NESCAC

[Once_A_Metro_Always_A_Red]

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After watching some of Conn vs. Middlebury today, the key to breaking down Middlebury is figuring out how to tackle their suffocating (perhaps excessive) overloading on the wings:







(Hint: Avoid going North-South down the wings, it's what they want. Beat their overload by pivoting out through your holding midfielder, switching the point of attack quickly, and going right at the weak side outside back.)

***Also, huge shoutout to Conn College for having their video stream be tactical cam instead of being at midfield

[Mr.Right]

I am not so sure Conn is quite as strong as last year. I thought the GK made some nice saves and Conn had numerous chances to score but could not FINISH. Last year they would have finished one or 2 of those. MIdd was whacking everything in sight. So ugly to watch. Not to mention once they went up 1-0 they were time wasting for about a half hour. UGLY. Conn needed to keep the ball on the ground more, you will not win an air war with Midd. Sydor made some tremendous saves for the shutout and was man of the match.

Tufts absolutely dominated Colby 2nd Half but again could not FINISH. They deserved the win IMO but Colby's Chandler Smith did the job of 2 CB's to keep Colby level.

Williams defeated a depleted Trinity side but it was more even then the score suggests. Trinity had its chances but could not finish. They could have used Savonen. Rumor has it he will be back in a couple weeks. Man of the match was Rashid. He scored on a great goal and was causing problems for Trinity's backs all day. Trinity looked gassed and are not totally fit yet. Williams CB Tobias Meullers shut down Milbury all day although Milbury did have 2-3 good chances to score. Gimand did not have a great game today and would drive me NUTS as a coach as he absolutely refuses to tackle. He is SCARED to get stuck in. He is skilled but he will not win any 50/50 balls nor does he want to.  Trinity's #7 Oliver Murphy was their man of the match as he worked hard, got stuck in and is very skilled. As usual the 1st goal was a GK mistake. Trinity's GK situation has been a disaster for the last 3 years and will not improve this year.


The Hamilton result at Bates shocked me but I did not catch any of the game. That is 3 points that Bates is going to wish they had at the end of October.

Wesleyan absolutely dominating Swarthmore 4-1 with about 10 minutes left. Good win for Wesleyan but Swarthmore does not look very strong this year.

[ECSUalum]

A VERY poor 1st half by ECSU against Williams in Williamstown MA!!  Defense chasing their tails, no possession, poor passing, getting out hustled, pushed around!  At this point its just a matter of time when the Ephs score unless Eastern can get their act together in part 2

Williams 1-0 over Eastern.  Another example of a NESCAC team dominating an LEC team!!

[D3soccerwatcher]

Weekend prediction results:

Easygoer -- 3 of 5
Nutmeg -- 3 of 5
Blooter -- 2 of 5
Mr Right - 2 of 5
Offpitch -- 2 of 5

Almost everyone made the same easy picks -- Amherst & Williams -- after that well...

[Mr.Right]

Eastern Conn played ok at Williams. The announcers kept saying there was a huge wind advantage / disadvantage each half. 1st Half Eastern was going into the wind and I thought did the best they could. Williams just has more depth and talent then ECSU. However, ECONN had a couple golden chances to score 2nd Half but did not capitalize. It is not like Williams dominated the game, they had a few great chances to score and nabbed 1 goal which was enough to win it.

[EasyGoer27]

Weekend prediction results:

Easygoer -- 3 of 5
Nutmeg -- 3 of 5
Blooter -- 2 of 5
Mr Right - 2 of 5
Offpitch -- 2 of 5

  Almost everyone made the same easy picks -- Amherst & Williams -- after that well...

Well how do you handle ties?  Kind of an automatic loss for all....

   

[Mr.Right]

Nescac Week 1 Heroes and Zeroes:

Heroes:

1. Amherst- Very good win at Bowdoin as they keep rolling along and are off to another strong start.

2. Williams- 2 wins and 2 shutouts. The best start to the season they could have hoped for.

3. Hamilton- Just when we all thought it was another doomed season they make the 9 hour trek to Maine and defeat Bates.

4.Greg Sydor- Best GK in the league and he proved it this weekend making a couple tremendous saves and grabbing a shutout for Midd's 1-0 win at Conn.

5. Rashid- He is playing as well as I have ever seen him play to start the season. He might have to put Williams on his back to defeat their toughest opponents.


Zeroes:

1. Midd- A 1-0 win at Conn is excellent. The time wasting 2nd Half was unlike any Midd team I have seen. They stared time wasting with about 30 minutes left in the game after scoring their goal. They are to good for that.

2. Mateo Zabala- Trinity's GK cost them this week-end with a horrific GK'ing error to give Williams a 1-0 lead. Trinity needs to figure out their GK'ing issues and fast before they can progress.

3. Trinity- They looked gassed 2nd Half at Williams and it is obvious that some not all but some Trinity players did not come back fit and ready to go.

4. Bates- They just dug themselves a hole by not getting 3 points against Hamilton. They have more talent than Hamilton and needed that game.

5. Tufts- Yes I know they are young and will take some time to gel and Majumder is out but they had numerous chances against Colby 2nd half to snag a goal and could not take advantage.

[Brother Flounder]

Nescac Week 1 Heroes and Zeroes:

Heroes:

1. Amherst- Very good win at Bowdoin as they keep rolling along and are off to another strong start.

2. Williams- 2 wins and 2 shutouts. The best start to the season they could have hoped for.

3. Hamilton- Just when we all thought it was another doomed season they make the 9 hour trek to Maine and defeat Bates.

4.Greg Sydor- Best GK in the league and he proved it this weekend making a couple tremendous saves and grabbing a shutout for Midd's 1-0 win at Conn.

5. Rashid- He is playing as well as I have ever seen him play to start the season. He might have to put Williams on his back to defeat their toughest opponents.


Zeroes:

1. Midd- A 1-0 win at Conn is excellent. The time wasting 2nd Half was unlike any Midd team I have seen. They stared time wasting with about 30 minutes left in the game after scoring their goal. They are to good for that.

2. Mateo Zabala- Trinity's GK cost them this week-end with a horrific GK'ing error to give Williams a 1-0 lead. Trinity needs to figure out their GK'ing issues and fast before they can progress.

3. Trinity- They looked gassed 2nd Half at Williams and it is obvious that some not all but some Trinity players did not come back fit and ready to go.

4. Bates- They just dug themselves a hole by not getting 3 points against Hamilton. They have more talent than Hamilton and needed that game.

5. Tufts- Yes I know they are young and will take some time to gel and Majumder is out but they had numerous chances against Colby 2nd half to snag a goal and could not take advantage.

Right, I agree with most of your analysis.  Too early to call Middlebury a "zero" yet.  Tufts looked dominant in the second half and overtimes but they seemed to be missing that last pass or more creative closer chances, as most of the shots came from longer distances. In the past they were able to score on easier chances or feeds closer to the net...I give them an incomplete at this point and will have to see what impact Majumbder has upon his return.

[Mr.Right]

Those are just WEEK 1 HEREOS and ZEROES. Obviously, A zero can turn into a hero and vice versa. Just one week of observations. Nothing else

[Brother Flounder]

Those are just WEEK 1 HEREOS and ZEROES. Obviously, A zero can turn into a hero and vice versa. Just one week of observations. Nothing else

Gotcha!  Sounds like my relationship with me and my young wifey......

What did you think of Tufts scoring chances?  Most, if not all, were from the outside.....

[EasyGoer27]

Mid week:

Conn 2-0 over Trinity,  take another shot picked them vs Midd.
Tufts 3-0 over Gordon, first win
Williams 2-1 over decent Endicott team
Bates 3-0 over NE

I'll be @Williams though 2W this weekend looked a little sluggish to me.....they pick up the pace today.

[Mr.Right]

Big game today with Conn @ Trinity------Both teams need to avoid going 0-2-0 in Nescac play to start the season. Conn won this game 2-0 at home last year with Mark Leon scoring both goals. Meanwhile, Leon is completely missing from Conn's roster and he is a big loss. Besides Devlin, Conn is extremely young this year. They have only 8 Juniors and Seniors on the entire roster and are starting up to 3-4 Frosh in every game so far. If Trinity can control Devlin in midfield, which is a big if, they can win this game. Trinity's Oliver Murphy really impressed me against Williams and he MUST have the same type of game today. Milbury is a beast up top but he is a step slow which hurts him against quick defenders and Williams Tobias Muellers ate him up this past weekend. Both teams MUST test the GK's because they are both suspect in net. I wouldn't be surprised to see Trinity start their other GK Quade today. He is a senior and Pilger played him quite a bit last year and I think he is a better GK than Zabala. While I am inclined to pick a 1-1 draw I will give Trinity the benefit of the doubt and say Trinity 2-1.


As far as the other non-conference games today I usually do not predict them but I will say that they are all MUST WINS for these 3 nescac teams if they want to stay in the hunt for Pool C's. Williams has started strong this year and I do not believe Endicott will be able to muster a lot of shots mid-week 3 1/2 hour road game in Williamstown. I will say I have not seen Endicott this year so I am interested in watching some of this game today to see what they have. Tufts has not won a game yet and MUST win today at Gordon or they can kiss this young season good-bye for a Pool C unless they reel off 8-9 straight wins, which I do not see happening. 0-1-1 against Endicott an Colby is not an ideal start at all so let's see if they can rebound. I will be watching Trinity v Conn an some of the Williams v Endicott games so I will not be tuning into this one. Bates will and should win easily today but they went 1-0 down to Newbury on Sunday and did pull it out 2-1. Maybe Newbury is better than we all think.

[Brother Flounder]

Big game today with Conn @ Trinity------Both teams need to avoid going 0-2-0 in Nescac play to start the season. Conn won this game 2-0 at home last year with Mark Leon scoring both goals. Meanwhile, Leon is completely missing from Conn's roster and he is a big loss. Besides Devlin, Conn is extremely young this year. They have only 8 Juniors and Seniors on the entire roster and are starting up to 3-4 Frosh in every game so far. If Trinity can control Devlin in midfield, which is a big if, they can win this game. Trinity's Oliver Murphy really impressed me against Williams and he MUST have the same type of game today. Milbury is a beast up top but he is a step slow which hurts him against quick defenders and Williams Tobias Muellers ate him up this past weekend. Both teams MUST test the GK's because they are both suspect in net. I wouldn't be surprised to see Trinity start their other GK Quade today. He is a senior and Pilger played him quite a bit last year and I think he is a better GK than Zabala. While I am inclined to pick a 1-1 draw I will give Trinity the benefit of the doubt and say Trinity 2-1.


As far as the other non-conference games today I usually do not predict them but I will say that they are all MUST WINS for these 3 nescac teams if they want to stay in the hunt for Pool C's. Williams has started strong this year and I do not believe Endicott will be able to muster a lot of shots mid-week 3 1/2 hour road game in Williamstown. I will say I have not seen Endicott this year so I am interested in watching some of this game today to see what they have. Tufts has not won a game yet and MUST win today at Gordon or they can kiss this young season good-bye for a Pool C unless they reel off 8-9 straight wins, which I do not see happening. 0-1-1 against Endicott an Colby is not an ideal start at all so let's see if they can rebound. I will be watching Trinity v Conn an some of the Williams v Endicott games so I will not be tuning into this one. Bates will and should win easily today but they went 1-0 down to Newbury on Sunday and did pull it out 2-1. Maybe Newbury is better than we all think.

I will also go with Trinity here.  Devlin is very scrappy and tough to control.  The only player that I've seen outplay him offensively and defend him well was Kayne from Tufts.  If Trinity can shadow him with one or 2 players (I would do so) then Trinity can come up with the win.

I think Williams will win the game by a goal but I still need to see they are "for real" this year, given last year's performance. Rashid looks good and this is important for Williams.

The Tufts-Gordon game is tough to predict since Tufts is still gelling with the absence of many strong players.  The game is at Gordon but I am going to say Tufts wins by a goal.

[blooter442]

Trinity 1-0 Conn - Neither team has started particularly well, but home field proves the edge for the Bantams.

Williams 2-0 Endicott - A road trip to Williamstown on a weekday afternoon is too much for an Endicott team that has started the season well.

UNE 1-2 Bates - Bates has a habit of making games more difficult than they should be, but they still have enough to get by the Nor'Easters.

Gordon 1-2 Tufts - Going with my gut and saying that Tufts gets its first win of the year. Could very well see this one ending in a draw also.

[Off Pitch]

Trinity 2 - Conn 1  -  Trinity's last three NESCAC home games have been wins against Wesleyan and Bowdoin and a tie with Amherst.  Energized at home they slip by Conn.

Williams 1 - Endicott 0  -  The Ephs squeak by in OT against a stingy Endicott D.

UNE 2 - Bates 1  -  Upset alert.

Gordon 1 - Tufts 2  - Gordon has been a bit of a disappointment early, and Tufts has only managed a single goal in their first two games.  The Jumbos wear Gordon down and win late.