New England Soccer Discussion

[SierraFD3soccer]

I do wonder how money gets allocated at various schools.  Some of the more elite programs only have 1 or maybe 2 assts (and if a second one often it's a GK coach or volunteer kind of deal).  And then others list as many as 5 or 6 assts.  I think I counted 5 assts on the F&M website today.

Son just played and graduated from F&M. Yes, they do at times have several assts, but not every year.  I would say that Coach Wagner has worked hard to develop a special situation that many programs have not been able to stand up.  Therefore this might be unique in D3 soccer. From what I understand only one is really a paid asst and he is full time HS teacher.  He is also an amazing recruiter and organizer. I think he could coach anywhere D3, but has decided to not take that step, but chooses not to because his family and his situation at F&M. One person was a grad. asst. last year so no or very little compensation last year and probably not much this year.  However, F&M has put out some coaches for other programs (not even close to Messiah), so that might be a draw for him.  One other asst. coach is the coach's brother who was a successful head coach for many, many years and now runs a very good soccer business,  Future 500 ID Camps. The last two are definitely new to the program and probably local guys.  F&M's coach has a lot of local connections and can draw from these individuals.  The keeper coach is new and F&M did not have one last year.  FYI, if a program does not have a decent keeper coach and your kid is a keeper, I would definitely recommend you consider this factor when deciding what school your kid is might go to. I am only guessing, but the last two coaches plus the coach's brother are not substantially (full time or even part time) compensated for their time like a D1 staff.  Coach Wagner has been doing this for over 20 years and his teams have had success.  Further, he had deep local ties (Messiah grad and coaches/assists local teams) along with having a reputation of developing coaches. 

[PaulNewman]

Just did a quick browse of Babson roster...

Reaction? The Beavers are gonna be a problem.

[BaboNation]

Just did a quick browse of Babson roster...

Reaction? The Beavers are gonna be a problem.

A problem for other teams?  I sure hope so.  Yes, there are 3 D1 xfers coming in (Stone looks like the best), but they also lose their best scorer from last season (Ben Williams 13 goals - next highest 6) to graduation.  The buildup will probably be solid, but the last 20 yards is where the lack of speed and creativity has ended too many seasons.
Gazo probably their best returning striker.  I foresee a lot of 1-0 and 2-1 games,  Coach Anderson, while building a solid program, is a little too conservative for my liking.  I'm probably being too harsh, given the difficulty for recruiting in the Northeast with so many powerhouses around,

[northman]

I was intrigued at the thought of D1 transfers at Babson.  It appears there are no fewer than 5 transfers from the likes of West Virginia, UVM, Davidson, UMass, and UConn.  Some quick research suggests that none of them enjoyed huge playing time at their former institutions.  Although Justin Stone appears to have had a couple of impact seasons at Davidson before tailing off.  His bio indicates his dad is Rob Stone.  I wonder if it's the same Rob Stone who broadcasts World Cup matches?  That Rob Stone was a 4-year starter in his day at Colgate.

I assume these transfers are largely Covid-eligibility driven?

[BaboNation]

I was intrigued at the thought of D1 transfers at Babson.  It appears there are no fewer than 5 transfers from the likes of West Virginia, UVM, Davidson, UMass, and UConn.  Some quick research suggests that none of them enjoyed huge playing time at their former institutions.  Although Justin Stone appears to have had a couple of impact seasons at Davidson before tailing off.  His bio indicates his dad is Rob Stone.  I wonder if it's the same Rob Stone who broadcasts World Cup matches?  That Rob Stone was a 4-year starter in his day at Colgate.

I assume these transfers are largely Covid-eligibility driven?

2 of the 5 you mentioned were on the team last year:  Gazo (UVM) and Kim (UMass) are starters and key pieces.  The other 3 are wild cards, because as you say, they didn't play a lot while at the D1 level.

Some other players on the team I really like are midfielder Kalishman (who also plays lacrosse) and Araujo B/M who started as a freshman.

[Another Mom]

As I recall, Louis Gazo played center back in high school/club. He may have been an All American in high school?

[Kuiper]

I was intrigued at the thought of D1 transfers at Babson.  It appears there are no fewer than 5 transfers from the likes of West Virginia, UVM, Davidson, UMass, and UConn.  Some quick research suggests that none of them enjoyed huge playing time at their former institutions.  Although Justin Stone appears to have had a couple of impact seasons at Davidson before tailing off.  His bio indicates his dad is Rob Stone.  I wonder if it's the same Rob Stone who broadcasts World Cup matches?  That Rob Stone was a 4-year starter in his day at Colgate.

I assume these transfers are largely Covid-eligibility driven?

Rob Stone of Fox Sports did play at Colgate, but he lives in the South Bay in SoCal.  Justin Stone appears to be from Cary, NC.  I think the name of his father is just a coincidence.

[BaboNation]

Babson overcomes a lackluster, uninspired, sloppy effort to eke out another way-too-close 1-0 win.
UT-Dallas impressed me more than St. Joe's on Friday.  They caused havoc on the Babson back line with their high press and overall quickness and defensive recovery.  Maybe better conditioned too to the outside observer.
Every Beaver starter seemed to be in a generous mood with giveaways.  Better teams will capitalize on this if it isn't cleaned up.  Quickly.
Thankfully, two of the new D1 transfers combined on a corner liner from Morgan, headed in by Stone.  Beautiful thing that.
Kalishman went down in the opening 90 seconds and didn't return (hammy?).  Key piece.  FY center forward "Sasha" Yablonovskiy, who has shown good early form also left the match with a leg injury.
And leading returning scorer Gazo has not appeared yet this season.
The schedule gets real next weekend.

[SKUD]

Babo where were you watching from the basketball court?

[BaboNation]

Babo where were you watching from the basketball court?

If you are suggesting my observations are off the mark I'd welcome other views.  I thought the team played far better against St. Joe's, although the offense couldn't convert more than once.
There were far too many bad turnovers in their own end against UT-D.

[SKUD]

Was more a reference to your primary sport.

[OldNed]

Babson overcomes a lackluster, uninspired, sloppy effort to eke out another way-too-close 1-0 win.
UT-Dallas impressed me more than St. Joe's on Friday.  They caused havoc on the Babson back line with their high press and overall quickness and defensive recovery.  Maybe better conditioned too to the outside observer.
Every Beaver starter seemed to be in a generous mood with giveaways.  Better teams will capitalize on this if it isn't cleaned up.  Quickly.
Thankfully, two of the new D1 transfers combined on a corner liner from Morgan, headed in by Stone.  Beautiful thing that.
Kalishman went down in the opening 90 seconds and didn't return (hammy?).  Key piece.  FY center forward "Sasha" Yablonovskiy, who has shown good early form also left the match with a leg injury.
And leading returning scorer Gazo has not appeared yet this season.
The schedule gets real next weekend.

I watched the 1st half of the Babson/St. Joe's game and I didn't see the UT Dallas game so I can't compare the 2 games, but I think I agree with your take on the St. Joe's game.  I thought Babson was clearly the better team during the part of the game I watched and coming from a St. Joe's perspective I was disappointed with the Babson goal because it came from a takeaway on St. Joe's part.  That being said, I think you have to give credit to Babson for taking advantage of the error.  I'd be curious to hear what you thought of the 2nd half.

[OldNed]

Just a few random thoughts on the little pieces I saw over the weekend.

- Babson was better than St. Joe's in the first half - no question.
- I saw a little bit of the UMass Boston/Salve game and UMass Boston really looked good offensively. I had no idea they smoked WPI until I just looked at their results.  Gabriel Meireles from UMB was really good in the Salve game, and I knew I heard his name before.  I looked him up and he had a terrific freshman year at Salem State in 2018, then if I'm not mistaken I thought I read he was going to transfer to a D1 somewhere down south when Covid hit. He spent some time at UMass Lowell after that but I don't think he played because he's still listed as a sophomore at UMB. They should be fun to watch this year.
- Despite the loss to Babson and a tie vs. Wheaton, I think St. Joe's ME is going to be one of the top teams in the GNAC again.  Norwich tied Russell Sage in their first game, so I think they may be looking at a down year compared to the last few years.  Johnson & Wales struggled with Bridgewater State and ended up tying them and then lost to Salve.  St. Joseph's of CT started off with a 5-3 win vs. Suny Poly, but that's a team that Massey has at #296.  With the league expanding to 15 teams, the only team going to the NCAAs out of the GNAC is going to be the automatic qualifier from the conference tourney as no team has enough non-conference games to make any headway in the SOS game.

[BaboNation]

Babson overcomes a lackluster, uninspired, sloppy effort to eke out another way-too-close 1-0 win.
UT-Dallas impressed me more than St. Joe's on Friday.  They caused havoc on the Babson back line with their high press and overall quickness and defensive recovery.  Maybe better conditioned too to the outside observer.
Every Beaver starter seemed to be in a generous mood with giveaways.  Better teams will capitalize on this if it isn't cleaned up.  Quickly.
Thankfully, two of the new D1 transfers combined on a corner liner from Morgan, headed in by Stone.  Beautiful thing that.
Kalishman went down in the opening 90 seconds and didn't return (hammy?).  Key piece.  FY center forward "Sasha" Yablonovskiy, who has shown good early form also left the match with a leg injury.
And leading returning scorer Gazo has not appeared yet this season.
The schedule gets real next weekend.

I watched the 1st half of the Babson/St. Joe's game and I didn't see the UT Dallas game so I can't compare the 2 games, but I think I agree with your take on the St. Joe's game.  I thought Babson was clearly the better team during the part of the game I watched and coming from a St. Joe's perspective I was disappointed with the Babson goal because it came from a takeaway on St. Joe's part.  That being said, I think you have to give credit to Babson for taking advantage of the error.  I'd be curious to hear what you thought of the 2nd half.

It's risky to read too much into the 2nd half of a game with the circumstances being what they were.
Nursing a 1-0 lead Babson has a tendency to play more conservatively than I'd like.
I don't know how deep the STJ roster is, but they weren't as aggressive as UT-D with its high trapping style and closer marking.  Babson's passing and build-up was far better against STJ than UT-D, but that again may be in part due to less defensive pressure applied by STJ.  Hard for me to know the STJ strategy and how much is dictated by personnel/depth/trust.  Babson substituted much more freely.
Neither game was relaxing for a Babson fan.  Even in the 89th minute STJ had a free kick from a dangerous location that could have resulted in a heartbreaking tie.
I think STJ will be fine in the GNAC going forward.

[SKUD]

@Babonation are you headed to NJ for MSU and Stevens this week?