NESCAC

[Flying Weasel]

. . . interesting NSCAA National rankings this past week IMO, especially with regards to the New England region. Regardless of USCGA's ranking (I'll let off-pitch and Mr. Right debate that  ), Tufts not receiving votes really surprised me. . . .

The NSCAA national committee, working off the regional polls, historically has given spots 1 thru 8 in the national ranking to the eight regional No. 1's, spots 9 thru 16 to the regional No. 2's, spots 17 to 24 to the regional No. 3's, the last spot to one of the regional No. 4's, and the "Receiving Votes" to some of the other regionl No. 4's.  After rigidly following that framework for many years, they have allowed themselves to deviate a little from that in the past couple years.  To be honest, I don't even pay much attention to the NSCAA national rankings for that reason, so I can't say for sure, but it seems like even though they've loosened up on the ordering of the teams a little bit, they still adhere rigidly to including three teams from each region except one which gets a fourth team. So they still severely limit their albility to reflect that some regions in a given year may be stronger and deeper than others and some regions may be weaker than others.

So to your questioning of the exclusion of Tufts from the NSCAA national rankings, that is a pure product of them not being top 3 or 4 in the New England region.  The NSCAA does not do a national poll (even if they call it one), only regional polls from which a national committee decides on a national ranking. So, your real question is why was Tufts only No. 5 in the NSCAA New England regional poll.

[Mr.Right]

Wesleyan in a dogfight with Trinity. They are down 2-1. This could be bad news for Wesleyan because they play at Midd in 38 hours. Midd coming off that bad loss could be real jacked for Saturday's game and on the turf I think they will be able to break down Wesleyan and win 2-0.

[Mr.Right]

Looks like GK McConnell got a red card. Things go from bad to worse

[PaulNewman]

How quickly things can change.

Wesleyan had a 1-0 lead in the 2nd half last night when game was called, and then loses to Trinity tonight.  The younger Savonen has a goal and an assist, and Wes GK sees red.

I thought Wes was getting close to locking in a 3rd bid for the NESCAC, and they still might, but as Mr.Right notes, next game is away at an equally desperate Middlebury.

[Mr.Right]

Interesting side note- In the you learn something new every day department.

The yellow cards from yesterday's game carry over. To me this does not make sense. I mean we all know that if the game is called before 75 minutes it goes down as a postponement yet how do the yellow cards stick? Does that mean the two players with yellow cards if they got another yellow tonight would get tossed? We used to have a ref on the old d3kicks.com site who would help with these questions. Anyone have any back knowledge on this?  It makes no sense to me that you can carry over cards.

[Off Pitch]

For what it's worth, if you take the NE data sheet and simply multiply the winning % by the SOS and sort the result, here would be the standings (actual ranking in parentheses):

1. Brandeis (1)
2. Coast Guard (2)
3. Amherst (4)
4. Wheaton (5)
5. Tufts (3)
6. Gordon (8)
7. Babson (6)
8. Wesleyan (7)
9. WPI (11)
10. Middlebury (9)
11. Nichols
12. Eastern CT St
13. UMass-Boston
14. U of NE
15. Johnson & Wales
16. Williams (10)
17. Bowdoin
23. Trinity

The only teams actually ranked higher than this simple projection (Tufts, Babson, Wesleyan, Williams) are coincidentally the teams with SOS over .600.   A strong SOS seems to be rewarded as opposed to a weak SOS being penalized.

[Corazon]

Interesting side note- In the you learn something new every day department.

The yellow cards from yesterday's game carry over. To me this does not make sense. I mean we all know that if the game is called before 75 minutes it goes down as a postponement yet how do the yellow cards stick? Does that mean the two players with yellow cards if they got another yellow tonight would get tossed? We used to have a ref on the old d3kicks.com site who would help with these questions. Anyone have any back knowledge on this?  It makes no sense to me that you can carry over cards.

Unreal. Makes no sense at all. If anyone can shed light on this rule, I'd appreciate it.

[Nutmeg]

For what it's worth, if you take the NE data sheet and simply multiply the winning % by the SOS and sort the result, here would be the standings (actual ranking in parentheses):

1. Brandeis (1)
2. Coast Guard (2)
3. Amherst (4)
4. Wheaton (5)
5. Tufts (3)
6. Gordon (8)
7. Babson (6)
8. Wesleyan (7)
9. WPI (11)
10. Middlebury (9)
11. Nichols
12. Eastern CT St
13. UMass-Boston
14. U of NE
15. Johnson & Wales
16. Williams (10)
17. Bowdoin
23. Trinity

The only teams actually ranked higher than this simple projection (Tufts, Babson, Wesleyan, Williams) are coincidentally the teams with SOS over .600.   A strong SOS seems to be rewarded as opposed to a weak SOS being penalized.

OP, I see you like Brandeis and CG so how would u personally rank the top 10?

[Flying Weasel]

Interesting side note- In the you learn something new every day department.

The yellow cards from yesterday's game carry over. To me this does not make sense. I mean we all know that if the game is called before 75 minutes it goes down as a postponement yet how do the yellow cards stick? Does that mean the two players with yellow cards if they got another yellow tonight would get tossed? We used to have a ref on the old d3kicks.com site who would help with these questions. Anyone have any back knowledge on this?  It makes no sense to me that you can carry over cards.

Unreal. Makes no sense at all. If anyone can shed light on this rule, I'd appreciate it.

First, it's 70 minutes, not 75 minutes to be an official game.

Here's a link to the rules book and an excerpt of the rule.

http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/SO14.pdf

7.5 Suspended Game
A suspended game is considered a temporary action (because of elements
or other causes). If the conditions leading to a suspended game persist and the
game is not resumed the same day, the game shall be considered "no contest"
if it has not progressed to 70 minutes. A "no contest" does not count, and all
normal statistics are nullified; however, cautions or ejections occurring in a
"no contest" shall be subject to the procedures stated in Rules 12.11, 12.12,
and 12.13.

And those rules referenced at the end are the ones about card accumulation, suspensions, more severe penalties for certain types of misconduct, etc.   

As I understand it the cards remain registered and official, meaning they are punished just the same as having occurred in an official game and count towards one's accumulation of cards.  But they do not carry over in the sense Mr.Right suggests they might; that is, the players do not start the "do-over" game with a yellow card before a second has even come off the clock.

[Alo35]

For what it's worth, if you take the NE data sheet and simply multiply the winning % by the SOS and sort the result, here would be the standings (actual ranking in parentheses):

1. Brandeis (1)
2. Coast Guard (2)
3. Amherst (4)
4. Wheaton (5)
5. Tufts (3)
6. Gordon (8)
7. Babson (6)
8. Wesleyan (7)
9. WPI (11)
10. Middlebury (9)
11. Nichols
12. Eastern CT St
13. UMass-Boston
14. U of NE
15. Johnson & Wales
16. Williams (10)
17. Bowdoin
23. Trinity

The only teams actually ranked higher than this simple projection (Tufts, Babson, Wesleyan, Williams) are coincidentally the teams with SOS over .600.   A strong SOS seems to be rewarded as opposed to a weak SOS being penalized.

Since it is getting closer and closer to Conference and NCAA tournament time I thought it would be very interesting to see how these teams rank in goals against average and save percentage for their GK's. As I have seen over the past couple of years a lot of close NCAA tournament games have been lost by dumb GK mistakes that cost their teams their entire season. In the close games I am a firm believer that the team with the better defense almost always win. Anyway for time management I am just going to be looking at the top 15 teams that you have listed. I do acknowledge that the goals against stat might be flawed a little since that is also partially determined by who a team plays. But just for good fun here it goes

Ranks for Goals Against Average:
1. Brandeis .26
2. WPI .33
3. Coast Guard .39
4. Tufts .44
5. Eastern Conn .51
6. Amherst .59
7. Midd .65
8. Nichols .73
9. Wheaton .75
    Johnson and Wales .75
    Gordon .75
12. Wesleyan .77
13. UNE .89
14. Babson 1.13
15. Umass Boston 1.33

Ranks for Save percentage (For teams who split keepers equally I did an average between the two keepers. For teams that have one main keeper I took the main keepers average.... not going to post names of the keepers):
1. Coast Guard .909
2. Eastern Conn .899
3. Brandeis .897
4. UNE .890
5. WPI .886
6. JWU .850
7. Wesleyan .833
8. Gordon .830
    Midd .830
10. Amherst .826
11. Nichols .825
12. Wheaton .824
13. Tufts .800
14. Babson .776
15. Umass Boston .750



Take what you want from this but I feel as though this shows how strong MOST of the top teams in New England are to score on. I just thought it would be some interesting stats to throw out there 

[Alo35]

Can't figure out how to edit..... I meant to say how hard it is to score on the top teams in new england. I apologize for the mishap

[FourMoreYears]

Current Playoff Picture

1.  20pts  8gp  6-0-2  Tufts                 (home Hamilton, at Bowdoin)
2.  20pts  9gp  6-1-2  Amherst            (home Trinity)
3.  15pts  8gp  5-3-0  Williams            (at Bates, at Hamilton)
4.  15pts  8gp  5-3-0  Wesleyan          (at Middlebury, home Conn College)
5.  15pts  9gp  4-2-3  Middlebury        (home Wesleyan)
6.  12pts  8gp  4-4-0  Bowdoin            (at Colby, home Tufts)
7.    8pts  8gp  2-4-2  Trinity               (home Conn College, at Amherst)
8.    7pts  8gp  2-5-1  Conn College     (at Trinity, at Wesleyan)

9.    6pts  8gp  2-6-0  Bates                (home Williams, home Colby)
10.  5pts. 8gp  1-5-2  Hamilton            (at Tufts, home Williams)
11.  5pts  8gp  1-5-2  Colby                 (home Bowdoin, at Bates)

[Bucket]

Current Playoff Picture

1.  20pts  8gp  6-0-2  Tufts                 (home Hamilton, at Bowdoin)
2.  20pts  9gp  6-1-2  Amherst            (home Trinity)
3.  15pts  8gp  5-3-0  Williams            (at Bates, at Hamilton)
4.  15pts  8gp  5-3-0  Wesleyan          (at Middlebury, home Conn College)
5.  15pts  9gp  4-2-3  Middlebury        (home Wesleyan)
6.  12pts  8gp  4-4-0  Bowdoin            (at Colby, home Tufts)
7.    8pts  8gp  2-4-2  Trinity               (home Conn College, at Amherst)
8.    7pts  8gp  2-5-1  Conn College     (at Trinity, at Wesleyan)

9.    6pts  8gp  2-6-0  Bates                (home Williams, home Colby)
10.  5pts. 8gp  1-5-2  Hamilton            (at Tufts, home Williams)
11.  5pts  8gp  1-5-2  Colby                 (home Bowdoin, at Bates)

So with Wes loss to Trinity, a Middlebury win over the Cardinals guarantees the Panthers a top-4 finish and a home date in the NESCAC quarters. (Even if Wes were to beat Conn in this scenario, the head-to-head tiebreaker would go to Midd.)

[oldonionbag]

Some excellent games to look forward to this weekend.

Wes @ Midd

In many eyes, this is the game of the weekend, and it's become further intensified by Trinity's win over Wesleyan. I'm impressed with both teams' ability to grind out games, and not concede goals. Despite Middlebury's significant advantage up top with Glaser and Conrad, I don't see Wesleyan letting up a goal coming off of a loss in which they let up 2. If there is one thing Geoff Wheeler is good at, it's creating a disciplined back line- Wesleyan remain tight and difficult to pick apart.

Of course, I also don't see Wes scoring a goal either. This will be a grueling affair, with both teams knowing that a loss will effectively knock them out of home field advantage in the playoffs. I think there are many cards in the cards here (sorry)- bodies will be flying and play will be bogged down in midfield with a few off chances here and there.

Wes 0-0 Midd, 2OT

Conn College @ Trinity

Trinity will be on a high and playing with some confidence after the win over Wesleyan, and I expect that to translate into freer play. Conversely, Conn is still reeling (their last win came on Oct. 1...over Framingham State), but I believe they get up for this one. Playoff spots are still up for grabs at the bottom of the table, and i think both teams will be playing with more intensity than perhaps we've seen so far this season. Is this the game where Conn finally realizes it's full potential? Devlin and the Irishman O'Brien get goals here, but so do the Bantams have their own Irishman in O' Shea- he gets one, and Savonen notches the other. The most exciting game in my eyes this weekend.

Conn 2-2 Trinity

Bowdoin @ Colby

Bowdoin has been a team that has niether wowed me nor disappointed me this year. Before the season, I thought they'd be middle of the pack and so far, that's held true. They've lost the games they were "supposed" to lose (Wes, Amherst, Midd, Williams) and have won the games they should win (Bates, Trinity, Hamilton, Conn). I'd say they are favored on paper here, but something tells me that Colby is going to rise to the occasion on Senior Day to make a push for that last playoff spot and salvage the season. They've shocked me once this season with a win over Midd, and I think it happens again with a win over Bowdoin. My upset special of the week, and the game that throws the bottom half of the table into disarray.

Bowdoin 0- 1 Colby

Williams @ Bates

Bates, oh Bates, how you torment me! Which Bates side will show up? The one that loses to Maine Maritime 2-0, or the one that beats Trinity 3-0? I think somewhere in the middle- a loss would be devastating, but a tie is manageable and still keeps them in the running for the playoffs. As such, I see them playing a bit more defensive. Williams, on the other hand, needs to win games like these to prove itself worthy of an at-large bid (if they don't win the NESCAC title), and I believe they come out fired up. Is having Grady enough? Five of his nine goals have come in NESCAC games, and he gets another here as Williams wi- WAIT- Peabo Knoth scores to tie it up in the death! This game will be physical, but entertaining. Both teams get their first NESCAC ties of the year, and the playoff picture is further muddled.

Williams 1- 1 Bates

Hamilton @ Tufts

Tufts sit at the top of the table for the first time that I can remember since I started following the league. I've been high on Tufts all year, and I see no reason to change my tune for this game (if Tufts had to travel to Hamilton, that would be another story). However, Tufts has been a team that has seemed to struggle once they are recognized as being a very formidable opponent (thinking about a couple of years ago when they were nationally ranked and then played poorly and bowed out in the first round of NCAAs to a lesser Vassar side).

As such, I think that Shapiro will stress not getting complacent, and I think that he will (or at least he should) remind them that they still need to earn respect by highlighting the fact that they are not nationally ranked. Tufts comes into this fired up with something to prove to everyone in the region, as well as homefield advantage throughout the playoffs to play for. That, coupled with it being Senior Day (i.e. Kramer, Williams, Santos, Hoppenot) is surely enough motivation.

I've been impressed with Kraynack for Hamilton, and I doubt he wants his senior year to end without making the playoffs, but I cannot see Hamilton beating an in-form Tufts.

Interesting note- Tufts is the only team in the league that controls their own destiny at this point in time. Let's see how they handle it.

Tufts 2- 0 Hamilton

[Mr.Right]

A suspended game is considered a temporary action (because of elements
or other causes). If the conditions leading to a suspended game persist and the
game is not resumed the same day, the game shall be considered "no contest"
   

As I understand it the cards remain registered and official, meaning they are punished just the same as having occurred in an official game and count towards one's accumulation of cards.  But they do not carry over in the sense Mr.Right suggests they might; that is, the players do not start the "do-over" game with a yellow card before a second has even come off the clock.


Thanks for the info. This still makes no sense to me because if a game is suspended "no contest" everything should wipe out even the cards if it is registered as never being played. Why not keep goal and assist stats. Also, if a player gets a red card in a no contest match they would not be able to play in the next match even if the game was considered to never have been played.