NESCAC

[Mr.Right]

Midd struggling at home with Norwich....down 1-0 at halff.

MIddlebury should pull this game out but I am shocked at how out of shape some of Midd's players look on video. Maybe it is the stream but I do not think so. I will not mention names but it looks like a few missed the off season work part of all this. After seeing this I will be picking Conn this week-end to beat Midd. They have talent but do they have work ethic? Right now this is not the team that I expected to show up motivated to win Nescac outright. A bit concerning.

[Mr.Right]

As predicted Midd will come back and win this game as they have scored 2 quick 2nd Half goals to go up 2-1. In the some things never change category, Adam Glaser scores on a breakaway. Still refusing to use his left foot. Takes the harder route and keeps the ball on his right foot to beat GK. If Norwich had a somewhat average GK he would have made that save. I have never seen a player score so many goals and never use his weaker peg. I guess that is something to be be impressed by but like I have said for 4 years, the better teams shut him down easily by sitting on his right foot.

[Mr.Right]

4-1 Midd lead with about 20 minutes left as Midd is rolling now and scoring a couple off set pieces as usual but Norwich is frankly AWFUL defensively and have a horrific GK. As I am writing this Norwich subs GK's.

[PaulNewman]

+1 Mr.Right...great reporting so far this year.  Were you actually at the Wesleyan game? Catching any live action this weekend?

[letsGOswans!]

Amherst off to an early 1-0 lead. The Conn transfer Hlinomaz with a ridiculous goal.

[Mr.Right]

+1 Mr.Right...great reporting so far this year.  Were you actually at the Wesleyan game? Catching any live action this weekend?

I was at ECONN v Wesleyan my only live game so far. My next games are a classic New England doubleheader on 9.24.....Williams at Amherst 2pm and then  Tufts and Brandeis 7pm....Until then its all live stream

[Mr.Right]

I am really liking Bates Frosh from Ghana and Hotchkiss Opoku....He is small but mad quick and skilled...2 goals tonight already. Bloots you could be right on Bates but I want to see what he can do against bigger more physical Nescac defenders first

[blooter442]

I am really liking Bates Frosh from Ghana and Hotchkiss Opoku....He is small but mad quick and skilled...2 goals tonight already. Bloots you could be right on Bates but I want to see what he can do against bigger more physical Nescac defenders first

Yeah I think that's the big question, it's great to see what they can do against the less competitive teams, and you often get a great glimpse of talent in those games, but it's how you perform in the big games that matters.

While I'd be thrilled if I was here, I'm bummed to be out of town the day of Williams/Amherst and Tufts/Brandeis. Knew that I was missing the latter, but didn't know the former was that day as well until I saw your post above. What a great day of D3 soccer that will be.

[Bucket]

Midd struggling at home with Norwich....down 1-0 at halff.

MIddlebury should pull this game out but I am shocked at how out of shape some of Midd's players look on video. Maybe it is the stream but I do not think so. I will not mention names but it looks like a few missed the off season work part of all this. After seeing this I will be picking Conn this week-end to beat Midd. They have talent but do they have work ethic? Right now this is not the team that I expected to show up motivated to win Nescac outright. A bit concerning.

FWIW, it was really hot on the turf, over 100 degrees, which was certainly a factor today. I didn't get the sense that any of the players were out of shape; it was just that hot.

My take on the first half was that Midd was playing a bit tentative, almost being too patient. When they picked up the tempo and pressure in the second half, it was obvious that Norwich wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Conrad sat out the second half with an apparent injury. Hopefully it's nothing serious.

[ECSUalum]

More of the same from Eastern! Unbelievable! They just cannot maintain any possession!  some of the more experienced players playing poorly!   Eastern was fortunate to hold a very good technical team to a tie.  It was the Cardinals first game of the season, if this Cardinal team had a few games behind them it would have been loss #3 for ECSU.

BTW, (I should have mentioned), the ECSU stream and play by play was very good, looks to have a new HD video, good camera work, commentary was sound, even though announcer could not decide if it was Wesleyan College or University LOL!!

[EasyGoer27]

I am really liking Bates Frosh from Ghana and Hotchkiss Opoku....He is small but mad quick and skilled...2 goals tonight already. Bloots you could be right on Bates but I want to see what he can do against bigger more physical Nescac defenders first

Yeah I think that's the big question, it's great to see what they can do against the less competitive teams, and you often get a great glimpse of talent in those games, but it's how you perform in the big games that matters.

While I'd be thrilled if I was here, I'm bummed to be out of town the day of Williams/Amherst and Tufts/Brandeis. Knew that I was missing the latter, but didn't know the former was that day as well until I saw your post above. What a great day of D3 soccer that will be.

Looks like 80+ degree weather, Amherst/Bowdoin then to catch more than a half of Bates, over to Williamstown (a delightful place to stay early fall) then back down east.  Catch three games and New England can not be more gorgeous than up route 2 this time of year.......I'll post impressions....

[amh63]

Amherst opened its season last night in RI against RIC.  It was a little wet...light rain...in the evening game.  The LJs starting with a new GK, had an 1-0 lead in the first half and closed the half with two more goals.  RIC announcers summarized that there were few chances against Amherst's defense.  The second half saw RIC more aggressive on offense, but it was 4-0 after a freshmen drilled a shot from 25 yds out for a goal.  Finally RIC scored on a penalty kick towards the end of the game.  Questionable call....even to the announcers.  Amherst scoring freely in the 2d half in a physically played game.

[Mr.Right]

9-10 Predictions:

Bowdoin v Amherst-----0-0    Both teams looked solid in their season opening games. Amherst is the better team, has more talent, more depth and more speed. They will out shoot Bowdoin in this game but Van Siclen will stand on his head to keep Bowdoin level. Everyone is gunning for Amherst because they are reigning national champs. This means they will see every teams best effort.....If Dias-Costa can control midfield he will force Orozco to have to defend. Bowdoin has speed on the flanks to beat guys 1v1. Not like Amherst speed but above average. Personally, I would go at Rohan Sood instead of Aoyama who is pretty solid defensively and speedy. I am not a fan of CB Bean as he is a step slow and can be beaten. Bowdoin will need some luck to pull this draw out.

Williams v Trinity-----------2-1 Williams   Without Savonen Trinity will not have their best line-up on the field. Gimand is very skilled and gives great thru balls but who will finish them off? Miblury might but he is more likely to be banging with Williams inexperienced CB's and could score off a bad bounce or a header. Williams has something to prove this year after their worst season since 1982. With Moutenot, Rashid, Tom Young and Singleton on the flanks, Williams might be the fastest and most skilled team in Nescac 1v1. Bahr-DeStefano is a solid attacking midfielder and Sisco can finish up top. Williams' issue will not be attacking this year it will be defending. They made countless defensive errors last year that cost them games. Alcorn is solid in net but only 5'11 so I would be getting crosses in from the flank for Milbury as much as possible. Still will not be enough in this game.

Conn v Midd--------------------1-0 Conn   This game will be a battle. I still say Midd looked gassed against Norwich the other day and against a better more fit team like Conn that will give Conn a significant advantage. Who knows what the Conrad injury is? Midd has IMO the best GK in the league it will be tough for Conn to score. Who knows what Conn's GK will do this year. Conn defends set pieces usually very well and that is Midd's bread and butter. Midd might need a week or 2 to get fit and cohesive. When they do they will be a beast to reckon with. Conn snags a much needed win against a Top 4 Nescac side.

Bates v Hamilton-------------------2-0 Bates  Hamilton seems to be off to another disaster of a season. Their roster seems gutted and I do not know many of their newcomers. 8 hr bus ride on top of all that and Bates wins this game. Knoth, Opoku and Merchant alone are better than anything Hamilton has. Bates looked gritty the other night and worked hard. I was impressed. Their question mark is in goal. Who knows what they have back there. Bates wins this one UNLESS Hamilton absolutely sits in and parks it, which they usually do not do.

Colby v Tufts--------------------------2-0 Tufts   Colby had 1 SOG against St. Joseph's(Maine). Enough said. Colby is organized defensively but have NOTHING going forward. This team is way to young and Seabrook's recruiting prowess I think has been highly over-rated. I didn't even see one of their better players, Chandler Smith, in their line-up. Tufts should be motivated enough to win this game after the Endicott loss. Colby will park the bus and the longer they keep the score 0-0 the better chance they will have to snag a draw.Over / Under on Nescac goals scored by Colby all season might be 4.

[PaulNewman]

Mr.Right, how would rank the NESCAC coaches?

I assume there is consensus on Serpone and Shapiro being the top two.  I personally also like Wheeler, and it's hard to argue with first few years for the Bowdoin skipper.

[letsGOswans!]

Mr. Right interesting predictions. Interesting to note Conn's starting goalkeeper for the last few years (Dacunha) is not rostered. I wonder why. Regarding Conn's strength on set pieces I disagree. As a fan of the team I have suffered heartbreak watching them constantly concede goals off of them. Last year alone I can recall the Camels losing to Middlebury, Amherst, Tufts, and Bowdoin (twice) off of them.