NESCAC

[Brother Flounder]

At Tufts Game. Up 1-0 on Becherano at half.  Majumbder out and Greenwood back in goal.  Tufts is only up by 1 but it is complete domination by the Jumbos. 16-1 shot differential. They need another score.  I went to the grass field but found out that the Jumbos play on a new turf field. I would have love to have seen the last two year's teams play on this field, given their quickness and style of play.... Any updates?

[Brother Flounder]

At Tufts Game. Up 1-0 on Becherano at half.  Majumbder out and Greenwood back in goal.  Tufts is only up by 1 but it is complete domination by the Jumbos. 16-1 shot differential. They need another score.  I went to the grass field but found out that the Jumbos play on a new turf field. I would have love to have seen the last two year's teams play on this field, given their quickness and style of play.... Any updates?

3-0 final. Total domination.  38-3 shot differential....

[Once_A_Metro_Always_A_Red]

Amherst (1) - Middlebury (1)
It's unfortunate that Amherst is the reigning national champion and class of the conference because watching them play soccer is so damn miserable. I'm aware that is not a new opinion. That being said, you have to imagine they are content as they can be taking a share of the points away at Middlebury --- arguably their biggest competition this season.  From what I saw, the game was fairly evenly contested, though I'd still argue that Amherst is very beatable against teams that don't get forced into playing ugly Amherst soccer by succumbing  Amherst's pressure. The times when Middlebury's back line was patient enough to keep possession and break the initial hard pressure of Amherst's front four, all of a sudden Amherst would be incredibly exposed; Amherst's outside backs are pushed up so high that it leaves large gaps in front of the centerbacks and in the wide channels once the first line of pressure is broken. Teams that commit to keeping possession against Amherst will not only find it easier to break down one of NESCAC's best defenses, but they'll disrupt the scrappy, kick and run, fouls and set piece heavy game Amherst wants. Against Amherst patience in possession is the best offense and the best defense.

Wesleyan (0) - Bowdoin (1)

Classic Bowdoin/Wesleyan matchup, two teams built around defending and the game defined by one or two key chances.  A free kick about 30 yards out swung in towards Niang who used his size and strength to power his header home was all that was needed for Bowdoin on the day.
...Does Wesleyan secretly have the worst field in the NESCAC? If not, who? The ball moves fairly slowly on that grass and is very bumpy, making it difficult for any team to truly develop any rhythm on the ball.  Which poses a problem for Wesleyan, a much smaller, less imposing and more technical team than the types of teams they'd have to knock off if they want to finish towards the top of the league. Maybe it was the field, but Wesleyan was far too willing to just simply kick the ball long and try to gain field position, play in cross after cross into Bowdoin's big trees at the back, or try to play difficult through balls to Cowie-Haskell, instead of using his 6'3" frame as a hold-up guy to keep possession. For 80 minutes, Bowdoin was able to pretty calmly deal with Wesleyan's frantic/hurried attacks, giving up only a few half chances.  It was really the last 10 minutes or so when Wesleyan starting playing centrally into the feet of Cowie-Haskell or Gruner in Zone 14 (that the top of the box-ish area: here for an overview http://leochanperformanceanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-is-zone-14-in-football.html), allowing players to run off and get shots. It's when they did a better job of keeping possession in the attacking 3rd that they were more dangerous, instead of the frantic, turnover-prone style they played most of the game.

Last thought: Teams are remarkably uncreative on set pieces, particularly for shorter teams coming up against big teams. There's a huge inefficiency to be exploited by being far more creative at getting a free header -- or even better, flipping a free kick/corner from one where the opportunity results in a header to one where you try to get a shot off -- but, teams (like Wesleyan today) we're totally content to loft the balls right into Bowdoin's big, tall defense. Those are wasted opportunities, and teams that want to make the most of their chances against the stingy Amherst's, Bowdoin's, and Middlebury's of the world might be served to try some crazy set pieces on the training ground. Here's some good examples: https://youtu.be/BZWAZWCjya0

[blooter442]

At Tufts Game. Up 1-0 on Becherano at half.  Majumbder out and Greenwood back in goal.  Tufts is only up by 1 but it is complete domination by the Jumbos. 16-1 shot differential. They need another score.  I went to the grass field but found out that the Jumbos play on a new turf field. I would have love to have seen the last two year's teams play on this field, given their quickness and style of play.... Any updates?

I believe that Tufts and Bates have played on Bello Field before (I want to say circa 2012). Not sure why Bates particularly, but I know that both teams traditionally use grass fields (Kraft at Tufts, Russell St. at Bates) but do have turfs available (Bello at Tufts, Garcelon at Bates). That said, I believe the two teams have used their grass fields the last two years - 2014 was at Tufts, 2015 at Bates - so it is interesting that they used the turf today.

I think it's pretty rare for Tufts to play on the turf, but I for one would like to see more games on that field.

[Brother Flounder]

At Tufts Game. Up 1-0 on Becherano at half.  Majumbder out and Greenwood back in goal.  Tufts is only up by 1 but it is complete domination by the Jumbos. 16-1 shot differential. They need another score.  I went to the grass field but found out that the Jumbos play on a new turf field. I would have love to have seen the last two year's teams play on this field, given their quickness and style of play.... Any updates?

I believe that Tufts and Bates have played on Bello Field before (I want to say circa 2012). Not sure why Bates particularly, but I know that both teams traditionally use grass fields (Kraft at Tufts, Russell St. at Bates) but do have turfs available (Bello at Tufts, Garcelon at Bates). That said, I believe the two teams have used their grass fields the last two years - 2014 was at Tufts, 2015 at Bates - so it is interesting that they used the turf today.

I think it's pretty rare for Tufts to play on the turf, but I for one would like to see more games on that field.

Bloots, I was told by a Tufts parent that this is the new Men' soccer field and that new field turf was installed last year.... We'll have to see...

[blooter442]

Bloots, I was told by a Tufts parent that this is the new Men' soccer field and that new field turf was installed last year.... We'll have to see...

Interesting! To be fair, I never thought Kraft was in great condition, at least in comparison to other NESCAC fields like Pickard at Bowdoin, so I could understand that.

[Mr.Right]

Williams goes up 1-0 on Babson 5 minutes in on a Rashid strike and a Babson defensive breakdown. Babson has come out flying but Williams gets on the board first.

[Mr.Right]

Williams knockin it around pretty well. With Rashid, Sisco, Moutenot and Bahr-DeStefano they do have a quick counter attack if you ar not ready. Babson knockin it around also but their final pass is off so far.

[blooter442]

Just saw the Williams goal. Rashid given far too much space by CB Abankroh, who stood off him as he shaped to shoot. Not just his fault, though - Babson as a whole had about two or three chances to properly clear the ball, which it failed to do. Anderson will be furious with that defending - especially after they'd started the game well - as coming back from a 1-0 deficit in Williamstown is a tall task.

[PaulNewman]

Watched about 20 minutes of 1st half of Oneonta at Hamilton.  Continentals very much holding their own, had Oneonta pinned for a while, and should have scored on a nice rolling cross right in front of the net that a sliding player should have tapped in.  Hamilton definitely appears to have some talent.  Is Passatiore (sp?) for Oneonta the same player who got a straight red against Haverford late in game last year?  A real enforcer and would not be fun to play against.  Very, very physical and at least one Hamilton player got an elbow to the head for his troubles.

0-0 at half.  Now Oneonta will probably come out and win 3-0 or 4-0 but I think Hamilton looks competitive.

[blooter442]

Is Passatiore (sp?) for Oneonta the same player who got a straight red against Haverford late in game last year?  A real enforcer and would not be fun to play against.  Very, very physical and at least one Hamilton player got an elbow to the head for his troubles.

Yes. The Red Dragons missed him against Amherst last year, although I think Amherst was deserving winners of the title in the end.

[PaulNewman]

Is Passatiore (sp?) for Oneonta the same player who got a straight red against Haverford late in game last year?  A real enforcer and would not be fun to play against.  Very, very physical and at least one Hamilton player got an elbow to the head for his troubles.

Yes. The Red Dragons missed him against Amherst last year, although I think Amherst was deserving winners of the title in the end.

From what I saw in the 1st half today I'm guessing AP's absence against Amherst was well-earned.

[blooter442]

From what I saw in the 1st half today I'm guessing AP's absence against Amherst was well-earned.

Probably a fair point. I don't remember the circumstances or the play that led to the red card, but while he is not the biggest guy he definitely makes his presence felt. He didn't get the same kind of accolades as Sutherland et al, but I think he might be their best all-around player. According to the Oneonta website, he moved to CM from the back, and I think he's done a tremendous job.

Watching the 2nd half of Babson vs. Williams. How Babson could really use a true CF. They've had a few decent openings but haven't had anyone there to finish the move. They moved Villari up top, but he is an outside back by trade, and while he scored in the first game he hasn't netted since. I remember from Brandeis' 1-0 win over Babson in 2013 that Babson did very well at the back and in the middle of the park, but didn't have a true goalscorer in the mold of Eric Anderson to finish things off. They had Laurenzo a couple of years back, and he was a good player, but haven't had anyone of that same caliber up top since.

[Mr.Right]

Williams defeats Babson 1-0 but held on in the end. Babson was given a deserved PK after Alcorn came sprinting out of net and tried to punch th eball but missed an punched a Babson player. 37 Seconds left and babson's best chance to tie and the kid misses the PK. These are the types of games Williams would lose last year but they are finding a way to win this year so far. 2nd Half they looked gassed and have another 3 games this week.

[blooter442]

Williams gets away with a 1-0 victory - however, the last minute was way more eventful than it should have been. Williams defenders got beat way too easily to a high, hopeful ball, Alcorn comes out to punch it away and gets the Babson player instead, PK given. Parker steps up, looking to score his second high-pressure PK in 8 days, but Alcorn makes a great save - to be fair, it wasn't a great PK from Parker. Still, Alcorn redeemed himself big time there. That was wild. Williams 4-0-1, Babson now 2-4-1.