NESCAC

[Mr.Right]

Willians v Conn   0-0 at the Half....

Conn absolutely without questioned dominated the 1st half. If someone was keeping possession stats it might be 70%-30% Conn. They have come out onto Cole Field and have played an excellent brand of futbol. They are keeping the ball on the ground and working everything thru Devlin in midfield. They have their wing backs coming up into attack and causing problems for the Ephs. I remember not to long ago when WILLIAMS USED TO DOMINATE AND POSSESS like Conn just did in the 1st half.

Devlin is playing like a candidate for Nescac POY as he has looked very dangerous all half distributing and getting a couple shots off. The Frosh Lockwood looks ok with #3 Daniel Adair also having a good half. All tat being said with Conn dominating possession, they have not gotten to many dangerous shots off all half. They have had 3 dangerous chances all half. Devlin found #17 Christian Murphy WIDE open on the left side of net with no defenders around him and just absolutely flubbed it over the net.  A couple corners and long throws have had some shots and a header that Williams GK Christian Alcorn made a great save on. Conn should be up 2-0.

Williams again came out sluggish and could not connect 3 straight passes together, Sullivan started 3 Frosh LB Amdreau and #2 Sean Dory and #3 Scatt McDonald. NO one on Williams has played well except #8 Geoff Danilack. Sisco has really gotten nothing done the past 5 games and at this point in his career looks to be overrated. Williams needs Sullivan to LIGHT into them at halftime to get them going.

Conn is possessing like they never have before. They look like old Williams sides or Tufts and Brandeis. They look good but they have 3 Problems

1. They have no legit striker who can finish. They have played some beautiful balls in the box and Devlin is pplaying out of his mind but no one that I can see is a great finisher.

2. Conn's wing backs attack very well but I am still not sure about their backline defensively. #8 Patch and #24 Sommers are good and Sommers is fast but good teams could take advantage of them defensively IMO.

3. GK DaCunha is ok but to me looks like at anytime could make a fatal mistake. If I was coaching this team he would worry me just a bit.

Wind looks to be playing a factor so let's see if Williams can pick it up in the 2nd half or will Conn continue to dominate and finish one off and get out of Williamstown with a W

[Nutmeg]

Willians v Conn   0-0 at the Half....

Conn absolutely without questioned dominated the 1st half. If someone was keeping possession stats it might be 70%-30% Conn. They have come out onto Cole Field and have played an excellent brand of futbol. They are keeping the ball on the ground and working everything thru Devlin in midfield. They have their wing backs coming up into attack and causing problems for the Ephs. I remember not to long ago when WILLIAMS USED TO DOMINATE AND POSSESS like Conn just did in the 1st half.

Devlin is playing like a candidate for Nescac POY as he has looked very dangerous all half distributing and getting a couple shots off. The Frosh Lockwood looks ok with #3 Daniel Adair also having a good half. All tat being said with Conn dominating possession, they have not gotten to many dangerous shots off all half. They have had 3 dangerous chances all half. Devlin found #17 Christian Murphy WIDE open on the left side of net with no defenders around him and just absolutely flubbed it over the net.  A couple corners and long throws have had some shots and a header that Williams GK Christian Alcorn made a great save on. Conn should be up 2-0.

Williams again came out sluggish and could not connect 3 straight passes together, Sullivan started 3 Frosh LB Amdreau and #2 Sean Dory and #3 Scatt McDonald. NO one on Williams has played well except #8 Geoff Danilack. Sisco has really gotten nothing done the past 5 games and at this point in his career looks to be overrated. Williams needs Sullivan to LIGHT into them at halftime to get them going.

Conn is possessing like they never have before. They look like old Williams sides or Tufts and Brandeis. They look good but they have 3 Problems

1. They have no legit striker who can finish. They have played some beautiful balls in the box and Devlin is pplaying out of his mind but no one that I can see is a great finisher.

2. Conn's wing backs attack very well but I am still not sure about their backline defensively. #8 Patch and #24 Sommers are good and Sommers is fast but good teams could take advantage of them defensively IMO.

3. GK DaCunha is ok but to me looks like at anytime could make a fatal mistake. If I was coaching this team he would worry me just a bit.

Wind looks to be playing a factor so let's see if Williams can pick it up in the 2nd half or will Conn continue to dominate and finish one off and get out of Williamstown with a W

I've said before that Conn is good this year...

[Mr.Right]

After that halftime rave about Conn, the 2nd half has been more even with the game staying in the middle of the field with few chances.


Williams takes the lead with 15 minutes to go in the game. A soft throw-in in Conn defensive 3rd by Gikandi of Conn gets won by Williams and a nice ball was sent down the flank to Rashid and he made a great run and sent an even better ball into the middle of the box and was finished off by Frosh Harrison Fyke. After the goal, Williams has picked it up and is playing much better.

Conn will be massively disappointed if they do not get anything out of this game as they absolutely dominated the 1st half but could not finish their chances and kept Williams in the game. One play was all Williams needed. Now let's see if Williams can hold the lead, which has also been their major problem this year.


1-1 Conn at Williams...Conn scores 5 minutes after Williams..


Of course 2 minutes later an innocent enough looking ball down the right flank was sent into the box by Frosh Leon(a great ball) to Matthew Bitchell and he stuck with it and won a tackle from a Williams defender which was a "soft" tackle by Williams and Bitchell finishes it off....

[Nutmeg]

2 heavyweights going at it in Amherst. 0-0 at half. Field just a little slippery. Very good defensive battle. Amherst maybe with more chances and Tufts showing good possession in some spurts. Patel with a good defensive play. Amherst has the height but tufts has won many balls. The ref is letting them play a bit. Kayne was mugged a couple of times with no call but he has still managed some some good passes. Amherst needs to use their height more and tufts needs to play thru the middle more...of course, that's easy to say and harder to do against these fine teams...

[Mr.Right]

Williams v Conn 1-1 Final...Both teams get a point but Conn outplayed Williams the whole 1st half. The 2nd half was more even. The OT underachieving Mark Sisco missed an absolute sitter right infront of the net with only DaCahuna in front of him. It looked to be a foul but was not called and he was in only to hit it over the net. Conn unfortunate to not get 3 pts and Williams fortunate to get 1 pt. The OT I felt Williams had more of the play as Conn looked gassed but they did have a mid-week battle with Trinity so they might have started to get heavy legs.

[Mr.Right]

Trinity CT finally gets a Win in Nescac play at Bates 2-1. Now they are in contention for a top 8 finish. Like most of us predicted Bates could take a precipitous fall the rest of the way as their schedule only gets harder. That could be a big win for Trinity come November 1st if Bates and Trinity have the same record the tie breaker will go to Trinity.

[Mr.Right]

Just tuned into this Amherst v Tufts game and it is 0-0 with about 20 minutes left and both teams have had some great chances but could not finish. NPL again playing extremely well from what I have seen. Martin almost got a half bike off but it went wide.

Tufts Patel saves Tufts with 30 seconds left to clear a ball going into the net past Greenwood off the line..Heading into OT...Both teams played mid-week so no clear cut advantage for either

[Nutmeg]

Just tuned into this Amherst v Tufts game and it is 0-0 with about 20 minutes left and both teams have had some great chances but could not finish. NPL again playing extremely well from what I have seen. Martin almost got a half bike off but it went wide.

Tufts Patel saves Tufts with 30 seconds left to clear a ball going into the net past Greenwood off the line..Heading into OT...Both teams played mid-week so no clear cut advantage for either

Patel has made 2 great plays. Very physical game and ref really letting them play

[Mr.Right]

Some fist a cuffs almost breaks out in OT...Martin was involved and is a somewhat dirty player after whistle's. These teams do have bad blood as each teams fans in 2013 almost had fist a cuffs after a Tufts v Amherst game..It is hard for any neutral observer to root for Amherst, not because they have been winning Nescac Titles and not for their style of play but for their bench antics and dirty plays during games. Sometimes it gets to be embarrassing that they represent Nescac with these type of actions. I used to get really annoyed by it in the beginning of Serpone's tenure when all this started but now its comical and eventually will come back to bite them IMO...

[stlawus]

Some fist a cuffs almost breaks out in OT...Martin was involved and is a somewhat dirty player after whistle's. These teams do have bad blood as each teams fans in 2013 almost had fist a cuffs after a Tufts v Amherst game..It is hard for any neutral observer to root for Amherst, not because they have been winning Nescac Titles and not for their style of play but for their bench antics and dirty plays during games. Sometimes it gets to be embarrassing that they represent Nescac with these type of actions. I used to get really annoyed by it in the beginning of Serpone's tenure when all this started but now its comical and eventually will come back to bite them IMO...

Completely agree.  I've been saying the same thing for the last few years.  I've never seen a more disrespectful program than Amherst.  I honestly don't know how the bench is not carded every single game.  If you've ever watched a video feed with the camera set up right behind the bench you'd know that it's 10x worse than what you see and hear now. 

[Mr.Right]

What a great goal by NPL and win for Amherst...NPL is just playing out of his mind this year..I really enjoy watching him play...IMO he is surpassing the play in 2012 of Spencer Noon. If NPL continues to play like this and gets the support from Singer, Martin and Rico , Amherst has a great chance to win the NCAA tournament for the 1st time. I also thought a KEY player who has come back from injury and plays with heart and passion was #28 Bryce Ciambella. He's a tough kid


That has got to sting for Tufts who are 0-2-1 in their last 3 games against sold competition.

[Nutmeg]

Some fist a cuffs almost breaks out in OT...Martin was involved and is a somewhat dirty player after whistle's. These teams do have bad blood as each teams fans in 2013 almost had fist a cuffs after a Tufts v Amherst game..It is hard for any neutral observer to root for Amherst, not because they have been winning Nescac Titles and not for their style of play but for their bench antics and dirty plays during games. Sometimes it gets to be embarrassing that they represent Nescac with these type of actions. I used to get really annoyed by it in the beginning of Serpone's tenure when all this started but now its comical and eventually will come back to bite them IMO...

Wow, Tufts dominates second overtime but on a defensive mistake NPL picks it up and scores with under 4 minutes. Brown had a good chance. I was ready to name
Patel man of the match until that goal. NPL and Kayne played well in the middle. Hard one to lose..definitely thought it would end 0-0.  Martin and singer didn't over impress in this one...

[Mr.Right]

Some fist a cuffs almost breaks out in OT...Martin was involved and is a somewhat dirty player after whistle's. These teams do have bad blood as each teams fans in 2013 almost had fist a cuffs after a Tufts v Amherst game..It is hard for any neutral observer to root for Amherst, not because they have been winning Nescac Titles and not for their style of play but for their bench antics and dirty plays during games. Sometimes it gets to be embarrassing that they represent Nescac with these type of actions. I used to get really annoyed by it in the beginning of Serpone's tenure when all this started but now its comical and eventually will come back to bite them IMO...

Completely agree.  I've been saying the same thing for the last few years.  I've never seen a more disrespectful program than Amherst.  I honestly don't know how the bench is not carded every single game.  If you've ever watched a video feed with the camera set up right behind the bench you'd know that it's 10x worse than what you see and hear now.

Believe me I have seen it for years but am almost immune at this point. You would think a school of Amherst stature would come down hard on these type of antics but the President doesn't care, I think she sits in a chair right on the touchline and watches the games.

[Nutmeg]

Some fist a cuffs almost breaks out in OT...Martin was involved and is a somewhat dirty player after whistle's. These teams do have bad blood as each teams fans in 2013 almost had fist a cuffs after a Tufts v Amherst game..It is hard for any neutral observer to root for Amherst, not because they have been winning Nescac Titles and not for their style of play but for their bench antics and dirty plays during games. Sometimes it gets to be embarrassing that they represent Nescac with these type of actions. I used to get really annoyed by it in the beginning of Serpone's tenure when all this started but now its comical and eventually will come back to bite them IMO...

Completely agree.  I've been saying the same thing for the last few years.  I've never seen a more disrespectful program than Amherst.  I honestly don't know how the bench is not carded every single game.  If you've ever watched a video feed with the camera set up right behind the bench you'd know that it's 10x worse than what you see and hear now.

Unfortunately, it is so embarrassing and common that it has becoming a running joke. It shouldn't be considered a joke though. He ca act that way all he wants and they can play the long chippy style and win....but take note...Serpone has no ncaa ring....

[blooter442]

Unfortunately, it is so embarrassing and common that it has becoming a running joke. It shouldn't be considered a joke though. He ca act that way all he wants and they can play the long chippy style and win....but take note...Serpone has no ncaa ring....

It's even more embarrassing to hear people try to justify it, really. Sure, there's a certain amount of that kind of behavior anywhere, but when it's as much and as consistent as happens at Amherst, it crosses the line. Was quite happy when Brandeis knocked them out last year, I wasn't at the game but I was watching on video and annoyed with the antics.

Tactically speaking, to Amherst's credit, the Jeffs get off a surprising # of shots, so I don't think we can exactly call them a "park the bus" team, but when they run into a more technically-sound program that can match them physically, they're going to have problems. They certainly know how to win clutch games, which you need to do, but I don't think they have the technical ability to win a national championship (I could well be proven wrong, but I personally believe that a team has to possess a certain amount of technical ability, and I don't think NPL alone is enough in that department - Martin is fast, Singer is effective, but NPL is the only player I'd call technically adept.) The rock 'em-sock 'em approach certainly works against teams in which Amherst is either technically or physically better, as it is an imposing style, but when they start to run into teams that are as physical and more technical, then you get found out really quick.