New England Soccer Discussion

[Christan Shirk]

NEW ENGLAND REGION - NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS - October 17, 2018

Rank	School	. Div. III . Record	. Div. III . SOS	. R-v-R .	. Overall . Record	. Prev. . Rank
1.	Connecticut College	10-0-2	0.623	--	10-0-2	--
2.	Tufts	11-0-2	0.602	--	11-0-2	--
3.	Roger Williams	13-2-0	0.576	--	13-2-0	--
4.	Amherst	8-3-1	0.623	--	8-3-1	--
5.	Endicott	8-4-2	0.620	--	8-4-2	--
6.	Springfield	10-3-0	0.550	--	10-3-0	--
7.	Middlebury	7-2-3	0.565	--	7-2-3	--
8.	Babson	7-2-4	0.568	--	7-2-4	--
9.	Brandeis	7-5-1	0.650	--	7-5-1	--
10.	Williams	7-3-2	0.549	--	7-3-2	--
11.	St. Joseph's (Maine)	14-0-0	0.513	--	14-0-0	--
12.	Hamilton	7-5-1	0.586	--	7-5-1	--

[NEsoccerfan]

Yea those Week 1 rankings are a bit crazy...Week 2 should be much different...Endicott and RWU are VERY high...Brandeis has a lifeline still and Williams/Bowdoin/Midd have work to do

Brandeis with a 4-3-1 RVR. Not too shabby with upcoming ranked match ups v. Amherst and Chicago. Would be good for them if either Wash U and/or NYU could make the rankings and Brandeis can pull off a result v. those sides.

[blooter442]

Endicott's SoS much better than last year IIRC. Think Conn.'s superior SoS put them over Tufts, but they appear to be the clear 1-2 in NE. Surprised that Babson's SoS is so low, although a 7-2-4 record is solid.

[Flying Weasel]

Yea those Week 1 rankings are a bit crazy...Week 2 should be much different...Endicott and RWU are VERY high...Brandeis has a lifeline still and Williams/Bowdoin/Midd have work to do

Brandeis with a 4-3-1 RVR. Not too shabby with upcoming ranked match ups v. Amherst and Chicago. Would be good for them if either Wash U and/or NYU could make the rankings and Brandeis can pull off a result v. those sides.

NYU is ranked.  #3 in the East.

[NEsoccerfan]

Yea those Week 1 rankings are a bit crazy...Week 2 should be much different...Endicott and RWU are VERY high...Brandeis has a lifeline still and Williams/Bowdoin/Midd have work to do

Brandeis with a 4-3-1 RVR. Not too shabby with upcoming ranked match ups v. Amherst and Chicago. Would be good for them if either Wash U and/or NYU could make the rankings and Brandeis can pull off a result v. those sides.

NYU is ranked.  #3 in the East.

Whoops - Brandeis with a 4-3-1 RVR. Not too shabby with upcoming ranked match ups v. Amherst, Chicago, and NYU. Would be good for them if WashU could make the rankings and Brandeis can pull off a result v. them.

Assuming the rankings all remain the same (they won't, but for purposes of this hypothetical), If Brandeis can go 2-1 in those ranked match-ups that would put them at 6-4-1, which, combined with their SOS should put them on the right side of the bubble for a pool C birth.

[Flying Weasel]

Yea those Week 1 rankings are a bit crazy...Week 2 should be much different...Endicott and RWU are VERY high...Brandeis has a lifeline still and Williams/Bowdoin/Midd have work to do

Brandeis with a 4-3-1 RVR. Not too shabby with upcoming ranked match ups v. Amherst and Chicago. Would be good for them if either Wash U and/or NYU could make the rankings and Brandeis can pull off a result v. those sides.

NYU is ranked.  #3 in the East.

Whoops - Brandeis with a 4-3-1 RVR. Not too shabby with upcoming ranked match ups v. Amherst, Chicago, and NYU. Would be good for them if WashU could make the rankings and Brandeis can pull off a result v. them.

Assuming the rankings all remain the same (they won't, but for purposes of this hypothetical), If Brandeis can go 2-1 in those ranked match-ups that would put them at 6-4-1, which, combined with their SOS should put them on the right side of the bubble for a pool C birth.

Last year, Capital got in with 7 losses because they had a high SOS, played over 10 ranked opponents and had 4 wins and 2 ties against those ranked opponents.  To be exact, Capital was 12-7-2 with 0.606 SOS and 4-5-2 RvR.  So depending on the competition for at-large berths this year, it's certainly possible for Brandeis to get in just as Capital did.

[Mr.Right]

Ya but Capital's competition was weak..I mean we could not find 3 teams to fill the last 3 Pool C's when we were all looking at it...

[Mr.Right]

How is Babson hosting a night game tonight?  Please do not tell me on that crap Field Hockey turf

[Mr.Right]

Yea whoever commented on Babson's weak SOS I have to agree. After taking a look at the worksheet I now see why teams are ranked where they are. Williams has a .549 SOS barely above Bates and Bowdoin and well below everyone else in Nescac. The one year where they have a chance under Sullivan to possibly make the NCAA's their SOS is going to absolutely kill them. I mean Trinity has a .629 even Colby is at .586 and I do not EVER remember a year when Midd had a higher SOS than Williams. Just ridiculous as Sullivan picked up Coast Guard and Curry and now might pay a price. Babson and Williams usually had some of the highest SOS #'s in New England for years as Anderson has definitely gone soft on his schedule the past few years. I mean he has New England College, Lesley, Mitchell plus league foes Emerson and Coast Guard.

I also see why the Little East has no shot at getting a team ranked. There top 3 teams ECONN, WCONN and Keene St are hovering around .500 which is a bit shocking as WCONN plays Vassar, Union, Ramapo and ECONN used to schedule anyone anywhere.

Endicott and RWU are legitimately ranked as they have high SOS and if Endicott can defeat UR this weekend they are well on their way to a Pool C.

Brandeis at 7-5-1 has a .650 SOS with some serious ranked Wins. They have 5 games left including tonight and 4/5 are against Ranked opponents so maybe Margolis schedule will save him. I will say that they have an opportunity to do this but they need to buckle down as they have Clark tonight and cannot afford a slip up then Amherst Monday who will be looking for a ranked Win, at Chicago Friday and at Wash U Sunday then at NYU the following Saturday.

[Mr.Right]

One big question now for Margolis....Who will be in net?  Does he go back to the veteran Irwin who looked shaky v UR but is battle tested especially against the top teams coming up in the schedule or does he ride it out with the untested Cohen?

Just looked...Cohen in net tonight

[Mr.Right]

Brandeis all of a sudden has a serious issue in net....For the 2nd game in their last 3 a complete bonehead play this time by Cohen gives Clark an equalizer with about 5 minutes left. Cohen inexplicably comes charging out of his net outside the box to go for a loose ball that his defender should of cleared but instead both Cohen and the defender miss the ball on a big bounce and a Clark striker gets a foot to it and hits a looper into the net....Crazy stuff...Actually Clark has been better than I expected but should not have scored even the 1st Goal. The 1st goal was a defensive mistake by I think Walter who gave the Clark attacking player WAY to much space and then when he decided to finally go into tackle he was to late as by that time the Clark player hit a nice shot into the net that went whizzing by Cohen. Maybe Cohen was to far off his line but that was a tough shot...Let's see if Brandeis can win this game in OT..

[NEsoccerfan20]

I am a bit surprised at the CCC teams being ranked so high.... I don't believe Roger is as good as their record indicates, and Endicott (while being extremely hot over the last month) probably should be around 8/9/10. I guess Calabrese did well setting up this schedule, and was smart to schedule two games at the end of his season to possibly help the Gulls establish an at-large if they can't win the CCC. In Springfield on saturday will be interesting and so will Rochester ( which is a bizarre midweek game for them on a long trip) next Tuesday in Beverly.

[blooter442]

Watched the last 30 mins or so of the Brandeis-Clark game.

The first goal could have been dealt with better, but I will give the Clark guy the benefit of the doubt as it was a nice shot to the far corner. The whole situation for the second goal, however, seemed wholly avoidable — it looked like Walter was getting ready to play the ball back to Cohen until Cohen came flying out of his net (outside the box), whiffed on the clearance, and the Clark player had an empty net in which to finish. My initial thought was "did he not see his defender had the situation under control?" You could say that Walter could have sent it back to Cohen quicker, but perhaps he had second thoughts after watching Irwin (the Judges' other 'keeper) pass the ball straight to the UR player last Friday which resulted in UR's winner.

Either way, it's stunning that the Judges have had so many blemishes (Gordon/WPI/Tufts/Rochester/Clark) where defensive mistakes have cost them results. You could understand if it was one or two occasions, but that it's been so many makes you think it's a systemic issue. Having DePietto out has hurt them, and while I think Irwin has been the better 'keeper of the two thus far (Cohen did get the W over Emory on Sunday) it's obvious that he is not infallible, either.

The one positive for the Judges: Clark is not likely to be ranked, although that could change (the Cougars are now 10-3-2).

[Mr.Right]

Watched the last 30 mins or so of the Brandeis-Clark game.

The first goal could have been dealt with better, but I will give the Clark guy the benefit of the doubt as it was a nice shot to the far corner. The whole situation for the second goal, however, seemed wholly avoidable — it looked like Walter was getting ready to play the ball back to Cohen until Cohen came flying out of his net (outside the box), whiffed on the clearance, and the Clark player had an empty net in which to finish. My initial thought was "did he not see his defender had the situation under control?" You could say that Walter could have sent it back to Cohen quicker, but perhaps he had second thoughts after watching Irwin (the Judges' other 'keeper) pass the ball straight to the UR player last Friday which resulted in UR's winner.

Either way, it's stunning that the Judges have had so many blemishes (Gordon/WPI/Tufts/Rochester/Clark) where defensive mistakes have cost them results. You could understand if it was one or two occasions, but that it's been so many makes you think it's a systemic issue. Having DePietto out has hurt them, and while I think Irwin has been the better 'keeper of the two thus far (Cohen did get the W over Emory on Sunday) it's obvious that he is not infallible, either.

The one positive for the Judges: Clark is not likely to be ranked, although that could change (the Cougars are now 10-3-2).

That Draw really does not hurt Brandeis even if Clark gets ranked IMO. However, you are correct about all the mistakes by the backline. I think Brandeis has 2 issues right now

1. GK-----Both GK'ers have cost Brandeis games this year but after last night I would go with Irwin the rest of the way. He makes some really solid saves throughout a game but I was a bit shocked especially against UR how shaky he was with crosses and long throws. His timing looked a bit off in that game but IMO he is the more experienced GK and should be given the benefit of the doubt. Both GK'ers are Juniors so they will be back next year and Margolis has 2 other GK'ers on the roster who have not seen the field. If those other GK'ers cannot get on the field throughout all these GK debacles then he must not have much confidence in them to begin with unless they are injured. My point is I am really hoping he is bringing in a solid GK for 2019 even with 4 GK'ers on the roster.

2. Lack of physical players------Basically out of nowhere Brandeis has become a "soft" team especially in midfield. Obviously, we all new the loss of Hernandez etc would hurt but I had no idea Brandeis would look so unwilling to stick and body up. Their backline is not so bad but in midfield they are all skill(which is fine) but there is no physical presence holding in front of the back 4. Teams are finding all kinds of ways to get thru and create chances that they would not have even had a chance the past 4-5 years. Margolis might need to make a change. I doubt he will do it this late but Alex Walter who is a physically tough, athletic kid and a solid CB BUT he does make some careless mental mistakes on the backline that need to be cleaned up. I would maybe move Walter into midfield as a holder. Margolis has tons of kids that have athleticism and speed that could be tried at CB. It really is to late in the season to break up your backline BUT with Amherst coming into town on Monday they will have their way physically if some changes are not made. Also, up top no one is willing to really bust and get physical with opponents defenders like say a Zach Viera or even Flahive. Nardizzi is a skilled player but I am shocked he was starting D1 because he is not a tough kid. I guess to summarize Brandeis spine from GK to striker needs to get much more physical if they are going to be successful the next 2 weeks.

[NEsoccerfan]

Regarding your 2nd point, I couldn't have said it better, Mr. Right.

I think part of the reason for the lack of physicality is the type of players that Gabe recruits. Gabe has always had a soft spot (no pun intended) for the smaller, creative players. Players that remind him of himself (Gabe lead Wheaton to a final 4 appearance as a 5'6 150lb midfielder). Obviously, he is recruiting to put his team in the best position to succeed, but I suspect his bias towards the smaller, craftier players leads to him overlooking some of the more physical, less talented individuals. Coven was the opposite - he valued physicality and size a lot, and I suspect the Flahive and Hernandez types you allude to above were remnants of Coven's recruiting and predilections.

Gabe is a smart guy, and a great coach. I know he is seeing the deficiencies that what we are, so hopefully that leads to an adjustment in his recruiting principles.