NESCAC

[Kuiper]

Preach, Kuiper, preach.

I'm very much on record as an old head GK coach/player that decries the move towards slapping/punching everything now. Simple Coach (I think) is in the same boat. There are times when it is just comical. Catch the damn ball. That's the point of the position.

I've taught SimplePlayer#2 to catch everything when he can get two hands on it.  No matter what is doing.  Diving.  Corners.  Doesn't matter.  Now his problem is that he makes it look easy.  Coaches don't notice him because he doesn't have to make saves on rebounds, make glamorous one handed punches in the box, or cover up glaring mistakes by making an "incredible" save.  Bizarre world we live in.

For the record, I've watched the 6'4" Colby Keeper in one of the games last week.  I was not impressed other than the fact that he was ginormous.  Same with the Amherst Keeper.

SC.

In the Pomona-Pitzer 4-3 win over Redlands on Wed 9/28, at least three of the goals were because of the GK failures to properly handle the ball.  In one, the PP GK (a freshman, to be fair) went out for a cross and tried to do a basket catch in the air, rather than catch it with his hands, and it bounced off his chest to an onrushing striker who hit it home.  In another play, the Redlands senior keeper let a ball go through his hands (it happens, but still).  In the second half, the second PP keeper (possibly brought in because of the freshman's error in the first half), made a good save on a dive to his left, but he had to either hold the ball or push it well clear or even out for a corner (that is another lost art - the ability to stop the ball with one arm and use the other to push it far wide or to push with two hands in a coordinated way).  He basically did neither, which I suspect is an incorrect decision that he was technically strong enough to hold without the push.  He instead left the ball a few feet away from him and while he was still on the ground, the striker scored.  Even on PP's third goal, the Redlands keeper won't be blamed for a player being left wide open at the top of the six for a header on the cross, but the path from the GK to that player was also wide open and the GK's decision to stay on his line made that shot so much easier for the PP shooter.

And lest you think this is because D3 GKs just aren't as good as GKs in higher divisions, I saw a keeper for D1 Holy Cross playing yesterday v. Colgate who was even worse.  He made a play early in the game on a relatively simple ball in the air where he dropped the ball.  To an untrained eye it kind of looked like he patted it down, which GKs do sometimes, but I said to myself, that keeper has problems with his hands.  Sure enough, he gave up a goal in the second half where he tried to catch the ball on a free kick and didn't get it cleanly.  As he was trying to adjust his hands around it better when his arms were on the way down, he lost control and the ball went into the net.

@SimpleCoach - I totally can sympathize with you on coaches not noticing a keeper like your son who catches the ball and who holds the ball on a shot to the ground, which is extremely valuable and increasingly rare.  Just like coaches have trouble seeing how a GK who talks prevents shots that require dramatic saves, they tend to think a ball caught should have been caught and a ball not caught must have been too hard to catch.  Sometimes that's true, but a lot of time it really isn't.  The GKs who catch the ball not only have better hands and have been taught over years and years of practice to go for the catch, but they are better in positioning, focus, timing of their jump, and their run up to put them in the right spot to catch the ball.  Moreover, the worries about ball security after the catch (one of the arguments for the parry or punch) are less because they have developed better hand strength over the years.  In other words, many GKs punch in a scenario where they aren't being challenged not just because that's what they are coached to do, but because they (and probably their coaches) don't trust their hands.  It should be a red flag for coaches until they investigate more.

[Hopkins92]

I mean... Not to take this too far down a rabbit hole, but...


The guy that is likely going to start for the MNT against Wales was Internet-famous for one of the most egregious howlers you'll ever see while playing for D1 Fairfield. As has been well-documented, Turner didn't really start playing until high school, and likely had never seen the type of weird sky ball that he confronted just due to overall reps to that point. When you spend your childhood playing the position, getting specialized training, going to camps and playing 100s of games... Not that you've seen everything, but you're less likely to panic when dealing with an outlier like that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec4TNK2laeg&feature=emb_logo

Circling back to Kuiper's last paragraph... I say this all to say, training matters. If you don't have a goalie trainer attached to your club, you have coaches that are risk averse, and all they want is for the keeper to get the ball away from their net. They don't care about fundamentals. And it shows in certain keepers.

[Mr.Right]

I am not sure what to make of the new rule. I still remember the days when the Sport of Soccer in this country would run away from anything that produced more Draws. This then confirms what I had already known. That the Sport has grown to a popular enough level in this country that now it need not run away from anything. Just 30 years ago it was still a niche sport in the US with no MLS or EPL Saturday mornings on the "telly". No athlete role models in the Sport existed for US kids unless you searched it out yourself. So, I was kind of surprised when I saw this rule change. I do like that teams are done after 90 minutes and if you cannot Win a Game in that amount of time then you probably do not deserve to Win the Game anyway. Middlebury having 10 OT Games in 2019 is ridonkulous and who knows maybe led to an extra injury or two. You can bet it wore the team down as they were moving thru their season and especially at the end of the year and for what? 2 extra Wins in 10 Games. So, like some of you guys I do not know what to make of it but more importantly what does the NCAA Committee do with all these Draws?

[camosfan]

Ties are not always bad, first rule of the game is not to lose, a point on the road is to be cherished.

[MediumTime]

Hello all,

New user on the D3 Boards but not new to the platform or the league. I've enjoyed reading the commentary so much over the last few seasons that I'm finally deciding to join the conversation.

[SimpleCoach]

Hello all,

New user on the D3 Boards but not new to the platform or the league. I've enjoyed reading the commentary so much over the last few seasons that I'm finally deciding to join the conversation.

Hot Dog!  Welcome!  The more the merrier.

SC.

[camosfan]

Hello all,

New user on the D3 Boards but not new to the platform or the league. I've enjoyed reading the commentary so much over the last few seasons that I'm finally deciding to join the conversation.

Relatively new myself but welcome, and enjoy the journey!

[Hopkins92]

Hello all,

New user on the D3 Boards but not new to the platform or the league. I've enjoyed reading the commentary so much over the last few seasons that I'm finally deciding to join the conversation.

Welcome!

[Mr.Right]

Hello all,

New user on the D3 Boards but not new to the platform or the league. I've enjoyed reading the commentary so much over the last few seasons that I'm finally deciding to join the conversation.

welcome MediumTime....


It is always bad luck to predict before an Amherst / Williams Men's Soccer Game but we have 5 important Games tomorrow. Why important? Well...

Midd (4-1-2) at Wes (6-0-0-1)- Midd is sitting at 4-1-2 but three of those Wins are non-conference and the other is Bates who will not be ranked at the end of the year. They will need to find ranked Wins somewhere and this Game would be a good start.

Colby (2-1-5) at Tufts (3-2-3)-  Colby has a brutal schedule to finish with 5 of their last 7 on the Road including a trip to Hamilton and then Conn at Home. Both of these teams are desperate for a Win so hopefully they both go for it.

Amherst (5-1-2)at Williams (3-0-4)- Amherst has not lost on Cole Field since 2006 which means Serpone has never lost at Williams. There have been plenty of tight Draws but no L on Cole.  Key matchups include Amherst #24 Okorogheye v Williams Frosh RB #17 Sam Gibson and Williams striker #13 Felitto v Amherst Central defenders #33 Simon Kalinauskas and #22 Ben Clark Eden. I am just really looking forward to the Game.

Hamilton (6-0-1) at Conn (3-1-2)- Conn's #24 Kelesoglu will be out for this Game and Conn seems to have other injuries as well with the most important being #8 Rye Jaran. Hamilton needs to just keep playing like they are now and stay nice and loose. They have nothing to lose in this Game so I would not be surprised to see them go for it. Conn I would expect an early press as they need to make something happen in the first 20 minutes.

Trinity (0-3-3) at Bates (3-4) The loser of this Game is in big trouble.


Big fan of the Friday Feature, Big fan...Today it is Williams CB #11 Eamon Gara Grady.  He has been a steady presence on that backline all season and will need to keep his head on a swivel  tomorrow if Williams is to Win. Good kid. https://nescac.com/news/2022/9/27/nescac-news-nescac-friday-feature-eamon-gara-grady-williams-mens-soccer.aspx

[College Soccer Observer]

Middlebury 1 Wesleyan 0.  Well taken goal by Shane Farrell with a volley from the top of the penalty area into the lower corner for the only goal of the match.  Not quite on the same level as his game winner vs Williams last year in OT in the final regular season match, but still a class goal.  Very physical, chippy game with multiple yellow cards.  Tyler Payne from Midd left the game in the 2nd minute after getting crunched on an aerial challenge.  William O'Brien left with an injury midway through the second half, and Kenan Ulku-Steiner did a great job stepping in for him, with Casey Lund moving to right back and Ulku-Steiner going to left back.  Wesleyan had a number of chances, but the man of the match was undoubtedly Middlebury keeper Ryan Grady, who posted his 24th career clean sheet.  He had 11 saves, several of them spectacular.  The one in the 57th minute was perhaps the best. Matthew Rubenstein megged a defender and unleashed a curling shot that was destined for the far corner, but Grady fully extended to his left and palmed it away.  Midd earns a valuable 3 points and a ranked win.

[NESCAC_Soccer_Fan]

Amherst 0 - Williams 0

For Williams:

The Good: They contained Amherst to a few mediocre efforts, save a couple of magic dribbling moments from what looked to be a limping #23 Okorogheye. Defensively, the Ephs have looked solid all year and haven't allowed much in the way of legitimate SOG. GK #30 Diffley had little to do as has seemed to be the case throughout the season. As an old coach of mine used to say, "you can't lose if you don't concede."

The Bad: Once again, the Ephs struggled to find the back of the net. After scoring 10 goals over their first 5 games, Coach Siebert's men have only mustered 1 in the last three. Though still undefeated, 5 ties (3 of which ended 0-0) will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of a team hoping to improve from a historically bad 8th in 2021

The Ugly: #13 Felitto went down late in the first half holding what looked to be his knee and had to be helped off the field. He didn't return to the game. If out for any length of time, he will be missed sorely by Williams, who often seems to create chances by kicking it long and letting their re-converted striker get a knockdown. A Felitto-less Williams will test their coaching staff and players' ability to earn some wins in a challenging rest-of-season schedule.

For Amherst:

The Good: Though they won't be happy to admit it, a tie against a ranked Williams side (especially after going down to 10 men early in the second half) is a solid result. Even while under pressure for much of the game, Amherst still managed to create chances that, on a different day, could have won them a NESCAC-trademarked smash and grab victory. Serpone's system still creates chaos, even when his squad isn't as talented as in years past. GK #1 White also had probably his best game of the conference season so far which should bode well going forward for the Mammoths.

The Bad: Compared to years past, Serpone's team looked toothless. Their once dynamic game plan around a host of decorated goal-scorers has been reduced to a similar tactic to Williams: kick it long to your best player and see what happens. Another week without a statement win will have Amherst feeling out uncomfortable territory. Nothing is guaranteed this year for a historically strong squad.

The Ugly: Amherst is getting themselves in more trouble than their opponents this year. Without a stout defense and lethal offense, their intense fouling and sideline antics seemed to unsettle themselves instead of Williams. Though the Ephs failed to convert on their many set pieces, Amherst cannot count on such a streak continuing. They need to find their mojo again- sooner rather than later.

[BigSoccerFan]

Hmmm Williams is looking pretty decent...  it is early but  there is a hat out there somewhere.

[Another Mom]

Noted!

Tying Amherst is a good result,  as is beating Bowdoin.

W&L is beginning to approach last year's form, though, after a weak start.

[PaulNewman]

Unbelievably sad and tragic news on the South Shore of Massachusetts.  Scott Greenwood, two-time national title GK at Tufts (2014 and 2016) passed away a few days ago.  Sincerest condolesences to his family, friends, and all those affiliated with Tufts and the Tufts men's soccer program.  Scott was an incredible GK and huge key in putting Tufts soccer where it is today.

[Saint of Old]

This is incredibly sad sad news.
Young man who accomplished so very much and had so  much more left to do.

The parents and loved ones will not know anything but sorrow in the days ahead, but as the time goes by I know they will appreciate that their son was a legend and Icon of Tufts and D3soccer. Also, the boys at Williams will no doubt attest to, when a special person/player like Scott goes, he has Brothers he played with and who will live from his legacy who will be linked to him and his family forever.

Truly will never be forgotten.