 3 more FR are playing more than 20 mins/game. Unfortunately, incoming HS AA Nick Silvia has played only 24 mins owing to a major injury and probably won't return this fall. I can only imagine how much more he would have added, as the third leading scorer in Ohio HS history (https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ-NexMETSz/).

(2) Because McCarty doesn't hesitate to play lots of FR and SO, it's not unusual to see 10 non-starters on the field at once for long stretches in either half, or even 11 on those 2 occasions when the FR GK from Ecuador subs in. Both of the goals he has surrendered, I think, came with 11 non-starters on the field, and at least 3 or 4 of the 9 GA charged to the starting keeper Killian O'Reilly came with 10 non-starters in front of him. In other words, the starters and first few subs have yielded no more than 5 or 6 goals all season: about half of the Falcon's GA were scored against the second and third team players. So, it's reasonable to think of their "first team" stats as 39 or 40 G against 5 or 6 GA when comparing them vs other highly ranked teams.

(3) This year's team right now is substantially better than last year's team at the same point in the season--especially in the back and up the middle, but the attackers are also collectively doing just as well if not better. For the full 2025 season including the tournament, the Falcons played 23 games with 41 G and 30 GA. So far in 2026, they have 15 games with 41 G and 11 GA, but keep in mind that around half of the GA came without any starters in front of the GK. The eye test tells me to believe this. The backfield still makes a few errors, but last fall they looked just awful for weeks, the worst I can ever remember for a comparable stretch. They aren't yet at the level of the greatest Falcon teams, but they've figured it out.

(4) The 3 guys in the middle of their usual 4-3-3 are just splendid--rock-steady JR Grant Schreiner and quick-footed SO Jalen Keller in the 6/8 combination (with Schreiner almost always further back) and the very aggressive SO Elijah Perry scoring and distributing up front (6G, 6A and a zillion just missed it SOG). This has given McCarty enough confidence to stick with the 4-3-3 all season, which is normal in Grantham. Last fall he was hesitant to use it for the first half of the season, which was a major reason they had such a hard time getting their feet on the ground. No problemo in 2026.

(5) As for individual recognition, I would not be surprised to see at least half of these guys make first-team all-conference. Nor would I be surprised if 7 or 8 of them get that distinction. As for AA, there's one obvious candidate: SO Owen Resch (11G, 6A), who plays on the wings but often gets inside. A fast, shifty player from Michigan, he loves to create his own shots and puts nearly half of them on frame, even from outside the box. His GW vs York this past Wednesday is just spectacular: watch it here https://gomessiah.com/news/2026/10/21/mens-soccer-no-16-falcons-hold-off-late-comeback-from-spartans.aspx. But, he has a couple others this fall in the same category. He's often being 2-teamed as in this case, but he still finds ways to take open shots or find open teammates. The unsung hero remains DMF Schreiner, who always knows exactly where the ball needs to go and almost never gives it up. He isn't too athletic, but he's highly skilled and SMART. IMO he should be an AA too, but he's not flashy and doesn't score or make the final pass (0G, 1A), so probably not, unless a voter has seen him play in person and knows how properly to value what he does so well.

That's more than my two cents, but I wanted to see enough games to have confidence in my conclusions so I've been gathering my thoughts for a while.

Quote from: nescacfootyfan on October 10, 2026, 05:27:04 PMJust saw the Amherst box score...  I didn't realize Amherst men's soccer was offering UFC courses this season.

Where have you been? They offer enough UFC courses to earn a major in it. Been in the catalog a long time...

Quote from: Hopkins92 on October 03, 2026, 06:03:49 PMAppleby obviously values possession... But you've gotta be ok with guys taking chances... Hard to score methodically working the ball from side-to-side.

When you keep the ball in the other team's half, nothing really bad can happen (unless a bad and unnecessary foul draws a card). Chances should be taken. Sometimes, even very chancy shots go in. The Falcons sometimes have this disease also--too much passing, not enough shooting. If a team is that good at possession, and Hopkins usually is, where's the harm in taking chances on the other team's end? You're going to get the back back pretty soon. It's not as though you're giving up on possession.

Messiah 2, Hood 0. This one could easily have been 4 or 5 to 1. The Falcons just missed a couple that ordinarily go in, and the Blazers had a rocket saved brilliantly, followed very soon by a scramble between a striker and the keeper in which the keeper emerged with the ball. Otherwise the Falcon keeper wasn't challenged, but he stood on his head twice to keep it scoreless.

Messiah has dominated every single game this season, including the opening 1-0 loss to Scranton and the scoreless tie in the classic Marshmallow game with Etown. In the opener, the problem was generating shots--a very common problem for Messiah teams early in a season, as the boys are just getting to know each other's strengths. As for Etown, that's always hotly contested and you never know what you're going to see until you see it.

This team is very deep, especially with FR and SO. The whole team is getting a lot of PT, but especially those two classes. No starters are FR, but they are as a class highly skilled. The incoming HS AA is still recovering from surgery last spring and two other players will miss the rest of the season (including the starting GK from last season), but even without those guys the Falcons are starting to jell at a high level. Whether it's high enough to go deep into the tournament remains to be seen, but I wouldn't want to be playing them in November.

Quote from: Hopkins92 on September 24, 2026, 12:40:48 PMCC appears to be having an off year and I would be surprised if they got more than 1 bid this year. Too many teams either played a really soft OOC schedule or lost to decent/good OOC teams. Predictions of Dickinson running away with things seemed to ignore the loss of some really important players (they are 4-4, and while losing to Messiah is understandable, some of the other losses are head scratchers, again, at least on paper.)

Having watched Dickinson vs Messiah for 40+ years (most of which included a matchup), I believe that the Dickinson teams of 2024 and 2025 were by far their best ever. With better luck, either could have been a Final Four team but especially 2025. They lost a great deal to graduation last spring, perhaps more than any other team in the CC, but others are more entitled to offer opinions about that. I don't expect them to win the AQ this year, but who knows? Maybe they will find some more magic and start playing consistently well the rest of the way.

Quote from: CentPA on August 20, 2026, 04:08:14 PMJust saw that Messiah has 10 freshman coming in!  With 26 on the roster that means the freshman class will make up almost 40% of the roster this season.  Two freshman and one sophomore from last year are not showing on this year's roster - one of the freshman was #13 Ethan Quadrini, who contributed quite a few minutes last year off the bench and scored 3 goals.

I see 2 FR from last fall who aren't on this year's roster, but I don't see any others missing. Which SO did I miss?

Quadrini's absence is probably the most significant. He was a mega scorer and regional AA in HS, but his minutes dropped last fall toward the end of the conference schedule and he didn't get a lot of PT in the tournament. I was impressed by him on the field. I have no information about why either of the FR did not return. Most seasons the turnover is small, or even no turnover.

Quote from: SierraFD3soccer on July 30, 2026, 10:49:43 AM

Quote from: Kuiper on July 29, 2026, 10:50:43 PMUniversity of Valley Forge announces that it is suspending operations

Quote"After much prayer, careful consideration, and consultation, the Board of Trustees of the University of Valley Forge has made the difficult and painful decision to suspend academic operations at the conclusion of the Summer 2026 semester."

Yes, very sad that Valley Forge is folding. Wes Moore, Maryland gov., went to VFMA in high school.

Not the same schools. UVF was a former Bible college and more recently a Christian college. Wes Moore went to VFMA, a military school that also recently closed, although the separate Valley Forge Military College, a 2-year post-secondary school, remains open.

The incoming group of Falcons looks very impressive on paper, with 2 Regional AAs and 1 National AA--Ohio POY with 171 career goals https://www.facebook.com/WHSPirates/posts/congrats-to-nick-sylvia-on-being-selected-as-a-high-school-all-american-go-burg-/1529932065813818/. A couple others also look good enough to get PT their first season.

Last year's group was also very impressive, with 2 Regional AAs and a cartload of all-state players from around the nation. I saw all of them play enough to believe they are collectively as good as they looked on paper.

In short, the incoming FR and rising SO classes are overloaded with talent, especially up front. And, those sophomores got plenty of PT last year. Three of them (Jalen Keller, Caleb Daniels, and Jack Marcantonio) each played 1000 minutes and started more than 10 games, especially in the second half of the season after McCarty figured out what he had with that group. Oddly, neither of the Regional AAs matched their PT--another indication of what the Falcons are working with this fall.

The last time I remember Messiah having three Regional AAs in one class was 2015. Two of them (Nick West and Samuel Ruiz Plaza) went on to become the best players at their positions in all of D3. They won it all in 2017 and might have repeated in 2018 if Ruiz Plaza hadn't sustained a season-ending injury a few days before the Sweet Sixteen match with Rochester (that was moved from home to away when Grantham got heavy weather). It's way to early for me to get excited--I always wait for at least half the season before starting to set my expectations, and last fall my expectations were lower than any Falcon team in my memory. At least I can start the season feeling good about the talent in the two youngest classes.

Something else of note recently: a noticeable number of players who turned down HS teams to play only on club teams and/or foreign teams. I realize Messiah is not an outlier here, but in that respect this 2-year group could be unprecedented in Falcon history. What that will mean is very much TBD.

Quote from: Kuiper on November 19, 2025, 05:40:28 PM

Quote from: Sandon Mibut on November 19, 2025, 05:19:09 PMGood lord that is lame. I'm going to check in with some of my Midd (alum) friends to see if they have any additional info.

The team also had something like 50 cards this season.

According to the NCAA, Middlebury "only" had 41 yellows and 3 reds.  Amherst had the most yellows in the NESCAC this year - 43 - but only 1 red.

I've found, however, that cards are often a function of the league/area of the country, each of which have different ref pools.

For example, Amherst was tied for #24 in the country for yellow cards with 43 and Middlebury was tied for #38 with 41, but check out the cards and national rankings for yellow cards among New Jersey schools:

#1 Drew 58 Yellows
#3 William Paterson 55
#4 FDU-Florham 53
  Kean 53
#13 Montclair State 48
#15 Rutgers-Camden 46
#24 Rutgers-Newark 43
#44 Stockton 40
#52 New Jersey City 39
#114 Stevens 34
#149 Rowan 31

Kuiper,

Given your wide and deep knowledge of D3 soccer, I'm hesitant to question your conclusions, but I will nevertheless in this instance. I don't know how long you've been watching D3 soccer. I've been a fan for 40 years. I gather you're based in the West; I'm based in the East. Both of those factors may bias my conclusions.

What I can tell you from the eye test over 40 years, is that the two conferences with the highest level of physical play overall are the NJAC and the NESCAC. Yes, they have more fouls called on them, and perhaps there's a regional refereeing factor. However, they actually commit (in both instances) many more fouls than are being called. Many more.

For example, lots of observers here would probably agree that (e.g.) Amherst just plays that way most of the time. Their players are apparently taught to foul people whenever physical contact will produce an advantage. If a foul is called, they still interrupted a play that could have (for them) a bad result. If a foul is not called, they get away with it. Rowan, formerly known as Glassboro State College, has played that way for decades--and, again, this is well known among observers here. When Messiah beat them in Glassboro for their first nattie (2000), the home fans were yelling at the officials all game long about the fouls being called against them. The officiating was spot on--early yellows for grabbing players as they ran past defenders, that sort of thing. After the game, David Brandt was asked about that in the press conference. His reply: those were fouls, and fouls are supposed to be called.

Now, don't get me wrong. Amherst and Rowan both consistently produce very talented teams that deservedly win a lot of games. They simply have styles of play that are more physical than most other teams. The conferences in which they play also have other teams in that category. If that happens routinely over many years--even for decades--you have to conclude that it originates with the coaching staff. And when conferences in general display those kinds of numbers consistently for many years, it wouldn't surprise me if the pool of referees gets used to seeing it and starts ignoring a lot of the "small stuff" and even some of the more serious infractions. They "let them play," as the saying goes.

Well that's more than my two cents, but then inflation happens and pennies are on their way into extinction.