NESCAC 2010

[Becks]

Becks - is there both an offensive and defensive ROY ?  I realize offensive players get more pub but strong consideration to Midd defender L. Kingston - Midd lost their entire back line to graduation,  then 2/3 of their starting  '10 back line for the season prior to and during their first game v. Tufts (I know - don't cry for me Argentina/Spain/South Africa, etc) - she's a heck of a player -

Only one ROY.  You're right about offensive players generally getting the top honors.  So, right now, I'd put my money on one of the following top frosh goalscorers for ROY.  Each has 4 league goals: Scarlett Kirk-MID, Maeve Stewart-TUF, Amanda Brisco-AMH

[Becks]

Conn 1-3 Coast Guard.  First time ever (at least in last 10 years) that Conn has lost to the Coast Guard.  Usually an easy win for them.  I checked the box score and it doesn't look like they lost because they were resting the starters either.  Kind of similar to Wes losing to Salve Regina earlier in the season.  Both were surprisingly bad performances and upset losses to weak non-conference teams in mid-week games right after a good performance in a tough conference game (beating Colby in the case of Conn and tying Williams in the case of Wes).

[Dfense1]

Re: ROY

I believe the ROY will go to whichever First Year offensive NESCAC POW whose team finishes highest in final conference rankings.

[Becks]

Only real surprise of the last round of league games was Trinity's 2-1 win over Amherst.  Game was at Amherst and Trinity was without the services of their leading offensive threat, Leigh Howard.  If Amherst had won, they would have been the #1 seed and avoided Williams until the finals.  As it is, they will meet in the semis, if form holds.  If Trinity had lost, Middlebury would have been the #4 seed, Wesleyan #5 and Trinity #6. Rumor has it that LH is out for the season with an ACL.

[Becks]

Comments on NESCAC first round games:

Bates 0-0 Tufts (Bates advance on pks) - Stats indicate that Tufts was unlucky not to win. Tufts outshot Bates 20-6; had more shots on goal 8-4; and out-cornered Bates 10-1. That's soccer.

Amherst 3-2 Bowdoin - Stats indicate a deserved win by Amherst and suggest that the game was not as close as the score.  Bowdoin took only 5 shots all game and scored on 2 of them.  Amherst outshot Bowdoin 20-5; had more shots on goal 8-4; and out-cornered Bowdoin 9-0.

Williams 4-1 Wesleyan - Stats indicate a deserved win for Williams, although suggest a somewhat closer game than the score.  Williams outshot Wes 17-7; had more shots on goal 9-3; and out-cornered Wes 6-2. Since I was at the game, I'll add a little color.  The first half was well-played by both teams, although Williams definitely looked the stronger of the two.  Half ended 2-1 Williams.  In 2d half, Wes went for a more offensive formation (3-5-2, I think) and paid the price with Williams taking advantage of the extra space in the back line to score 2.  2d half in general was messier and, I think, not quite up to the standards of the first half.  Williams looked very good, however -- back to their old selves.  As an extra bonus, I got to meet Mathman!

Middlebury 2-0 Trinity - Stats indicate a very even game, much closer than the score.  Midd-Trin stats:  shots: 13-9; shots on goal: 5-4; corners: 1-0.  Midd did well to score on 2 of their 5 shots on goal.

Tufts loss is a great break for Midd.  Midd will be favored to make the finals.  But winner of the Amherst-Williams game should be favored to win the tournament.

[deiscanton]

Tufts loss is a great break for Midd.  Midd will be favored to make the finals.  But winner of the Amherst-Williams game should be favored to win the tournament.

Just a correction to make.

The Tufts loss is a great break for Williams and their supporters, as they don't have to travel to the Boston area for the semis and title game.

You had the semifinal matchups mixed up.    Had Tufts won yesterday, Tufts would have played Midd and Amherst would have played Williams in Saturday's semis and the games would have been at Kraft Field on the Tufts campus.

With Bates advancing to the semis on PKs yesterday, the semifinal schedule is as follows:

Lowest remaining seed plays highest remaining seed in the first semifinal match.

(Amherst would not play Williams until Sunday's title game).

Semifinals-- Saturday, Nov 6, 2010-- at Hitchcock Field, Amherst, MA

11 AM  EDT--  #8 seed Bates at #2 seed Amherst

Approx 1:30 PM EDT--  #5 seed Middlebury vs #3 seed Williams

Championship game-- Sunday Nov 7, 2010-- Noon EST-- at Hitchcock Field, Amherst, MA.

[Becks]

Thanks for correction, diescanton. I had forgotten that the NESCAC tournament doesn't have a normal fixed bracket.  The reward for the lowest ranked team beating the highest ranked team in the first round, is having to play the highest ranked remaining team in the 2d round.  This kind of system rewards regular season results more than a fixed bracket would.

[Becks]

Bates' win over Tufts is the first time the #8 seed has beaten the #1 seed in the women's NESCAC tournament.  But then again, up until 2008, only 7 teams made the tournament and the #1 seed got a first round bye.  Before 2008, however, the lowest seeded team beat the highest seeded team in the first round of  the NESCAC tournament 4 times: in 2004 #7 Conn upset #2 Amherst, in 2005 #7 Colby upset #2 Amherst, and in 2006 #7 Bates upset #2 Tufts.

[Dfense1]

Notable Performances for POW Consideration:

1)  Briscoe of Amherst...goal winner vs. Bowdoin sending Amherst into NESCAC Semi's.

2)  Burns of Bates...8 saves (including 3 PK rejections) leading to Bates upset appearance in NESCAC Semi's.

3)  Simmons of Colby...game winning "playing for pride" goal vs. Bates to end their regular season.

4)  Tomlinson-Weintraub of Middlebury...game winning goal vs. Trinity sending Mid to NESCAC Semi's.

5)  Washburne of Trinity...goal winner vs. Amherst sending Trinity into Nescac Quarters.

6)  Wild of Williams...1 goal/4 assist performance vs. Mid and Wes sending Williams into NESCAC Semi's.

7)  Eisenhart of Williams...hat trick and winning goal vs. Wes sending Williams into NESCAC Semi's.

And the winner is...Wild of Williams.

[machine54]

thoughts/opinions on NCAA bids

1. is Tufts done
2. if Amherst makes it to the finals do they get a bid
3. if Midd makes it to the finals do they get a bid
4. if Williams loses to Midd does Williams get a bid

[Dfense1]

My thoughts on NESCAC NCAA bids:

--Tufts is done. There are 7 teams ranked ahead of them in the region.

--Amherst is not ranked in the region. The only way they receive a bid is via the automatic bid if they win NESCAC.

--Midd is on the bubble if they make it to the NESCAC finals as they are the 4th ranked team in the region. However, unlikely they will advance as they will not beat Williams in the semi's.

--Should Williams lose to Midd they will most likely still receive an NCAA bid based on their #2 region ranking and strength of schedule.  However, not even Vegas is taking bets on this one as Williams is the overwhelming favorite to win that contest. As well, they are primed to win their 4th consective NESCAC Championship as they are playing some of their finest soccer of the season and also have a huge psychological advantage as they advance in the tournament.

[Becks]

However, not even Vegas is taking bets on this one as Williams is the overwhelming favorite to win that contest.

Dfense1 - You are just the kind of "homer" that Vegas loves.   I will say that Wesleyan would have preferred to have faced any of the other top 4 seeds in the first round instead of Williams.  Williams is still the team to beat and was very impressive last weekend.

[Dfense1]

Becks...thanks for the earlier correction...I was inadvertently looking at NSCAA vs. NCAA regional rankings.  In any event, looks like with the NCAA release today the two rankings position Midd, Amherst, Tufts and Williams about the same.  But of course, NCAA rules for the tournament.

[Becks]

The Nov 4th NCAA DIII rankings:

1. Eastern Connecticut State 15-0-3 15-0-3
2. Williams 10-2-2 10-3-2
3. Brandeis 13-4-1 13-4-1
4. Wheaton (Massachusetts) 15-3-2 15-3-2
5. Middlebury 8-4-3 8-4-3
6. Springfield 13-4-0 13-4-0
7. Western Connecticut State 13-3-1 13-4-1
8. Tufts 8-2-4 8-2-4
9. Roger Williams 15-4-0 15-4-0
10. Keene State 13-4-1 13-5-2
11. Amherst 7-6-2 7-6-2
12. Endicott 14-5-1 14-5-1

Williams unchanged at #2. I think they probably are in good shape even if they lose to Middlebury or to Amherst or Bates in the finals (although look what getting tied by Bates did to Tufts).

Middlebury moved up 1 spot from #6 to #5 thanks to Tufts dropping. Losing to Williams shouldn't hurt them.  I would guess that they have a pretty good change of getting a Pool C bid even if they lose to Williams or to Amherst or Bates in the finals, so long there aren't too many upsets in the various conference championships.

Tufts getting tied by Bates (with Bates advancing on pks) dropped them just enough (from #5 to #8) to probably put them out of the running.

Amherst stayed at #11 despite losing to unranked Trinity, but have no hope unless they win the championship.  Beating Bates in the semis should give them little (if any) bump in the rankings.

[johnboy]

For at-large (Pool C) bids, it also depends on which teams from this list (and the national list, and the lists for the other regions) get an AQ from winning their conference tournament. Eastern Conn (ranked #8 nationally) lost on PKs in the semifinals of the Little East tournament tonight, so they will need to get a Pool C bid to make the tournament (which, though they may drop in the final NE rankings, will almost surely happen). One other team ranked in the NCAA national top-25 (Cal Lutheran, #17) lost in the semifinals of the SCIAC (no other SCIAC teams were ranked in the top 25), and this might make it harder for a NESCAC non-champion to get a Pool C bid, since there are only 20 Pool C bids available.