NESCAC

[blooter442]

You had me up to the point of comparing him to as u call him "HoJo". Which "HoJo" are we talking about? The older one went to Williams and younger to Dartmouth. First off their father was a tremendous athlete at Williams in the late 70's as his best sport was Hockey in which I believe he lost his eye. Actually as I am typing now I know the older one was Caleb? I think and then Gabe. Gabe was a "stud" club level and Russo knew he was a player and knew the Ivies would come calling and actually Stanford was  involved at one point.Caleb a decent player but not on Gabe's level. Russo thought the one way to get Gabe from the Ivies would be to get Caleb even if he most likely knew Caleb would be on the cut line of making the team each year. Alas, Gabe did not follow and enrolled at Dartmouth and played decent but under achieved IMO. He was often injured and I do not believe he was the right player for Jeff Cook's system at the time at Dartmouth. He would have been a machine at Williams if he stayed injury free. Anyway, I cannot possibly say that Pierce and HoJo were on the same technical level. Not even close

Yes, I was talking about Gabe. Caleb was an OK player, but as you said, right about on the cut line. That is interesting insight that Russo knew that the Ivies would come calling for Gabe (which they did) and so figured that he would go for Caleb and use that influence.

I should have clarified - I never meant that Gabe and Pierce were on the same technical level. Not at all - HoJo was a fantastic, skilled forward who played in countless showcase tournaments and did very well. Rather, what I meant was that their impact for their respective teams was similar. Luke was very much the leader for a Yarmouth squad that went 17-0-1 and won the state title his senior year, while Gabe did similarly for a Falmouth side the year before that went 16-0-2. The year before that, in 2008, Falmouth went undefeated through the regular season, beating Yarmouth twice, before Pierce scored the winner that knocked them out of the playoffs on their home turf. Coincidentally, the assist came from a corner kick from Johnny Murphy.

I would never compare HoJo and Pierce's technical abilities, not at all, but the fact that Pierce scored even close to the number of goals as HoJo did while playing at CM is impressive in itself.

[Mr.Right]

Ok I misunderstood.

[Mr.Right]

Nescac Predictions: Home team listed first.


Williams v Amherst              0-1         

I already previewed this match so I will copy and paste and hopefully someone who has seen Amherst this year could correct me if I am wrong on their line-up.
First Williams they have played to me almost a 4-1-4-1 starting from back to front

                                                                                Alcorn
TL Guest                                                 Muellers                  Danilack                              Andreou
     
                                                                                 Grumman


                                                               Bahr-de Stefano
                                                                                         Tom Young
Moutenot                                                                                                                       Rashid

         
                                                                           Sisco



A line-up of some pretty good skill and speed attacking but this line-up lacks size and speed in some places. If I were making out a line-up vs Amherst I would have to get some height in the middle so I would swap Bahr-de Stefano with Sean Dory which Sullivan did against Bowdoin. Also, to match the speed and skill of Martin and NPL which are Amherst two most dangerous weapons I would move the faster Muellers to Right Back for Guest and start Brandon Dory at CB. He gives you much needed height and athleticism and Muellers can keep up with Martin.



Now I have not seen Amherst at all this year so my Amherst friends can correct me if I am wrong because I myself am a little confused on their line-up based on box scores. In year past they have shown a 4-3-3 so if I base it off that my guess is:

                                                                                              Bull
Aoyama                                                                      Bean             Fitzgerald                                               Nguyen / Lehnhart

                                                                                           Orozco
                                             
                                                                             Nguyen/ Lenhart         

                                                                                                            Rico
NPL                                                                                                                                                                        Martin

                                                                                             Singer



Bowdoin v Midd           0-1              After the past two matches I have watched of Bowdoin, they look like they have lost some confidence and are really struggling to finish their chances. They did not have a good day against Bates last night as they could not string 2-3 passes together. This team needs a couple line-up changes IMO. That is not a good recipe heading into a contest against Midd. I must admit I might have underrated Midd a bit in my season predictions in August. I like a couple of their frosh and their spine is very solid. Sydor is playing like he is the best GK in Nescac which IMO he is right now. Maybe Glazer can knock one in against a solid Nescac side.

Colby v Trinity             1-1               Both teams BADLY need a win in this game. I give a slight edge to Colby because of the home game. Just when you count Trinity out they usually come up with a big win. Not yet though. They got screwed with the schedule this year as they are making two separate trips to Maine.

Wesleyan v Bates          1-0   OT          Bates has it going right now. Wesleyan has a near perfect record against Bates the past 15 years. They need this game to start padding a resume. It will not be easy but Erickson nets a header to win it in OT. Umm someone needs to wake up Cowie-Haskell this year? Maybe a Soph Slump.

Conn v Hamilton            1-0                Conn is playing great against good teams and struggling against bad teams. They have more talent than Hamilton even if their backline is young and inexperienced. Who can score goals for Hamilton this year?

Tufts v Brandeis              1-0               I am hoping that Blooter could give us a Brandeis line-up and preview. I have only seen them play Babson. I know they are struggling a bit to score this year but they have had 10 days off. Nescac POW Nathan Majumder is running HOT right now racking up the goals against Nescac teams.

[All NESCAC]

Nescac Predictions: Home team listed first.


Williams v Amherst              0-1         

I already previewed this match so I will copy and paste and hopefully someone who has seen Amherst this year could correct me if I am wrong on their line-up.
First Williams they have played to me almost a 4-1-4-1 starting from back to front

                                                                                Alcorn
TL Guest                                                 Muellers                  Danilack                              Andreou
     
                                                                                 Grumman


                                                               Bahr-de Stefano
                                                                                         Tom Young
Moutenot                                                                                                                       Rashid

         
                                                                           Sisco



A line-up of some pretty good skill and speed attacking but this line-up lacks size and speed in some places. If I were making out a line-up vs Amherst I would have to get some height in the middle so I would swap Bahr-de Stefano with Sean Dory which Sullivan did against Bowdoin. Also, to match the speed and skill of Martin and NPL which are Amherst two most dangerous weapons I would move the faster Muellers to Right Back for Guest and start Brandon Dory at CB. He gives you much needed height and athleticism and Muellers can keep up with Martin.



Now I have not seen Amherst at all this year so my Amherst friends can correct me if I am wrong because I myself am a little confused on their line-up based on box scores. In year past they have shown a 4-3-3 so if I base it off that my guess is:

                                                                                              Bull
Aoyama                                                                      Bean             Fitzgerald                                               Nguyen / Lehnhart

                                                                                           Orozco
                                             
                                                                             Nguyen/ Lenhart         

                                                                                                            Rico
NPL                                                                                                                                                                        Martin

                                                                                             Singer



Bowdoin v Midd           0-1              After the past two matches I have watched of Bowdoin, they look like they have lost some confidence and are really struggling to finish their chances. They did not have a good day against Bates last night as they could not string 2-3 passes together. This team needs a couple line-up changes IMO. That is not a good recipe heading into a contest against Midd. I must admit I might have underrated Midd a bit in my season predictions in August. I like a couple of their frosh and their spine is very solid. Sydor is playing like he is the best GK in Nescac which IMO he is right now. Maybe Glazer can knock one in against a solid Nescac side.

Colby v Trinity             1-1               Both teams BADLY need a win in this game. I give a slight edge to Colby because of the home game. Just when you count Trinity out they usually come up with a big win. Not yet though. They got screwed with the schedule this year as they are making two separate trips to Maine.

Wesleyan v Bates          1-0   OT          Bates has it going right now. Wesleyan has a near perfect record against Bates the past 15 years. They need this game to start padding a resume. It will not be easy but Erickson nets a header to win it in OT. Umm someone needs to wake up Cowie-Haskell this year? Maybe a Soph Slump.

Conn v Hamilton            1-0                Conn is playing great against good teams and struggling against bad teams. They have more talent than Hamilton even if their backline is young and inexperienced. Who can score goals for Hamilton this year?

Tufts v Brandeis              1-0               I am hoping that Blooter could give us a Brandeis line-up and preview. I have only seen them play Babson. I know they are struggling a bit to score this year but they have had 10 days off. Nescac POW Nathan Majumder is running HOT right now racking up the goals against Nescac teams.

Amherst 2 Williams 0  --can't wait for Amherst Tufts;

Midd 2 Bowdoin -- Midd gets back on track as both Glasser and Conrad score.

Trinity 1 Colby 0---Trinity the better side;

Conn 2 Hamilton 0---Conn finally gets back home after 4 road games and the frosh keep scoring;

Tufts 1 Brandeis 0--Tufts is very very good and outplays a good Brandeis squad. No stopping Majumder. 

[blooter442]

Tufts v Brandeis              1-0               I am hoping that Blooter could give us a Brandeis line-up and preview. I have only seen them play Babson. I know they are struggling a bit to score this year but they have had 10 days off. Nescac POW Nathan Majumder is running HOT right now racking up the goals against Nescac teams.

Tufts is struggling to defend right now, and Brandeis is struggling to score, which makes for a finely-poised contest.

Lineup (4-3-3):

                                                                               Fryer

DePietto                                              Lanahan                      Robinson                                                          Lynch


                                                                               Miskin   

                                                           Ocel                                Picard   


Vieira                                                                                                                                                        Jastremski
                                                                               Bradley                                                             


It's no secret that Brandeis has been struggling to score. For a team that bagged 19 goals in its first 7 games last year, this year they have 7. A lot of that has to do with the departure of Savonen and Soboff, but the bigger problem, I think, is the guys that have been trusted to play up top - particularly at CF - are wide players by trade, and so have a tendency to drop too wide and too deep. The Judges are creating chances down the wing, as has been one of their strengths, but are often finding that there's nobody to finish them off. I imagine that working on the positional play of their CFs is something that will have been practiced in the aforementioned 10-day break. They might look to get Ocel involved as a late-arriving midfielder, as he is a good goalscorer from midfield. Additionally, I might imagine that Chris Bradley will start up top; he scored against Hardin-Simmons and has the speed/size to unsettle the Tufts CBs.

Last year, when this game was at Brandeis, many picked Tufts over Brandeis. However, the Jumbos' poor finishing cost them and Brandeis took its chances. To be fair, the Judges - despite being outshot 12-8 - had the significantly better chances: out of eight shots, two were goals by Lynch and Vieira, two hit the woodwork, one was well-saved by Greenwood, one was a sitter that Soboff missed, and two were off target. Majumder, meanwhile, had Tufts' best chance on the break down the left wing right before the first Brandeis goal, but he shot wide when a more careful finish would have likely been a goal.

This year, despite their defensive deficiencies, I think Tufts has the advantage, particularly with Majumder running in the form he's in, as well as being at home. 1-0 Jumbos.

[Mr.Right]

Excellent preview..Thanks..Savonen was a great player and very hard to replace right away but I really enjoyed watching Soboff. He was such a natural athlete and was technical and had a great engine in midfield for Brandeis. Savonen is tough to replace because of the great goal scoring but I imagine Soboff was just as important asset and equally hard to replace.

[NewEngland]

Conn v Hamilton            1-0                Conn is playing great against good teams and struggling against bad teams. They have more talent than Hamilton even if their backline is young and inexperienced. Who can score goals for Hamilton this year?

In my opinion thats been Conn's problem in recent years. Not taking care of business against the weaker sides like the top half of the Nescac does. Last year they won their first playoff game. A top 4 finish would build on that but 1-6 are all very, very good teams. The program is much improved from Lessig's last years but taking the next step to the top 4 looks to be extremely difficult. Still a good side though and have shown the ability to compete and beat some great teams.

[12SNoon]

Fantastic job here everyone on predictions for the week. Here's what I'm thinking:

Amherst 2-0 Williams
Bowdoin 1-0 Middlebury
Colby 1-1 Trinity
Conn 3-1 Hamilton
Wes 1-0 Bates
Brandeis 0-0 Tufts

[blooter442]

Brandeis pulls the upset at Tufts 1-0.  Judges won the midfield battle, and, despite not looking great upfront, scored through a very nice header from Vieira midway through the first. Many had predicted – myself included – Brandeis to be overwhelmed by the Jumbos. Tufts got desperate last 20 and Majumder wasn't in the game much, dropping wide a lot. Huge win for the Judges.

[Nutmeg]

Brandeis pulls the upset at Tufts 1-0.  Judges won the midfield battle, and, despite not looking great upfront, scored through a very nice header from Vieira midway through the first. Many had predicted – myself included – Brandeis to be overwhelmed by the Jumbos. Tufts got desperate last 20 and Majumder wasn't in the game much, dropping wide a lot. Huge win for the Judges.

I caught some of the game. Was majumber offside on the goal on the pass slipped thru by Kayne. How much did Kaynes bicycle kick miss by?  Hard to tell on video. Tufts outshoots Brandeis and the Judges with 5 yellows but deserve the win...

[blooter442]

I caught some of the game. Was majumber offside on the goal on the pass slipped thru by Kayne. How much did Kaynes bicycle kick miss by?  Hard to tell on video. Tufts outshoots Brandeis and the Judges with 5 yellows but deserve the win...

From my angle he was off, but not by much. Hard to say. That was a decision that really could've gone either way. Kayne's bicycle was about a foot over the bar, but it was an excellent effort and no way the keeper could have saved it if on target.

[Nutmeg]

I caught some of the game. Was majumber offside on the goal on the pass slipped thru by Kayne. How much did Kaynes bicycle kick miss by?  Hard to tell on video. Tufts outshoots Brandeis and the Judges with 5 yellows but deserve the win...

From my angle he was off, but not by much. Hard to say. That was a decision that really could've gone either way. Kayne's bicycle was about a foot over the bar, but it was an excellent effort and no way the keeper could have saved it if on target.

Thanks Bloot!

[lastguyoffthebench]

I wouldn't call a Brandeis victory an upset, but that's just me

[blooter442]

Now that I'm home, I figured I'd provide some more Brandeis vs. Tufts notes.

I said before the game that this game would come down to Brandeis' lack of scoring (yet excellent defense) vs. Tufts' shaky defense (and excellent attack). In the end, Brandeis' defense held firm, and, despite being outshot 11-4, was able to finish. The shot count was somewhat misleading, though, as the SOG count was 3-3.

Tufts had a lot more shots, but, other than Kayne's excellent attempted bicycle kick that went just over the bar, the only real threatening opportunity was when Majumder put the ball in the net long after the whistle had gone. He is at his best when he stays up top like last weekend, but today he consistently dropped too wide and too deep. When he did go up top, he was well marked by Conor Lanahan, whose calmness was huge for the Judges. That said, Majumder is still one heck of a player, and I think he will continue to do very well this season.

In a stark contrast to the last time the Judges played at Kraft Field (a 2-0 loss in September '13), Brandeis won the midfield battle, and were arguably more physical than Tufts (they received five yellow cards.) Brandeis was first to the majority of 50/50 balls, and they "swarmed" the Jumbos' midfield in the same manner that Nutmeg spoke of Tufts doing last week (upon further reflection, I suppose I agree with Nutmeg's analysis - Tufts does effectively swarm and win the ball, although it was Brandeis doing the swarming today.)

Big takeaways:
1. Tufts' defense is still a work in progress. The Tufts CBs weren't very composed, and, several times, put Greenwood in a bad spot with hasty backpasses, and they could have very well shipped a 2nd or 3rd goal. The shakiness doesn't seem to be a lack of organization, but rather a lack of confidence. That said, coming in fresh off the bench and replacing Williams and Lee-Kramer is a big ask, and I think they'll improve as they gain experience. They'll have a huge test next weekend at Amherst, as Martin is on fire and Singer will be high on confidence after bagging a brace in the win over Williams today, but if Tufts can hold its own defensively and Majumder plays like we know he can, I think Tufts has a good chance to snatch a draw or even a victory. It will be a great battle

2. Brandeis' attack still needs some work. Tufts' commitment to attacking left them with a ton of space, particularly in the second half, and there were several occasions on which the Judges either made the wrong pass or hesitated on the ball and allowed Tufts to clear when more decisive action could very well have resulted in a shot or a goal. However, they have scored in all but one of their games this season, and IMHO they had the better chances of the day, so they were good value for their win. It's a stark contrast to the Brandeis of 2011 (the year before they made NCAAs,) when the Judges often outplayed their opponents but couldn't get the result. Since 2012, they've improved in that aspect, and was evidenced in the last 20 minutes when Tufts "threw the kitchen sink" at them.

3. This was perhaps a good wake-up call at the right time for Tufts, and a confidence booster for Brandeis. I wouldn't go as far to accuse the Jumbos of having being complacent, but when you are the defending national champion, you're in the #1 spot towards the end of September, and you dominated your opponent 2-0 the last time you played at home (in 2013), it is possible. Better now than in the NCAA Tournament. Brandeis, meanwhile, will now have the confidence that it can go to nationally-ranked teams and win on the road, as most of its big wins last year - including the 2-0 victory over Tufts - were at home. Additionally, this could be the kickstarter they need to start scoring goals.

[Mr.Right]

Amherst v Williams Recap....2-1 Amherst 2OT---Williams was in a 4-1-2-3...GK: Alcorn  D: Andreau, Danilack, Sommers and TL Guest..Grumman sitting and then Sean Dory and Tom Young attacking with Rashid, B.Dory and Sisco up top. Amherst was in a 4-3-3 with GK: Bull  D: Aoyama, Ajayi, Bean and Lehnhart ....Orozco sitting with Rico and Haskell and you had up top Singer with Martin and NPL..                                   


1st half Amherst was better than Williams and had maybe 2 or 3 decent chances to score but both teams were feeling each other out a bit and it was a sluggish half. There were not that many SOG in the 1st half from what I can remember. Williams could not get anything going and had maybe 1 chance all half. 2nd half Amherst came out in the 1st five minutes and had a great chance but it was a nice save by Alcorn to keep the game at 0-0. Then IMO the game changed as Williams really took it to Amherst for the next 25 minutes. They had some good looks and were playing excellent combination passing and finally broke thru on a nice ball by Rashid and what looked to be a sweet back heel by B.Dory which his brother who was unmarked in the box finished off. Williams had a couple chances to go up 2-0 but were unlucky to do so. Amherst looked a bit gassed mid way thru the half but then a nice cross was sent in and Greg Singer hit a bullet to tie the score. First OT Williams was the team that looked gassed and the game was seemingly headed for a 1-1 draw. WIth 45 seconds left , I believe NPL? took the a long throw that got flicked on and drilled into the net by Singer for the win..

Very tough way to lose for Williams who now sit at 3-3-0 and not in a good spot with games at Wes, at Midd, at RPI, at Babson and v Tufts still left. Amherst now has only Tufts, Conn and Wes in their way of a perfect 15-0-0 regular season. They should go at the very least 1-1-1 against those teams and finish 13-1-1 for most likely a #1 or #2 seed in New England with Brandeis and Tufts right behind them.

Some Notes:

-Best player on the field for both teams was NPL. The kid played out of his mind today and looked like a certain Nescac POY candidate.
-Aoyama is just a fun player to watch. He really limited Rashid today and plays with speed and toughness and looks to have a high soccer IQ.
-Martin did nothing today as TL Guest was fine against him as he turned him once in the 2nd half that was dangerous but Amherst could not finish the play. Guest did a good job on him.
-CB Bean had a nice game and the frosh #6 Ajayi was athletic but was one of the Amherst players who really looked gassed in the 2nd half. Lehnhart is a solid wingback but nothing special.
- Amherst does not have the depth it once did as subs Sisk, Murray, Malnik and VonZiegsar did nothing. Aziz Khan is fast and looked dangerous but wore down after a while. Not sure how fit he is and also Murray who is quick also looked gassed in the 2nd half as he was not running hard to track back.

Williams notes:

I thought their back 4 was solid. Grumman was decent in front of the back 4.
Alcorn was solid in net.
I was most disappointed in Williams attack. Sisco did nothing today and was kept at bay by the CB's. He works hard but sometimes his touch is not the best and balls will bounce off him. Moutenot who was benched again and looks to be in Sullivan's doghouse is such a speedy and skilled player but is very soft. Ditto for Tommy Young. Skilled and speedy but soft. Bahr De-Stefano who I liked last year as he scored some goals didnt get off the bench till 10 minuted left in the 1st half. Maybe another player in the doghouse?

Good news for Williams is that Russo's last recruiting class looks to be a very good one. #6 LB Andreou is an extremely poised, fast and skilled LB. Sean Dory the goalscorer is better than his brother and shows flashes of skill and toughness and kid that came off the bench impressed me today was Scatt McDonald who works very hard and is a scrapper. The Canadian kid Fyke is the most skilled of them all but did not play today.

Bad news for Amherst is they will be losing Bull, NPL, Rico and Singer..That is 4 VERY good players. Besides Martin these 4 are Amherst Best. Amherst needs to bring in a really good class next year or they may be coming back to the pack.

Man of the match: Greg Singer because of the two goals but in reality NPL was the best player on the field and really impressed me today. I think Tufts is going to have their hands full at Amherst next week