When my son was playing HS and College if his team were taking kicks to decide a game, and he was in line, he would face away from the GK until it was his turn.  Like others, he knew where he was going, and had his strategy, and this was his way of not letting the GK get in his head.

My son played for a D3, Massachusetts State program.   Offseason was informally formal for them.  They had team workout a couple of times a week, their dedicated athletic trainer set them up for them.  She would also run a few yoga sessions for them each week.  They also did some lifting together.  Some light running and speed/agility work.  When the weather broke, they would have 2-3 practices a week, and a couple of scrimmages.  Nothing terribly strenuous for them, and most of the players tried to load up their academic schedules in the Spring

Quote from: PaulNewman on October 24, 2018, 09:56:16 AM


My son plays at another MASCAC school, and their game with Salem State was also VERY contentious.  Lots of extra curricular activities (to be fair on both sides), Salem players waiting in the parking lot, Salem parents egging them on, and verbally abusing our players who were just trying to get to their cars.  VERY strange all the way around.  The refs at our game had a hard time keeping things under control, and the game had very little flow.  I have to admit, I was definitely pulling for St. Joe's  :-)  last night.

That is some bad, bad stuff.  I hope those details were reported to the league.  Waiting in the parking lot?  That's how stuff happens that can ruin lives forever.
[/quote]

According to my son, our coach did report it to the league, and has asked if the two teams meet in the tournament, that they assign a VERY strong reffing crew to try and keep a lid on things. 

Quote from: OldNed on October 24, 2018, 08:19:30 AM

Quote from: OldNed on October 23, 2018, 11:32:37 AM

Quote from: PaulNewman on October 23, 2018, 10:57:35 AM
What game has better chance for today's Upset Special?

Conn Coll at Wesleyan OR Salem State at St Joseph's (ME)..........

Salem State at St. Joe's, I think.  Salem State is 11-2-2, whereas Wesleyan is an abysmal 3-10.  The forecast is for rain tonight in Maine, so that could affect St. Joe's.  In the other game they played in the rain, St. Joe's beat Emmanuel 1-0, but it wasn't easy.

OK, last night was a little too close for comfort for St. Joe's, winning 1-0 on a PK in the last 2 minutes.  First off, let me say that I was impressed with the way Salem State played.  They did pack it in and make it difficult for St. Joe's to score, but they played intelligently and were impressive defensively.  I didn't see a whole lot from Salem State offensively, but I understand their top goal scorer Meireles is an NC State commit who didn't have the grades to get in right away, so they do have some firepower.  The rain held off in Standish until the start of the second half, and that made the second half miserable for the players and spectators, as it was 45 degrees, pouring, and windy, too.

I've done some reffing in the past, so I'm usually sympathetic to the refs, but the crew last night had a bad night all around.  Missed calls on what should be easy-to-make out of bounds plays, non calls for a number of clear fouls, and they were bad all across the board, so both teams were affected by the refereeing. On the late PK call, I think the call was correct as one of the St. Joe's players was hauled down in the box, but that same kind of play was made throughout the game by Salem State on most corner kicks or free kicks into the box, so the Salem State players (I couldn't tell if the coaches were doing the same) went ballistic after the PK call was made.  I've never seen anything quite like it at the D3 level, with multiple f-bombs flying, and bunches of Salem State players belligerently surrounding the center ref, who to his credit ignored all of the language and bad behavior.  I have to admit I felt bad for the Salem State players simply because that type of call wasn't being made all night long until that point, and they were feeling like they could take the game to OT where anything could happen.

My son plays at another MASCAC school, and their game with Salem State was also VERY contentious.  Lots of extra curricular activities (to be fair on both sides), Salem players waiting in the parking lot, Salem parents egging them on, and verbally abusing our players who were just trying to get to their cars.  VERY strange all the way around.  The refs at our game had a hard time keeping things under control, and the game had very little flow.  I have to admit, I was definitely pulling for St. Joe's  :-)  last night. 

Really good result for Framingham State yesterday.  They beat MIT 1-0 on a goal with about 15 minutes to go.  MIT absolutely dominated possession, but Framingham did just enough.  First time FSU has ever beaten MIT. 

Quote from: PaulNewman on December 02, 2017, 08:33:51 PM

Quote from: blooter442 on December 02, 2017, 08:30:17 PM
That Messiah left side is ripping NPU apart. We all knew about how dangerous West is but I have been very impressed with Quintin.

Yeah, Quinton is phenomenal.  Very talented bu also super-smart player.  He's had a great tournament....and has 2 years left.

I've mentioned before, my son was a member of a different team within the same club as Shay, and has played on the same team with him on their college age player's summer team for the past 2 years.  He is just a terrific kid, and a great player.   Really really pleased for him, and the Messiah team. 

Was traveling home from Florida today, and did not get to see any of the final.  If we were home, I definitely would have tried to catch some of the stream

Quote from: blooter442 on November 01, 2017, 09:42:43 PM

Quote from: Mr.Right on November 01, 2017, 09:39:13 PM
MIT's #12 the goat of the night with the only miss and had the arrogance to turn his back before hitting it...Stupid move...I just do not think Clark has enough physical bodies to deal with Springfield..They will have to play them differently and sit in compared to tonight..will be interesting hopefully those games are at night

I just watched it again...that was the stupidest thing. Goalkeepers do that sometimes, but that's to throw off the kicker. When you are the kicker and you have to turn around and re-orient yourself you probably sell where you're going.

Not that I ever played in PK shootouts, but my understanding is the best thing to do is just look at the ball when you're placing it, don't make eye contact with the 'keeper at all, and hit it. The more variables you insert into it, the greater the chance of missing.

If my son is in line to take a PK in a shootout, he doesn't watch any of his teammates take their kick.  He doesn't want to get pysched out by the GK or overthink what he's going to do.  Coaches have tried to tell him he might pick something up, but this is what he says works for him.   

He has a friend on Clark's team, so I was watching the 2nd OT and the kicks.  SO nerve wracking, and I wasn't even there, and had absolutely no vested interest. 

Congrats to Clark, I think they'll have tough sledding against Springfield on Saturday. 

Quote from: Falconer on October 01, 2017, 09:03:03 AM
I made it to the Messiah-Alvernia game last night. When the Falcons played the Crusaders (now known as the Golden Wolves) on the Crusaders' turf field a year ago, it went into double OT owing to great saves from the Alvernia keeper and a PK that tied it late in regulation: http://gomessiah.com/news/2016/10/5/mens-soccer-quintins-double-ot-winner-leads-messiah-to-road-win.aspx?path=msoc

The same keeper came up big last night on an early challenge, but the Falcons broke through later and went on to win 3-0. Here's my observations on the game within the game.

McCarty did some novel experimenting on the offensive end, trying several combinations on the wings and in the attacking MF, presumably in an effort to jump-start scoring. Although the Falcons have frequently been dangerous in recent games, scoring has been unusually low by Messiah standards. It's not a lack of experienced attackers: the main components have been there for multiple seasons. In the most interesting move, he shifted West from left to right, reinserted Alejos on the left wing, and put Thomas at MF on the right, near West. That proved an electric combination, giving Thomas more options to use his strength and speed, and it resulted in 3 assists for Colby, though at least one (if I recall correctly) came from his usual spot on the right wing. My guess is that McCarty will go back to that combination again, whether or not he starts the next few games that way.

Game balls to Colby and Kirby Robbins (who played the finisher role properly), with honorable mention to Nick West (for always being dangerous) and Shay Quintin (who made the greatest move of the night, a superb shake-and-bake in the box followed by a terrific cross that just missed resulting in another goal), who hasn't figured out yet that he's really an outside defender and doesn't belong down there.    Of course Falcon fans have seen defenders suddenly morph into forwards before--guys like Jon Brubaker, JD Binger, and Jevon Gondwe--so maybe there's just something in the water.

Overall the Falcons looked awfully good. Their aggressive one-touch attack is running seamlessly right now, and finally the goals are coming. If they play this well the rest of this week, Hopkins is going to have their hands full Thursday night on a rare visit to Grantham. If the Blue Jays are as good as their record (and better than they were yesterday vs the Muhls, who aren't any better this year than Alvernia), it should be a good one. Looking forward to it.

Shay is a great player, and even better kid.  My played with and against him for years during their club years.  You could legit put him anywhere on the field, with the exception of GK, and he's produce.  Although, we have seen him in net in meaningless summer tourneys, and he's fine back there as well. :-) 

Quote from: HooksLeft on October 02, 2017, 01:00:19 AM

Quote from: blooter442 on October 01, 2017, 04:30:06 PM
Seems to have been a lengthy stoppage in Amherst-RUN -- both benches got yellows and Ajayi got a red for Amherst. Two feisty teams can sure generate fireworks (to be clear, I said feisty, not dirty).

Update: Amherst wins it with 2:05 left in the first OT. Big weekend for Serpone and his charges.

Fikayo Ajayi, a great player and even better person, was called a ni**** by one of the RUN players in the first few minutes of OT. His response, and justifiably so in my opinion, was to confront the RUN player with pointed language of his own (F bombs, etc.), which led to a scuffle and a yellow card for Fikayo and the deplorable RUN player. The referee did not hear the original insult from the RUN player but had heard the response from Fikayo, which led the RUN coach to suggest that Fikayo was the only one deserving of a yellow card. After everyone had been calmed down the game was allowed to continue and moments later Fikayo received a second yellow and was sent off. I'm not sure what the second offense was for but I imagine emotions were still running extremely high. Thankfully karma prevailed and soon Amherst was able to net the game winner, sending RUN home with nothing but a huge loss.

Now... I HOPE we can all agree that what the RUN player did was terrible... that should be a given. However, what I want to address are two things that bubbled to the surface following the game.
1) is that the referee later claimed to the Amherst coaching staff that he believed Fikayo had made up the insult. That it had never occurred. To this I have to say ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME. Why would someone make that up? Short answer - they wouldn't. And even if the referee is ignorant enough to believe that the insult was fabricated, WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT TO HIS COACH!!!! If you didn't hear it then I can understand that you would be hesitant to dish out punishment purely based on the opposing players reaction, but for me a ref suggesting that the player made it up is NEVER appropriate.
2) The RUN coach not only complained about his player receiving a yellow, but he was bold enough to suggest that the player would not have said such a thing because he was hispanic and went to church on a weekly basis. THIS. IS. ABSURD. Suggesting someone can't be racist because they are also a minority? That they are immune to accusations of racism because they worship a higher power on a weekly basis? This is ignorance at its finest. I understand that a coach is inclined to protect and defend his players but for me racism is where respectable coach's need to draw the line. If you are a collegiate soccer coach then your job should revolve around two things: winning as many soccer games as possible and grooming your student athletes to become the best person they can be. If todays events was any indication I would say that RUN is failing miserably at the latter.

I don't post this to start a debate and I don't plan to reply to any thread that stems from this post. All I would like to do is make sure that things like this do not go unnoticed. Everyone should be held accountable for their actions and I hope that the Rutgers-Newark players and staff are held accountable for theirs.

Completely deplorable. 

My son is a bench player for one of the D3 Massachusetts State Universities.  They played a much weaker opponent last week, and my son got the start!  As they were walking off at the half, all 5'8" of my son is beefing with the largest kid on the opposing team (easily 6'3").  After the game I asked him what it was all about.  Apparently, this young man called the Center Ref the n-word, and my son told him it was not OK, and invited him his bench to meet the rest of his team (full of kids from the Caribbean, Central & South America, African American kids, and African kids).   

For the record, we are white, and he grew up in pretty vanilla small town.  In his graduating class of 140, there were exactly 10 kids of color (one of whom happens to be one of his best friends). 

Quote from: OldNed on August 22, 2017, 01:45:54 PM

Quote from: OldNed on August 22, 2017, 09:29:06 AM


I have to say that despite the furor surrounding the behavior of several of the UMass Boston playsers during the tournament last year, I saw nothing like that during the scrimmage. It did not look like Ocane Williamson was on the sideline and he didn't play - I'm not so sure about the other guy either.

I didn't see the UMass Boston 2017 roster yesterday, but it looks like they just put it out and Ocane Williamson is not on the roster this year but Joshua Khang is.

I think Williamson got a 1 year ban, and Khang only got a 1 game ban

Quote from: sokermom on August 13, 2017, 08:09:44 PM
Can someone who played or whose kids are already in a D3 program present information on a typical pre-season routine.  Will the fitness test happen the first day of pre-season?  what happens on day 2?  will it be all fitness focused or will there be soccer training as well.  Do D3 players train once a day?  In the morning or evening?  Thanks.

Son plays for a D3 State School program in MA.  First day for them is typically check in to the dorms, team meeting, fitness testing and scrimmage.  They'll start 2 a days the following day, and do that for a week to 10 days, schedule a couple of scrimmages, and continue the doubles on days they're not scrimmaging.  Regular practice schedule starts on the 1st day of classes.