Kenyon a heck of a job.  One of best in D3 hands down.

Quote from: PaulNewman on October 13, 2022, 02:08:17 PM

Quote from: College Soccer Observer on October 13, 2022, 02:04:37 PM
Had a conversation with my son, who is a junior, about playing Amherst at Amherst.  This is something he has now done 3 times in 3 seasons (2019 regular season and NESCAC tournament, and 2021 NCAA tournament).  I said something about how hopefully all his future games against Amherst would be at home.  His response"  "I love playing them here.  The atmosphere gets me so focused and ready to play."  I think it is possbile both to dislike Amherst for how they play and go about their business and at the same time respect the rivalry and enjoy the high level competition that it brings.

Yup.  This.

I don't win often at Amherst, but when I do, I drink Dos Equis.

Having coached against them in close games, all losses and every loss bitter... nothing but respect for the serial winning Serpone and Amherst have had in the toughest D3 conference in the country with a bullseye on their backs every game.  It's intense yea, but I marvel at it.  Only thing that matters to him is the respect his players have in themselves, their teammates and the opponent they give their best shot to.  All the other stuff that's been said or written is probably by design/he and they simply don't care.  Rarified air. 

Switching gears, if there's never been a better time to face tufts in recent memory (fool's gold, that statement), it'll be of intrigue to this former Bobcat if Bates can kick on from points vs Hamilton and Wes on the road to 3pts v Tufts at home.  Id expect that field to be torrid and the tussle come down to capitalizing on tough bounces.

Absolute crazy depth in the league this season per where Tufts, Amherst, Conn currently sit. 

Quote from: coach analytics on October 09, 2022, 06:52:18 PM

Quote from: D3Coach on October 09, 2022, 06:16:02 PM

Quote from: Kuiper on October 09, 2022, 05:26:09 PM

Quote from: Bobcat_Fan on October 09, 2022, 05:20:36 PM
Wesleyan 4 - 4 Bates

Bates Bobcat Fan Here.

Really happy that the boys were able to battle back after being down 3 goals at the half!  They really kept on competing and were able to get another point on the road against a good Wesleyan team.  Unfortunately, had to pretty much monitor the live stats, on the website, since the live stream of the game did not seem to be working.  The game ended as a 4 - 4 draw.

Credit to Coach Noah Riskin.  He took over the Bates job at the very last minute and has done well keeping the boys motivated and fighting to the end.  Today's kind of turnaround is a true test for a coach and the belief he has instilled in his players (plus the motivation and adjustments he can make at halftime).

I'll show my bias,, but not many teams could be down 0-3 at the half on the Sunday of a doubleheader away weekend at the #1 and #2 teams in the standings and pull out a 4-4 result after a Saturday 2-2 result in the final minute.  Interim tag should've been removed YESTERDAY. 

Proud former coach however the season turns out for the 'cats. 

Amazing year in the NESCAC.






Coach - love your thoughts on 4-4-2 line up...most teams in league, college and pros have gone to systems which create more natural triangles and angles through out the field versus a more vertical formation. Hard for me to see how 2 central midfielders can be successful but I would ove your thoughts.

Could chat for hours and maybe some day we'll get the pleasure, but I would say:  "we don't get them for very long or with very much continuity."

Injuries per condensed schedule, nescac rules etc... notwithstanding these primarily top academic schools get a lot of the top athletes.  However good the depth of soccer talent increases year after year, these pretty darn good coaches understand simple tactics can possibly win more on game day.  Defensively I think those banks of 4 stagger much more to create some often robust defenses, but NESCAC has been so open (league-wise) that it seems more coaches are playing some swashbuckling stuff.  Get back in numbers get forward in numbers.  4-4-2 creates an easy enough "level up" style of play that can be easily substituted into especially in the 7, 11, 9, 10 and 8.  And if it's as simple as matchups on the wing then I'd include the 2 and 3.  Anyways, my two cents having loved it. 

The team I had prior to bates was pretty dominant in a lesser conference out of a strict 4-1-4-1 that morphed into a 3-3-4.  We also had the ball a lot. 

The nescac has been a mostly dominated by 2 or 3 teams for 5 or 6 years so rest of teams trying to get results in that climate.  See Colby's 8th seeded championship. Notwithstanding, those tufts and Amherst teams were silly athletic and big and there was a "this is the game" trickle down.  Conn bucked that.  Wesleyans re-rise has bucked that.  But Williams, Hamilton and Midd's seasons thus far speak to simple tactics and pressing to take nothing away from rosters and coaching staffs alike that are incredible.  Midd's playmakers are their offense and Coach Elias can set up a team to defend the Alamo if he so chose. 

Quote from: Kuiper on October 09, 2022, 05:26:09 PM

Quote from: Bobcat_Fan on October 09, 2022, 05:20:36 PM
Wesleyan 4 - 4 Bates

Bates Bobcat Fan Here.

Really happy that the boys were able to battle back after being down 3 goals at the half!  They really kept on competing and were able to get another point on the road against a good Wesleyan team.  Unfortunately, had to pretty much monitor the live stats, on the website, since the live stream of the game did not seem to be working.  The game ended as a 4 - 4 draw.

Credit to Coach Noah Riskin.  He took over the Bates job at the very last minute and has done well keeping the boys motivated and fighting to the end.  Today's kind of turnaround is a true test for a coach and the belief he has instilled in his players (plus the motivation and adjustments he can make at halftime).

I'll show my bias,, but not many teams could be down 0-3 at the half on the Sunday of a doubleheader away weekend at the #1 and #2 teams in the standings and pull out a 4-4 result after a Saturday 2-2 result in the final minute.  Interim tag should've been removed YESTERDAY. 

Proud former coach however the season turns out for the 'cats. 

Amazing year in the NESCAC. 

Quote from: Another Mom on September 07, 2022, 12:41:06 PM
Coach, thank you for coming on here. Your reputation precedes you, I can tell you among soccer families dealing with recruitment it really couldn't be better. I want to be clear that I wasn't speculating.  If I had to guess I was thinking something was going on with the school.

The soccer world is a small one, I'm sure you can figure out who I am too :-)

All good, I didn't receive it as such and the timing begs the question.  Bates kids are in great hands and my own kids are happier.  All that matters.

And thanks for the kind words.  One game over .500 at Bates in three years isn't worth writing home about.  I was initially flying by the seat of my pants with recruiting at that academic level.  I ultimately wanted no surprises come decision day after we had a surprise my first recruiting class in 2018.  My adjustment was to often be measured and ambiguous where I maybe wanted to grab a kid and his family and scream "we want you, but no guarantees you'll get in!".  We missed out on a bunch of kids I could have MAYBE gotten in, but it wasn't worth the risk of certainty to all in a recruited class.  A lot of coaches, as most could figure, are what admissions will and won't do for respective programs.  Schools certainly tier sports.  I've too much info on that!

My former asst at Knox who then took that program to two ncaa appearances is now at Randolph and playing against your son. Tall task, but he's loving the ODAC.  All the best

Quote from: Mr.Right on September 06, 2022, 06:44:55 AM

Quote from: Another Mom on September 04, 2022, 05:21:58 PM
I'm still curious about what's going on at Bates . . .

I have no information but as per usual will offer up a guess. An August resignation suggests he was forced out by some combination of Administration / Player Job reviews that show up at the end of the year in June. Maybe he had 3 years of consistently bad reviews and the school offered him a generous severance and he took it? Maybe he was told this was his last year and resigned before the season started? Maybe the school and HC were not a good fit? Either way these schools need to understand timing and waiting until a month before the season begins to do this is not good for anyone involved including the current players. These admin/player reviews should be evaluated a month or two after your season ends and then a decision should be hashed out in January, NOT JUNE. They should not wait until the end of the academic calendar but unfortunately they do this because that is how the contracts for Faculty / Staff are set up.

Bates wll be an improved side with a veteran backline but in such a loaded conference like Nescac it could be tough sledding in 2022.

So, former Bates coach here.  First Fall I'm not a D3 head for a decade.  And what a fun decade it was.  From Mount Aloysius to Bates in 6 years, then building a forever home with my wife in Maine only to sell it two years later.  LIFE! 

I appreciate Mr. Right speculating in favor of backing the coaching profession.  It's not an easy one, but an incredibly rewarding one.  I never lost the team, because I always respected them.  I can't imagine I was batting 1.000 in terms of being a beloved coach to all my players, but all knew my passion and love for them/the game.  But to answer Another Mom's question directly.  No scandal, nothing untoward.  Certainly, if things were perfect I wouldn't have been looking to possibly depart, but after serving as head of 4 D3s at various levels, nowhere is perfect.  I left on my own accord after 4 positive reviews and 4 subsequent customary raises. 

I suppose some coaches and players don't pop on here to read the board, but as we were aiming to elevate the program at Bates my captains and I would take a look for any locker room material.  Certainly, if we play and coach the games someone can judge them.  I think it's great and I hope to add insight where I can. 

I wanted to set the record straight as I'm still coaching in New England and a man is as good as their reputation.  And a man's reputation should be based on what they protect.  I left Bates, because we had an offer on our house I couldn't refuse.  We walked away from that sale completing our daughter's college fund for a place like Bates should they be so deserving someday.  After a decade away from "home," 8 years away with my wife, the time was right to return to my 80-year old father and mom to help out and live in my childhood home (my wife from the same town).  Our daughters will have their first birthdays, weekends and holidays with family.  Can't put a price on that.

The timing stunk and my admins didn't love it (neither did I!) but our house closing took longer than expected and it allowed for my asst and now interim head at Bates to ascend as the perfect fit to lead the program at this time as Coach Riskind bleeds Bates garnet.  He helped hold the rope with an overall resilient ncaa generation through the COVID season and helped us in a campaign where we endured a lot of things thrown the team's way.  We still walked away with a respectable 3 NESCAC wins (and a first ever written apology from a ref and ref assigner regarding a 4th game that should've been ours).  Forgive me if I send like a whiner or a homer, but my intent is to be defender of a great group of Bates lads that if I was still at the helm would expect top half of nescac this season like in my second campaign pre-COVID.  They're young, (the current frosh as my last recruited class is terrific with great character) as talented as most, and playing soccer "hard and together" again.

Hope to see folks around the New England fall soccer scene.  Nothing better!