New England Soccer Discussion

[blooter442]

I've also been noticing Southern Maine as St. Joe's has them on the schedule for 10/18 at St. Joe's.  Southern Maine always seems to play St. Joe's tough, so this will be an interesting matchup. 

OldNed, I still have not seen SJC play in-person this year. I am in Maine for the long weekend, but was bouncing around yesterday afternoon and wasn't able to get over to see the game. I would like to try to get to the SJC-Emmanuel game, particularly to see how they are offensively since I did not get a good read on them up front last year.

FWIW, while I don't think Emmanuel is likely to win, they did get a 0-0 draw against Norwich at Norwich, so they may pack it in to try to get the point. Then again, they are 1-5-6, and they drew against Albertus Magnus, the team that SJC thumped yesterday. Hopefully there will be some goals!

[OldNed]

I've also been noticing Southern Maine as St. Joe's has them on the schedule for 10/18 at St. Joe's.  Southern Maine always seems to play St. Joe's tough, so this will be an interesting matchup. 

OldNed, I still have not seen SJC play in-person this year. I am in Maine for the long weekend, but was bouncing around yesterday afternoon and wasn't able to get over to see the game. I would like to try to get to the SJC-Emmanuel game, particularly to see how they are offensively since I did not get a good read on them up front last year.

FWIW, while I don't think Emmanuel is likely to win, they did get a 0-0 draw against Norwich at Norwich, so they may pack it in to try to get the point. Then again, they are 1-5-6, and they drew against Albertus Magnus, the team that SJC thumped yesterday. Hopefully there will be some goals!

Blooter,
I'll be at the SJC-Emmanuel game, so let me know if you're going to be there.  It would be nice to meet you in person.

Emmanuel does seem to have a pretty good defense when looking at their results, but they also have problems scoring goals which isn't going to bode well for them against Saint Joe's defense.  As for the Saint Joe's offense, they tend to start out a little slowly in the first half and then they really wear down opponents and pile on goals in the second half.  If Saint Joe's can get an early goal, I think they will relax and score a few more, but if Emmanuel can keep it at 0-0 going into halftime then that will make things interesting in the second half.

The good thing about Saint Joe's recent offensive prowess is that Coach Dubois is able to substitute freely in the second half and he's really trying to integrate some of the freshmen players to get them decent amounts of PT.  This will help long-term as Dubois tries to bring Saint Joe's into the conversation as one of the better D3 teams in New England. What I'd really like to see next year is Dubois getting Saint Joe's into some good non-conference games, other than with other Maine teams like Bowdoin or Colby.  Have them schedule UMass Boston, Endicott, some of the other NESCAC schools, Brandeis, etc rather than Husson and Maine Maritime and Maine Farmington.

[ECSUalum]

Springfield just went up 2-0 on UM Boston with +/-15 min to go!  First Springfield goal on a penalty kick just before first half, as a result of chippieness (sp) on the part of some UMB players off a free kick!!  I think the referees are not taking any UMB crap after last year's NCAA antics and its hurting them.  Credit to Springfield as they have  big strong defensive backs, are frustrating UMB, and look like a top 25 team!!

2-0 final

[Mr.Right]

Good Win....This Springfield at WPI match will determine a ton next weekend...If WPI could knock them off the NEWMAC could be looking at 2 bids..I have seen Springfield a couple times now, I gotta check out WPI as I have not seen them yet

[blooter442]

OldNed, I still plan on getting over there. Sent you a PM. Fully agree that Dubois should start looking at some more difficult non-conference tests, although I think scheduling Bowdoin (and the result) is definitely a step in the right direction and shows that the Monks can compete in New England.

On a similar vein -- but instead talking about Springfield -- I really would like to see them schedule some more difficult non-conference tests. They used to play Brandeis back in 2011 and 2012, but I don't think they've played the Judges since. Pretty safe to say the Pride are favorites for the NEWMAC, but it would be great for them to go test themselves against other in-region powers -- and hey, if they pulled out wins, it would only augment their status as an in-region contender.

[blooter442]

I have seen Springfield a couple times now, I gotta check out WPI as I have not seen them yet

WPI is definitely a solid side. Fairly big and athletic, and have some nice speed up top with Beatty. Not the most skilled and can be a bit direct at times, but a solid team and difficult to break down. GK Hoeckle is good. I was a little surprised that they lost to Wentworth, who I thought would be better this year, but maybe it's just that the Leopards are turning a corner after winning three in a row this past week. Either way, I think WPI is the most likely in the NEWMAC to give Springfield a run for its money this year.

[Mr.Right]

OldNed, I still plan on getting over there. Sent you a PM. Fully agree that Dubois should start looking at some more difficult non-conference tests, although I think scheduling Bowdoin (and the result) is definitely a step in the right direction and shows that the Monks can compete in New England.

On a similar vein -- but instead talking about Springfield -- I really would like to see them schedule some more difficult non-conference tests. They used to play Brandeis back in 2011 and 2012, but I don't think they've played the Judges since. Pretty safe to say the Pride are favorites for the NEWMAC, but it would be great for them to go test themselves against other in-region powers -- and hey, if they pulled out wins, it would only augment their status as an in-region contender.

Yea the old coach Peter Haley used to schedule one of the toughest schedules in New England. Go back and look at the archives in say 2007 or 2008 and you will see they played 4 Nescac's( Played the Little 3 of Williams, Amherst and Wesleyan for years), Brandeis, Western Conn, Keene St when those schools were good, etc , etc....The problem was they were not a good team and would lose almost all those games. I think they got a new AD but Haley eventually retired or was forced upstairs and ever since the new coach has played a weaker schedule. However, the team has really improved the last couple years at least talent wise. Also, I would be willing to bet there would not be a ton of schools in Nescac or elsewhere that are volunteering to play Springfield right now. Their style of play and tactics would not get me as an opposing coach out of my chair to play them on my non-conference slate.

[Mr.Right]

I have seen Springfield a couple times now, I gotta check out WPI as I have not seen them yet

WPI is definitely a solid side. Fairly big and athletic, and have some nice speed up top with Beatty. Not the most skilled and can be a bit direct at times, but a solid team and difficult to break down. GK Hoeckle is good. I was a little surprised that they lost to Wentworth, who I thought would be better this year, but maybe it's just that the Leopards are turning a corner after winning three in a row this past week. Either way, I think WPI is the most likely in the NEWMAC to give Springfield a run for its money this year.

Yea i am going to watch their match next weekend v Springfield. +k Bloots for the constant update in regards to Bates v Bowdoin on Sunday. I really appreciated that because I was not able to catch the game but was checking updates on the play. Your quick one hitters are much better than live stats

[blooter442]

Yea i am going to watch their match next weekend v Springfield. +k Bloots for the constant update in regards to Bates v Bowdoin on Sunday. I really appreciated that because I was not able to catch the game but was checking updates on the play. Your quick one hitters are much better than live stats

No problem! Now I just have to see if the Guardian will want new folks to help expand its minute-by-minute sports coverage into the D3 soccer world...if so I'm on board.

[OldNed]

St. Joe's with another good offensive game, beating Emmanuel 6-0.  I had the pleasure of meeting Blooter and watching the game with him.

One thing I'm curious about re: St. Joe's and the Herosports ranking for them.  Hero has St. Joe's at 43 and that seems about right to me.  In looking at it further, though, they have St. Joe's with the #1 offense and the #222 ranked defense.  How is it possible that a team that hasn't given up a goal all season is ranked #222 on defense?  Baffling.

[Flying Weasel]

St. Joe's with another good offensive game, beating Emmanuel 6-0.  I had the pleasure of meeting Blooter and watching the game with him.

One thing I'm curious about re: St. Joe's and the Herosports ranking for them.  Hero has St. Joe's at 43 and that seems about right to me.  In looking at it further, though, they have St. Joe's with the #1 offense and the #222 ranked defense.  How is it possible that a team that hasn't given up a goal all season is ranked #222 on defense?  Baffling.

Tufts is ranked 378th in offense and 412th in defense.  So something is not functioning correctly.

[OldNed]

St. Joe's with another good offensive game, beating Emmanuel 6-0.  I had the pleasure of meeting Blooter and watching the game with him.

One thing I'm curious about re: St. Joe's and the Herosports ranking for them.  Hero has St. Joe's at 43 and that seems about right to me.  In looking at it further, though, they have St. Joe's with the #1 offense and the #222 ranked defense.  How is it possible that a team that hasn't given up a goal all season is ranked #222 on defense?  Baffling.

Tufts is ranked 378th in offense and 412th in defense.  So something is not functioning correctly.

Thanks for point that out, Flying Weasel.  Yep, clearly something isn't working correctly with those offensive/defensive rankings, although I'd say they have Tufts ranked overall pretty much where I would think they would be.

Also, just want to note that I wasn't complaining that St. Joe's wasn't ranked higher. I think HeroSports and Massey have them ranked pretty well considering their awful SOS.

[Mr.Right]

In the shortest turnaround in D3 History Endicott loses to Conn on Friday night at 6pm 2-0. Then 18 hours later they defeat Curry 3-0 with the same lineup..Well done.

[blooter442]

Wow -- Babson puts 5 past Wheaton to win 5-1. You have to wonder whether that was Babson being that prolific offensively or Wheaton being that poor defensively. Considering Wheaton outshot Babson 18-17 and had a 10-8 advantage in SOG, seems to be mostly the latter.

[Mr.Right]

Do not forget to mention that Babson has something like 30 fouls in the game....That is a ridiculous #...Babson must have gotten to rest players in the 2nd Half as they play Williams tomorrow