NESCAC

[Mr.Right]

Conn usually defends set pieces well, maybe I am remembering the Patch and Punt era of players that did well in the air. I watched Tufts and Conn last year in person and Tufts did not beat them on set pieces at all. Nathan Majumder scored a couple goals by burning defenders and slipping it by the GK. Also, if I remember correctly Midd scored off a long throw(set piece) header but it was not the defending of the throw that was the issue, it was bad GK'ing.

[Mr.Right]

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.

This is hard because their has been so much coaching turnover in Nescac the past 10 years.

Best Recruiters for their respective schools have to be Serpone, Shapiro, Murphy.

Weircinski has been at Bowdoin a couple years now and all of Fran O'Leary's recruits are gone. Most of those recruits won Bowdoin the past 2 Nescac Championships. I think he needs to step on the pedal more in recruiting as they should be getting better players at Bowdoin. Not bad but not great.

Pilger should be able to get basically anyone he wants at Trinity if they are decent students. From a distance I would say he needs to work harder recruiting.

Seabrook has been overrated at Colby.

Flaherty has been below average but this new class looks decent at Bates.

Nizzi has been a disaster at Hamilton.

To early to rate Sullivan at Williams.

Wheeler a decent recruiter and Saward gets Williams and Amherst scraps but does not recruit hard.


As far as X's and O's they are all very solid.

It's really a toss up as players win games not coaches. Coaches can lose games with bad decision making, putting players in the wrong position for them to succeed, bad communication, not getting teams ready to battle every game, etc.

[blooter442]

Bowdoin 1-1 Amherst - Amherst will do enough to score past Van Siclen, but I think Bowdoin can get one going the other way.
Williams 2-0 Trinity - Two sides that blew hot and cold last year, but a Savonen-less Trinity doesn't pose nearly as much threat.
Conn 1-2 Midd - Even without Conrad, Midd will grind it out.
Bates 2-0 Hamilton - Not saying they'll be an NCAA team or anything, but I still stand by Bates as my sleeper pick, and I think they'll cruise in this one.
Colby 0-2 Tufts - Tufts will get their play in gear and win comfortably.

[Nutmeg]

Bowdoin 1-1 Amherst - Amherst will do enough to score past Van Siclen, but I think Bowdoin can get one going the other way.
Williams 2-0 Trinity - Two sides that blew hot and cold last year, but a Savonen-less Trinity doesn't pose nearly as much threat.
Conn 1-2 Midd - Even without Conrad, Midd will grind it out.
Bates 2-0 Hamilton - Not saying they'll be an NCAA team or anything, but I still stand by Bates as my sleeper pick, and I think they'll cruise in this one.
Colby 0-2 Tufts - Tufts will get their play in gear and win comfortably.

Amherst 1-0
Williams 2-1
Midd2-1
Bates 1-0
Tufts 3-0

[EasyGoer27]

Amherst 2-1
Williams 3-1
Tufts 2-0
Conn 2-1
Hamilton 2-1

Couple of upsets but what the hell........can't wait.

[Off Pitch]

Bowdoin 0 - Amherst 1  - In conference last year, the Polar Bears were shut out by Amherst, Williams, Tufts, Middlebury, Bates and Colby.  The trend continues and Amherst prevails.

Williams 3 - Trinity 1  - The Ephs defeated Trinity last year in Hartford, and the Bantums were less than scintillating against Rivier Tuesday.  Williams starts slow but prevails in the second half.

Bates 2 - Hamilton 0  -  My exhaustive research tells me that Hamilton's biggest star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, has left the program (I have it on good authority that he actually went to Wesleyan).  Bates successfully defends their home turf.

Conn 2 - Middlebury 1  -  A hot, humid day in the deep south of NESCAC land helps the Camels avenge last year's 1-goal loss at Middlebury.

Colby 0 - Tufts 1  -   The challenge in predicting this game is guessing how many time Tufts scores.  Colby packs it in and holds the Jumbos to a single goal.

[PaulNewman]

Did Hamilton join/rejoin the NESCAC for academic or athletic reasons? Seems that over the past 5 years the academic ranking has risen fairly dramatically while at least for soccer athletic fortunes have suffered.

Also wonder about another year of Colby "packing it in." If you're going to finish 9th, 10th or 11th regardless go ahead and play so you've got a chance to do better in a year or two with perhaps a better platform for recruiting as well.

[1970s NESCAC Player]

Did Hamilton join/rejoin the NESCAC for academic or athletic reasons? Seems that over the past 5 years the academic ranking has risen fairly dramatically while at least for soccer athletic fortunes have suffered.

Also wonder about another year of Colby "packing it in." If you're going to finish 9th, 10th or 11th regardless go ahead and play so you've got a chance to do better in a year or two with perhaps a better platform for recruiting as well.

I do not think Hamilton technically "rejoined" NESCAC, as I believe they have continuously/regularly been a member of the league in some sports, but not in others.  The move in 2011-12 was to make membership uniform across all sports.  Also, Hamilton's academic ranking has always been quite high, and I doubt membership in NESCAC across all sports has had a dramatic impact.

As for Colby, we will have to see.  Coach Serdjenian regularly tried to "play" an attractive, attacking style, regardless of the strength of the team, and sometimes the results suffered.  Seabrook inherited a fairly strong group in the fall of 2014 that went 7-5-3, beat Middlebury, Bates, and Bowdoin, and gave Amherst a good run in a 1-0 loss in the conference quarterfinals, while emphasizing strong defense.  However, almost a dozen players (and all but a handful of goals) from that group departed, so Seabrook elected to go with 19 freshmen last year.  He's trying to rebuild the program without totally sacrificing results, so there has naturally been a defensive emphasis.  What's more, he hasn't yet found players (such as Chernin or Meisel) who were dangerous at the attacking midfield position.  In the first game this season, multiple starters did not play at all, so I assume they are dealing with key injuries.  But you are correct NCAC NE; at some point, there will likely come a difficult decision about what style to play if there is little hope of qualifying for the playoffs.  I just don't know where the goals will come from regardless what style they play, so it may be better from a developmental standpoint to keep the score low.  I think the program is likely still 2-4 years away from a definitive answer as to whether it can rise above the bottom of the league.

[amh63]

Amherst wins over Bowdoin 1-0 again...making several posters " brilliant". . Goal was scored within the first two minutes of the 2nd half.

[Brother Flounder]

1-1 in Waterville. Majumber not starting again. The other forward, Becherano, with a pretty gol. Mules come back on a defensive breakdown and almost score again....

[Nutmeg]

1-1 in Waterville. Majumber not starting again. The other forward, Becherano, with a pretty gol. Mules come back on a defensive breakdown and almost score again....

Yes. Colby not just packing it in. Making runs forward.  Tufts started out strong but pretty equal now...

[Brother Flounder]

1-1 in Waterville. Majumber not starting again. The other forward, Becherano, with a pretty gol. Mules come back on a defensive breakdown and almost score again....

Yes. Colby not just packing it in. Making runs forward.  Tufts started out strong but pretty equal now...

1-1 half.  Halliday pk saved by Gibson.... Pretty wide open game....

[Brother Flounder]

Tufts dominating second half. Colby now seems to have packed it in...

[Nutmeg]

Tufts dominating second half. Colby now seems to have packed it in...

Tufts 1 Colby 1....2 OT.  Yes, Colby packed it in after first have but did have a good chance in 2nd OT. Greenwood with a very nice save. Tufts dominated possession and shots. The shots came mostly from outside. Yes, they could have used Majumder. If they can work on that last nice pass up front they can be dangerous.... As has been said, they will need a little time to gel....

[1970s NESCAC Player]

Hamilton knocks off Bates 1-0 in Lewiston.  Colby ties Tufts 1-1.  Looks again like predicting results will be very difficult.