NESCAC

[PaulNewman]

Nutmeg, I didn't give you a negative karma point.

Congrats to Tufts. I am certainly surprised as I'm sure many are.  Huge accomplishment for Tufts, regardless of how the game played out or the field or whatever.  And obviously didn't see a second of it so have no idea how it played out.  They deserve full credit for beating Messiah.  They now have as good a chance as anyone, although Wheaton probably the clear favorite, but if Oneonta can beat Wheaton the who knows.

[NEPitch62]

Messiah was not ready to play?  are you kidding me?  Tufts has been handing it to the NCAA participants the whole tourney.  Messiah was outmatched today - it wasn't that they weren't up to the task.

[Brother Flounder]

Messiah was not ready to play?  are you kidding me?  Tufts has been handing it to the NCAA participants the whole tourney.  Messiah was outmatched today - it wasn't that they weren't up to the task.

That was a great game. I agree that Messiah was indeed ready to play and was up to the task. They played better than Tufts in the first half. The second half seemed even. The Tufts goal was a real Golasso. Tufts deserved the win. Let's hope Tufts comes out strong each game. They seemed to have learned from the Conn College game.  Even though it was a loss that loss seemed to force Tufts to be prepared. Keep it up Jumbos.  Work hard and enjoy the ride!

[Mr.Right]

I just think for the first 15 minutes Messiah assumed they would win the game and were asleep. I have seen them start games much better than that

[D3soccerwatcher]

Messiah was not ready to play?  are you kidding me?  Tufts has been handing it to the NCAA participants the whole tourney.  Messiah was outmatched today - it wasn't that they weren't up to the task.

It's quite a stretch to say that Messiah was outmatched.  Tufts earned the win today.  But "outmatched" is pushing it.  If these two teams played each other 10 times, well...

[KnightFalcon]

Can anyone who attended the game give a first hand account?

Go look at the Post from Flying Weasel over on the national discussion. He was at the game as was I, but I couldn't sum up the game any better than he did - it was spot on

[CacCaptain]

Agreed, the Flying Weasel post is spot on. I was at the game as well.

The goal was special. Kayne hit it perfectly -- a very difficult volley just behind a crowded 18 with Messiah defenders charging after the clear. It gave the Jumbos immediate belief they could actually pull this off.

The last 44 minutes of the first half were all Messiah. Tufts would just clear the ball hoping Hoppenot could get a hold of it all alone and Messiah would come charging right back down (granted with very few actual shots). You felt Tufts had to somehow get to halftime with the lead intact and they managed.

The second half was a completely different story. Tufts had it locked in Messiah's end the first 10-15 minutes and started connecting passes in the midfield. When Messiah turned up the pressure, upon winning possession Tufts was able to get a hold of it and counterattack very effectively with a combination of Hoppenot, Santos, and Kayne for the most part (with Brown and Majumder also having success). Messiah's goalie came up big on several occasions.

The last 15 was intense. Messiah hit the crossbar and the elder Halliday made a game saving slide to clear the ball off the line. He had a massive game, playing a relentless 90 minutes in the defensive center midfield. Williams also stepped up as he has all year, keeping 2012 National POTY Jeremy Payne very quiet.

This was the first time I've seen Messiah play and I was incredibly impressed. They are as advertised. The service on their set pieces is of professional quality. They played mistake free soccer for 70 minutes. It wasn't until the last 15 were I saw 3-4 bad touches or missed passes out of bounds. I think reality set in and they realized they might actually fall (after a 6-0 win the previous day). But hats off to the Falcons, this powerhouse was fun to watch.

It didn't hurt that the Tufts fans made this feel like a home game despite the much longer trip. Shapiro managed this game masterfully. The way he utilized his subs was crucial to keep the energy level high for 90. Congratulations to the Jumbos! Hoping they can continue this special run. They certainly have all the right pieces.

[lastguyoffthebench]

Perhaps Bennett is on to something here... The formula had Tufts as high as #2 last year and closed out at #6.   As the 4th ranked NESCAC team in 2013, they were #4 in Bennett Preseason rankings... KUDOS to them.

On a side note:  this is the NESCACs 5th team to reach the FINAL FOUR (Amherst, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Tufts, Williams) during this rather impressive run.  Only one conference has more teams to reach the FINAL FOUR

[Falconer]

It has nothing to do with SOS...Messiah was not ready to play today and Tufts took advantage

If you believe Flying Weasel's account (#1867 on the National Perspective thread), Messiah was fully ready to play. And, if you believe Messiah's own coach--who doesn't hide it when his team disappoints him--the Falcon played well enough to win on another day (http://www.gomessiah.com/news/2014/11/23/MSOC_1123141858.aspx).  B/c of a bad feed, I saw only the final 15 minutes, but the Falcons certainly won those 15 minutes and could have had 2 goals on a different day--one blocked off the line when the keeper was beaten, the other hit the crossbar. Give Tufts some credit, Mr. Right. You might say that Tufts was Tuff: they earned the right to go to the Final Four. Messiah didn't give it to them.

[Falconer]

Tufts gets an early goal and stuns Messiah 1-0! An earlier poster made a wish that the Jumbos' strength of schedule would be an asset, and that may well have played an important part. Having seen Messiah play this year and numerous times in the past, I assure you that, as good as the program is in recruiting and coaching, opponents such as Gettysburg, Catholic, Widener, Albright, Hood, York, etc., clearly do not constitute rigorous preparation for tournament play. Perhaps it made more of a difference this time than in other years.

No doubt several other conferences are tougher, top to bottom, than the one Messiah is part of--especially since the traditional rival Elizabethtown College (who won the national title in the late 1980s and was a perennial tournament team for decades) left the conference after 2013--I think (to be frank) they were tired of losing to Messiah and wanted different opponents, but I digress. Some of the teams listed by jumpshot are in our conference: you play them, regardless of SOS. But, really--Catholic isn't a good team? If not for that terrible non-call last weekend, Tufts would have played them instead of Muhlenburg. York isn't a good team? I'll give you that for 2014, but not for any other recent season. Messiah plays York annually, and it's almost always a tight game, with York winning sometimes: how many other teams can say that they've beaten the Falcons more than once in the past decade? At least one of those games, York was the superior team; they just could never seem to score enough in the tournament, or they were probably Final Four material somewhere in there. Gettysburg is also good, quite often, though not this year. They also have given Messiah blemishes (plural) in recent years. Messiah played 3 tournament teams this year, all of them out of conference. In another year, it could have been five or six (take your pick from York, TCNJ, Redlands, Neumann, or Etown). Some years we play CNU, Roanoke, Gordon, or Wheaton-ILL, or Chicago. It all depends on travel and who's coming East to play us.

[Brother Flounder]

Tufts gets an early goal and stuns Messiah 1-0! An earlier poster made a wish that the Jumbos' strength of schedule would be an asset, and that may well have played an important part. Having seen Messiah play this year and numerous times in the past, I assure you that, as good as the program is in recruiting and coaching, opponents such as Gettysburg, Catholic, Widener, Albright, Hood, York, etc., clearly do not constitute rigorous preparation for tournament play. Perhaps it made more of a difference this time than in other years.

No doubt several other conferences are tougher, top to bottom, than the one Messiah is part of--especially since the traditional rival Elizabethtown College (who won the national title in the late 1980s and was a perennial tournament team for decades) left the conference after 2013--I think (to be frank) they were tired of losing to Messiah and wanted different opponents, but I digress. Some of the teams listed by jumpshot are in our conference: you play them, regardless of SOS. But, really--Catholic isn't a good team? If not for that terrible non-call last weekend, Tufts would have played them instead of Muhlenburg. York isn't a good team? I'll give you that for 2014, but not for any other recent season. Messiah plays York annually, and it's almost always a tight game, with York winning sometimes: how many other teams can say that they've beaten the Falcons more than once in the past decade? At least one of those games, York was the superior team; they just could never seem to score enough in the tournament, or they were probably Final Four material somewhere in there. Gettysburg is also good, quite often, though not this year. They also have given Messiah blemishes (plural) in recent years. Messiah played 3 tournament teams this year, all of them out of conference. In another year, it could have been five or six (take your pick from York, TCNJ, Redlands, Neumann, or Etown). Some years we play CNU, Roanoke, Gordon, or Wheaton-ILL, or Chicago. It all depends on travel and who's coming East to play us.

I looked back and it was Nutmeg who made the comment about SOS.  I agree, Messiah has a harder schedule than given credit for but I also think SOS has some value and Tufts had a very high SOS. On the other hand, Messiah has been National Champions several times and I am sure the opponents higher SOS didn't help those opponents.  So, maybe we can agree that the SOS benefited Tufts here and was less of a detriment to Messiah...

[Falconer]

Thank you for the correction, BF. I just used the "quote" feature, and jumpshot came up automatically. Just sayin'...

[Mr.Right]

Tufts Shapiro's Princeton NJ connection / pipeline is serving him well. Shapiro built that connection while at Georgetown

[oldonionbag]

Did Shapiro earn himself the COY yesterday...? What do you guys think?

[lastguyoffthebench]

Did Shapiro earn himself the COY yesterday...? What do you guys think?

I think it's going to Byrne from Oneonta St if they reach the final...   

Did Brandeis coach get it for New England Region?   At least Shapiro is in the mix now that they made the FINAL FOUR.