NESCAC

[Corazon]

I missed the mid-week games due to work, so I'm offering the following predictions purely on gut.

Amherst 1-0 over Bowdoin - I expect a close game and seriously considered a 0-0 prediction, but Amherst's slight edge in talent and confidence in Bull gives Amherst the nod.

Midd 2-0 over Conn.  Midd's attacking firepower overcomes Conn's effort.  Devlin can only do so much. After an amazing frosh class 2 years ago, last year's was disappointing.  We'll need to wait another week to see this year's.

Bates 2-1 over Hamilton.  I just have a feeling about Bates as their run in the second half coincided with Flaherty playing the younger guys. Peabo continues scoring and Pereira appears to be back.

Williams 3-1 over Trinity.  Welcome back, Ephs.  Nice coming out party for Sisco-Tolomeo, which  I'm guessing was aided by the danger of Rashid.  Really nice to have Williams back as a power.

Tufts 3-0 over Colby. I'm in the middle of Mr. Right and NCAC. Colby must have really looked bad as the usually thoughful and diplomatic NCAC's comments had me chuckling a little. Saw them live twice last year and thought they were solid.  Wouldn't be shocked with a 1-0 score either.

Wesleyan 1-1 tie vs Haverford.  Tough start for Wes. They're too good to lose back to back, but 'Ford is a good team.

[PaulNewman]

Interesting side notes....Pereira at Bates had a twin or cousin who played at Kenyon his freshmen year and then quit.  Came in highly regarded.  Kenyon has a frosh Koval who must be brother of soph Koval at Conn Coll (both from Colorado and both played at Worcester Academy).  The younger one scored first goal of season for Kenyon in first game.  Another side note....Stronach who graduated from Colby last year and IMHO was one of the most highly regarded Colby players coming in reputation-wise since Pratt was initially posted somewhere as committing to Kenyon.  Colby lost some good players to graduation so I'm not sure we know whether they will look as solid this year as last year.  I watched some of the game against Maine Maritime and well....you've seen my prediction.

[All NESCAC]

I missed the mid-week games due to work, so I'm offering the following predictions purely on gut.

Amherst 1-0 over Bowdoin - I expect a close game and seriously considered a 0-0 prediction, but Amherst's slight edge in talent and confidence in Bull gives Amherst the nod.

Midd 2-0 over Conn.  Midd's attacking firepower overcomes Conn's effort.  Devlin can only do so much. After an amazing frosh class 2 years ago, last year's was disappointing.  We'll need to wait another week to see this year's.

Bates 2-1 over Hamilton.  I just have a feeling about Bates as their run in the second half coincided with Flaherty playing the younger guys. Peabo continues scoring and Pereira appears to be back.

Williams 3-1 over Trinity.  Welcome back, Ephs.  Nice coming out party for Sisco-Tolomeo, which  I'm guessing was aided by the danger of Rashid.  Really nice to have Williams back as a power.

Tufts 3-0 over Colby. I'm in the middle of Mr. Right and NCAC. Colby must have really looked bad as the usually thoughful and diplomatic NCAC's comments had me chuckling a little. Saw them live twice last year and thought they were solid.  Wouldn't be shocked with a 1-0 score either.



Wesleyan 1-1 tie vs Haverford.  Tough start for Wes. They're too good to lose back to back, but 'Ford is a good team.

I'm going with Corazon's picks for 1st NESCAC weekend of action except for Wesleyan...I believe the Cardinal's drop another one to a very good Haverford team....the rest seem spot on....looking forward to watching the action.

[PaulNewman]

Last thing on the Colby comments (which btw mostly apply to Bates as well).  I might have been exaggerating just a bit about not making a roster, but I'm confident about not starting for a top 4 NESCAC squad.  Sisk at Amherst has rarely started and often not played much at all.  He'd be a star at Colby.

And now that I think about it the Pereira kid who went to Kenyon is 6'1, ~180 lbs, so probably not a twin.

[Off Pitch]

I'll play:

Amherst 1 - Bowdoin  0      Tight game but Amherst wins, bearly.
Midd 2 - Conn  0               Conn struggled against Mitchell !  Player losses = too many ex-Conns
Hamilton 0 -Bates 1           Hamilton hasn't scored a goal since Oct 11 last year. 
Trinity 1 - Williams  2        Is Williams back?  They are at least superior to this young Trinity side.
Tufts 3 - Colby  0              Tufts cuts through Colby like Swiss cheese.
Haverford 2 - Wesleyan 1    Tough for Wes to focus on this long expedition to PA, while it won't be a fiesta, Haverford has the edge and will escape with the win.

[Brother Flounder]

No love for NESCAC on Hero Sports?  While the NESCAC is number 1 in their conference power rankings, there is no review of the conference or no NESCAC players in their top 5 at any position so far.  Wheaton has 2 midfielders alone (even though they started the season poorly).  The NESCAC has several excellent players, some certainly worthy of consideration.... Savonen, Pascal-Leone, Kayne, Greenwood, many more, etc....  The NESCAC has the strongest SOS and plays less games so statistics don't stand out. Thoughts?

http://herosports.com/sport/collegesoccer/d3-mens-soccer/#more_articles_bottom

Ooops, I missed Conrad at forward....I see he's listed

[PaulNewman]

No love for NESCAC?  And in your 2nd sentence you open with Hero Sports making NESCAC the #1 conference.

That said, less game overall, a later start, and in general lower scoring games yield less impressive individual stats at least on paper.  Maybe that's what you are picking up on.

[Brother Flounder]

No love for NESCAC?  And in your 2nd sentence you open with Hero Sports making NESCAC the #1 conference.

That said, less game overall, a later start, and in general lower scoring games yield less impressive individual stats at least on paper.  Maybe that's what you are picking up on.

Yes, I acknowledged the conference power ranking.... Yes, I picked up on the lower volume of games..... That shouldn't detract from recognition of the conference players......

Do you feel that Wheaton garners extra or excess attention?  I still remember the Wheaton women's soccer coach being a guest the whole second half of the NCAA championship broadcast last fall.  They talk about Wheaton the whole half while Tufts was winning..... Wheaton has a strong history and deserves some glory but I just think it's a little excessive on occasion....

[PaulNewman]

I actually think you're serious.

The Wheaton women's coach thing was admittedly a little weird and I can imagine annoying to a Tufts fan, but IN THE BIG PICTURE, I challenge you to pick the top-10 most discussed non-NESCAC teams and compare that to the coverage of the NESCAC.  It's not even close.  As for individual players, more games against teams like Oneonta St would bump up the notoriety of players.  NESCAC can often seem like it's own intentionally insulated club.  Yearly games against non-NESCAC powerhouses would boost the exposure of individual players and broaden the NESCAC's appeal more nationally.  You only have to look in-region to see a school that very recently has done a great job in the individual accolades department.....Brandeis.

[All NESCAC]

I actually think you're serious.

The Wheaton women's coach thing was admittedly a little weird and I can imagine annoying to a Tufts fan, but IN THE BIG PICTURE, I challenge you to pick the top-10 most discussed non-NESCAC teams and compare that to the coverage of the NESCAC.  It's not even close.  As for individual players, more games against teams like Oneonta St would bump up the notoriety of players.  NESCAC can often seem like it's own intentionally insulated club.  Yearly games against non-NESCAC powerhouses would boost the exposure of individual players and broaden the NESCAC's appeal more nationally.  You only have to look in-region to see a school that very recently has done a great job in the individual accolades department.....Brandeis.

It's easier scheduling wise to play more out of conference out of region games against better National soccer powers if you have more than 14/15 regular season games to play which is the issue facing NESCAC teams.  If they had 18/19 games like most other colleges....longer pre-season and longer regular season, then perhaps you could get more nation exposure, but given the limited schedule and shortened window of the regular season playing more out of region teams does not work for NESCAC....with only 4 or 5 non-conference games why would any NESCAC team load up with 4 or 5 tough out of conference games when every NESCAC conference game is a blood bath?  Brandeis with its national league exposure and lengthier schedule can do this and does quite well getting the exposure and deserved accolades....but its tougher in the NESCAC from the limited schedule perspective. 

[Brother Flounder]

I actually think you're serious.

The Wheaton women's coach thing was admittedly a little weird and I can imagine annoying to a Tufts fan, but IN THE BIG PICTURE, I challenge you to pick the top-10 most discussed non-NESCAC teams and compare that to the coverage of the NESCAC.  It's not even close.  As for individual players, more games against teams like Oneonta St would bump up the notoriety of players.  NESCAC can often seem like it's own intentionally insulated club.  Yearly games against non-NESCAC powerhouses would boost the exposure of individual players and broaden the NESCAC's appeal more nationally.  You only have to look in-region to see a school that very recently has done a great job in the individual accolades department.....Brandeis.

It's easier scheduling wise to play more out of conference out of region games against better National soccer powers if you have more than 14/15 regular season games to play which is the issue facing NESCAC teams.  If they had 18/19 games like most other colleges....longer pre-season and longer regular season, then perhaps you could get more nation exposure, but given the limited schedule and shortened window of the regular season playing more out of region teams does not work for NESCAC....with only 4 or 5 non-conference games why would any NESCAC team load up with 4 or 5 tough out of conference games when every NESCAC conference game is a blood bath?  Brandeis with its national league exposure and lengthier schedule can do this and does quite well getting the exposure and deserved accolades....but its tougher in the NESCAC from the limited schedule perspective.

  Your last points are very logical.....  And your point about the "blood baths" should also be recognized by the rest of the country by now......

[Brother Flounder]

I actually think you're serious.

The Wheaton women's coach thing was admittedly a little weird and I can imagine annoying to a Tufts fan, but IN THE BIG PICTURE, I challenge you to pick the top-10 most discussed non-NESCAC teams and compare that to the coverage of the NESCAC.  It's not even close.  As for individual players, more games against teams like Oneonta St would bump up the notoriety of players.  NESCAC can often seem like it's own intentionally insulated club.  Yearly games against non-NESCAC powerhouses would boost the exposure of individual players and broaden the NESCAC's appeal more nationally.  You only have to look in-region to see a school that very recently has done a great job in the individual accolades department.....Brandeis.

I'll defer to Mr. Right on this one.....

[PaulNewman]

ALLNESCAC, agreed, but that is all self-imposed.  The rest of the country (and the rest of us) aren't doing that to the NESCAC teams and players.

And BF, the conference habitually is ranked as the #1 conference.  What more do you want the rest of the country to admit???

[PaulNewman]

BTW, the ultra-academic argument doesn't work either.  The UAA is every bit as elite academically as the NESCAC, and we just agreed that UAA-member Brandeis does a great job getting accolades for its players.

[Brother Flounder]

ALLNESCAC, agreed, but that is all self-imposed.  The rest of the country (and the rest of us) aren't doing that to the NESCAC teams and players.

And BF, the conference habitually is ranked as the #1 conference.  What more do you want the rest of the country to admit???

I am not talking about the conference as a whole.... talking about players..... since the scoring state are lower....