NESCAC

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

NESCAC Match of the day:
Tufts takes on upstart Gordon. Predictions?

Tufts 2
Gordon 1

[FourMoreYears]

Some numbers from 2015:
(thru yesterday's games)

NESCAC in non-conference games this year: 
35 wins
6  losses
2  ties

109 GF
22  GA

The six losses:

Tufts to Brandeis 1-0 despite 11-4 advantage in shots, 10-4 advantage in corner kicks.
Wesleyan to E. Connecticut 1-0 despite 17-7 advantage in shots, 13-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Williams to Skidmore 2-0 despite 13-10 advantage in shots, 6-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Hamilton to Oswego State 1-0 despite 21-12 advantage in shots, 9-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Colby to Wheaton 2-0  Colby outshot 13-6, held advantage in corners 8-5.
Colby to Thomas 3-2 Colby outshot 19-17, Thomas had advantage in corners 8-3.

The two ties:

Trinity with Westfield State despite 39-7 advantage in shots, 14-4 advantage in corner kicks.
Colby with Husson despite 19-6 advantage in shots, 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Just found it interesting.

And I'm always amazed at the parity in the NESCAC:

Current #11 seed Colby beats Williams
Current #10 seed Bowdoin beats Wesleyan
Current #9 seed Hamilton beats Tufts

[Mr.Right]

It is essential that for all of Nescac that Tufts defeats Gordon and Williams defeats Endicott. The only team that might benefit from Endicott beating Williams is Tufts who gave Endicott its only loss this season.

I only saw the 1st Half of the Tufts v Endicott game over a month ago and Tufts dominated them and had them pinned in. They do have a ton of shutouts and this mid-week road night game on turf will be tough for Williams but doable.

The other game pits Gordon at Tufts. I have not seen Gordon this year but I saw them plenty last year and I find it admirable that they try to "play" but Tufts should control possession and are just more athletic and should control this game. One worry is that this is Gordon's "NCAA Championship game", this is a win that can define a program and they will be extremely pumped. Tufts will need to match their intensity and I am not sure if they will take them as seriously as they should. If they beat Gordon they will most likely end any chance of them getting a Pool C . The players NEED to know this and Shapiro must get this point across because they will be battling these type of teams in November for a Pool C.

[Mr.Right]

Amherst v Conn    1-0   Which Conn teams shows up? The one that played so well against Williams and the 1st Half v Bates or the the flat un-interested and sloppy team that came out in the 2nd Half against Bates. My hunch is the former, especially against Amherst. Amherst will have the ball in the air most the game so it will take Conn out of it's possession oriented style they have been playing lately. However, if Conn attacks with their wingbacks like they did against Williams they will be able to counter in this game. I would sit in 1st Half in a block of 7 and all out attack with 3 and go into halftime 0-0, then I would go at Amherst thru Devlin and try to snag a goal. I would man mark NPL and try to frustrate him and take him out of the game. CB Sommers is fast enough to deal with Martin and Patch must use his physicality to deal with Singer and Orozco. I imagine Serpone might start Rico and Haskell because Conn does not have the size it once did and is a more technical side. Amherst looked flat 1st Half against Hamilton and Hamilton was able to possess against them nicely but got nothing out of it, maybe 1 or 2 non-threating chances but Amherst did not look good 1st Half in Clinton, NY. I did not see the 2nd Half. Amherst has also been lucky this year which is what you need this time of year. 3 wins in 2 OT over Williams, WPI and Tufts could all have been losses or draws but they find a way to get it done when it matters because of their front 3.

[Mr.Right]

Amherst strikes 1st but Rico leaves game with an apparent knee injury..Conn settling down

[blooter442]

Looks like Amherst scored 58 seconds in. Two strikes in the 1st minute this year against Middlebury and now Conn. - you can't fall asleep against them, especially at home!

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Amherst up 2-0 at half. Benches cleared at the tail end of the half and only one yellow card given out. Unnecessary by the Amherst goalie to come out 20 yards and push the Conn. player after a physical 50/50 tackle just outside the box near the corner flag. Both benches clear and a sub from Amherst gets a card. Poor officiating IMO if you give one team's sub a card for being on the field then the the other team's bench should also get a card. Also the goalie didn't even get a card which is what started the entire altercation. Poor officiating nationwide in every game I have watched this year. Sad for our game and the teams competing. Center official is probably in his mid to late 50's...struggling to keep up.

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

Looks like Amherst scored 58 seconds in. Two strikes in the 1st minute this year against Middlebury and now Conn. - you can't fall asleep against them, especially at home!

2nd goal came off a corner kick which led to a scrum in front of the net and Amherst toe poked it in. Nothing pretty but effective none the less.

[amh63]

Amherst 4-0 over Conn. At Hitchcock Field.  Both teams benefitted from no wet weather!
Caught the 2nd half.....Bull made some solid saves....one on his back it seems.
Amherst had more shots on goal...controlling the pace of the game for the most part.  Amherst continue to insert their younger players in the latter part of the half. 
Multi-goal afternoon for both Rico and PNL...I believe.  Really depended on the announcer to ID the point scorers...watched on- line.

[PaulNewman]

I wouldn't want this if I was a fan of one of the teams, but would be great drama if Amherst and Tufts play twice more, in the NESCAC tourney final and then a Sweet 16 or preferably Elite 8 game.  Will be interesting to see if they get placed in different sectionals.  If so, I suppose we could see them face off in a Final Four game.  Certainly Midd or Wes or maybe Williams could upset one of them in the NESCAC tourney, but Amherst and Tufts clearly appear to be on another level than the rest.

[ECSUalum]

Amherst 4-0 over Conn. At Hitchcock Field.  Both teams benefitted from no wet weather!
Caught the 2nd half.....Bull made some solid saves....one on his back it seems.
Amherst had more shots on goal...controlling the pace of the game for the most part.  Amherst continue to insert their younger players in the latter part of the half. 
Multi-goal afternoon for both Rico and PNL...I believe.  Really depended on the announcer to ID the point scorers...watched on- line.

Congrats to the Lord Jeffs on a nice in conference victory over a pretty good Conn College side!!  The more I see Amherst play in general and key players like Bull, Martin, NPL, and Singer in particular, the more I think the Jeffs will be in the NCAA finals this year.  To score against Bull is like having a LAX net to shoot for, I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up in the MLS or on a future USA National team after his college career is over, assuming he wants to give it a try with his Amherst degree in his pocket !!  He is just superb!!!!!

[Mr.Right]

After watching bits and pieces of those Nescac games yesterday my thoughts are:

Tufts v Gordon---I only caught the 2nd Half but was unimpressed with both teams. Gordon created nothing offensively and Tufts really did not either. Both teams could not string 3-4 passes together and the game looked like it was being played on mud with each player having cement attached to their shoes. Good win for Tufts as sitting at 7-3-1 and with their SOS will be good to go as long as they finish off the regular season strong. Gordon if regionally ranked will be at that #9,#10 and #11 seed and if they lose will drop off the map but if they win they will not move much unless they beat Endicott who will be seeded #6,#7,#8 range.

Amherst v Conn---I caught most of the game and Amherst just flat out dominated Conn. If Amherst keeps playing like this they will be very hard to beat in November. 15-0-0 is looking more and more likely as they will easily win both games in Maine. Wesleyan always throws Amherst a curveball but I think they will have revenge on their minds from last year coupled with the fact that they will be home they should dispatch of Wesleyan. Trinity is the last mid-week game of the season and they have dominated Trinity in Serpone's tenure. They looked better than Conn in every aspect on the field yesterday. Conn went down 2 goals and threw in the towel.

Williams at Endicott---The most disappointing game of the night. Endicott is a good / average team. Nothing special or nothing that jumps out at you. Just a solid back 4 with decent GK but they do not have much going forward. They play hard for their coach which is more than I can say for Williams. Williams looks un-interested and unwilling to work for 90 minutes to win games. I guess I underestimated the loss of Zack Grady's 10 goals last year. I just assumed Rashid and Sisco would pick up the slack and some midfielders would also help out. That has not been the case at all. Williams has now scored 1 goal in each of the past 7 games. That is not going to cut it. I never imagined Williams Men's Soccer losing to Colby, Bates, Skidmore and Endicott(I consider that a loss) in a 10 year span let alone in 1 year. I understand there was a massive coaching change but there have been no big injuries and they got one of their better players back this season in Rashid. It goes without saying 4-4-2 is massively disappointing. At this point, changes need to be made. They have been starting Troy Ritter and Noah Grumman together who both play defensive MF. Unless you are a playing a 4-2-3-1 and you shouldn't be then one needs to go. I would get Tom Young back in the starting line-up but put him out on the flank where he can use his speed and skill to beat guys 1v1 like Moutenot does. Young had been playing attacking CM and to me he just gets eaten up by bigger more physical players. I would play a 4-3-3 with GK Alcorn and the backline which has done fine and Grumman holding. Use the frosh Andreau and Rashid as attacking CM with Young and Moutenot on the flanks and maybe give someone else a run up top as Sisco isn't getting it done lately. Without overhaul with this line-up and formation you will see more of the same against Wesleyan, Tufts and MIdd and most likely Williams will finish with a losing record for the first time since 1982.

[All NESCAC]

After watching bits and pieces of those Nescac games yesterday my thoughts are:

Tufts v Gordon---I only caught the 2nd Half but was unimpressed with both teams. Gordon created nothing offensively and Tufts really did not either. Both teams could not string 3-4 passes together and the game looked like it was being played on mud with each player having cement attached to their shoes. Good win for Tufts as sitting at 7-3-1 and with their SOS will be good to go as long as they finish off the regular season strong. Gordon if regionally ranked will be at that #9,#10 and #11 seed and if they lose will drop off the map but if they win they will not move much unless they beat Endicott who will be seeded #6,#7,#8 range.

Amherst v Conn---I caught most of the game and Amherst just flat out dominated Conn. If Amherst keeps playing like this they will be very hard to beat in November. 15-0-0 is looking more and more likely as they will easily win both games in Maine. Wesleyan always throws Amherst a curveball but I think they will have revenge on their minds from last year coupled with the fact that they will be home they should dispatch of Wesleyan. Trinity is the last mid-week game of the season and they have dominated Trinity in Serpone's tenure. They looked better than Conn in every aspect on the field yesterday. Conn went down 2 goals and threw in the towel.

Williams at Endicott---The most disappointing game of the night. Endicott is a good / average team. Nothing special or nothing that jumps out at you. Just a solid back 4 with decent GK but they do not have much going forward. They play hard for their coach which is more than I can say for Williams. Williams looks un-interested and unwilling to work for 90 minutes to win games. I guess I underestimated the loss of Zack Grady's 10 goals last year. I just assumed Rashid and Sisco would pick up the slack and some midfielders would also help out. That has not been the case at all. Williams has now scored 1 goal in each of the past 7 games. That is not going to cut it. I never imagined Williams Men's Soccer losing to Colby, Bates, Skidmore and Endicott(I consider that a loss) in a 10 year span let alone in 1 year. I understand there was a massive coaching change but there have been no big injuries and they got one of their better players back this season in Rashid. It goes without saying 4-4-2 is massively disappointing. At this point, changes need to be made. They have been starting Troy Ritter and Noah Grumman together who both play defensive MF. Unless you are a playing a 4-2-3-1 and you shouldn't be then one needs to go. I would get Tom Young back in the starting line-up but put him out on the flank where he can use his speed and skill to beat guys 1v1 like Moutenot does. Young had been playing attacking CM and to me he just gets eaten up by bigger more physical players. I would play a 4-3-3 with GK Alcorn and the backline which has done fine and Grumman holding. Use the frosh Andreau and Rashid as attacking CM with Young and Moutenot on the flanks and maybe give someone else a run up top as Sisco isn't getting it done lately. Without overhaul with this line-up and formation you will see more of the same against Wesleyan, Tufts and MIdd and most likely Williams will finish with a losing record for the first time since 1982.

Watched the Amherst vs Conn game and completely agree with your assessment.  The Lord Jeffs are the class of the league and should run the regular season table.  They are more talented and much more physical than every other NESCAC team this year.  Amherst continues it's knock you down play, but I've watched it for the last 6 years and while I don't like the style they make it work for them every year as it puts an oh oh factor into the opposing players head on whether they are going to be run over or not.

[EasyGoer27]

No doubt they have some players but we are being kind.  I have seen them 3 times this year live.  In each game it basically went to fisticuffs.  Ref lost control each time.  For an institution as fine as Amherst to have this embarrassing behavior on the pitch is puzzling.  Why isn't anything done?  I watched the last game with a friend who is an Amherst alum, he apologized throughout dinner.  The vulgarities that the Amherst bench screamed at the AR were astounding.  The coach just sat there and the ref did nothing.   It was a disgrace, in Canada we would say this team is gooning it up.  After most plays the player passing the ball is hit 2 or three steps later as the ref's gaze has moved on.  Eventually the players are more concerned with protecting themselves and the mistakes happen.  I have seen at least 10 elbows in the three games that an MMA fighter would be proud of.  At least they keep their sticks down.

I haven't seen anything like this circus in 25 years.  I was a hockey player at a rival school, just to be fair about it.

A thought does occur to me,  in junior if we ran into a team like this our coach would start the 4th line.  After all the hits happened and there were 6 game misconducts the skaters had half a chance to skate.  Maybe that's what needs to be done here.  After 3 or 4 rivals do it in a row maybe Amherst will get the message.  The way it is going someone is going to get seriously hurt,  it's not if but when.  Very sad.

[Mid-Atlantic Fan]

After watching bits and pieces of those Nescac games yesterday my thoughts are:

Amherst v Conn---I caught most of the game and Amherst just flat out dominated Conn. If Amherst keeps playing like this they will be very hard to beat in November. 15-0-0 is looking more and more likely as they will easily win both games in Maine. Wesleyan always throws Amherst a curveball but I think they will have revenge on their minds from last year coupled with the fact that they will be home they should dispatch of Wesleyan. Trinity is the last mid-week game of the season and they have dominated Trinity in Serpone's tenure. They looked better than Conn in every aspect on the field yesterday. Conn went down 2 goals and threw in the towel.

Yes sir I watched as well and you are spot on. I was very impressed with Amherst. That team has all the parts for a Final 4 run IMO.