Quote from: midwest on August 29, 2018, 04:33:32 PM
Kenyon graduated some strong senior leadership and performers, so it will be interesting to see how they fill those needs. Kenyon plays Carnegie Mellon this weekend, OWU plays Wheaton (Ill) so those games will be interesting to follow.

I believe this is the year OWU begins to take back over the NCAC. Kenyon's dominance from 2014-2016 was largely due to their extraordinarily strong 2016 and 2017 classes that turned them into a top 5 nationally ranked program. Kenyon took a step back last year and didn't look the same after their 2016 class departed and I expect them to take another step back this year with the departure of the 2017 class. Kenyon dropped 6 games in 2017, the same amount they dropped in their 2015 and 2016 seasons combined (Not to mention the 2015/2016 drops were to teams like Tufts and Calvin whereas the 2017 team tied Marietta). OWU on the other hand were on par with Kenyon in 2014, slightly worse in 2015, and completely outclassed in 2016. However, OWU seems to be on the rise by winning the NCAC tournament last season. It just seems to me OWU has been ascending while Kenyon has been descending. I could be completely wrong but I think this is the year OWU becomes king again.

Just ignore this troll. Kenyon is a pool C lock. Don't know why anyone would logically think otherwise. However I do agree that the GL region is the weakest it's been in some time and I don't particularly like anyone's chances of winning it all out of that region. Any year that the OAC is getting more bids than the NCAC should speak volumes.

Really scratching my head with Kenyon this season. They really blew up on the scene in 2014 and since then have posted a 45-4-1 record in the previous three regular seasons, including a 12-0-0 record versus the OAC in that span.

Now here they are at 4-2-2 and 1-2-1 versus the OAC in 2017. Where did the wheels fall off the wagon?

How many teams had to play two ranked teams back-to-back in the first and second rounds? Some teams have a substantially easier path to the Sweet 16 than others.

Quote from: NCAC New England on September 27, 2016, 09:34:57 PM
CWRU 1, Kenyon 0 OT

Memories of DePauw last year.  CWRU played an excellent game.  GK was very good although Lords blew a number of in-close chances.  Might have been CWRU's only shot on goal.

Kenyon presses so much and gets so many numbers up that when they go a couple of minutes on attack and/or up for set pieces they are really open on the counter.

Kenyon very unlucky to lose this one. Case played well enough to keep themselves in it. Their goalkeeper was far and away the MVP of the match, he was saving everything Kenyon was throwing at him. Kenyon outshoots Case 19-5 with SOG being 10-1 (so yes you're right the goal was the only SOG Case had). Also Case Keeper had 10 saves to Kenyon Keepers 0 (yes zero). I agree that Kenyon can over press at times and be caught out on the counterattack. Seems teams strategy against them right now is to play a little rope a dope defense against them and hit them on the counter. Big game at DePauw this weekend to get back on track for Kenyon.

Wow Centre beats Thomas More 3-0 and out shoots them 18-4. Did anyone see this game? Centre now quietly 4-0. Looked at Centre's other results but none were nearly as impressive. They actually were outshot 16-14 at home in their 3-2 win vs Heidelberg. Shocking results today for sure.

Quote from: NCAC New England on September 04, 2016, 06:38:15 PM

My Kenyon Lords are off to an underwhelming start, to put it mildly.  3 goals -- 2 Myers headers and a PK -- in 2 games against....Otterbein... and a Heidelberg squad with another new coach who Oberlin handled with ease before Oberlin got blown out by Ohio Northern.  Not good.  Not good when a centerback is your best offensive threat, as he was when the Lords had trouble scoring in the NCAA tournament last year.  Kenyon barely got past Westminster in the 1st round (on a Myers header), were lucky to get past Chicago in PKs, needed Myers late versus Tufts, and then went scoreless against Calvin.  Something not right early on this season.  Either chemistry with new faces, believing your own hype so much you think you can just roll the ball out there and win 6-0, or stubbornness about who you've predicted to be superstars so you just keep acting like it's true game after game and season after season.  I'm sure Heidelberg was physical and disrupted the Lords from getting into much flow, but all of the alleged super-dynamic offensive players generated hardly any good or clean chances against a team that will struggle to get to 5 wins.  This also wasn't a 1-0 game where shots were 30 to 5.  Heidelberg had some good chances and actually had 1 more shot overall.  Kenyon drops like a stone right out of my top 15.

I agree completely with this. One of my sleeper picks Chicago has looked fantastic thus far and my championship pick Kenyon has looked very subpar. That being said, I think you're overreacting a bit. The performances have been poor but at the end of the day they're 2-0. And the point you're making about Myers actually if anything should be a feather in their cap. The fact that they can have very off days offensively and still pull wins out because of the offensive prowess of their center back can only be a good thing. We all know on his day that Amolo is one of the top 3, if not the best striker in D3. He appears to be in a funk, as does the rest of the offense and midfield. There's no doubt the talent is there and the chemistry shouldn't be an issue either because Kenyon only graduated 1 player from the roster last year. That really only leaves some kind of mental issues the team is having. I agree with you that they likely have some sort of elitist attitude at the moment where they think they can just show up and win 5-0. They're likely overlooking games against these weaker teams and it could cost them if they don't watch out. I'm hesitant but I'm not going to pull the plug on picking them just yet. If they start to lose games or play poorly against the big teams (TMU, Case, DePauw), then I may have to reconsider.

NCAC Preseason Poll:
http://www.northcoast.org/sports/msoc/2016-17/releases/PreseasonPoll

1) Kenyon (8)
2) OWU (1)
3) DePauw (1)
4) Oberlin
5) Denison
6) Wabash
7) Allegheny
8) Hiram
9) Wooster
10) Wittenberg

Quote from: D3SoccerFan on August 11, 2016, 09:22:47 PM
I realize this is mostly a discussion on New England area teams, but does anyone have any thoughts on how well other teams with good reputations will do this season? Ohio Wesleyan, Wheaton, Calvin, Messiah?

I've ran this by in another thread but might as well post it here too.

Loras loses 7 starters and 14 players overall

Calvin loses 5 starters, specifically Nick Groenewold (arguably the best CB in the nation last year), a third team AA in Taylor Pruis, and a nationally top 5 keeper in Niko Giantsopoulos.

OWU loses 5 starters and 12 players overall

Wheaton lose 5 starters including Hollingsworth, Golz and starting GK Paprocki.

As you can see above, these teams all lost a lot of firepower. That being said, I'm sure they all brought in great recruiting classes and will all probably be favored to win their respective conferences this year regardless of the losses. There should be much parity in the Midwest and Great Lakes this year.

Loras loses 7 starters and 14 players overall

Calvin loses 5 starters, as lastguy mentioned, specifically Nick Groenewold (arguably the best CB in the nation last year), a third team AA in Taylor Pruis, and a nationally top 5 keeper in Niko Giantsopoulos.

OWU loses 5 starters and 12 players overall

Wheaton lose 5 starters including Hollingsworth, Golz and starting GK Paprocki.

I realize that these 4 teams are some of the historically strongest programs in D3 soccer, but this would not be the year I would peg any of them for the Final Four.

Quote from: Joe Wally on June 23, 2016, 10:45:14 AM
The following freshmen have been added to Wabash's 2016 soccer roster:

Gabriel Anguiano - Hammond, IN / Bishop Noll Institute       
Adam Courter - Fremont, CA / Washington       
Devon DeLaMater - Marietta, GA / North Cobb       
Cruz Garcia - Fort Wayne, IN / Canterbury School       
Ethan McNaughton - Indianapolis, IN / Plainfield       
Mohamed Ndour - Bronx, NY / Kingsbridge International       
David Ortega - Hammond, IN / Munster       
Keith Owen - Indianapolis, IN / Cardinal Ritter       
David Riggs - Indianapolis, IN / Heritage Christian       
Nicholas Shrader - Indianapolis, IN / North Central       
Michael Tanchevski - Crown Point, IN / Crown Point       
Pierce Van Houten - Rensselaer, IN / Rensselaer Central       
Abdoulie Waggeh - Bronx, NY / The Metropolitan HS

I like Wabash's chances of making the NCAC tournament this year and having a solid season. They return nearly everyone (including All-Region players Jennings and Dorsuleski) and the rest of the conference is a Pandora's box. OWU lost a TON of talent (although they always rebuild), Depauw lost some good players in Ables, Schoenfeld and Musa, and Oberlin lost Ingham. I expect Denison to do well and of course Kenyon is a national title frontrunner. I would not at all be surprised to see Wabash make the NCAC tournament and maybe pull off an upset to make the NCAC finals 

As my name would indicate, I am from the Midwest and therefore partial to Midwest soccer. That being said, the NCAA tournament for D3 soccer is divided up into 4 quadrants, with each one USUALLY representing a region. I do not follow other regions as closely and thus do not feel justified making predictions for teams outside of the Midwest region. From what you all are saying, it looks like Amherst, Oneonta, Haverford, Trinity, and Loras are the favorites to reach the Final Four from the other regions. In my opinion, the strongest team in the Midwest this coming year will be Kenyon, making my predicted final four as of today: Amherst, Oneonta, Trinity, and Kenyon. Kenyon graduates one player on the entire roster (1st Team All-American Barnes) and barring any transfers, returns the following starters:

GK Clougher SR- (1st Team NSCAA AA, 1st Team All Great Lakes Region, 1st Team OCSA All-Ohio, 1st Team All NCAC, 2014 D3soccer.com Goalkeeper of the Year)
D Wynn JR- (2nd Team All NCAC)
D Myers JR- (2nd Team All Great Lakes, 1st Team All-Ohio)
D Lowry SO- (Honorable Mention NCAC)
D Resnakov SR
M Eudy SR- (2nd Team All-Ohio)
M Carmona SO- (2nd Team All NCAC, NCAC Newcomer of the Year)
M Lee SR- (Honorable Mention NCAC)
F Glassman SR
F Amolo SR- (1st Team NSCAA AA, 1st Team All Great Lakes, 1st Team All-Ohio, 1st Team All NCAC)

Kenyon brings back 10 starters with 6 of them seniors, making a very talented AND experienced group that has had success in recent years. They should not have the strength of schedule problems that they ran into last year as they now flip their schedule and have 11 away games in the regular season.

The three main pillars of building a championship (as showcased by past champions) are talent, cohesion, and experience. The Lords appear to be strong in all three categories this year and that is why I predict that they will represent the Midwest in the Final Four in 2016. (Not to mention I personally like them to win the NC as well  )

A team that I think takes a big step this year is U Chicago.  Barring any transfers they should still return:
GK Bonin JR (Second Team All-UAA)
D Voulgaris SR
D Reimann JR
D Weis SR (Honorable Mention UAA)
M Scofield SO (Honorable Mention UAA)
M Lopez SO (Third Team All-Region, First Team All-UAA)
M Abedian JR
M Mathis SR
F Desai SR (Second Team All-Region, Honorable Mention All-UAA)
F Koh SO (Second Team All-Region, First Team All-UAA, UAA Rookie of Year)

Despite playing in the tough UAA, if their young sophomores develop over the season I think they could make a run to a Final Four in 2016. We can't forget that they beat a solid Thomas More team 3-0 last year in the First Round and then took Kenyon to the wire in the Round of 32.

I know it's still super early and many schools are finishing up their recruiting classes, but I wanted to get a broader perspective and possibly some spotlights on the teams that you all expect to be either pretenders or legitimate Final 4 and National Championship contenders in 2016.