What's even more impressive is the athletes at Williams and Amherst are doing it all without any sort of support or safety net.  We know they're disadvantaged youth who have overcome insurmountable odds to attend these prestigious institutions. 

Quote from: Hopkins92 on December 05, 2024, 08:26:32 PMkuiper, with all due respect (and I'll do this again - when I say that I mean it, you are legend on this board) a lot of stuff that gets posted in the rule changes thread gets pretty tedious and quite often over-looked.

But, more to the point, has anyone seen a regular season or up to this point NCAA tournament game where VAR gets trotted out??

Either it's part of the game or it's not. Bringing it in at the Final Four stage, in my opinion, is not the correct course.

The Kenyon vs Denison NCAC semifinals had a PK overturned after VAR

Stop, I already have enough reasons to hate Amherst

I can't 100% verify but I heard he tore his ACL this past summer. 

Yeah, it's Lukovic.  Who is in the transfer portal btw...

This is what AI has to say

Based on recent historical data through early 2024, Washington and Lee has indeed been very strong in D3 soccer, regularly making deep runs in the NCAA tournament and competing well against top-25 opponents. The NESCAC, with powerhouses like Tufts, Amherst, and Connecticut College, is generally considered the deepest D3 conference.

Looking at common opponents and NCAA tournament results, Washington and Lee has shown they can compete with NESCAC-level competition. For example, they've had competitive matches with teams like Williams and Amherst in NCAA tournament play. Their style of play, emphasizing possession and technical skill, would translate well to NESCAC competition.

However, one big challenge would be adapting to the grueling NESCAC schedule - playing multiple top-25 caliber teams every week is different from the ODAC where there's more variance in quality between opponents.
Given their program strength and resources, I'd estimate Washington and Lee would likely finish in the top half of the NESCAC most years - probably in the 3rd to 5th place range. They'd be competitive with the top teams but might find it challenging to consistently finish at the very top given the week-to-week difficulty.

But I want to acknowledge that this is quite speculative - conference strength can vary significantly year to year, and hypothetical matchups are very difficult to predict accurately.

Quote from: StatesSoccerFan on November 25, 2024, 01:24:33 PM3 of the 4 teams in the Final Four from NESCAC. Now you see why they had 8 teams in the tournament.

Nobody was ever complaining about the top NESCAC teams getting in. It was the bubble teams like Hamilton and Bowdoin.  How did Bowdoin do btw?  Advanced past the 1st round and then got destroyed by Trinity.  Would Vassar have lost that game 3-0?  They got knocked out 2-1 by a Middlebury team that could end up winning it all.  Vassar/SLU would be able to compete in the NESCAC.   They're at least on par with a Hamilton/Bowdoin/Wesleyan

It probably did but you have to play to the whistle.  Insane that the UWEC right back completely gave up on the play before a call was made. 

edit: replied to a deleted comment about the ball going out of play before Amherst's 2nd goal

Both teams are long ball/ long throw merchants.  It's not about the NESCAC

This Amherst/UWEC game is shaping up to be a brutal watch

Quote from: Hopkins92 on November 24, 2024, 10:13:08 AMYeah, I didn't want to make too big a deal of the Conn players, but:

* - First kick taker absolutely said something off-color to the goalie after he made his shot to the Kenyon goalie.
* - After the Conn GK saved his first shot, he came off the ground talking sh*t to the kicker.
* - After the second miss, CC player came off the bench to taunt the kicker to get the bench warning.

This stuff isn't "part of the game." It's really obnoxious and unsportsmanlike behavior.

Guys missing PKs in the third round of the NCAA is going to sit with those kids for the rest of their lives. Rubbing it in and trash talking in that moment is pretty low.

Yep, and the antics weren't just limited to CC.  Williams was engaging in similar behavior.  I've also seen it with Centennial, NJAC, SUNYAC teams etc.  It seems to have gotten worse over the years.  Not to be one of those "back in my day" posters, but I don't remember the PK antics being as prevalent when I played.  Players stepped up and tried to make PKs and keepers tried to make saves (minimal amount of dumb run ups, not as much trash talking or attempted "mind games" towards opponents)

And this behavior 100% starts at the top w/ the coaching staff.  Not to beat a dead horse re: NESCAC vs other conferences, but I've watched Messiah games for close to 2 decades and I can probably count on one hand the number of unsportsmanlike incidents from them.  Some teams match that in one season...

That PK spot is completely torn up.  Also, good guys advance!

SKUD, get over there and fix it!

Yep, the D1 schools will end up with a larger % of intl pro academy washouts and everything will trickle downwards. D1 is a joke and I find it hard to have any interest in it.  The best domestic players are going directly to the pro level at this point. I just hope we don't start seeing the trend of 23 year old intl freshmen at the D3 level...

Quote from: Dustin_Patrón on November 18, 2024, 10:22:40 AMIn response to Fitz's comment about the fouls committed by nescac sides in comparison to normies:

Fouls are a part of the sport. In fact, fouling is an important tactic that it practiced and coached at the highest level. I don't think we should shine a negative light on it, as Fitz aimed to do--especially when these teams are coming from the most physical conference in the country and are used to refs that often times let them play. Not to mention, these same teams continue to dominate division 3 soccer.

During last year's NBA season, critics were pointing out the Celtics high volume of 3-point shooting, scoffing at their decision to chuck up 3s rather than getting to the paint or posting guys up. This season, the majority of teams are shooting significantly more 3s after watching Boston skip through the playoffs on their way to an 18th championship for the franchise. Even the Celtics have upped their volume to start the year.

Though an imperfect analogy (fouls and 3-pointers are quite different), I think Messiah and other normies can take something from this. Rather than hang your hat on fouling less than other teams, why not coach fouling? Any Nescac team would have immediately fouled the Williams player during that counter attack (or at least tried to) and they probably could've saved a goal.

Messiah has more titles than every NESCAC team combined.  I don't think they need any tips