NESCAC

[PaulNewman]

Hard to believe that Bates could not score 1 goal in 110 minutes with a playoff spot on the line.  The bottom 3 teams ended up being exactly who most of us expected.

[blooter442]

Hard to believe that Bates could not score 1 goal in 110 minutes with a playoff spot on the line.  The bottom 3 teams ended up being exactly who most of us expected.

Agreed, but I think Bates is definitely one to watch next year - perhaps not a "contender" in the form of a top-4 NESCAC side but I think they could be even more in the mix than they were this year. Knoth will be back and so will Merchant and Murphy, who are all decent players. Watson is solid, too. However, Bates does lose Pereira, Riskind, and Polito, which in the context of their team are pretty big losses, and the big question will be how the next GK will do - Polito was by no means in the Bull/Sydor/Greenwood class, but he did well overall.

Like I said, it was interesting that some were talking about Bates as a potential Pool C contender at one point. I was a bit skeptical, and so it proved - I think they were over-hyped after beating Williams and starting 5-1-1, despite the fact that they had yet to play any of Tufts, Amherst, and Midd still to come (one point out of nine in three home games = not good enough, especially since they were beating Midd at halftime.) A winning season for the first time in 7 years is great, so congratulations to the Bobcats for their improvement, but consistency has been Bates' biggest enemy this year. They've not worried any of the top teams in the NESCAC, but they were certainly the most noted team in terms of improvement IMHO.

[Brother Flounder]

Hard to believe that Bates could not score 1 goal in 110 minutes with a playoff spot on the line.  The bottom 3 teams ended up being exactly who most of us expected.

Agreed, but I think Bates is definitely one to watch next year - perhaps not a "contender" in the form of a top-4 NESCAC side but I think they could be even more in the mix than they were this year. Knoth will be back and so will Merchant and Murphy, who are all decent players. Watson is solid, too. However, Bates does lose Pereira, Riskind, and Polito, which in the context of their team are pretty big losses, and the big question will be how the next GK will do - Polito was by no means in the Bull/Sydor/Greenwood class, but he did well overall.

Like I said, it was interesting that some were talking about Bates as a potential Pool C contender at one point. I was a bit skeptical, and so it proved - I think they were over-hyped after beating Williams and starting 5-1-1, despite the fact that they had yet to play any of Tufts, Amherst, and Midd still to come (one point out of nine in three home games = not good enough, especially since they were beating Midd at halftime.) A winning season for the first time in 7 years is great, so congratulations to the Bobcats for their improvement, but consistency has been Bates' biggest enemy this year. They've not worried any of the top teams in the NESCAC, but they were certainly the most noted team in terms of improvement IMHO.

Ditto!

[Sandy]

Do they charge people to see NESCAC playoff games?

[Bucket]

Gimand was MOTM for me and capped his afternoon with a goal.

Agreed. Nifty.
Amazing that Bull even got a piece of that one, as he had to extend himself fully and cover the entire 8 yards of the goal face.

As for Milbury being a "poor man's Conrad," the former was much more effective and present against Amherst than the latter was this year.

GK debate question: If Bull were on the Tufts team, who do you think Shapiro would start in net: Bull or Greenwood? What about Saward?

I am in complete agreement with you and that is why I gave Milbury a back handed compliment which you took offense to. Millbury is no Conrad but he worked his ass off yesterday and if he and the whole Trinity team can continue to PLAY LIKE THAT we will see them in November at Amherst for the Nescac Final 4. The problem with Trinity under Pilger the last 11 years in which I have been repeating myself over and over is that WE do not know which Trinity side will show up? One thing about Serpone I KNOW Amherst SHOWS up to every game. Serpone is intense and his team plays that way. All I am saying is I have NO CLUE which Trinity side will show up at Midd. A side tha8t outplayed them earlier up there and lost in OT or a side that will think they are better then they are and get whacked 3-0. Trinity's backline and GK will have to be on their TOES all games with Ogle's long throws and set pieces...If Midd takes Gimand out of the game like they did Kayne at Tufts then it will be an ugly sloppy game that will finish 1-0 either way. Midd has an absolute knack of just cluster f*cking the whole game up in midfield and giving the game no rhythm which gives neither team an advantage. They just plan on scoring on set pieces. IT is UGLY but for the most part effective.

I think Middlebury deserves a little more credit than they get on these boards. I mean, we're talking about a team that finished second in the NESCAC, with lone losses coming on the road at Amherst and at Tufts, both 1-0 results.

The Panthers are second in conference play in goals scored and fourth in goals allowed, eeked out by Bowdoin and Tufts by one and two goals, respectively.

I know that some predicted Middlebury to finish 5th, adding that their SOS wouldn't surpass .550. Neither of which came to pass, obviously. In fact, Midd's .579 SOS was better than Amherst's (.573) and was good for 4th highest in the conference.

And I say this while fulling acknowledging that Trinity could spring the upset on Saturday. I was extremely impressed with them a few weeks ago, and I've stated that Middlebury has had the bad habit of conceding early goals this year.

Amherst deserves all their accolades for dominating league play this year. No one was close to them this season. But I feel that the Panthers are a pretty damn good second-place team.  I've read a lot about how Wesleyan should have won in Middletown and Trinity should have won in Middlebury, but you know what? They didn't. And it's not as if the Panthers won either game on fluke plays or penalty kicks. And a byproduct of staging so many second-half comebacks and/or OT wins is that this team always feels like it will win in the end. And that's a great attitude to have in November.

[FourMoreYears]

Another team that may bear watching next year is Trinity.
They've finished the season strong, and have almost everybody coming back.
Only 4 Seniors on the roster: Mark Perrault, Malcolm Joseph (both starters), Josh LeBlanc, and Jack Vogel (injured most of year)

[Becks]

Agreed, but I think Bates is definitely one to watch next year - perhaps not a "contender" in the form of a top-4 NESCAC side but I think they could be even more in the mix than they were this year. Knoth will be back and so will Merchant and Murphy, who are all decent players. Watson is solid, too. However, Bates does lose Pereira, Riskind, and Polito, which in the context of their team are pretty big losses, and the big question will be how the next GK will do - Polito was by no means in the Bull/Sydor/Greenwood class, but he did well overall.

Like I said, it was interesting that some were talking about Bates as a potential Pool C contender at one point. I was a bit skeptical, and so it proved - I think they were over-hyped after beating Williams and starting 5-1-1, despite the fact that they had yet to play any of Tufts, Amherst, and Midd still to come (one point out of nine in three home games = not good enough, especially since they were beating Midd at halftime.) A winning season for the first time in 7 years is great, so congratulations to the Bobcats for their improvement, but consistency has been Bates' biggest enemy this year. They've not worried any of the top teams in the NESCAC, but they were certainly the most noted team in terms of improvement IMHO.

Bates needs to find a way to score more goals. The 0-0 result against Colby is not too surprising given how impotent both team's offenses were this year. In league play, Bates only scored 6 goals all season and Colby only 4. Knoth may be their best forward, but he only had 2 goals and only 3 shots on goal all season in league play.

[Brother Flounder]

Gimand was MOTM for me and capped his afternoon with a goal.

Agreed. Nifty.
Amazing that Bull even got a piece of that one, as he had to extend himself fully and cover the entire 8 yards of the goal face.

As for Milbury being a "poor man's Conrad," the former was much more effective and present against Amherst than the latter was this year.

GK debate question: If Bull were on the Tufts team, who do you think Shapiro would start in net: Bull or Greenwood? What about Saward?

I am in complete agreement with you and that is why I gave Milbury a back handed compliment which you took offense to. Millbury is no Conrad but he worked his ass off yesterday and if he and the whole Trinity team can continue to PLAY LIKE THAT we will see them in November at Amherst for the Nescac Final 4. The problem with Trinity under Pilger the last 11 years in which I have been repeating myself over and over is that WE do not know which Trinity side will show up? One thing about Serpone I KNOW Amherst SHOWS up to every game. Serpone is intense and his team plays that way. All I am saying is I have NO CLUE which Trinity side will show up at Midd. A side tha8t outplayed them earlier up there and lost in OT or a side that will think they are better then they are and get whacked 3-0. Trinity's backline and GK will have to be on their TOES all games with Ogle's long throws and set pieces...If Midd takes Gimand out of the game like they did Kayne at Tufts then it will be an ugly sloppy game that will finish 1-0 either way. Midd has an absolute knack of just cluster f*cking the whole game up in midfield and giving the game no rhythm which gives neither team an advantage. They just plan on scoring on set pieces. IT is UGLY but for the most part effective.

I think Middlebury deserves a little more credit than they get on these boards. I mean, we're talking about a team that finished second in the NESCAC, with lone losses coming on the road at Amherst and at Tufts, both 1-0 results.

The Panthers are second in conference play in goals scored and fourth in goals allowed, eeked out by Bowdoin and Tufts by one and two goals, respectively.

I know that some predicted Middlebury to finish 5th, adding that their SOS wouldn't surpass .550. Neither of which came to pass, obviously. In fact, Midd's .579 SOS was better than Amherst's (.573) and was good for 4th highest in the conference.

And I say this while fulling acknowledging that Trinity could spring the upset on Saturday. I was extremely impressed with them a few weeks ago, and I've stated that Middlebury has had the bad habit of conceding early goals this year. But I think this has more to do with Trinity and less to do with Middlebury.

Amherst deserves all their accolades for dominating league play this year. No one was close to them this year. But I feel that the Panthers are a pretty damn good second-place team.  I've read a lot about how Wesleyan should have won in Middletown and Trinity should have won in Middlebury, but you know what? They didn't. And it's not as if the Panthers won either game on fluke plays or penalty kicks. And a byproduct of staging so many second-half comebacks and/or OT wins is that this team always feels like it will win in the end. And that's a great attitude to have in November.

Bucket, many people on this forum picked Middlebury in the first 2 at the beginning of the year.....

[Bucket]

Bucket, many people on this forum picked Middlebury in the first 2 at the beginning of the year.....

That's true, and I should have acknowledged that.

[blooter442]

On the topic of Amherst tying yesterday - and I think that many of us were just plain shocked that the Lord Jeffs didn't find a way to win the game as they've done in 2OT so many times this year - I think a tie actually could have been the best thing for them and at the perfect time. Avoiding a tie in the postseason would be in their interest, both for the obvious desire to get an outright win as well as the fact that they haven't had great luck in penalty shootouts, last year losing to Bowdoin in the NESCAC final and Brandeis in NCAAs, along with the Williams NCAA shootout of 2012. So if a tie had to happen, it's best that it happen now. Winning every game is the ideal way - and it is - but it's also not realistic and creates a certain amount of pressure in my book. A tie doesn't have the same humbling effect as a loss does, but it relieves some of that pressure I think.

Look at Messiah - for all the National Titles they've won, they've only done it once without a single blemish, going 24-0 in 2005. SLU was another notable one to do it at 22-0 (1999), but most national championship sides have a blemish or two throughout the regular season. And while a loss can have a galvanizing "wounded animal" effect, a tie still gives Amherst the confidence to go and get things done.

Bowdoin - Tufts was actually a much better game than I gave it credit for. Particularly in OT, both teams created some chances, and Greenwood had to make a good save in 2OT. Mr.Right is correct that Bowdoin sits back and is hard to break down once they get the first goal, but Wiercinski isn't a "park the bus" coach by any means when it's 0-0 - his teams attack sensibly, but stay organized. Tufts will feel that they should and could have won it, and I'd say they were the better team on the balance of the game, but Bowdoin will be equally confident having forced Tufts to drop points at home for just the second time this year. This is the game of the weekend for me in terms of competitiveness, although Wesleyan's second crack at Amherst will be fun as well (although I still see the Jeffs winning comfortably.)

[amh63]

Agree with Noon..the Amherst-Trinity game was hard to watch.  First it was raining hard at times and it was getting dark as the game went into OT.  The wet field made goal attempts hard...for both sides. Announcers pointed out that both teams were using the long in the air kicks to set up the offenses.
With respect to several of the Amherst Yellow cards and maybe one Trinity card.  The ref was quick to issue if a player was complaining about a call.  Example..the yellow on Martin...as the announcer related.  There was a scum of players in front of the Trinity goal...the ball went into the goal.  A off-side was called on Amherst.  Martin rushed up to the ref and stated that was not possible...got a card

[Brother Flounder]

On the topic of Amherst tying yesterday - and I think that many of us were just plain shocked that the Lord Jeffs didn't find a way to win the game as they've done in 2OT so many times this year - I think a tie actually could have been the best thing for them and at the perfect time. Avoiding a tie in the postseason would be in their interest, both for the obvious desire to get an outright win as well as the fact that they haven't had great luck in penalty shootouts, last year losing to Bowdoin in the NESCAC final and Brandeis in NCAAs, along with the Williams NCAA shootout of 2012. So if a tie had to happen, it's best that it happen now. Winning every game is the ideal way - and it is - but it's also not realistic and creates a certain amount of pressure in my book. A tie doesn't have the same humbling effect as a loss does, but it relieves some of that pressure I think.

Look at Messiah - for all the National Titles they've won, they've only done it once without a single blemish, going 24-0 in 2005. SLU was another notable one to do it at 22-0 (1999), but most national championship sides have a blemish or two throughout the regular season. And while a loss can have a galvanizing "wounded animal" effect, a tie still gives Amherst the confidence to go and get things done.

Bowdoin - Tufts was actually a much better game than I gave it credit for. Particularly in OT, both teams created some chances, and Greenwood had to make a good save in 2OT. Mr.Right is correct that Bowdoin sits back and is hard to break down once they get the first goal, but Wiercinski isn't a "park the bus" coach by any means when it's 0-0 - his teams attack sensibly, but stay organized. Tufts will feel that they should and could have won it, and I'd say they were the better team on the balance of the game, but Bowdoin will be equally confident having forced Tufts to drop points at home for just the second time this year. This is the game of the weekend for me in terms of competitiveness, although Wesleyan's second crack at Amherst will be fun as well (although I still see the Jeffs winning comfortably.)

I agree with this.  Hopefully, the weather will be better and that hampered the game yesterday.  I just checked and here is the official recap of the game.... http://www.gotuftsjumbos.com/sports/msoc/2015-16/releases/20151028qqdwue

I didn't realize that Tufts has not let in a goal since October 4. 

[1970s NESCAC Player]

Do they charge people to see NESCAC playoff games?

I don't know of any school that charges for NESCAC playoff games.

[ViewFromTheHill]

Gimand was MOTM for me and capped his afternoon with a goal.

Agreed. Nifty.
Amazing that Bull even got a piece of that one, as he had to extend himself fully and cover the entire 8 yards of the goal face.

As for Milbury being a "poor man's Conrad," the former was much more effective and present against Amherst than the latter was this year.

GK debate question: If Bull were on the Tufts team, who do you think Shapiro would start in net: Bull or Greenwood? What about Saward?

I am in complete agreement with you and that is why I gave Milbury a back handed compliment which you took offense to. Millbury is no Conrad but he worked his ass off yesterday and if he and the whole Trinity team can continue to PLAY LIKE THAT we will see them in November at Amherst for the Nescac Final 4. The problem with Trinity under Pilger the last 11 years in which I have been repeating myself over and over is that WE do not know which Trinity side will show up? One thing about Serpone I KNOW Amherst SHOWS up to every game. Serpone is intense and his team plays that way. All I am saying is I have NO CLUE which Trinity side will show up at Midd. A side tha8t outplayed them earlier up there and lost in OT or a side that will think they are better then they are and get whacked 3-0. Trinity's backline and GK will have to be on their TOES all games with Ogle's long throws and set pieces...If Midd takes Gimand out of the game like they did Kayne at Tufts then it will be an ugly sloppy game that will finish 1-0 either way. Midd has an absolute knack of just cluster f*cking the whole game up in midfield and giving the game no rhythm which gives neither team an advantage. They just plan on scoring on set pieces. IT is UGLY but for the most part effective.

The funny thing about the conversations regarding Conrad and Millbury is that they're best friends off the field! Both players went to Brooks in Mass. I don't know if they read what people write on these boards, but if they do I'm sure they find it pretty amusing.

[Sandy]

Do they charge people to see NESCAC playoff games?

I don't know of any school that charges for NESCAC playoff games.

Alright, I wasn't sure. I live in Cambridge so if I have some time on Saturday I was thinking about going to see the Tufts/Bowdoin game.