NESCAC

[northman]

I watched most of this game.  Admittedly, online spectating is not quite the same as in-person.  Amherst predictably dominated in their offensive third for most of the game.  Williams looked pretty anemic offensively.  That said, my perception was that Diffley...who otherwise played a strong and consistent game in net...simply wasn't prepared for a long strike.  As someone else said, he was out of position and late to react.  Cubeddu certainly deserves credit for taking a chance and hitting a banger from 30+ yards.

I reckon you could say that it was the result of a physical scrum between two competitive teams, but I didn't see a lot of convincing possession from either team.  I think both teams will have vulnerabilities as the season progresses.

[camosfan]

Game of the week coming up Tuesday, when Con visits Amherst!

[College Soccer Observer]

Middlebury 2 Wesleyan 0

I was expecting a bit more from Wesleyan off their tie against Tufts.  Middlebury attacked early and often, and should have been up at halftime, but an excellent goalline clearance from a Wes defender and some wasteful finishing meant it was scoreless at the half.  Midd got 2nd half goals from St. Louis and Duggan to close out the win.  First game for Midd after the loss of their midfield dynamo Shane Farrell, who is out for the season with a torn ACL suffered in the Bates game.  Midd (6-0-2, 3-0-2) now hits the road for an extended spell, with visits to Vassar on Tuesday and Colby on Saturday

[SKUD]

Game of the week coming up Tuesday, when Con visits Amherst!

and Tufts travels to Babson

[camosfan]

Can't make it to Babson since I will be in Medford Saturday for senior's day, but will be watching both, one at 3:30 and the other at 4!

[Yankeesoccerdad]

Bowdoin 1--Wheaton 1

This couldn't have been what Bowdoin envisioned when adding Wheaton to their non-conference schedule.  Now that Bowdoin has lights and can host night-time games, they started going further afield to add teams outside Maine for non-conference games.  The game was supposed to have been played on Wheaton's grass field at 2:00 pm, but the forecast caused the game to be shifted Friday night to 8:00 pm Saturday on the Wheaton turf field.  The change didn't really help, as the game was played in a light rain/mist anyway.

The player introductions were peculiar--the Wheaton announcer described the two Bowdoin 5th year senior starters as graduate students.  Each player took a covid gap year away from school and Bowdoin doesn't have a graduate program.  It wasn't clear where the announcer got the program notes.

Wheaton go the better start, playing with more intensity and energy and scoring the first goal after 27 minutes.  Bowdoin bounced back and got the equalizer in the second half.  Bowdoin had the better second half and had about a 2:1 edge in shots, SOG and corners, but wasn't able to break the tie.

Not a great game for Bowdoin, but better to get the hiccups out of the way earlier rather than later. 

Next week is another conference double header, with senior day Saturday against Trinity (coming in hot off their conference win) and a Sunday match against Amherst.

[camosfan]

Sometimes in preparation teams are too focused on the next game, often at the peril of the current game: maybe coach was rotating players?

[northman]

I think the normal starters started.  I suspect that the change in schedule may have thrown Bowdoin off a bit...but I think it was mostly a matter of complacency and not coming out with the intensity level that is brought to conference games.

[PaulNewman]

Or, we could give the NEWMAC just a little credit....in a matter of days Babson knocks off mightly Amherst and Wheaton holds red-hot Bowdoin to a draw.

When the NESCAC rarely plays top level out of conference matches it's easy to keep the narrative going that they simply are too good for everyone else outside the conference.  Let's mix in Oneonta, Cortland, Rochester, Messiah, Rowan, Montclair, F&M, Hopkins, Stevens, etc, etc.

[northman]

That's undoubtedly a valid point, PN...but there's no question that NESCAC teams get the most fired up and intense about conference games.  I've witnessed this consistently over the years.  It doesn't mean that NEWMAC teams are of any lower quality.

A little piece of history between these two teams.  My son played for Bowdoin coach (and fiery Irishman) Fran O'Leary from 2008-2011.  Before my son's time, Bowdoin played Wheaton (MA) pretty much every year...until Fran got into a dustup with Wheaton coach Matt Cushing.  Matt promptly took Bowdoin off Wheaton's schedule from that day forward.

[GenerallyInterested]

Or, we could give the NEWMAC just a little credit....in a matter of days Babson knocks off mightly Amherst and Wheaton holds red-hot Bowdoin to a draw.

When the NESCAC rarely plays top level out of conference matches it's easy to keep the narrative going that they simply are too good for everyone else outside the conference.  Let's mix in Oneonta, Cortland, Rochester, Messiah, Rowan, Montclair, F&M, Hopkins, Stevens, etc, etc.

Indeed!  Test your meddle a bit more out of conference.....in the long run it benefits the conference to do so....

[PaulNewman]

That's undoubtedly a valid point, PN...but there's no question that NESCAC teams get the most fired up and intense about conference games.  I've witnessed this consistently over the years.  It doesn't mean that NEWMAC teams are of any lower quality.

A little piece of history between these two teams.  My son played for Bowdoin coach (and fiery Irishman) Fran O'Leary from 2008-2011.  Before my son's time, Bowdoin played Wheaton (MA) pretty much every year...until Fran got into a dustup with Wheaton coach Matt Cushing.  Matt promptly took Bowdoin off Wheaton's schedule from that day forward.

LOL, northman.  You never miss an opportunity.  Whether Dave Matthews or Wheaton, all roads lead back to Bowdoin (and Brown).

Are you telling me Tufts or Amherst or Bowdoin wouldn't get up for Messiah?  Or Oneonta?

[Yankeesoccerdad]

I give credit to Wheaton—they deserved the tie and played with greater intensity and urgency. I thought Bowdoin looked flat relative to what they are capable of.

Favorites sometimes underestimate their opponents. If that is what happened, a lesson was learned.

[northman]

That's undoubtedly a valid point, PN...but there's no question that NESCAC teams get the most fired up and intense about conference games.  I've witnessed this consistently over the years.  It doesn't mean that NEWMAC teams are of any lower quality.

A little piece of history between these two teams.  My son played for Bowdoin coach (and fiery Irishman) Fran O'Leary from 2008-2011.  Before my son's time, Bowdoin played Wheaton (MA) pretty much every year...until Fran got into a dustup with Wheaton coach Matt Cushing.  Matt promptly took Bowdoin off Wheaton's schedule from that day forward.

LOL, northman.  You never miss an opportunity.  Whether Dave Matthews or Wheaton, all roads lead back to Bowdoin (and Brown).

Are you telling me Tufts or Amherst or Bowdoin wouldn't get up for Messiah?  Or Oneonta?

I enjoy your inclination to be provocative, PN!  And you're absolutely right...in my unique universe, all roads do lead back to Brown and Bowdoin.  That said, I stand by my observation that NESCAC teams do get more focused and more energized for conference games.  Not just in soccer, but across most sports.

And...don't many roads also lead back to Kenyon? 

[PaulNewman]

That's undoubtedly a valid point, PN...but there's no question that NESCAC teams get the most fired up and intense about conference games.  I've witnessed this consistently over the years.  It doesn't mean that NEWMAC teams are of any lower quality.

A little piece of history between these two teams.  My son played for Bowdoin coach (and fiery Irishman) Fran O'Leary from 2008-2011.  Before my son's time, Bowdoin played Wheaton (MA) pretty much every year...until Fran got into a dustup with Wheaton coach Matt Cushing.  Matt promptly took Bowdoin off Wheaton's schedule from that day forward.

LOL, northman.  You never miss an opportunity.  Whether Dave Matthews or Wheaton, all roads lead back to Bowdoin (and Brown).

Are you telling me Tufts or Amherst or Bowdoin wouldn't get up for Messiah?  Or Oneonta?

I enjoy your inclination to be provocative, PN!  And you're absolutely right...in my unique universe, all roads do lead back to Brown and Bowdoin.  That said, I stand by my observation that NESCAC teams do get more focused and more energized for conference games.  Not just in soccer, but across most sports.

And...don't many roads also lead back to Kenyon? 

I appreciate you being good-natured, and I apologize for being so weak.  I had to work really hard on myself not to comment on the Dave Matthews one!

And, yes, absolutely, all roads do lead back to Kenyon, and over the years I have found some incredibly creative ways to work in references to both Kenyon but especially my son.  When I do a read back they aren't quite as clever as I thought.  In any case, I've tried to compensate by commentating on worlds having nothing to do with Kenyon or my kid.

And I can share that I care about all of this 10 times more than my son (who now is 30 lol), and I'd imagine that may be true for your sons as well.