New England Soccer Discussion

[maineman]

Did anybody notice that on the Nescac scoreboard Middlebury plays Plymouth State in soccer just about every Saturday?  I wonder what indoor facility they use?  Great website, huh?

[OldNed]

I think it'll be the CCC, but I also think that it may only be a temporary home for Hartford. The northeastern corner of D3 is going to undergo a lot of conference shakeup over the next few years as more and more schools close or merge.

I don't see Hartford joining the LEC; I can't think of a single instance in D3 history in which a private school has joined a league that has always consisted of nothing but state schools.

Right on the money, Greg. 
https://hartfordhawks.com/news/2022/6/21/general-university-of-hartford-athletics-joins-commonwealth-coast-conference-ccc.aspx

[4231CenterBack]

Salve Regina is moving to the NEWMAC:  https://www.newmacsports.com/general/2022-23/releases/20220711mug5jb

I don't know much about their other programs but from a soccer perspective they are going to have to get a lot better to compete.  The men's program is third best in the CCC behind Gordon and Endicott and CCC teams typically suffer against NEWMAC sides.

[Ejay]

Looking at my handy-dandy cheat sheet, Salve actually has the best record in the CCC over the previous 5 years (no results for 2020) at 57-28-14 overall, including an undefeated run through the conference in both 2018 and 2019.

2016 - 4-12-1
2017 - 11-5-3
2018 - 16-1-3
2019 - 14-4-4
2021 - 12-6-3

[4231CenterBack]

Yes, they are not bad.  However, if you factor in a terrible SOS and frequent failures in big matches (except 2019 when they were quite good), I believe they will struggle in the NEWMAC.

[blooter442]

Random CCC question: What is the furthest a CCC men's team has made it in the NCAA tournament? I know Gordon and RWU have both made it to the 2nd Round (both in 2013) and I'm sure there are more, but didn't know if someone knew off-hand. I believe in 2013 the maximum was the 2nd Round, but can't be sure — if that is still true, probabilistically it's only a matter of time that they go further.

[4231CenterBack]

Gordon also made it to the second round in 2015.  Losing to F&M.  I believe WNE made it to the sweet 16 a couple of times under Erin Sullivan.

[blooter442]

Gordon also made it to the second round in 2015.  Losing to F&M. I believe WNE made it to the sweet 16 a couple of times under Erin Sullivan.

Those late 2000s-early 2010s WNE teams were quite good, as I recall! Now that you mention it I remember Gordon knocking out CMU in 2015. I think with a kinder draw in 2013 they were good enough to make the Sweet 16 but came up against the buzzsaw of Amherst (losing 5-0 but admirably they played them straight up).

[BigSoccerFan]

https://masseyratings.com/csoc2022/ncaa-d3/ratings

Here are the Massey rankings.

[4231CenterBack]

The admissions folks must love the Endicott coaches.  They appear to have 51 players on their roster which includes 26 Freshmen.  Imagine the training sessions!  2 full field scrimmages with subs 


https://www.ecgulls.com/sports/msoc/2022-23/roster

[camosfan]

 

[PaulNewman]

As I am scouring through the national records of all D3 teams I noticed that Emerson is 4-0-3....must be best start in years and maybe ever?  Recently beat Springfield for first time in program history.

Anyway, Emerson's new 1st year HC is Dan Toulson, who was a senior captain at Kenyon in 2011 for my son's frosh year.  Iirc he may have been a couple of years older than a usual senior and found his way to Kenyon via New Zealand.  Apparently spent the past few years as an asst at Catholic.

[OldNed]

Nice story, PaulNewman - it's always nice to find a connection to a new program.

That being said, while Emerson does have a win over Springfield, this is not the Springfield team of the last 4-5 years or so.  Springfield is 1-3-2, although one of their ties is a 0-0 draw with Williams.  Springfield does also have a 1-1 tie with Worcester State, not traditionally one of the better state schools for soccer in MA.

[PaulNewman]

Nice story, PaulNewman - it's always nice to find a connection to a new program.

That being said, while Emerson does have a win over Springfield, this is not the Springfield team of the last 4-5 years or so.  Springfield is 1-3-2, although one of their ties is a 0-0 draw with Williams.  Springfield does also have a 1-1 tie with Worcester State, not traditionally one of the better state schools for soccer in MA.

Understood.  I've followed Springfield's struggles as ironically a transfer from Kenyon is there and I feel bad for him because he was outstanding as a frosh at Kenyon.

But as for Emerson, 4-0-3 looks and sounds a lot better than the prior 3 years of 3-13-1, 3-11-2, and 3-11-2 with a combined conference record of 2-19.

[PaulNewman]

As I am scouring through the national records of all D3 teams I noticed that Emerson is 4-0-3....must be best start in years and maybe ever?  Recently beat Springfield for first time in program history.

Anyway, Emerson's new 1st year HC is Dan Toulson, who was a senior captain at Kenyon in 2011 for my son's frosh year.  Iirc he may have been a couple of years older than a usual senior and found his way to Kenyon via New Zealand.  Apparently spent the past few years as an asst at Catholic.

Another shout out for Emerson.  We sometimes miss these stories because of the focus on the tournament and who is gonna make or not make the tournament, and even with some of their opponents having down years, I'm guessing Emerson is on their way to maybe their best season in....well, maybe ever.  Sitting at 7-1-5.  Won 3 games total in 2021, 2019, and 2018, and 5 games in 2017, 2016, and 2015.  That's as far back as I went.