Mid-Atlantic Region

[Mr_November]

Meyer from Hopkins is Centennial Conference DPOY. Iwowo from Dickinson is OPOY. Dewamena from Dickinson is ROY. Red Devils coaching staff is coaching staff of the year.

Selection for players of the year and all-conference teams are all reasonable and I don't disagree with any of them but I think Appleby and staff deserved the coaching award. In my mind, they were the prime movers behind the changes that enabled the Jays to win the conference regular season and tournament titles after a somewhat rocky start.

Agree all the up to coaching staff. While Hop had a good season, Dickinson has been a doormat for many years and has never won the award since 2008. Hop not so much and you just highlighted two players who played D1! A lot easier path for Hop than team who has had no success for several years.  Who did you expect to get to the NCAAs?

Meyer did not play d1

My bad, he is one of 6 grad students on the team of which 3 were D1.

Notably, Andersen was also the only grad transfer starting by the end of the season. He has played every minute of every game for the last six games. Three of the "grad" students (Meyer, Falzarano, and Dunphy) played their entire careers at Hopkins and are using their COVID year.

I understand why the Dickinson staff was recognized and they have elevated the program well above its previous level but when I look at how Dickinson and Hopkins finished the season and their results in head-to-head play, I think Appleby and staff outcoached the Devils.

Looking forward to next year, Dickinson is going to be a handful. Their best [first and second team all-conference] players (Iwowo, Jarden, Dwamena, and Omoniwa) will all be back. Hopkins will lose all of their best players [Meyer, Andersen, Sangpachatanaruk, Falzarano]. F&M's best are also all seniors [Kaliebe, Anderko, Green].

Well then...all eyes on the Red Devils come the 2025 Fall season. Ever since the electric Dickinson v Messiah matchup in September, I've had an awe & respect for what Jorge Chapoy has done since he came in. There were some serious growing pains in his first season or two -- but this is the first season that he's had a full team of his own recruits and it has paid dividends.

[jfreddys]

2023 season Dickinson took it to Hopkins 4-2.  Everyone's eyes should have been open after that.   But have to agree with an earlier post as, at least this season, Hopkins pulled out 2 strong wins against Dickinson...although that first half of the semi last Friday, Hopkins was just holding on.   But based on those 2 games and being 1st seed and winning the conference championship, seemed like the Hopkins staff deserved the coaching award.   But winning in PKs with Appleby's no step approach, well, that might be a bigger trophy.

And the point about blending in 1 year grad transfers, not always an easy thing.  Can be disruptive and not sure all coaches can pull that off.  Appleby has picked some good ones these past 3 years but it takes some massaging to make it work and keep the team playing as a whole. 

Also, a big congratulations to the 4 teams from the Centennial making the tourney.   Might have been only 3 as Hopkins nearly scored in last 30 seconds of OT but when the game went to PKs, it secured their place in the NPI rankings.

[Hopkins92]

That's a good point... Or it brings up a good point... What are you actually judging as coaching staff of the year. If you are talking about growth of the program, it's hands down Dickinson. If you are talking about the body of work over the course of the season, it's probably Hopkins who had a rocky start and is now playing lights out.

Either way, not a snub situation in my opinion.

[jfreddys]

That's a good point... Or it brings up a good point... What are you actually judging as coaching staff of the year. If you are talking about growth of the program, it's hands down Dickinson. If you are talking about the body of work over the course of the season, it's probably Hopkins who had a rocky start and is now playing lights out.

Either way, not a snub situation in my opinion.

Agreed.

[Falconer]

I watched both games for York/Messiah - definitely could feel and tell the despair at the conclusion of Sunday's game for York.  I was completely unimpressed the first time they played as I was expecting more of a match but it was like York just sat back and took a beating.

Sunday's match was more competitive but it was still not really close.  York's goal came from a handball in the box that was an unlucky bounce straight up hitting the Messiah defenders arm.  (Well slotted PK though - with a run-up).  They really didn't create many chances at all, and didn't have the ball much.

They were better than Lancaster Bible, and Widener and that's where they missed out.

That York PK was their only Shot (not just their only SOG) the entire game.

Messiah dominated York for 180 minutes this fall. No question that this year's Falcons are better than this year's Spartans, no question at all. Maybe if they played early in the season, York would have gotten a result.

York's fate (in which I take no pleasure) reminds me of a few times when Etown lost twice to Messiah, once in the regular season and once in the conference tournament, and then failed to get a bid. In those days, it wasn't uncommon for the tournament to pencil in Etown vs Messiah in (say) round three. I think at least once, Etown lost 3 times to Messiah in one season. Of course they are no longer in the same conference.

[BlueJay95]

Epic battles Falconer. In 1993 we (Etown) played Messiah three times in two weeks. If my memory serves me right (and it may not): won 1-0 in regular season, won conference final one week later 2-1 (DeSales coach George Crampton chips the keeper with 14 secs left in match), then Steve Mott broke our hearts in the mud in 3OT the following weekend (yes, that's right triple OT) to beat us 2-1 in the NCAA second round.

[SierraFD3soccer]

That's a good point... Or it brings up a good point... What are you actually judging as coaching staff of the year. If you are talking about growth of the program, it's hands down Dickinson. If you are talking about the body of work over the course of the season, it's probably Hopkins who had a rocky start and is now playing lights out.

Either way, not a snub situation in my opinion.

I'm sure it was tough decision, but definitely growth of the program and you could argue that Dickinson did well during the course of the season though not as well as Hop. Most us, including me and especially at the half, predicted that Dickinson would not be where it is now. Yet they are 17th NPI ranked and in the NCAAs. Remember Swat (7-0-1) was in a similar place as Dickinson in the first half of the season and then just tanked the rest (3-5-1).

Yes, Hop struggled a bit at the beginning of the season, but are we actually surprised that it turned it around? Who over performed and who performed as expected?

[Hopkins Walk-On]

Len Yamabe from Swarthmore was one of the better players I saw this year. He gave Hopkins fits.

Wanted to add that Yamabe made first-team CC as well. The Centennial looks to be very competitive in coming years. As I noted earlier, Dickinson is loaded with a ton of young talent but, in addition to Yamabe, Swarthmore also had three juniors selected as honorable mention for the conference team. Muhlenberg had three non-seniors selected.

Recent conference powerhouses Hopkins and F&M, which both had a bunch of seniors/grad students this year, will face some serious challengers.

[Hopkins92]

Hop is going to need some of the solid freshmen and sophomore players to step it up next year, of sure.

One FR that stands out on this current squad is Arnav Patel. He has really stepped up his game and is a very solid contributor off the bench. You'll hear his name quite a bit on Saturday if you tune in.

[SKUD]

The schools with good grad-programs will be in good shape forever with a solid pipeline of D1 players that never saw the field and have an extra year. Ride that horse till it drops!

[SierraFD3soccer]

Hop is going to need some of the solid freshmen and sophomore players to step it up next year, of sure.

One FR that stands out on this current squad is Arnav Patel. He has really stepped up his game and is a very solid contributor off the bench. You'll hear his name quite a bit on Saturday if you tune in.

F&M loses several seniors - 3 big starters and 2 guys with a good amount of playing time. Koa Kaliebe and Conor Anderko will tough to replace. Fortunately, F&M plays a lot of subs who get a lot of minutes so it'll take some to step up obviously. 

[camosfan]

Wagner does well recruiting, so they will be fine, I expect Jack the #6 transfer to really come good next year.