NESCAC 2010

[amh63]

GUBFL.....good observations and points.  Though it is still early in the season, Amherst had a tough time with both Bowdin and Bates in back to back road games.  Amherst had to rally to beat the polar bears and Bates held them to a tie.  Amherst was fortunate in both games.

[Jim Matson]

Well, they moved up two spots in the poll today - No. 18 from No. 20.  If they lose a few of those close ones, then I'm certain they'll slide.  But more importantly, they can stay near the top of the standings if they keep their losses to two or less.

[Becks]

No box scores up yet but some interesting results.

Amherst 1-1 Conn at Amherst.  Biggest upset of the day. Amherst not as good as expected so far this season and Conn not as bad? First point for Conn in league play since October 18, 2008!

Wes 1-1 Tufts at Tufts - Slight upset as I would have expected a narrow win for Tufts.

Middlebury 2-1 Bowdoin (OT)  at Middlebury.  Suggests that Middlebury and Bowdoin are about the same this year and both mid-pack teams.  But who isn't?

Trinity 3-0 Bates - Home win was expected but Bates had been playing well, so decisive victory for Trinity suggests they could finish in the top 4.

Williams 4-0 Colby - Williams getting their mojo back?

[Becks]

Comments on Sat, Sept 25 league games:


Trinity 3-0 Bates – An expected win but margin of victory a bit larger than expected. Trinity-Colby stats: shots 16-6, shots on goal 15-6, corners 2-1. No way the teams put 31 of 32 shots on goal. Either the shots or saves stat is wrong. Leigh Howard scored 2 of Trinity's 3 and has scored 5 of Trinity's 7 on the season.  Currently best scorer in NESCAC?  Is Trinity too dependent on one player for goals?

Williams 4-0 Colby – Williams first home game after 6(!) on the road.  Stats suggest a Williams 3-0 win would have been a fair result. Williams-Colby stats: shots 23-4; shots on goal: 12-2; corners 5-3.  This win could be the start of a strong Williams run for the rest of the season. We'll see.

Middlebury 2-1 Bowdoin (OT) – Close home win in game between 2 teams struggling to stay near top of the league.  Stats suggest a Middlebury 1-0 win would have been more likely result. Middlebury-Bowdoin stats: shots 11-4; shots on goal 6-4; corners 4-2.  So far, both teams look to be behind Williams, Tufts and Trinity.

Amherst 1-1 Conn – Definite disappointment for Amherst and nice pt on the road for Conn.  Shots suggest that Amherst was unlucky and should have won, maybe 2-0.  Amherst-Conn stats: shots: 19-6; shots on goals 12-4; corners 8-6.

Tufts 1-1 Wesleyan – Nice road tie for Wesleyan against a Tufts team that could finish top 4. Tufts-Wesleyan stats: shots: 22-12; shots on goal 5-7; corners 2-4; fouls: 18-16(!).  Tufts took a lot more shots, but a lot were from outside and not on frame.  Wes actually generated more real scoring opportunities than Tufts (shots on goal + corners = 12 to 8 in favor of Wes). A lot of fouls called, but reports from the field suggest that was due to a ref that believed soccer is a non-contact sport rather than an unusually physical game.

[Gerrs]

Becks - One edit to your stats on Tufts-Wesleyan game: shots on goal favored Wes, not Tufts, by 7 to 5.

[Becks]

Becks - One edit to your stats on Tufts-Wesleyan game: shots on goal favored Wes, not Tufts, by 7 to 5.

Thanks, Gerrs.  You are right.  I guess I couldn't believe that one team could outshoot another by 10 but put fewer on goal.  I have corrected my summary.

[amh63]

Preview of the Williams-Amherst game this Sat. on the Amherst website.

[amh63]

Interesting week for Amherst.  They lose to Skidmore at home with the return of two starters and beat Williams away...the first time any team members had accomplish that feat!   Line up is still being shifted around.

[Jim Matson]

I thought that the Amherst win over Willams was impressive.  Especially after that loss to Skidmore.  Amherst really has the chance to make some headway in conference play - the win over Williams should give them both momentum and confidence.

[machine54]

Interesting season now that Williams no longer possesses that air of invincibility - still very dangerous but seem to lack that tremendous goal scorer of past glory years that would always seem to bail them out at the end of close games (Woodson, Wolfson, Walmsley)

Amherst is tied by Bates and Conn then loses to Skidmore but finds a way to beat Williams - crazy !!  getting back injured players ?  more set rotation ?  is Amherst ready to roll and actually host NESCAC tournament ?  excellent freshman class from a year ago - 

another good one this coming weekend Amherst at Midd - though Amherst seems to have Midd's number during the regular season at least - still Midd playing a bit better after shaky start and a number of season ending injuries 

[GUBFL]

Funny year in the NESCAC, much more parity, much closer scores, much less predictable results.  I'm not sure anyone is ready to run away with the conference this year including Amherst.  The only thing that is becoming clearer at this point is who may be hosting the 4 home games in the first round of the tournament.

Have seen a couple more Bowdoin games and they might be better than I first expected.  The team is very young with around 5 Freshman and 5 Sophomores playing on a regular basis and they seem to be getting better as the season is going on.  Last weekend might not be the best indicator of the teams strength as they were playing weaker opponents, but they are improving with a good scorer and decent defense.  This weekend's game with Wesleyan is an important game for Bowdoin, they are home and need the points before taking on Williams at Williams.

[2xfaux]

Thank goodness I am not a betting person...............Is it global warming?  Who wins this thing?  Is Becks on the space station??? or still in jail??  Very odd season not only in NESCAC but all over.

[Becks]

A few thoughts:

Williams - Funny, and satisfying, to see them 5th in the standings.  But looking at the stats, they are still perhaps the best team in the league.  However, their luck has just run out on them in NESCAC games.  (They have never been particularly lucky in NCAA games.)  Even if you are the better team, you are still going to lose a few now and then.  Based on stats, Williams deserved to beat both Amherst and, certainly, Bates, but Amherst and Bates got lucky.  I love the description of the first Bates goal -- shot from 30-35 yards away near the sideline.  Sounds like a bad cross to me.  If you are very lucky sometimes those go in.

Trinity -- I thought they might be the best or second best team in the league and then they get outplayed by Conn and were lucky to get a 0-0 tie.  Outshot by Conn 24-9???

Bowdoin - A minor upset losing to Wes at Bowdoin.  Stats indicated Wes deserved the win.  Looking at Bowdoin's remaining schedule, they could end up with only 2 league wins on the season.

[Becks]

I guess those voters who picked Wes's Laura Kurash as ROY knew what they were doing.  She's currently leading most of the league offensive stats categories.

[Becks]

Just looked at the Amherst-Middlebury stats and game report.  Amherst up 3-0 with 9 minutes left and they lose 4-3 in OT? Wow. A crushing loss for Amherst and an amazing comeback win for Middlebury.