New England Soccer Discussion

[blooter442]

Common sense tells me that St.Joe's(CT) has just about the same mission as St.Joe's(ME) except they are in a much more desirable location in New England

Whether you find West Hartford desirable or not, I'll have you know that St. Joseph's (ME) is located just a few miles from (by Maine standards) the bustling metropolis of Windham, which has — among other things — a movie theater, Walmart Supercenter, and Pizza Hut. We used to have to drive a half-hour for any of those things.

(Written in jest. I suppose a better endorsement would be that the school is on Sebago Lake.)

[Mr.Right]

I hear ya. I know the setting and how beautiful it is and what just a 1/2 hour to the ocean...IDK...I am just guessing these type of Catholic families might want their son closer to home. A total generalization I realize but just a hunch

[blooter442]

Big game tonight in Worcester with WPI hosting Brandeis. WPI is 4-0-0 and a win here would elevate their confidence even higher before they start their NEWMAC schedule. Brandeis is in a way more precarious situation. Brandies is 2-2-0 with a full UAA slate left plus Tufts, Amherst, MIT, Clark and Wheaton. There is little to no breathing room left. Brandeis might end up with one of the highest SOS and OWP in the country but it might not matter if they do not get going soon. Gordon IMO is not a strong team this year and at worst should have been a draw and the Babson game IMO I think Brandeis might have had tired legs being their 4th game in 8 days. Somehow they have to gut thru tonight because this will be their 5th game in 11 days and then will have a full week off. They MUST get a result tonight preferably a Win but a Draw will also work because I am confident WPI will be ranked in November. In 2016, Brandeis really struggled out of the gate in their first 12 games they were 5-4-3 and then ripped off 5 in a row to finish 10-5-3 and while they still hosted a 1st/2nd Round pod I think they were sweating until the very end especially after losing to NYU to finish the year. Of course that was Coven's final season and Brandeis kicked it up a gear advancing all the way to the NCAA Final 4. Still, IIRC New England was down that year and Brandeis obviously had a strong resume but still had only 5 losses. They have 2 already in games that somehow they needed to dig deep and if the could have they could have gotten draws. So tonight is big because a loss tonight and all of a sudden it could come down to having to win the UAA which is going to be very difficult.

Yeah things are not looking great for the Judges. After getting in by the skin of their teeth in 2016 (after I'd said they were toast in terms of an NCAA bid in mid-October) I am not ruling anything out but it does look a lot more ominous. I said when this year's schedule was released that it was a monster non-conference schedule, and while I was confident of the Judges being able to get a result in each of the games, I was wary that they may well drop some of them. That being said, I didn't expect them to drop two in the first 9 days. The Gordon loss was unlucky, but they looked out-hustled and out-fought by Babson. Maybe fatigue played a role. As Case has proven the past couple of years, it doesn't matter how good your SOS/OWP is if you can't get results. They need at least a few ranked wins, and at this point neither Endicott nor Springfield look like they'd be ranked, although it is early in the season and I think Endicott in particular will turn things around and perhaps will be ranked come season's end. Brandeis has surprised me with its ability to get out of jail (no pun intended) in both 2016 and 2013 (both years they had four losses by mid-October) because they got results in the UAA homestretch but that is playing with fire and you don't want to get in the situation where those become must-win games.

One thing: while they struggled out of the gate in 2016 (3-3-1 at the end of September, losing to Tufts, Wheaton, and Babson) they did not host a pod in 2016; Babson hosted but got knocked out by St. Joe's, while Brandeis beat WNE and St. Joe's to get out of that pod. Regardless, they were for sure sweating, particularly after the NYU game. I certainly didn't think they would get in at that point, and was quite surprised that they did.

[Mr.Right]

Ahh...That's right now I remember..The pod was at Babson...That was the year I predicted Babson to go down to St.Joe's not because I knew anything about St.Joe's but because I knew Babson would crash and burn in the 1st Round..Still after that game we were like who St.Joe's? Little did we realize what they were building...

[blooter442]

Ahh...That's right now I remember..The pod was at Babson...That was the year I predicted Babson to go down to St.Joe's not because I knew anything about St.Joe's but because I knew Babson would crash and burn in the 1st Round..Still after that game we were like who St.Joe's? Little did we realize what they were building...

I was floored. Got off a plane from China at around 2 in the afternoon and was shocked. Can't say I was unhappy about it. Thought about going to the Brandeis vs. WNE game but was too jetlagged although I did stream it. Brandeis beat them convincingly the next day 3-0 but it was closer than the score indicated, two of the goals were rebounds IIRC. I was happy for them beating Babson and competing well but certainly didn't see them taking off like they have. Not trying to jinx them but I think they are a Sweet 16 team or better.

Getting ahead of myself here, but a lot of it depends on how the other teams in the region look. It's a lot easier to take, say, a five- or six-loss team if the region is full of five- and six-loss teams and you have a good SOS and ranked wins. I remember 2013 Brandeis was 2nd in New England with an 11-4 and hosting a pod but there were a bunch of teams right behind with five losses. If you're a four- or five-loss team and the region has six teams with three losses or less then you're in trouble. Last year Capital got an at-large with I think 7 losses but I think that was more about Pool C teams having a bunch of blemishes than anything.

[NESCAC11]

Big game tonight in Worcester with WPI hosting Brandeis. WPI is 4-0-0 and a win here would elevate their confidence even higher before they start their NEWMAC schedule. Brandeis is in a way more precarious situation. Brandies is 2-2-0 with a full UAA slate left plus Tufts, Amherst, MIT, Clark and Wheaton. There is little to no breathing room left. Brandeis might end up with one of the highest SOS and OWP in the country but it might not matter if they do not get going soon. Gordon IMO is not a strong team this year and at worst should have been a draw and the Babson game IMO I think Brandeis might have had tired legs being their 4th game in 8 days. Somehow they have to gut thru tonight because this will be their 5th game in 11 days and then will have a full week off. They MUST get a result tonight preferably a Win but a Draw will also work because I am confident WPI will be ranked in November. In 2016, Brandeis really struggled out of the gate in their first 12 games they were 5-4-3 and then ripped off 5 in a row to finish 10-5-3 and while they still hosted a 1st/2nd Round pod I think they were sweating until the very end especially after losing to NYU to finish the year. Of course that was Coven's final season and Brandeis kicked it up a gear advancing all the way to the NCAA Final 4. Still, IIRC New England was down that year and Brandeis obviously had a strong resume but still had only 5 losses. They have 2 already in games that somehow they needed to dig deep and if the could have they could have gotten draws. So tonight is big because a loss tonight and all of a sudden it could come down to having to win the UAA which is going to be very difficult.

On the topic of multiple games in a short time period. If you watch All or Nothing Man City on Amazon Prime it's a terrific 8 part series following Man City last year with great inside access to locker rooms and conversations. Pep spends a lot of time talking about the fact that it takes 3 or 4 days to recover from a match and with the team playing in 4 tournaments in the winter they are playing every 3 days or so at some points and it just wears them down. There's no question that Brandeis is putting themselves at a disadvantage and opening themselves up to injury as well.

[Mr.Right]

Ya unfortunately Brandeis and Margolis does not have 500 million laying around to field alternate line-ups in different games and competitions but I hear ya....agreed it was a great documentary and also agreed that athletes need 3 days to fully recover

[OldNed]

Well it looks like St.Joe's has gotten through the hardest part of their schedule beating Bowdoin, Endicott and Gordon all on the road. They are 5-0-0 and have 0 GA to start the year. They also beat St.Joseph's(CT) 5-0 which is in their inaugural season and should be a force to be reckoned with for St.Joe's of Maine in coming years in their conference. Common sense tells me that St.Joe's(CT) has just about the same mission as St.Joe's(ME) except they are in a much more desirable location in New England. Since a ton of St.Joe's(ME) roster is from Rhode Island and Connecticut logic is eventually those kids will be enrolling in St.Joe's(CT) in the future. Am I over simplifying it? Possibly, considering I have never stepped foot on either schools campus or seen their facilities. Anyway, that recruiting battle is a couple years away. As for now, St.Joe's(ME) is 5-0-0 with 0 GA and have 12 games left. The 12 games left on their schedule would be considered cupcakes on any Nescac teams schedule except for maybe Johnson and Wales and Norwich which incidentally could be the only 2 teams left that have a chance to get a result against them. Is it possible St.Joe's(ME) finishes the regular season 17-0-0 with 0 GA? I would give that a 50/50 chance but maybe fair or not even with that record I believe they would still have to win their Conference Championship because of the weak SOS and OWP they will carry into the post-season. I give that a 35/65 because you may find some sympathetic members of that committee that would feel like St.Joe's would deserve a Pool C. That would really be a tough call if St.Joe's were to lose in their Conference tournament. Since St.Joe's has beaten Bowdoin 1-0 the past 2 years I give Wiercinski a 60/40 that he drops them next season..Just a hunch an could be wrong.

Mr. Right,
you're right on that outside of Johnson and Wales (Norwich is a little bit down this year from where they've been the past few years), St. Joe's doesn't have a lot of challenges ahead of them.  Johnson and Wales is a quality team - they flew under the radar a little bit last year and they haven't lost any significant players from 2017, so they're going to be a tough win for anybody.

I don't think St. Joe's goes another year with 0 GA - there are just too many things that can happen, like a handball in the box,  breakaway goal, or anything else fluky.  I'd love to see it, but I think it would be better for them  to give up a goal sometime soon so the pressure of trying to stay perfect doesn't affect them adversely.

As far as recruiting advantages for St. Joe's (CT), I'm not sure I see it - at least not yet.  Coach Dubois has done a really good job getting better and better recruiting classes since his first one.  I think for this year's seniors, they've turned out to be really good players over the last 3+ years, but as far as I know none of them were very highly recruited.  Contrast that with the current freshman class which has a number of all-state players and even a couple of all-New England high school players, and most of them have a more impressive club team pedigree, too.  Time will tell if success breeds success in recruiting with the Monks, and time will also tell with St. Joe's (CT) as their young program develops.

[Mr.Right]

You could be right on the recruiting front. However, I did see Norwich play Midd and while Midd had numerous chances to win that game it still ended 0-0. If Norwich can go up to Midd and hold them scoreless I think they would have a chance against St.Joe's. Morwich really did not have to many chances but they had two very athletic strikers who have skill and speed. They are pretty organized also and well coached. You are correct that they might be a little down from 2016 and 2017 but I would not count them out just yet.

[Mr.Right]

Bloots,

Hard time seeing Brandeis numbers on this stream...I see the Frosh Mukala at LB and Walter at CB with Miskin in midfield but I swear the Frosh Panson is also in midfield...Help me out when u get a chance..Looks like a few changes by Margolis

[OldNed]

I think you're right that Panson is playing in the middle.

Is Paul Beatty injured? I don't see him on the WPI starting lineup.

[blooter442]

Honestly I can't make heads or tails of it with neither DePietto nor Hennessy starting. If I had to guess the front 3 is Warren/Nardizzi/Panarra with Panson in midfield alongside Miskin and Breiter...but that would mean Handler at CB (unless they moved Burch there)? I dunno man. Still think Panson is at CM which I believe is his real position.

[OldNed]

You could be right on the recruiting front. However, I did see Norwich play Midd and while Midd had numerous chances to win that game it still ended 0-0. If Norwich can go up to Midd and hold them scoreless I think they would have a chance against St.Joe's. Morwich really did not have to many chances but they had two very athletic strikers who have skill and speed. They are pretty organized also and well coached. You are correct that they might be a little down from 2016 and 2017 but I would not count them out just yet.

Yeah, that 0-0 game with Middlebury was Norwich's best game so far this season.  They have bad ties to Lasell and Maine Maritime - that's why I think they're down a little bit this season.  That being said, Norwich always plays St. Joe's tough, so you're probably right it's too early to write them off.

[PaulNewman]

I think you're right that Panson is playing in the middle.

Is Paul Beatty injured? I don't see him on the WPI starting lineup.

As far as I can tell Beatty hasn't played yet this year.  Must be injured.  A very injury-prone career.  More impressive that WPI is 4-0 without a contribution from him.

[Mr.Right]

Looks like he benched Andrew Allen which is odd since he has been scoring goals this year but maybe other stuff goin on