Quote from: pittsfieldpete on September 11, 2023, 11:16:53 AM

Quote from: TrueGrit on September 10, 2023, 01:26:12 PM
Williams may be 2-0 but the program has major issues. Reports coach cut a few young men going into senior season (- in D3 ).  A 3 year starter "retired' because of this and the culture that has been created; the best freshman attempted to transfer and is sitting out the year to preserve a year of eligibility. Multiple other freshman looked to transfer. Will be interesting if this trend continues, or he just gets the players he wants and continues his success. Sort of like the Dion Sanders of D3 soccer.

The Williams team is a bit of a mystery to me. I haven't seen them play this year because the games haven't been streamed so I can't comment on the new class.  However, one of the things that struck me about last year's team was that while their swarming defense (and Boardman's heroics) got them to the title game there were glimpses of players with a great deal of offensive technical skill. And it's precisely those players (Morriello and Rayhill, are the most obvious) who aren't around this year.  Is the plan again to make every game a slog? I heard grumblings last year about Siebert's micromanagement of everything and his players' frustration with his coaching style and game management and, (who knows?), maybe he's made adjustments this season. Obviously, 2 wins over weaker non-conference opponents doesn't tell us much. First NESCAC games are this week so maybe we'll learn something from them. Still, I just can't put my finger on what the deal is up at Cole.

Imagine if Williams didn't sneak into the NCAAs last year (Siebert's record would be 13-9-10 in two years without the NCAA run). 16 players remain in total from the soph through senior classes - most of the others would be gone if they weren't attending Williams as it's hard to leave a Williams degree.

I can assure you no 'elitism' going on here. Ranked Conn 4th in a preseason poll behind 3 teams who all made the Elite 8 a year ago. No knock on Conn as I mentioned I think they make it back to NCAAs. Just my feeling that being the hunter is a lot easier than being the hunted...

Quote from: Kuiper on August 08, 2022, 04:47:48 PM

Quote from: nescac1 on August 08, 2022, 02:36:24 PM

That being said, putting Conn, coming off a national title, at four to start the season feels pretty disrespectful, especially considering that Tufts and Amherst both lost MASSIVE pieces to graduation.  Yes, Conn had some fortunate results deep in the tourney, but a national title is no joke.  Conn's recruiting is on the upswing so you would assume the talent pool will only continue to grow there after experiencing so much relatively newfound success over the past few years.  The coaching staff, obviously tremendous - Conn seems to keep improving each season.  And they bring most of their critical guys back -- Yeonas, Djerdjaj, Kelesoglu, Jaran, Maidenberg - it's not like they lose much from the title team at all.

I tend to agree with you about Conn.  There's a little bit of elitism going on most likely.  Partly, that's in the soccer sense that the traditional "top" schools and their fans probably still view Conn's nat'l championship run as a bit flukey and won't believe in them without several more years of sustained success (in other words, they're still in the show me or prove it stage).  There's also probably some good old fashioned New England small college elitism too, since Conn may not have the historic prestige academically as some of the other schools in the conference.  It's the youngest school in the conference (only one founded in the 20th century) and it's the most recent to join (if you trace Hamilton back to 1971 as an original member of NESCAC, even if not for soccer).  It also has the smallest endowment (just below Bates, but those two are a significant margin below everyone else) and is the easiest to get into as a school (along with Trinity) based on admission percentages. If anything, there may be some people who grumble a little that Conn has an easier time recruiting because they can dig a bit deeper into the pool, which, of course, ignores that some of the schools in the conference also attract pretty widely because of their reputations, so they aren't exactly hurting.

Given all of that, this seems like a classic case where a coach has made a huge difference in the direction of a program.  I don't have any connection to the school, but I have seen from afar what kind of a recruiter Burk has been over the last few years and he's obviously done well in all aspects of the job.  The question may be whether Conn can hold onto him.  He does have some D1 experience if he wanted to go in that direction and you could see how he could be recruited away for a more well-resourced program if he continues to do well.

For the Lauta part I should have put IMO, just higher on Lauta after seeing him play than any of the other NESCAC keepers. If you just base everything off awards and statistics you'll miss some things. Midd plays a much more conservative, defensive minded style than probably any other NESCAC team for instance. Personally I think after this coming season is over Lauta will be at the top of the convo. 

Quote from: College Soccer Observer on August 06, 2022, 02:45:13 PM
Love that we are getting back to talking about the season!  Interesting predicitions, but Lauta is the best keeper in D3???  Clearly he had a great season, but I don't think he was even the best keeper in the NESCAC, never mind all of D3. Last year in the NESCAC Grady (Midd) and Devanny (Wesleyan) were 1st and 2nd team all-NESCAC respectively.  For United Soccer Coaches, Devanny was first team all region and Grady was 2nd.  Grady got 1st team All-American from D3soccer.com. Lauta was 3rd in GAA in the NESCAC behind Grady and Hope-Gund (Amherst), 2nd in shutouts behind Grady, and 6th in save percentage behind Grady, Hope-Gund, Devanny, Maidenberg (Conn) and Kingston (Bowdoin). Lauta is an outstanding goalkeeper, but the NESCAC has an abundance of those. Should be a great season ahead.

Predictions for the NESCAC Season this Fall?
1. Amherst - obviously the loss of Giammattei, but I think Okorogheye has a huge year and they've brought in another stellar recruiting class, including a CB transfer from WVU.
2. Middlebury - Jordan St Louis is my pick for NESCAC player of the year and they surround him with a ton of size and experience, including a UNH transfer.
3. Tufts - Lauta is the best keeper in D3, and though they lose a huge class they have players like Daly, Clivio, Campbell and Traynor to lead the way. A very balanced group.
4. Conn - I think they take a slight step back in the NESCAC standings but still earn an at large come NCAA time. It's hard for a program that just got to the mountain top for time #1 to replicate that a year later - more mouths to feed!
5. Wesleyan - wouldn't surprise me if they got into the top 2-3 with the team that Wheeler is building there.
6. Williams - return a ton of contributors from a year ago, but it's an upperclassmen group that's been 15-11-7 in terms of overall record the last two seasons. Who's the game changer in their attack?
7. Colby - another team I like the make up of and Franco is a guy that can turn a NESCAC result.
8. Bowdoin - always a tough team to break down, but their non conf schedule leaves them needing a winning NESCAC campaign.
9. Trinity - I think they earn a few results in the NESCAC this year with the energy coming from the new coaching staff.
10. Bates - they will struggle with the loss of HC Sheikh so close to the season.
11. Hamilton - always a well organized team but I think they should do better with their recruiting.

Quote from: nescac1 on February 02, 2022, 07:09:15 PM
Seems like Siebert has acquitted himself well for being in an interim spot.  The two Central Jersey recruits are both from really strong programs, and Vasquez in particular looks like a guy who could give an immediate jolt to the Ephs up front.

it'll be interesting to see where the Williams program goes in the next couple of years. Many alums aren't all that happy with the Siebert hire and the current state of things in the program, in particular how a program that's been around for 100 years is carrying itself (just take a look at the social media as one example...)

Now that he's the permanent hire the hope is the program gets back to truly competing in the NESCAC, but with the new Trinity hire there will soon be no easy-out in the league. And Williams barely scratched into the playoffs this fall.