Quote from: saint_forever on August 18, 2023, 11:55:56 AM
Felt like making a prediction chart for the league this year. Bias towards the Saints for sure.

1. Vassar
2. SLU
3. RPI
4. Hobart
5. Skidmore
6. Ithaca
7. Union
8. Bard
9. RIT
10. Clarkson

Clarkson bottom, SLU bias aside I think the turnover of coach will hurt them. Vassar stays strong, but SLU right behind, could be another case of ties making the difference.

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On August 23rd I wrote, "Those who underestimate Clarkson will be very, very sorry!  GO TECH!"

Well, the halftime score of the Clarkson - RIT game is Clarkson 2 - RIT 0.  Former coach Carter Lincoln prepared the CU boys for a great season during their Spring European trip and the new coach is managing a great group of talented players.

Looking forward to seeing some great soccer this season!  GO TECH!

A very interesting start to the Liberty League season!  The results of several games came down to a handful of unfortunate miscues.  I believe discipline and decision making "in the moment" will play a major factor in the standings this year.  Red cards by emotion players, can ruin the momentum of even the best team.  Defensive miscues can be very demoralizing to offenses trying to mount a comeback.  Hopefully all Liberty teams will learn from the mistakes of their fellow league players and the rest of the season will provide competitive contests filled with spectacular goals and saves!

Clarkson has bolstered it's offense by bringing in a Section IIA Player of the Year and another All-State forward who had a goal and/or assist in every game he played in 2022.  They also added an All-State and 2-time All-CNY defensive back.  Those who underestimate Clarkson will be very, very sorry!  GO TECH!

When you review the Liberty League soccer schedules for 2023, several of the Liberty League ADs include the "Liberty League Championship Tournament" as part of their published schedules.  The Clarkson AD has decided not to list the LL year end championship tournament in the official 2023 Clarkson soccer schedule.  So frustrating the Clarkson AD does not set the expectation that Clarkson will participate in the year end tournament by including it in their schedule!!!  She does, however, include the ECAC year end tournament for the Clarkson's men's and women's hockey teams. Setting high goals and expectations at the beginning of each season is an important part of progressing any sports program. C'MON MAN !!!!

Quote from: stlawus on July 17, 2023, 05:35:08 PM
Everyone's schedules are now up. Lot of the same from last year.  Can't see any real non challenging out of conference schedule aside from Bard.   Good to see Vassar get Middlebury, it's not often Liberty League teams play the NESCAC in the regular season.

As it stands the most intriguing matchups seem to be Hobart vs JHU and UMW, Vassar vs West Conn, MSU and Middlebury, SLU vs Cortland and Oneonta and RPI vs UMW and Oneonta.

Still not ready to make preseason predictions given there are some unconfirmed roster implications.

What ?   Clarkson sure is playing some really, really, really, really soft pre-Liberty League matches!  Five of their matches are with such powerhouses as SUNY Canton, Russell Sage, Castleton, Morrisville State and North Country Community College (who were outscored 25-0 in their last 5 matches).  Strength of schedule kept Clarkson out of being selected as an at-large NCAA team in 2019.  Does the new AD think this approach will get Clarkson back to the NCAAs?  ARGH !!!!!!!!   So frustrating if you are a devoted Clarkson soccer alumni! C'MON MAN !!

Excellent point! 

In Clarkson's case their endowment in 2021 was $240 million, with a full time enrollment of 3953 and an average tuition of $56,258.  That would provide $60,713 of endowment $$ per student. OK status, but not by much.

But Clarkson's 2022 endowment dropped by 10% to $217 million.  If full time enrollment and average tuition stayed the same, then that would now provide $54,895 of endowment per student. Less than average tuition.  That situation would cause cost cutting measures to be imposed across the university and a delay of capital spending, especially for D3 athletic programs/facilities.

Obviously, "they have work to do!"  A new university President and a new AD, makes a quick financial turnaround that much more challenging!

We all know the quality, comfort and availability of athletic facilities often plays a role in a new recruit's decision to play D3 soccer at a university.  I thought it was interesting to rank the current Liberty League universities by the strength of their 2022 endowment funds.  I believe Clarkson is struggling to solicit former D3 alumni in supporting their overall endowment fund and capital project campaigns. Just my 2 cents ...

RIT         1248 million
Vassar     1196 million
RPI.          864 million
Union        498 million
Skidmore  427 million
Bard         412 million
Ithaca       357 million
St. Law     353 million
Hobart      231 million
Clarkson   217 million

Quote from: stlawus on May 12, 2023, 05:33:17 PM
Good to see new faces on this board.   Clarkson has a new AD so hopefully things change a bit for the better.  The lacrosse team created a buzz this spring so maybe it will spill over in to the entire department with the change in regime.

If you go to Indeed.com to look at current job openings at Clarkson, you will find a 11/22 review left by a former employee of the University.  IMO, the culture of the University plays a huge role in the success of the athletics programs at a University and the engagement of alumni.  Here is his review:

"Clarkson University is going through a dark season. They are financially struggling due to extremely poor accounting practices and unsuccessful recruiting of students. The culture is defined by a few very dictatorial leaders at the top of the organization who micromanage administrative staff and leave most employees paralyzed, unable to do their jobs because of fear. There are major culture clashes and resentments between the three campuses which cause poor decision making. The university does not work through conflict well, avoiding face to face discussions and going around people instead of discussing the conflict directly. There is a large amount of bureaucracy that makes it difficult to efficiently do work. Many good people have left the organization due to the culture and low pay, which further adds to the inability to work effectively. In general, they are not replacing the people who leave.

Feedback for improvement is not welcomed but instead met with defensiveness and retribution. This is all very sad because the university does have good work to do, has great potential, and there are some people of good character who work there."

The Clarkson University Athletic Department announced the hiring of Augusto Lima as the next head coach for the Golden Knights' Men's Soccer program for the 2023-24 season.  Lima replaces coach Carter Lincoln, who accepted a job as an assistant coach for defending Division I National Champion Syracuse University a few weeks ago.

Lima brings Division I and Division III experience to Clarkson, having most recently served as an assistant for Northeastern University in 2022, where he served as recruiting coordinator and goalkeeping coach. Prior to his time with the Huskies, Lima spent a season at University of Rochester as the team's top assistant for the 2021 campaign when the Yellowjackets reached the NCAA Tournament, and he also two seasons as recruiting coordinator and assistant coach for Bucknell University for two seasons (fall 2019, spring 2021).

Lima spent six years in Selinsgrove, PA, as he was a four-year member of the Susquehanna University Men's Soccer team and then spent two more years as assistant coach. The team's starting goalkeeper in his junior and senior season with the River Hawks, Lima started 27 games and posted a 1.20 goals against average in nearly 2500 career minutes, making 102 saves and collecting 11 wins and nine shutouts.

A 2016 graduate of Susquehanna University with a degree in Business Administration, Lima has a United Soccer Coaches Goalkeeping Level 3 Diploma and a United Soccer Coaches Federation D License. A native of Campinas, Brazil, Lima is fluent in English and Portuguese, and is also highly proficient in Spanish.

I wish the team much success under this new leadership!

The first test for the new AD will be the quality and experience level of the coach she hires to replace Coach Lincoln.  The second test will be whether she can assemble enough maintenance repair money to replace the 15-year old soccer/lacrosse turf on Hantz Field.  Most of the discretionary maintenance money that built up over the past 10 years was used to pay for the overrun costs of the last Cheel Hockey Arena upgrades. From 2018 through 2020 Clarkson had planned on spending $40 million on the upgrades.

CU_GKnight makes some excellent points regarding Clarkson's soccer program. But I believe the ADs at Clarkson have no interest in mentoring young enthusiastic coaches into becoming successful and long standing coaches, unless (of course) they are part of the hockey program. Coach Lincoln was one win away from having the best win/loss record of any coach who ever wore the green & gold over the past 65 years. He and Coach Taylor resurrected the program from the ashes of the 1990s/early 2000s. Former President Tony Collins was an avid fan of D3 sports and fully understood the benefits of fielding competitive D3 teams. I believe his departure will also (unfortunately) have a negative affect on fund raising from D3 alumni and for future capital improvement projects, other than Cheel Arena.